Infinity War Commentary

No, not a new chapter. Rather, I wanted to fill in some blanks for folks so consider this something of a "director's commentary" on how it all worked out.

Chapter 1:

It hit me almost as soon as I saw Infinity War. It just made sense and seemed a bit ahead of the curve as saw a few authors doing fics like it just after I posted the first chapter. I should say off the bat that Marcus S. Lazarus was a key help in helping me go through with it as he liked the concept and managed to find the time to get it going.

Originally, I had Barry among those "dusted" to remove him and his speed from the equation. But I realized hard to do a big Arrowverse event without the Flash and managed to fix it later. At the time, I didn't think of Black Lightning being involved so might have done something of his reactions too but still think I got the feeling of it all. Also, Nyssa was going to be dusted but the idea of her working with Alex and Constantine and Sara freaking about it was too good to pass up.

The Phantom Stranger was an option Marcus suggested fit best as always liked him and he fits into the Arrowverse world of magic well.

The idea of the Avengers already knowing Coulson alive has shown up in a few fics, hard to believe he's kept it secret after the fall of SHIELD and just never mentioned. And just love Sif so having her and Valkyrie pairing up made sense.

Chapter 2:

Let's face it, in a head-to-head fight, the Arrowverse crew could beat the Avengers, not just in numbers but power. Thus, having the Flashes show off their speed was a good way to sell them as allies with their strength.

The idea of a "lowered Speed Force" was inspired by how JLA/Avengers has them saying Flash is slower in the MU without it but didn't want him totally powerless. Also, wanted to address the time travel issue right off with Barry and the Legends noting how it's not an easy go-go answer.

Having Mephisto as Thanos "ally" is a callback to the original Infinity Gauntlet storyline as he's not happy about the billions of souls stolen from him so playing a long game setting Thanos' fall up.

Chapter 3:

Some complained a bit much on "sharing origins" but wanted to see the obvious similarities abounding with Tony and Ray, Caitlin and Bruce and the various others.

The Lucifer bit was a throw-out line to me as loved the show and angered at how (at the time of writing) it had been axed (so very happy it's been revived by Netflix).

Again, Lightning a late addition but I think it works as it wouldn't have known about contacting Oliver and Barry in the first place so needed a "ride" from the Stranger to get to them. And having him be from Earth-1 just made sense from a writing perspective to make it easier.

I thought it good of Alex, Nyssa and Natasha understanding each other more from fighting than talking. And the Mick/Rocket bit was just too perfect.

Chapter 4:

I got heat about the line of Shuri creating her own armor at 5 in her room as I thought a funny bit with her genius from an ultra-advanced society. But I do now realize it was too much and so did a fast rewrite of her admitting later she was just trolling Tony which is perfectly in character for her.

My original idea was Constantine, a master con man, to realize "the Ancient One" was actually Mordo in disguise. The idea was him thinking a lessened population would help him out in his quest to "control" magic (Constantine: "Land of the blind, one-eyed man is king, eh?") However, decided that was a bit much in the villain area so kept it simple but had to add Loki as just so damn fun to write.

Having Caitlin get her powers back via a Frost Giant just seemed a smart addition. Let's face it, the Skull wouldn't be humbled by his prison at all but still lust for power and welcome an alliance with Thanos for it.

Obviously, stuff with Ant-Man and Wasp is up in the air with their movie so if I made mistakes with it that you read after the film comes out, that's why.

Adding Malekith was a late notion as thought he was a good candidate given we never actually see him die, just swallowed up. And having Hela (one of the best villains in the MCU) manage to survive was logical given she's more an avatar of a primal force than just a mere goddess. Each doing this purely for revenge made sense.

Chapter 5:

Obviously, some of my info about Captain Marvel in the MCU might end up being wrong but it happens. After all, Marcus S. Lazarus did a whole story involving the Avengers and the Time Stone before it turned out it was Doctor Strange's amulet so forgive any mistakes the movie contradicts.

The bit of the Skull and the HYDRA council is inspired by a great 1990s storyline from Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD where it's a resurrected Baron Strucker (founder of HYDRA in the comic) who's doing it. Yet made sense as the Skull would despise seeing his army "turn corporate." Adding Sin was a late choice but I think it works out in a "legacy" way.

The Loki "ghost" talking was a late addition but I enjoyed it with his banter with the others. Naming Thanos' running group the Masters of Evil was the only logical choice.

Hoped to get more character interaction but pushed more to get it posted yet think I got how some connections were made like Kara and Carol and loved the Mick/Rocket stuff.

Chapter 6:

I had planned for the bit of the Flashes grabbing the Gauntlet but decided to throw in a wrinkle of them sent into the Speed Force. Quicksilver resurrected was a late thought, at first dismissed but then thought it might actually be a fun thing to pull off as the Speed Force is shown as an "afterlife" for speedsters with the potential to return.

One idea was Ultron being resurrected by Thanos' scientists for his drones attacking. But then realized he'd be more into wiping out Earth rather than working with Skull and others. Thus, the Chautari would make a more logical choice.

The Defenders were going to be all wiped out but as I wrote this, having Jessica be a survivor was fun and her just at a bar a call-back to a line I had earlier. The banter between her and Mick was never planned, just one of those things that happened but think it worked out well.

Having the Justice League enter was an early idea that just grew more and more. It was going to be just the Trinity but Marcus suggested Cyborg with his boom tube tech getting them there and that was a good addition with the Mother Box and the Gauntlet natural to link up.

I admit, it's a purely cinematic moment in my head, complete with the themes for Superman's arrival and the idea of Diana, Sif, Valkyrie, Nyssa and Okoye together as her theme music pounds away drove me writing it.

An early idea was Kara somehow rendered powerless and then getting the hammer to use. However, felt that might take away from her a bit, that she needed the crutch of powers to survive. Thus, keeping to the comics with Jane wielding the hammer as a Lady Thor was the next logical step and loved capturing that on paper.

Chapter 7:

Another late addition from Marcus as he suggested a good idea to show how the Justice League found out about where to go and how. Adding a big battle with the Injustice Gang was fun and thought Fate made sense for their source of info.

I keep thinking the Arrowverse failed not going full on redemption for Black Siren but bouncing between good and bad. Thus, the idea that seeing the sister she lost on her world in danger finally gets Laurel to face up to her harsh past and pain and choose the right side at last.

The Skull/Lightning bit was inspired by a classic moment of Geoff Johns' 2003 Avengers run with the Black Panther in the role there. But having a Nazi get his ass kicked by a rough black street hero was just perfect in so many ways and Skull impaled on a flagpole another image too good to pass on.

Again, Daredevil was to be among the dusted but threw him in late and liked how it worked as well as Kara holding up the hammer. Getting Bruce to have a "pep talk" to the Hulk seemed a good solution, another bit where I'm just guessing how the movies will play out.

Chapter 8:

How to restore everyone was always a tricky question. I went through various twists and turns, figuring things out and realized it required some good old "comic book science" mixed with magic. I hope it works out and obviously not how the movies will go but figure between a Mother Box and shrinking, this turned into a good solution.

I'd had an idea for a bit how to bring back Gamora but Marcus helped me streamline it so thought that worked out. Adding the JL Flash and Aquaman also was a good addition.

Man, the battle was just so much damn fun to write. It just all clicked like Ollie and Clint firing arrows with Atom and Ant-Man to grow; the Flashes bonding; the various reunions; Jessica's reaction to Groot; just how it all flowed, I did have ideas of how it would be a long massive camera take flying around the battle with twists to each heroic segment and such. I know, harder to capture that on the page but hope it worked.

One thing I did drop was Batman bringing Green Lantern's ring to find a new host (maybe Coulson) but another idea that just seemed too wild to pull off.

Come on, you can't do a major thing like this and not find a way to work in a Stan Lee "cameo."

Having Thanos tossed into the Phantom Zone struck me as the best solution in multiple ways. And liked how it brings up a key difference between the heroic groups ("we're not about vengeance. We're about justice.")

While Mephisto was always in place, having Loki be alive was a late idea as hit me just one of his usual tricks and he'd want a "fresh start" of sorts.

Chapter 9:

A lot of this was late character building stuff but again, thanks to Marcus Lazarus for helping inspire idea of the Mother Box getting the Vision back together.

Yeah, the Alex/Nyssa hook-up was in the cards from the start as the idea of Sara's exes doing this was just funny to me and loved doing the reactions to them. Plus, the banter of Kara/Clark and Superman and Cap worked out too.

Did have an idea of Ross showing up with soldiers to try and arrest the anti-Accords bunch with everyone else naturally against him. Tony would get on the horn to the President who'd fire Ross on the spot. However, Ross may be short-tempered but not that much of an idiot so had something better in mind.

Black Siren joining the Legends was a logical move to get her back on track. I know Diggle and Felicity get a lot of flack over their actions but I figured coming back from death would give them much needed perspective and changing themselves for Ollie. The idea of John Stewart as a new GL was also in my head and having him be the Earth-51 Diggle touches on rumors about the character years back. And another idea from Marcus on how Barry would get the JL Flash to aid against DeVoe.

Thought having the Avengers together was good, going for more "classic comics" for Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch's new looks. Wanted to touch on Bucky and Tony's issues and Bucky joining Coulson is a logical move. Plus, just had to have the "Assemble" line in there.

Chapter 10:

Ah, the stingers. Having Miles Morales as one of the super-powered kids in Black Lightning's world was the logical step as he fits in much better there as an Arrowverse Spider-Man.

Ross getting the Thunderbolts together was a logical move as the MCU (and especially him) would want to have someone against the Avengers as a government-controlled hero team and Zemo as the leader was the only choice. Seguing from that to Waller recruiting Sin into the Suicide Squad just flowed perfectly.

Obviously, Lena being Morgan Le Fay is inspired by Katie McGrath's role on Merlin. But I was also going with the Marvel Comics version and her pulling a Doctor Who style hide-out just flowed into my head to come together nicely.

To clarify the ending, this is not the Zod from Man of Steel. The idea is the Phantom Zone extends to other realities so this is the Zod of Earth-38. As Supergirl fans remember, Superman was exposed to silver kryptonite and hallucinated seeing Kara as Zod to attack her so that's the version here. I figure this is the Darkseid of another reality and having Thanos with a character who inspired him just makes sense.

So there you are, thanks for all the great reviews and thought you'd like more insight. As for a follow-up, I'll admit ideas a plenty so we'll see how it turns out.