The final act of Avengers: Endgame was filled with goodbyes. There was, y’know, the big one (that we definitely still aren’t over), but there was also a handful of neat little character beats and farewells between some of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and those they have grown ever-closer to over the years.
One such moment was between Thor and freshly-crowned ruler of New Asgard, Valkyrie. In the movie proper, it was a sweet scene as Thor passed the torch but, as co-director Anthony Russo reveals, it could have been a cringe-fest but an awkward deleted scene from Avengers: Endgame ended up being left on the cutting room floor.
“In the endings we felt like we wanted to keep it a little tight, so we were looking for some stuff to squeeze there,” the elder Russo brother tells Sirius XM (H/T Screen Rant). “He had this beat with Valkyrie where after he sort of turns over the kingdom to her; she puts her arm on his shoulder.”
And here, readers, is where it gets awkward. Oh, so very awkward. Get ready to put palm to face.
“He sort of starts to lean in for a kiss, and she goes, 'What are you doing?' And he goes, 'Oh, I thought the touch.' She's like, 'Yeah, it's a goodbye touch. A tap I'm giving you.' It was a really funny beat but we cut it.”
Yeesh. Forget the Negative Zone, the God of Thunder almost got a deserved one-way trip to the Friend Zone. I’m pretty glad they cut that, too. Thor was the butt of a LOT of jokes in Avengers: Endgame, he didn’t need to have one more thrust upon him while coming off as super creepy in the process.
Meanwhile, we’re starting to get a fuller picture of the chops and changes made to trim Avengers: Endgame down to a ‘lean’ three hours. There’s already been talk of a longer final battle scene as part of the Avengers: Endgame deleted scenes, as well as drafts involving different hero vs. hero fights instead of the Cap clash. There’s probably a good 20 minutes we’ll never get to see sitting in a vault somewhere. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: Release the Russo cut, you cowards.
Take a look at some of the most well-hidden Avengers: Endgame Easter eggs, including Howard the Duck, Ratchet and Clank, and more.
