‘How Do We Get Them to Really Cry at This Scene’ — Avengers: Infinity War Director Reveals How They Changed Spider-Man’s Death Scene to Break Fans’ Hearts

Avengers: Infinity War director Joe Russo revealed that they changed Spider-Man’s death scene on the day it was filmed to try to make audiences cry.

When speaking with CBR for a retrospective on Avengers: Infinity War, Joe Russo and Robert Downey Jr. began talking about the impact of the snap at the end of the movie. Half of the heroes crumble into dust, not to be seen again until the end of the next movie, Avengers: Endgame. While most people knew these characters would return, it didn’t stop the moment from being emotional in the theater. The death that got fans the hardest is arguably Spider-Man’s, which was by design, according to Russo.

“In the script, it was, ‘I don’t feel so good,’ and he goes ‘I’m sorry,'” said Russo. “I don’t mind a good cry in a movie theater, so I was like, how do we get them to really, really cry at this scene? I brought [Tom Holland] over, and I said, ‘You don’t want to go. You’re 16 years old; it’s the last thing you want, is to die.'”

That moment led to Peter Parker essentially pleading to Tony Stark to save him because he was scared to die. Russo went on to note that they knew Spider-Man’s death would hit the hardest, so they spent a lot of time developing the relationship between Peter Parker and Tony Stark to make it all the more impactful when it was finally time to kill him off.

“We milked the s**t out of it; it takes the longest of any [of the deaths]. But also the relationship for the movie, writing backwards, is we know if we’re going to break your heart, then we should have a fun relationship that’s sort of mentor/mentee, but the mentee is a pain in the butt. And you didn’t want him to come all along, and you’re trying to protect him, and exactly what you didn’t want to happen, happens.”

Joe Russo will reteam with his directing partner and brother, Anthony Russo, as well as Robert Downey Jr. for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. The trailers for Doomsday have teased a bit of what we can expect from their Marvel return, but we’ll have to wait and see if it can match the heights of Infinity War and Endgame.

Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN’s news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.