Coming off “Avengers: Infinity War,” which saw the complete annihilation of half of life in the universe, traumatized fans at the time had no idea what to expect with the highly-anticipated follow-up. (Spoiler alert: Most of them got better!) So when it came time to figure out the general concept of the two-part event, none other than Kevin Feige suggested the radical idea of killing off practically all the original Avengers in one blaze of glory.

That’s the report by the Russos themselves in the latest episode of Josh Horowitz’s “Happy/Sad/Confused” podcast. As the siblings previously revealed in the book “The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe,” we have further confirmation that Feige was perhaps the most bloodthirsty of them all. Here’s what Joe Russo had to say about the aftermath of “Infinity War” and the earliest discussions of how “Endgame” ought to unfold:

“There were lots of rumors swirling about who was gonna die. Kevin did actually pitch, at one point, taking all the OGs off the board. We thought it was way too aggressive and that the audience wouldn’t be able to process it. And that, in fact, picking one or two characters to make sacrifices throughout the movie might give you moments throughout the film where the action could stop and you could have emotional catharsis and then continue with the narrative.”

Anthony Russo is quick to interject that this idea never quite made it to the script stage, clarifying, “That was early days. It’s not like there was ever a script or anything that had that … This was just on a conceptual level.” It’s difficult to imagine that idea ever actually coming to fruition, but it’s always fun to ponder the what ifs!