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Sometimes the best moments on screen are the ones nobody planned. Join us as we count down our picks for the most memorable improvised scenes in the Avengers film series! From hilarious one-liners to heartbreaking farewells, these unscripted moments prove that sometimes the best magic happens when actors go off-script. Which improvised moment is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!
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00:03Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the best improvised scenes in the Avengers series.
00:10A spoiler alert is in effect.
00:17Number 10. Paper Football. Avengers Endgame.
00:21You're stranded in the middle of outer space with no prospects of ever being able to get home.
00:26Thankfully, you're not alone, but what do you do with your time?
00:31If you're Nebula and Iron Man, you sit at a table and fling paper footballs at each other.
00:42It's a nice bonding moment for the two heroes, but it may not have been part of the original script.
00:48Nebula actor Karen Gillan revealed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that the entire scene was improvised.
00:54Turns out the practice paid off later in the movie, when we see Stark flick Ant-Man in very much
01:00the same way.
01:01All right. Flick me.
01:06Number 9. Blueberry? The Avengers.
01:09In a few hours, I'll know every dirty secret shield has ever tried to hide Blueberry.
01:13It's long been rumored that Robert Downey Jr. has a habit of hiding food all over his movie sets.
01:18Vincent D'Onofrio, who starred alongside RDJ in 2014's The Judge, confirmed the rumor in an interview with HuffPost Live.
01:26In this scene from the first MCU ensemble film, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner examine the Mind Stone embedded in
01:32Loki's scepter.
01:33Mid-conversation, Tony conjures a bag of blueberries seemingly out of nowhere, offering one to Banner and another to Steve
01:40Rogers.
01:40The move was totally unscripted, just a natural consequence of Downey's penchant for snacking and for improvising lines.
01:47We have orders. We should follow them.
01:50Following is not really my style.
01:52Number 8. Secret Door. Avengers Age of Ultron.
01:56Good things happen when directors let Robert Downey Jr. ad-lib.
01:59After the Avengers infiltrate a Hydra compound, Iron Man searches for clues with Jarvis' help.
02:04The original script reportedly had no dialogue written for this moment, so RDJ got to have a little fun with
02:10it.
02:11The wall to your left. I'm reading steel reinforcement. And an air carrier.
02:17Please be a secret door. Please be a secret door. Please be a secret door.
02:21Yay!
02:22However, executive producer Jeremy Latcham should get the credit for arguably the funniest line in the scene.
02:27It was his idea to add Iron Man's excited little yay in post-production.
02:31The MCU has a knack for livening up otherwise mundane sequences with humor.
02:36And a big part of that is thanks to the cast's amazing talent for improvising.
02:41Guys, stop. We gotta talk this through.
02:46It's a good talk.
02:47Number 7. The Adults Are Talking.
02:49Avengers Infinity War.
02:51After Stephen Strange is kidnapped by one of Thanos' henchmen, Iron Man flies to the rescue.
02:56And so does Peter Parker against Tony's orders.
02:59When Tony discovers the young web-slinger on the spaceship, he's not exactly happy to see him.
03:04You should not be here.
03:05I was gonna go home.
03:06I don't wanna hear it.
03:06But it was such a long way down, and I just thought about shooting the leg.
03:09And now I gotta hear it.
03:09It's kinda stuck to the side of the ship.
03:10And this suit is ridiculously intuitive, by the way.
03:13So, if anything, it's kinda your fault that I'm here.
03:16What did you just say?
03:17That led to this classic line, which Tom Holland later revealed was all Robert Downey Jr.'s idea.
03:23It's a great bit of comic relief in an otherwise tense scene, not to mention perfectly in line with Tony
03:28Stark's character.
03:29Unlike everyone else in your life, I don't work for you.
03:31And due to that fact, we're now in a flying donut, billions of miles from Earth, with no backup.
03:36I'm backup.
03:37No, you're still away.
03:38The adults are talking.
03:39Peter is understandably a little put out by the remark.
03:42But just a few moments later, he gets redeemed when Tony officially makes him part of the team.
03:48Number 6. Nobody Would Know.
03:50Avengers Age of Ultron.
03:52Out of the dozens of movies and shows in the MCU, this one probably isn't many people's favorite.
03:58But at least it gave Hawkeye some of his best lines.
04:01Okay, look. The city is flying.
04:03We're fighting an army of robots.
04:06And I have a bow and arrow.
04:08None of this makes sense.
04:09Perhaps the funniest is this scene, during which he and Pietro Maximoff are evacuating citizens from the Sokovian capital.
04:15Clint is understandably annoyed by the smart-mouthed speedster.
04:19And he briefly considers putting him out of his misery.
04:22Nobody would know.
04:24Nobody.
04:26Jeremy Renner improvised the moment.
04:28Which is both hilarious and fits Hawkeye's lovable everyman persona.
04:32Although we do have to wonder whether Hawkeye feels a little bad about the impulse when Pietro takes a bullet
04:38for him a few minutes later.
04:48The death of a major character from any franchise would be incredibly daunting for the actors involved.
04:54So when a director asks the performers to simply improv the whole thing, the pressure added is tenfold.
05:01Such was the case for Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen when it came time to film Vision's death.
05:07We are out of time.
05:10I can't.
05:12Yes, you can.
05:13You can.
05:15Ask in the moment to just improv it.
05:17The two actors were terrified, but went ahead and did their best.
05:21Both also claim they felt the whole moment was, quote, ridiculous.
05:25So it was horrifying to try and come up with a variation of the scene on their own.
05:30Thankfully, between their performances and fantastic ending, we got an amazing send-off of sorts for Vision.
05:52Number 4. Liar. Avengers Endgame.
05:55Where is he now? Where?
05:57We don't know.
05:58Given just how jam-packed this movie was with stories, characters, and action,
06:03you'd be forgiven for not remembering this blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment in Avengers Endgame.
06:07After being rescued from space by Captain Marvel,
06:10Tony Stark returns to the Avengers compound emotionally and physically defeated.
06:15Despite this, he finds the strength to confront Steve Rogers over his role in failing to stop Thanos in the
06:20previous film.
06:21Tony, you fought him.
06:22Who told you that?
06:24You're a fighter.
06:25No, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleaker Street magician gave away the store.
06:29During this stirring tirade, Robert Downey Jr. decided to insert a single word into his character's dialogue
06:35that serves as the perfect reminder that the events of civil war are still fresh in his mind.
06:41No trust. Liar.
06:43Tony calling Steve a liar was improvised, with director Anthony Russo calling the moment, quote,
06:49one of Downey's most inspired.
06:51Number 3. Gamora, Gamora, Gamora. Avengers Infinity War.
06:56I'm gonna ask you this one time.
06:59Where is Gamora?
07:01Yeah, I'll do you one better.
07:02Who's Gamora?
07:03Hot take alert.
07:04Drax is the funniest character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
07:08Need proof?
07:09Just check out this scene in which he stupidly attempts to add something to a conversation
07:13between Tony Stark and Peter Quill, while lying beneath Tony's foot, we might add.
07:18I'll do you one better.
07:20Why is Gamora?
07:21This iconic and hilarious line was made up on the spot by Dave Bautista,
07:25who slipped it in after a few days on set.
07:27The only lines that were actually in the script were the ones spoken by Tony and Peter.
07:32Drax's line was simply Bautista becoming one with his character.
07:35We tip our caps to this mountain of a man, and his ability to catch everything that goes over his
07:40head.
07:41Nothing goes over my head.
07:42My reflexes are too fast.
07:45I wouldn't catch it.
07:46I'm gonna die surrounded by the biggest idiots in the galaxy.
07:50Number 2.
07:51Have you ever tried Shawarma?
07:52The Avengers.
07:54After battling an army of aliens, saving New York, and almost dying in the process,
07:59of course Tony Stark is hungry.
08:00Have you ever tried Shawarma?
08:02There's a Shawarma joint about two blocks from here.
08:05I don't know what it is, but I want to try it.
08:06In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, director Joss Whedon revealed that Iron Man's bit about Shawarma was completely improvised.
08:13It even inspired the creators to shoot a new post-credits scene long after production had wrapped on the film.
08:18In it, we see the exhausted gang enjoying their Shawarma in silence,
08:22while the restaurant's crew nonchalantly cleans up around them.
08:32Real-life Shawarma restaurants got a big sales bump after the movie's release,
08:36since Tony's improv made fans as curious as he was about the traditional Middle Eastern dish.
08:40Alright, good job, guys.
08:42Let's just not come in tomorrow.
08:44Let's just take a day.
08:46Number 1.
08:46Spider-Man's Last Words.
08:48Avengers Infinity War.
08:50You're alright.
08:51I don't know what's happening.
08:52I don't know what's happening.
08:54You may want to break out a box of tissues for this next entry,
08:57because it's often considered one of the saddest in the history of the MCU.
09:01Having just lost to Thanos,
09:03Tony is stunned to see his comrades starting to disintegrate before his eyes.
09:07Spider-Man is one of the last ones standing,
09:10but soon collapses into his mentor's arms.
09:13I don't want to go.
09:13I don't want to go, sir, please.
09:16Please, I don't want to go.
09:17I don't want to go.
09:19His cries of,
09:20I don't want to go,
09:21were improvised on the spot.
09:23Though, director Joe Russo also deserves credit.
09:26Russo told Holland before shooting to,
09:28act like you don't want to go.
09:30Tom Holland turned the direction into dialogue,
09:32and his performance totally sells it.
09:35I'm sorry.
09:44Did we miss any of your favorite unscripted scenes?
09:47Let us know in the comments.
09:48We'll be fine with our friends.
09:49We'll be fine with our friends today.
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