Avengers Endgame vs Game of Thrones finale: Anthony Mackie tears apart HBO show, jokes about the coffee cup

Avengers: Endgame actors Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan were asked which pop-culture property had a more satisfying conclusion between the Marvel superhero epic and HBO’s fantasy series Game of Thrones. While their answer wouldn’t surprise anyone, Mackie didn’t shy away from acknowledging the backlash that the GoT finale generated.

Speaking to MTV News, Stan said that for him, the choice was clear. It would be Endgame. Mackie chimed in and implied that out of the two, fans seemed to really have problems with one. “Nobody watched Endgame and said ‘Man, Did you see that coffee cup?’ You must have missed something if the biggest press about your joint is a coffee cup. But, it was great acting by the coffee cup, I’m smelling Emmys for that coffee,” he said.

Also read: In a battle between Avengers Endgame and Game of Thrones, there was one clear winner

Mackie was referring to the mass uproar that took place online after fans noticed a modern coffee container in an episode of the show. HBO acknowledged the gaffe and digitally erased the container out of the online versions of the episode. But in the very next episode, fans noticed a plastic bottle under a character’s chair.

Mackie and Stan will reprise their roles as Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes in Marvel’s upcoming streaming series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

While the final season of Game of Thrones was met with fan and critical ire - it has a 58% score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes - Avengers: Endgame was universally acclaimed, and recently dethroned Avatar as the highest grossing film of all time. Ratings-wise, GoT was no slouch, as the final season registered record viewership, despite criticism.

While Marvel president Kevin Feige took a victory lap at the recent San Diego Comic-Con, where he unveiled the upcoming slate of films, Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and DB Weiss pulled out at the last minute.

Meanwhile, HBO programming chief Casey Bloys recently commented on the fan petition that demanded a redo of the final season, and had received millions of signatures. “There are very, very few downsides to having a hugely popular show, but one I can think of is when you try to end it, many people have big opinions on how it should end. The petition shows a lot of enthusiasm and passion for the show, but it wasn’t something that we seriously considered,” he said.

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