Thanos Snaps Half the Universe to Dust in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ | RT’ 21 Most Memorable Moments

It was perhaps the biggest cliffhanger in movie history and, for Marvel fans, the most devastating: Thanos (Josh Brolin), having acquired the Infinity Stones and evaded the Avengers’ attempts to thwart his plans, snaps his gauntlet-covered fingers and wipes out HALF THE UNIVERSE. Cue credits! While most viewers knew everything would be somewhat neatly resolved in the next Avengers movie, and that Spidey and co. weren’t REALLY gone for good, the Snap was still one of the most radical moves in modern mainstream cinema. (Just ask the fans screaming and sobbing at the screen when the movie ended.) In this exclusive interview, directors Joe and Anthony Russo reveal why they decided to end ‘Infinity War’ on such a dark note, how they arrived at the image of “dusting,” and why, in the end, it was Thanos’s story and the Snap was the perfect ending to their Avengers epic. This behind-the-scenes breakdown of the scene is part of Rotten Tomatoes' Most Memorable Moments series, celebrating the most electrifying, terrifying, moving, and hilarious movie moments from the last 21 years.