Infinity Wars writer Gerry Duggan sat down with CBR to talk about the event series’ second act. During the interview, Duggan said that Gamora’s heel turn, or, sans wrestling jargon, her turn from heroic Guardians of the Galaxy staple to finally killing Thanos was the plan all along.

“This was always the story that we wanted to tell and were approved to tell,” said Duggan, meaning that Marvel was on board even though Gamora is a hero, if not fully an anti-hero, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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Duggan never wavered on Gamora’s direction. “I don’t take a heel turn lightly and Gamora being the antagonist here made a lot of sense for the story,” he said. “Some things have changed over the years, but not that.”

Duggan consulted with one of his most notable peers, Brian Michael Bendis, during the story’s inception long ago. “I remember getting some really good advice from [Brian] Bendis about it. That’s how long it’s been in the works. So it’s been a long time coming and I’ve been very grateful for the reaction to it.”

Likening the Guardians to a family, Duggan said that they are at the heart of the story. “If you dipped the story in acid and burned all the weirdness away, you’d be left with a story about a family.”

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Duggan also believes Gamora became the central figure of that family unit because her story arc is so strong. “The Guardians are that family, and Gamora is center stage now because her family story has blossomed and is sort of overpowering the family story we were telling before,” said Duggan.

Now that Gamora figures most prominently of all Guardians and has overpowered the story, so to speak, she gets the chance to show how deadly she really is. “She’s long been called ‘the deadliest woman in the galaxy,'” said Duggan, “and it’s not often that we get to see her earn that title.”