*Spoiler Alert*
The most highly anticipated movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) was released on April 26, 2019. “Avengers: Endgame” made its mark as the 22nd film of the franchise with its addition providing the conclusion to the 11-year story arc known as ‘The Infinity Saga’.
With the way that “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018) left its audience gobsmacked and teary-eyed over the fates of our beloved characters, it left everyone wondering how Endgame was going to fix what Thanos (Josh Brolin) achieved at the end of Infinity War. Would it be possible to reverse the devastating Snap that had annihilated half the universe’s population? Not only were the options explored in Endgame, the mission was done in a way that provided a huge fan service to its audience. Endgame did an outstanding job of recalling the MCU history and revisiting many previous concepts that could tie-in to the current mission and doing so in a way that could still surprise the long-term fans.
Endgame begins 22 days after the events of Infinity War when Thanos used the six Infinity Stones to decimate half the universe. With the world reeling over what it is to lose half of its existence, the remaining Avengers rush to find a way to reverse it all. Unfortunately their quick mission wasn’t the fix that everyone hoped, leaving them all to struggle with the concept of moving forward after such a devastating loss.
The film jumps five years later to showcase how much of a mess the universe has found itself in. Our characters are trying to cope with this massive lost as best they could yet the audience witnesses what a spark of hope could do for all of them. There is a very slim chance that they could undo everything that Thanos had done, yet that doesn’t stop the surviving Avengers from trying.
With the completed mechanics behind their plan to time-travel to save the universe, our characters revisit many key moments within the MCU while trying to not jeopardize their future even further. Some key revisits happened within the events of previous films like “The Avengers” (2012), “Thor: The Dark World” (2013) and “Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014) while also tying characters from other MCU films into those original events (like the Ancient One from 2016’s “Doctor Strange” making an appearance in the Battle of New York in 2012). Those visits allowed for past storylines in the MCU to be witnessed with new perspectives as our characters try to infiltrate their past and take what they need to secure their chance for a better future. This mission is truly nostalgic to any fan while giving the opportunity to shed some new light onto known plot holes that were left unsolved when the films were originally released. It’s another moment to truly demonstrate how detailed the MCU has been in fleshing out their universe to allow such a cohesive world to exist. With such a build-up in the works, the epic showdown does not disappoint when the audience witnesses the Avengers fighting against Thanos and his army, who now have the goal of decimating the entire universe to start anew.
It truly is a marvel, no pun intended, to see 11 years of storytelling displayed over 22 films that all exist within this well-rounded and established universe. To have all the pieces of every film come together in this one massive Endgame showdown, it was such a tremendous feat. What the production was able to accomplish, what the amazing cast was able to portray, and what the writers were able to create, without any of them, this franchise could not be possible. They are what make the fans and first-time viewers want to come back and see the films again and again, to analyze it to the tiniest detail in anticipation of the newest MCU adventure. With such a showdown in Endgame, it is not the end of this universe. It might be the end for some characters and their journey but they will live on through the other characters that have more to explore in the MCU.
If you haven’t seen Endgame now, without giving away any spoilers, I hope that this review has hyped you up for what it is that you should be watching. Endgame was epic. It was worth the wait. It instilled such a marvel of such magnitude. There’s no telling what the MCU has planned next.
The cast of the surviving Avengers included Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans), Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), James 'Rhodey' Rhodes/War Machine (Don Cheadle), Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson).
Update: As of May 5 2019, Endgame has earned the title of being the second highest-grossing film of all time, with it being the highest-grossing film of 2019. In 11 days, Endgame has surpassed the grossing sales for the entire theatrical run of Infinity War.
Also Known as: Avengers 4
Directors: Anthony Russo and Joe Russo
Writer/Screenplay: Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely
Based on: "The Avengers" by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Country of Origin: USA
Language: English, Japanese and Xhosa
Length: 181 minutes
Original Release: April 26, 2019
Publication Note:
This was written as a personal interest piece for this blog.