‘Avengers: Endgame’, The End of an Era

DISCLAIMER: No plot details or spoilers

Marvel Studios has dedicated over a decade to interconnected comic-inspired movies, starting 2008’s Iron Man.

After 10 years, 21 films, nearly a dozen television shows, on-going tie-in comics, and video games, merchandising, viral videos, and billions upon billions of dollars in earnings, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has done what other studios could never accomplish. The MCU films have set off a mania for interconnected multi-platform franchises and multi-film arcs.

Over the years, Marvel has added new ingredients to their already winning formula. The comedic approach in Thor: Ragnarok and Guardians of the Galaxy; the here on hero warfare featured in Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Avengers: Infinity War flips the script once again by letting their heroes lose, and lose BIG by killing off almost half the main characters. The same characters that were the prime focus of their own movies in the past were now obliterated with ease.

Now we are at Avengers: Endgame which follows Infinity War by exploring the feelings of emotional loss and helplessness at length and then expanding further into something that is not a traditional Marvel story. The remaining heroes aren’t just mourning for a couple of scenes and the plot doesn’t just give by characters that were a loss. Time goes by, and we see the aftermath of Infinity War and how characters have shifted in the time since, as well as how they plan to navigate a future without them. Of course, we get some chuckles from the comedic relief character but not enough to shift the sober feeling of the film.

Endgame spends so much time on the thoughts of love, friendship, admiration and the need for revenge. The film has a sense of a mind-bending thriller with multiple important things happening at once, but you dont get lost, as a viewer you are as equally invested in avenging the characters you spend 10+ years falling in love with. Endgame’s filmmakers pack their story with payoffs for the longest-term fans, reminding them how well they know these characters