We All Love ‘Avengers: Endgame’ 3000
Warning: Spoilers!
The Russo brother’s Avengers: Endgame is the culmination of 11 years of truly revolutionary story-telling. The story arcs of not just the original six, or A6 as they’ve come to be called, but the film lives of countless characters have been weaved into one final film. That film took everything we’ve ever loved about the MCU and put it on clear display for all to witness.
The original six are left to pick up the pieces after the snap in varying shades of despair. Tony Stark, played by the illustrious Robert Downey Jr., is emaciated and despondent when we first see him, which triggers a deafening roar for the need to protect him from the fans in the audience. That energy flows through the entirety of the film, carrying the viewer through one cataclysmic hurtle after the other. We don’t give up and neither will they.
Each character knows this is it; each actor knows this is it. This movie concluded the current phase of Marvel films and this was the last time all of the actors we’ve come to love would be together on screen playing the characters we’ve come to live for.
The nostalgia of each of the 22 films leading up to Endgame compounded into familiar one-liners and tear-jerking goodbyes. The directors used every reference they could from the other films to give the viewer a taste of the good times we’ve all shared in this journey.
The vibes were good but they would be nothing without the twist-and-turn story and top-notch artistry. We are ripped out of our comfort zones from the moment the movie begins, leaving us with gaping mouths and thoughts of, if that’s how it starts, imagine how it ends.
The plot only thickens with each character that’s reintroduced. Just when we think we have a shot, not 20 minutes into a total run time of three hours, our hopes are dashed and we are taken back to the drawing board. That sort of push and pull tugs us along with the characters through the story of saving the ones we lost.
And save we did, but not without cost. That, if nothing else, is the takeaway and the defining feature of this enterprise. Never before in the history of superhero films have the heroes lost. It was unexpected and jarring, but we knew we had hope because there was one last film. The innocent child in me, if I were to have one, was hoping without hope that this film would tie things up in a delightful little bow and we’d all walk out pumping our fists and patting ourselves on the back.
I should’ve known better.
Marvel was never one to hold to the cultural standards put in place for their genre. There was no way we were getting out of this unscathed. The losses we took in Endgame will forever be held as a perfect example of film imitating life. In real life, we don’t come out of impossible situations without losing something or someone and neither did the Avengers.
Their loss is our loss and we will be forever grateful for what those six characters, and all of the amazing women and men of Marvel, have done for every fan and fanatic our there. We’ve stood with you, and now we fall with you. We love you 3000, Tony Stark.
Lost in dictation,
Jess