Movie: Avengers Endgame

Me, offscreen: (screaming continuously)

Emotion is something I’ve always tried to compartmentalize while writing my reviews. I make a lot of jokes about how I shout and cry and laugh a lot (see: any Marvel review in this blog), but I do honestly go to the effort of examining my own feelings and trying to provide in-text evidence to prove my points, which I hope also comes across.

However, for something as intense as Avengers: Endgame, I’m going to have to preempt this way of writing and go into it, not head, but heart-first. Endgame was never just a movie, never just an installment in the decade-long hyper-legacy of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: it’s a phenomenon, a cultural event, a whole Experience™ felt by the generation thirsting after The Next Big Franchise post-Harry Potter. And as with the final Harry Potter movie, emotion played a huge role in Endgame.

Personally, the first time I watched, I only cried once: during the opening scene with the Barton family, and then I just never stopped crying. My popcorn bucket remained full after the movie, but my water bottle was empty because I was so worried about being dehydrated (among all my other movie-related worries).

Seeing as this is so freaking long, I will list the headings here for your navigation and convenience. I'm doing this by topic instead of by what did and didn't work (GENERALLY ALL OF IT WORKED!):

• General Review (spoilery)
• Tony Stark
• The Steve/Tony Dynamic
• Character Arcs of the OG 6
• Other Characters of Note
• Big Fight Scene Moments
• Questions
• Moving Forward

General Review (spoilery!)

Endgame excelled on pretty much every level. First and most generally, it was an impossibly satisfying end to literally the biggest movie franchise in recent history. A movie this big that’s been building up for so long with such unprecedented hype has so many more possible scenarios of failing compared to succeeding (one might say it has a one in 14 million chance of succeeding, hah), but somehow it pulled it off.

I thought it was a smart move to spend the first third of the movie introducing the main conflict (having to get the dusted people back), the second third on the plot device to resolve the conflict (time travel), and the last third on resolution (big action sequence; arc resolutions per character). Really, two-thirds of the movie were spent on letting the characters breathe instead of making them fight – the latter being what recent team-up Marvel movies have been doing – and it’s time so well-spent. We get moments of true heartbreak (like Rocket and Nebula’s reunion, or Natasha almost breakdown) and moments of pure joy (seeing Tony with his family, Scott reuniting with Cassie). In a way, it’s so risky for a big blockbuster movie to spend so much time on quiet moments, but it was exactly those moments that truly built it up and allowed for such an emotional climax and resolution.

In general, this is Marvel’s strength and signature: they find humanity in out-of-this-world scenarios. It’s what made Iron Man so popular and it’s what has made every single Marvel movie work. Fights are never just physical or gratuitous CGI action scenes; they’re always full of character-building and emotional moments, whether it’s the big fight sequence at the of Infinity War, or a one-on-one fight between Steve and Bucky. On an individual level, as a regular person, you’re not really like any of the characters and you’ve never been in a similar situation, but you find yourself relating to their humanity, and thus invested in their well-being.

Endgame banks on this fact: they know you care about the characters, so whether they’re doing a big emotional moment like all the portals opening up and the dusted heroes assembling for the final battle, or innocuous things Clint and Natasha referencing Budapest again, you’re able to fully appreciate them. Every interaction scene feels earned and none of the scenes go to waste.

To compare, the film felt much looser (plot-wise) than Infinity War, which was much more structured in its storytelling, and appropriately so since it followed a more linear and straightforward plot. This is happening here and that is happening there. Not so much with Endgame, which is much more of a look into the consequences of the past conflict and exploration of what can be done to resolve it. This is smart, because you knew that at the end of Infinity War that everyone would be together and fighting, so what you wanted to see was whether they would win or not. But for Endgame, everything was up in the air. Will they try to get the stones? How? What happens after they get the stones? You never know what to expect, so it works with the looser structure because you’re more able to suspend your disbelief and just follow the narrative.

If you think about it, this movie actually had so much to do. Without even going into the broader narrative of the whole MCU, the first hour had to set up where everyone was and how they’d get back together, had to explain the narrative tool to resolve the conflict (time travel), and had to get the audience onboard with the execution. And that’s just for the intra-movie conflict. More broadly, in the series of movies of the MCU, it had to resolve little character arcs from previous movies, reference them organically, and it had to close the door on some heroes and give them the kind of ending that did justice to their respective narratives. There was so much to do.

But the Russos were strategic in how they’d balance the narrative with the characters, and I personally loved that this movie was just a little bit more character-driven than it was plot-driven. I like to think of it as character building under the guise of plot: sure, they need to time-travel to get the stones, but it was also a way to build Thor’s arc by having him interact with his mother, or Tony’s arc with Howard, or Steve’s arc with Peggy. It’s three hours long, but ain’t nobody in that theater complaining. Give me a 5-hour cut in the blu-ray and I’d still be the first in line.

So, yes, everything about this movie worked. I loved it on a general scale, and on a more specific one, I think Endgame was really able to address a lot of the things I’ve been salty about before in the MCU.

As a seamless transition, this brings us to…

Tony Stark

I’ve been rewriting this section for two days now. I never know how to begin.

Let's start with this!

Tony Stark is my favorite character.

At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, I’ll just let it all out there: my heart bleeds for everything he has been through. He’s hinted to have had at least a semi-abusive childhood (never told he was loved, always compared to Cap’s impossible standard since birth, forever feeling pressured to achieve), a traumatic early adulthood (parents died tragically while his relationship with them was complicated, got sought-after affirmation from a guy who was only nice to him because he wanted the company), and of course an awful adulthood made up of the entire MCU: basically a cocktail of betrayal, alcohol, PTSD, failed relationships, so much guilt, and an overwhelming desire to protect the world because of said guilt. All of that, and Tony manages to make pop culture jokes, be the sugar daddy of the team, find the time to make weapons and costumes for everyone, and still try to do good.

Above everything, his is a story of redemption, of a guy who keeps failing but keeps trying anyway. He turned his whole company around at the risk of profit loss after realizing the error of his war profiteering ways, the same way he turned that nuke around in Avengers at the risk of dying alone in space. He tried to protect the Earth from Thanos via Ultron, but he failed. He tried to protect it using the Superhero Registration Act, but he failed. He tried to protect it by fighting Thanos in space, but he failed. But he kept trying anyway.

More than any villain in the MCU, Tony Stark has had reason to become evil. He has enough blood on his hands, enough pain and betrayal in his backstory, that just throwing it all away and devoting his life to villainy would be so natural and easy. He certainly has enough motive for it. But he never does it.

The reason why is captured by what Tony said to Steve in Endgame, which I love: Resentment is corrosive, and I hate it.

That’s basically the thesis for his Endgame arc, and that’s why I love how much he went through in the movie. Specifically, I love how much he’s changed between pre- and post-5-year-time-jump.

In the spaceship with Nebula, Tony addresses his farewell video to Pepper. He’s fighting to survive, but he’s resigned to his fate. He starts as hopeless and making his farewell video, and ends with a new farewell video being projected. If you find this recording, don’t post it on social media. It’s going to be a real-tearjerker. He wasn’t wrong.

When he comes back and lashes out at Steve (LISTEN. I will talk about this later. In detail.), we’re reminded of how much all his actions were motivated by anxiety. His PTSD wasn’t just because of his fear of what he saw in space in Avengers 1, it’s the consequences of it that he saw in Age of Ultron. When Steve interrogates him when he comes back, it all comes barreling back and that scene where he calls Steve a liar and gives him the arc reactor really and truly SHOOK that Foundations of my Being. Capitalizations intended. But more on that later.

Five years later, Tony has mellowed down. Here, we see something implicitly positive: people may be still mourning, but it is possible to move on. Tony’s worst nightmare, a decade in the making, came true and the worst has come to pass. As he has with all his other failures, he’s learned and rebuilt from scratch. Now he’s a family man, like he said at the end of Age of Ultron – he’s married to Pepper and has a truly adorable daughter who loves him 3000. He’s much more lucid, much stabler than he has ever been. I’ve got my second chance right here.

The scene where he talks to Pepper about whether he should just lock up the solution and throw it in the lake, I thought, was so beautiful. It addressed all the quibbles I had with Tony and Pepper – that she couldn’t accept Iron Man even though it’s such a huge part of Tony, that she was never a fan of the superhero gig, especially at the end of (and beyond) Iron Man 3. This scene is poignant in that it shows one thing: Pepper gets it. Will you be able to rest? What a wonderful choice of words. Not sleep, but rest. Of course not. Knowing what he does, Tony won’t rest until the world is safe.

So he goes to the compound, makes up with Steve. He provides the tech, the upgrades, the money, like he always does. This stable Tony quips but now – and it’s great that this is all shown and not told – he’s a team player, he works well with others, he’s focused, and his mind is fully present. Without the manic anxiety and panic, this Tony is the best he has ever been, and I was smiling the entire time despite the fear of what they were doing. He also meets his father as a father now himself, helping tie up that loose end quite beautifully (and with Butler!Jarvis too!). How great to witness these character moments after all of the shit he’s been through.

Then the final battle. He fights alongside Pepper (!!!!!! My Iron Man 3 quibbles are really and truly resolved here, because my heart hurt so much seeing Tony blow up all his suits just for Pepper back then), he hugs Peter when they come across each other.

He knew when Doctor Strange held up that one finger – he knew where this was going. His last bold statement: I am Iron Man. He ends where he began, though so much of him has been changed along the way. I fully burst into a fresh set of tears here, because it was so right. It hurts, but it’s how it’s meant to be. He was always a hero, he was never going to rest until he went out protecting the world. I am Iron Man. It’s just who he is.

Same.

And with his final breath, quietly, he says Pepper’s name. His last intentional words were as a hero, but his dying breath is for his family. I loved this so, so much because after a decade of pain and resentment (hah!) at Marvel writers, they finally got it right. The scene is Tony Stark all over and it’s the send-off he deserves. Truly, if he had to go, this was absolutely the way to do it.

Tony begins and ends the movie with a farewell message. When he talks in the beginning, it’s with a note of desperation for “one last surprise,” and resignation with the knowledge that his essentials are about to run out. When he talks in the end, he’s everything Tony Stark is supposed to be: a futurist and a hero to the end. His message is forward-looking, with dreams of a prosperous world and a happy ending for everyone. He hopes Morgan can deal with the aliens and navigate the perilous gray areas of morality. He ends by saying, heartbreakingly, “I love you 3000.”

(And I also end at this point, as a person. I fully expired when Morgan said she wanted a cheeseburger. You can’t just throw that at me and expect me to be okay, Marvel.)

I hope they remember you, Thanos said in Infinity War. And they will.

Where Steve wrote Tony a love letter at the end of Civil War, so did Marvel write this movie, in a way, as a love letter to Tony Stark. I mean, he literally named this movie in Age of Ultron.

To that end, the score for his funeral scene was called The Real Hero and it’s just beautiful. Listen to it here.

This goes without saying, but a huge part of what makes Tony work is that Robert Downey, Jr. does an incredible performance of him. To be able to project holistically Tony’s wit and cockiness and make it consistent with layers of his anxiety and self-doubt is no small feat. At the same time, he’s able to convey all of Tony’s anger, anxiety, and stress all bubbling together below the surface with just a Look. It’s so amazing to watch, and as a stan, I am so glad he plays Tony and is able to communicate that. RDJ brought his shit to the table every single time he played Tony, and he seemed to always have such a deep understanding of Tony and his motivations. It’s been said so many times, but it bears saying again: Marvel really knocked it out the park by casting him. (And yes, he deserves that Oscar.)

I never feel alone when I read Tumblr posts.

The Steve/Tony dynamic

OKAY PEOPLE. EVERYONE STOP CRYING BECAUSE THIS IS THE HAPPY PART FOR ME. Hahaha. There were So. Many. Shippy. Moments. In this movie I was living for all of them. I have been so salty at the MCU not building up Steve and Tony’s relationship, and finally we spend more than a few seconds of indirect eye contact on building up their relationship. Tony calling him Mr. Rogers and commenting on his butt aside, I love how they started with anger, made up, and worked together until the very end. (But on the butt thing: yes. Oh my goodness. This also beautifully implies that when Tony made the next Cap costumes, the butt was an area of focus and, yes, I look forward to all the fic this sprout.)

Yes. Good.

Let’s go back for a while to 2012, during the Battle of New York. Their first meeting goes: “Mr. Stark.” “Captain.” And it’s pretty much downhill from there.

I’ve talked before about how the dynamic between Steve and Tony was explored in the MCU. I’m eventually going to make a graphic to track their relationship progress (because this is me), but for now I’ll just talk about them as needed. They don’t start on the best terms but at the very least, it was always clear to them that they’re on the same team. This changes in Civil War when they literally form their own teams. In Infinity War, they never interact.

And then Endgame. Let’s take things one at a time.

• First meeting. Steve is the first to run to Tony when he gets off the ship – his first direct interaction with him in two-ish years. Tony first words, heartbreakingly: “I couldn’t stop him.” (“Neither could I.”) A beat, and eye contact: “I lost the kid.” And Steve says, “Tony… We lost…” And he’s not even able to finish his sentence. Admissions of failure one after the other, and it seems like these two have reached some common ground now. No hiding, all honesty.
  
•  Morning after. Except that things are bad the next morning. Tony lashes out at Steve in what is one of the most powerful scenes for me personally. This is the scene that fully took me to church. This is the scene I want projected onto my goddamn tombstone. It is the scene that plays in my brain as I close my eyes each night. (On an unrelated note, I have been crying so much these past few weeks.)
  
  “I needed you, as in past tense. That trumps what you need. … I said we'd lose. You said, "We'll do that together too." Guess what, Cap? We lost, and you weren't there. … I got nothing for you, Cap. No coordinates, no clues, no strategies, no options. Zero, zip, nada. No trust. Liar.” Tony then proceeds to rip out his arc reactor and give it to Steve so he can use it against Thanos. Just. My ears were ringing, I could barely see the screen through my tears. It was a lot to take in. It was literally, shipping goggles aside, Tony giving his broken heart to Steve. And then he actually freaking collapses.
  
• 5 years later. I thought the time jump to five years later was so important. In particular, it was important for Tony to recuperate, for him realize how corrosive his resentment was.
  
  Don’t get me wrong: I love that he finally got the chance to say that to Steve’s face. Knowing my views on Civil War, even as my heart was breaking, I felt thoroughly vindicated. Communication is important, people!
  But after that comes growth – and they both do their fair share of it in this section of the movie. Instead of pulling away, both take initiative to reach out to the other. Steve reaches out to ask for help, Tony reaches out to give help and to give back Cap’s shield. Civil War and all that are resolved by words. Who’d’ve thunk. (It’s almost as Steve didn’t need to escalate it so much during Civ – sorry. Resentment is corrosive. I will stop.)
  
  
  
  LOOK AT HOW HAPPY STEVE IS HERE.
  
  Teamwork ensues and my favorite part in this development is how these two seem to always be next to each other. The shake hands for what feels like 10 seconds when they make up, and after Cap’s speech, they share a small smile.
  
• Time travel. Of course, the “America’s ass” thing was one of the best parts of this, as well as Tony stepping forward to block Steve from view in the Camp Lehigh elevator. But arguably the most important interaction happens before they travel to the 1970’s. Tony asking, “Do you trust me?” and Steve saying, “I do.” 
  
  
  WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE.
• Battle against Thanos. This isn’t a super poignant part, but I just have to say that I love the parallel that happens when Thanos shoots down the Avengers compound, similar to when Loki shot down the helicarrier in Avengers 1. Steve falls unconscious and Tony shouts him back to life, like Steve and the Hulk did to Tony at the end of A1. When Steve woke with a start, it was so eerily similar to Tony’s start in A1 that the words, “Please tell me nobody kissed me,” almost automatically came into my mind. (But we need to talk about Tony’s, “That’s my man,” line as he gives Steve back his shield in this scene kdjfsdlhfsdskdjf he can’t just say things like that.)Edit: Also, RDJ posted an outtake to Instagram recently of a cut scene where Tony fully saves Steve from Thanos. WE WERE ROBBED OF THIS CONTENT. This better be in the blu-ray, Russos.

At this point, we’ve come full circle from their first fight in Avengers 1. And it becomes clear that despite the lack of development of their friendship onscreen, most of Steve and Tony’s respective narrative arcs are centered on that fight. Tony says that everything special about Steve came out of a bottle, Steve says Tony’s not the guy to make the sacrifice play.

Time and again, Steve’s arc highlights his unique, personal reactions to external conflict. He questions everything he’s been fighting for in Winter Soldier, he makes selfish (yes, the writers called it "enlightened selfishness," whatever that is, but it is selfishness nonetheless) decisions in Civil War. His superhuman strength is barely ever the subject of his narrative – it’s just always there as a given. His whole arc is that he’s this guy trying to do the right thing, the righteous moral standard trying to navigate his way in a time he was never supposed to be in. In Endgame, he makes the ultimate personal decision – to go back to Peggy. But more on that later.

On the other side of the coin, Tony’s all about the sacrifice play. He tries to find a way to “cut the wire,” of course, which is how Ultron and Civil War happened, but the willingness to sacrifice has always been there. He goes into the blackhole in Avengers 1, gives his literal home address out in Iron Man 3, and puts himself on the line in Civil War. And in Endgame, of course, he makes the ultimate sacrifice.

These two characters’ lives are forever entangled. Tony ends up making the ultimate sacrifice play in giving his life, and Steve goes back to Peggy literally because he wanted to “get that life Tony was talking about.” I MEAN. I’ve spent what feels like a lifetime (but is actually around 7-ish years) explaining to people why these two just go together naturally in every form of Marvel canon, and I’m glad that the MCU has now finally followed suit – in the most satisfying way, too, for my Tony-loving heart.

Character arcs

Like I said, with a plot as simple as “bring everyone back,” this was a largely character-driven movie. A lot of focus was given to everyone who survived – in particular I want to talk about the original six. I’ve talked in length about Tony up there, so I’ll do this section in this order: Steve, Thor, Natasha, Clint, Bruce.

• Steve Rogers. For the most part, I really enjoyed this version of Steve in Endgame. By virtue of the plot, he was still mainly reactive, but he was all of the things he was never allowed to be in past Cap movies: repentant, emotional, and proactive. He makes quips! He listens to Tony without being adversarial! He reaches out to people!
  
  I love that we get him wielding Mjolnir in this because it gives the comparison of him not being able to do it in Age of Ultron (when he was all “language” and not listening and reactive) and him finally being able to do it now because he’s the best version of himself. Also, America’s ass is fully recognized both by the suit (thanks, Tony!) and by his blue and white checkered shirt and slacks. He’s wearing clothes that are actually his size instead of a size smaller! This is the Steve Rogers we deserve and we have no choice but to stan.
  

  
  But when I think about it, Steve’s development didn’t need the 5 years jump like Tony did – I think he was just written better this time around. All the developments I mention happen off-screen and we just see the result. What does happen onscreen in Steve’s arc happens toward the latter third or even latter quarter of the movie: he goes back in time and marries Peggy in what is confirmed to be an alternate timeline.
  

  
  I have my issues with this.
  

  
  First and most importantly, it really puts a huge damper on the whole messaging of Steve’s character. Steve going back in time sends the message that Steve is running away from having to deal with his present-day problems. He literally goes backward instead of forwards. It just seems so hypocritical of him to tell others to move on when apparently, given chance, he’ll go ahead nope the fuck out of his whole-ass timeline (pardon my French!). How am I supposed to look up to someone who would literally rather leave people behind without telling them and live out a whole other life somewhere else? And to “get that life Tony was always talking about”?? I’m neither Tony nor Natasha’s spokesperson, but I don’t think this is what they mean when they said that, Steve!!
  

  
  Second, I can’t imagine any incarnation of Peggy Carter agreeing to marry an actual true-to-life time traveler. She would fully punch him in the face and tell him to go back because people need him. If they actually got married, that leads me to conclude that he didn’t even tell Peggy he’s a time traveler so their marriage, not to be dramatic, is built on LIES. And if he did tell her and she agreed willy-nilly… well, that’s #NotMyPeggy! She was fully moved on less than a season into Agent Carter, I mean!
  

  
  How could the logistics of this even have worked? We know from the Russos that Steve didn’t go to the “main” MCU timeline, but another “branch,” where there are supposedly two Caps. How did that work? Did he preempt them finding the original Cap of that timeline? Did he present himself as that Cap’s twin? Did he just dance with Peggy but get married to some other woman (which would be an even bigger bummer)? He got the original un-broken shield from that timeline, so what is the Cap there using now? How did he even grow old?? Doesn’t the serum stop him from aging? Even if he went back to his pre-serum days, going by Bruce’s explanation, that past would be his future so he himself wouldn’t be pre-serum; the Steve in that timeline would be.
  

  
  It’s just a confusing scenario that leaves me more confused than satisfied. He got his dance, but at what cost? He deserves a break, but to borrow Pepper’s words, would he be able to rest? It just doesn’t seem very Steve-like. Had he gone back to dance and come back as his same-age-as-present-day self, I would’ve understood. But a whole life and he comes back as an old guy? Very strange. Maybe it’s that EPS paradox Tony was talking about and they ended up pushing time through him instead of the other way around.
  

  
  But anyway. America’s ass. Yay!
  
  
• Thor. Like most others, I am ambivalent about Thor’s arc in Endgame. On one hand, I felt this turn for his character was logical and earned – given the wealth of pain and trauma in Thor’s past, it was about time for him to crack under the pressure. His transition into the tubby, slurry, somewhat alcoholic version of himself made sense and narratively, I thought this was an interesting (and RISKY!) turn to take for the character.
  
  
  In the beginning, when he chops off Thanos’ arm and head, it’s not scored or shown in a heroic way. You don’t feel any sense of victory. It’s an out and out act of aggression, of pent up frustration and regret at having failed to stop Thanos before. Given that level of anger, as well as the fact that he has literally lost his whole family and half his whole-ass planet, it’s a wonder Thor hasn’t gone off the deep end before this. Knowing all this, his scenes in Infinity War take on a much deeper level of sadness and desperation. He was really barely keeping it together. It’s why he was so ready to die for Stormbreaker.
  
  On the other hand, I thought his weight gain could have been handled more sensitively. It was cheap to go for the fat jokes (“Hey tubby,” “You look like melted ice cream,” “Eat a salad,” “Cheese whiz,” etc.) and it cheapened what he was going through as a character. Thor himself never seemed to think his own weight was an issue – it was just part of the package of how he dealt with his trauma. This makes sense because in the first place, Thor (as a character) never actually had to work for his physique. We never got shots of him working out or anything – it was always just a given. But being part of the audience and knowing how hard Chris Hemsworth works out, the body is the first thing we notice – and for some of the characters, I suppose it makes sense that that’s what they first notice too.
  

  
  Putting aside the fat jokes, I thought there were some moments of goodness in there. Tony telling him he’s in no condition to handle the gauntlet showed that he at least understood that Thor’s trauma and guilt would not give him a clear enough mindset to snap people back. There’s a rumor going around that the first draft of the plot had Tony going with Thor to Asgard together to get the Tesseract and Aether. I think giving the two characters with the most trauma in their lives that space to interact would have been interesting. (Then again, my heart is happy that Steve and Tony went together too… Maybe we’ll leave this one to fanfiction.)
  

  
  Also, I liked that he didn’t magically transform back into his old physique when he double-wielded Stormbreaker and Mjolnir. I like that for the battle scenes, he was as badass as ever, he was given the same suit as always, and he was treated (cinematically and narratively) the same as always too, holding his own quite well against Thanos.
  

  
  Thor’s journey from trauma, to talking to his mother, to addressing said trauma, and finally letting go of this idea of who he is “supposed to be” is so deeply relatable and so much more than we have ever gotten from the first two Thor movies. I really hope there’s a Thor 4 and that he isn’t just merged into the Guardians franchise because I want to see where Taika Waititi (because no one else can touch this Thor) takes this.
  
• Natasha. I don’t hate that Natasha died, and I don’t think her arc was unfair. She said it herself: this was always where she was going. Whatever it takes. In so many ways, her arc is the one that embodies the hero story perfectly. She was trained to be an assassin with no ties to family or friends. She finds a family in SHIELD, but then that is taken away as well in Cap 2. She’s coping, fully telling politicians to go fuck themselves at the end of Civil War, and she finally found a new family she could trust again. She was never going to stop until she got them back, and she was never going to let Clint die knowing how close she is to his family.
  
  I actually didn’t expect her death to hit me as hard as it did. I was fully weeping and unable to handle it. Not only was her death scene (and the scene that preceded it) so emotionally charged, it was the knowledge that she was just gone and she’s part of the original six. Even re-watching the movie, before they go into the machine, she looks around, grins, and says, “See you in a minute.” The second time I watched, when I saw she did that, I actually teared up. NATASHA. ☹
  
  I want to also take a moment to give ScarJo, my favorite Asian actress, some well-deserved kudos in particular for that scene where she’s about to break down and she fully schools her expression back to neutral and then happy when Steve comes around. That was such a beautiful scene and I loved how amazingly Scarlett portrayed Nat in that one moment. We see how perfectly in control she is of her emotions from one moment to the next, how deeply she feels, but how great she is at hiding it.
  
  
  

  SO. GOOD. T____T

  
  Ugh. I just love it so much. Marvel better not kill off the Black Widow movie, I swear to Jesus.
  
• Clint. After everyone asking where he was in Infinity War, I thought it was actually pretty great that they opened the movie with Clint witnessing his family getting dusted. Among other things, this was a refresher that made sure I was weeping one second into the movie. His arc as Ronin was a little short-lived and one-dimensional, but I understand that they had to do that to let the story breathe and to give more time for characters to interact. I wonder, a little, if the Ronin arc was even that necessary.
  
  
  But it paid off emotionally during the Vormir scene, when Clint used his actions as Ronin as a reason to fight Natasha for the right to die. What an incredibly painful and moving scene. It went on and on and my heart was pounding and I seriously had no idea how it would end, but I was hoping they would both live or they would both die. Between the Budapest reference and their skills being equally matched, it was no wonder Natasha’s death affected me so strongly.
  
  I loved the end of Clint’s arc here. In Avengers 1, he lost Coulson, and now he’s lost Natasha. However, he gets his happy ending with his family and some form of closure in talking with Wanda. I loved that little scene between the two of them, since they bonded a bit during Age of Ultron and Civil War. I don’t know yet about him training Lila to Hawkeye, but I’d be interested to see where it’s going.
  

• Bruce. I thought Bruce’s arc was the least developed in the movie. By the time the movie really starts, Bruce had already gone through his arc off-screen – that is, his merging with the Hulk. This weird end result of a nerdy, jockey Hulk is truly hilarious (I’m cracking up just remembering his diner scene), but I have to agree with Valkyrie when she said: “I think I liked you better either of the ways.”
  
  Otherwise, Bruce was there for story support and comic relief. He provided the time machine expertise before Tony arrived, he picked up Thor, he enacted the Second Snap, but that was it. There wasn’t really any particular struggle that happened, except for what happened offscreen. I’mma tell you this though – we deserve Taika Waititi-style YouTube videos of Professor Hulk doing science stuff. @Marvel, what about a blu-ray extra where he explains time travel?? Dab!
  
  
• Other characters and scenes of note.


• I love Nebula and want a movie dedicated to her badass-ness. She’s generally stoic but she had fun playing paper football with Tony. She’s able to stick her whole ass hand and burn it getting into a laser cage to pull out the Power Stone, but she also propped Tony up to the chair when he fell asleep, held Rocket’s hand, related to Rhodey’s disability. SO MANY LAYERS. I felt Nebula was really the breakout star in this movie.
  
• Scott’s arc was pretty fun and interesting. I like the fact that there are so many emotionally charged characters in this, and while Scott lost Hope (hah! Lost Hope), he was always quite chipper. He always had his game face on. I mean, he was also one of the more underrated Avengers, but I love that this movie mostly hinged on the rat that accidentally brought him back and his stubbornness in pursuing the quantum realm. Way to stick it to the people! People were like, “Ant-Man’s a filler movie,” “He’s not gonna do much,” “So he can talk to ants.” Well, guess what! The biggest plot device in the movie was from Ant-Man! We have no choice but to stan.
  
• Team Tony Stark really pulled the fuck through for this movie, by the way. Pepper suited up, Rhodey was the first at Tony’s side when he fell, Peter hugged him and said sorry, Happy comforted Morgan, and Steve was as sad as he was when Peggy died. I love all these characters.
  
• Speaking of Morgan “Maguna” H. Stark, please let it show on the record that I would take a bullet for her. Oh my god. They really cast that role perfectly. That kid is so adorable, and she does these little Tony expressions so well, like the head tilt when he said “shit.” I about lost my whole heart to the cuteness.
  
  
  
  
  SOBBING 3000!
  
  ALSO, Tony being the absolute best dad, and the way his face lights up when she says she loves him 3000. I kept melting, you guys. Morgan – cute, inquisitive, sneaks-into-the-garage, wants-a-cheeseburger Morgan – is the actual, end-all/be-all Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart. I’m crying a little just remembering her cheeseburger scene. When she said that, I think I might have groaned out loud because of the pain. And Happy being so soft with her! I, too, would give her as many cheeseburgers as she wants. I hope she finds a family in her numerous aunts and uncles and big brother figures in Peter and Harley. It’s what she deserves.

Big fight scene moments

• PORTALS. I MEAN. Can we just? Click the damn link for the scoring because it’s everything. Even just Sam saying, “On your left,” got me freaking weeping. And then Black Panther and co are there, and then everyone, and then Peter just takes off his mask like it’s nothing. Oh my god. And then people assembling, and of course Steve –
  
• “Assemble.” S C R E A M. DO I EVEN HAVE TO EXPLAIN THIS! HE FINALLY SAID THE THING!
  
• A-Force aka Who Run The World? scene. LISTEN. People say this is pandering, but after a decade and 20+ films starring males, I say we fucking earned this scene. When everyone gets together, I believe I was biting my lip and clutching my handkerchief with the maximum amount of strength so as to not cause injury. It was so good, and even seeing GIFs of it makes me emotional.
  
• New heroes passing gauntlet. This was a series of nice moments! From T’challa remembering Clint’s name (after that scene in Civil War!), to Peter’s soft, “Hi, I’m Peter Parker,” and Carol’s, “Hi, Peter Parker. You got something for me?” Oh my goodness. You know, this whole fight scene just had me excreting various liquids from every orifice the whole time. It was just so good.
  
• Steve lifting Mjolnir. LIKE I SAID, not only was this an epic reveal moment, this was also satisfying to see after Steve’s arc between Age of Ultron and Endgame! (And the Russos CANNOT go rogue like JK Rowling and just retcon for the sake of retconning, oh my god.) When I watched this in 4D, everyone screamed appropriately. God bless.

Questions

There are so many questions to ask post-movie. A lot has been discussed, but I’ve listed some here.

• How does returning the stones work? Does Steve just… force the Aether back into Jane? Or does he punch Rocket before Rocket can get the Aether? Does he just hand the Soul Stone back to Red Skull? And how does he cut off the “branches” of the other timelines in the first place? Presumably he navigates back to the same timeline where the Avengers went back, but does Stone-Returning Steve stop Endgame Steve from getting the stone in the first place, or does he just give the stone back right after it’s taken? If, for example, he gives The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton is so good, lemme just say) the Time Stone right after Bruce takes it, won’t it still exist in that timeline that Bruce talked to Tilda in the first place, thereby creating the new branch/timeline anyway? Sigh. Time travel!
• What happens to Peter Parker and co. in school? I wrote these questions before the Far From Home trailer came out, but it seems like presumably, those who were Dusted retained their appearances from five years ago. This would be so confusing if you were in a relationship with someone who got dusted! They’d be in high school and you’d be in college, so that would technically be illegal! How messy.
• What was the clanging at the end of the credits? Six clangs for the original six Avengers? For the six stones? Was it audio of Tony working on the Mark 1 suit in Afghanistan? Is it just an homage or does it hint at Tony returning? WHO KNOWS.

Moving forward

Will I be as big a fan of the MCU without the OGs? And with James Gunn back? This remains to be seen, but at least for the new Spiderman movie, I’m feeling very much hyped and into it – if only because it seems to tie in directly to Endgame. And I love seeing that MCU canon is people mourning the loss of Tony by celebrating his legacy. They had no choice but to stan!

In summary, I thought the movie was incredible, it succeeded on pretty much every level, and it delivered satisfying endings to most character arcs. There are issues of course (and I didn’t shy away from discussing them!), but overall, I thought this was epic and wonderful and immensely gratifying.

Like I said, this was never just a movie for me. I’ve written literal academic papers on Marvel and The Avengers, and the phenomenon of fans coming together to consume this kind of media, and how that impacts their life, is literally what I want to study in graduate school. The Marvel fandom is something that has made me feel really empowered, it kept me company when I was studying and working, it has been my go-to series of movies whenever I’m feeling down. Its fandom has sparked enough fanfiction to fuel a new generation of readers and writers – I have spent countless nights in pursuit of novel-length fanfic, reading every word and feeling them in my bones. To have sparked such creativity in people is no small feat – this review alone took me weeks to finish, but it’s the funnest time I’ve had. This is 12 pages, 7000++ words’ worth of my love to Marvel. ♥

Coming up next, probably: new MCU movie rankings and 293874 movies I’ve neglected to review since … two years ago. Hahaha. Thanks for reading! ♥