Endgame: A deeper look

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If there was one word to describe the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the entire English vocabulary would fit into that word. Such is the expanse of the biggest movie franchise of the generation and it has transcended the boundaries of space and since recently, time as well.

Endgame, the fourth installment of The Avengers series stands a the pinnacle of the new heights reached by the MCU since it's inception more than a decade ago. The title Endgame has different literal interpretations. One of it is that it brings to a close an era that started with Iron Man also called the Infinity Saga as dubbed by Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios, that consists of Phases 1, 2 and 3. It seems as if only yesterday we used to see post-credit scenes of different shades of Thanos in his levitating chair.

When we look back at those movies now, we realize how complicated the process had been for the story-writers and makers to try and place each of the Infinity Stone in standalone movies adjusting it with the intricacies of the plot. Only now when we re-watch those those movies do we realize how they had been leading up to this point. All while biding their time and disguising the Stones as something else. It was a risk. This has been never done before and if it had backfired, the consequences would have been catastrophic. But it didn't. All the hard work the makers put into this franchise paid off. Endgame keeps smashing records and has reached the two billion dollar mark. It's on it's way to topple Avatar and become the highest grossing movie ever.

Let's explore the movie further. In short it's safe to say that the movie leaps far ahead of expectations. Of course some of our fan theories did come true like time travel using the quantum realm, Captain America wielding Mjolnir and even the title itself but what we didn't expect were Black Widow's death, Cap vs Cap fight, our favourite fat Thor, etc.

As much as there were both delightful and tragic surprises throughout the movie, it took us to a deeper level of empathy as well. It was emotional at times. Five years ago, people would've mocked you if you told them a superhero movie made you cry but Marvel Studios has changed the way how people conceived superhero movies. It might have been any of the deaths, or even those subtle moments when Scott Lang (Ant-man) meets his daughter after the five year jump or Tony Stark's affection to his daughter ("I love you 3000"). Any of those scenes were sure to make you cry. The reason is that those movie characters have grown closer to our hearts. We empathize with them because we can relate to them as well. One of the biggest distinction between Marvel and DC comics had been Marvel's ability to create grounded characters. Heroes whom the readers could relate to while DC comics usually made characters-portraying them as gods.

In fact, Endgame was about family and sacrifice as much as it was about defeating Thanos and restoring the lives of those who were decimated by the Snap. The heroes had their own family to live for but they sacrificed themselves so that others could live. This was the battle of their lives and they were ready to push further regardless of the stakes.

Of course, the movie did justice to the fans as well: comic and movie alike. There were plenty of badass fan service moments that gave us goosebumps like the Cap vs Cap fight or when he wielded Mjolnir, Tony Stark's final line in the movie, or the set of all the female Avengers coming down bearing against Thanos ("She's not alone"), or the entrance of Black Panther, or Doctor Strange lifting his finger to tell Iron Man it was time and obviously the line fans have been waiting for Captain America to say for years: Avengers, assemble. As much as we've seen badass moments in the previous Avengers movies, we now realize that they have been saving the best ones for this movie.

It is the acting that also stands paralleled to the storytelling. Robert Downey Jr has played the character so well for the last decade that we don't know where Tony ends and Robert begins. They both are one. It was his movie that kicked off the now successful franchise and Marvel Studios remains ever thankful for that. And it was heartbreaking to see him snap knowing that it would kill him, knowing that he had just started living his life. But Robert Downey Jr did it and we are grateful to him for making the best career decision of his life.

Honestly, we never could have asked for a more satisfying send-off for Steve Rogers, the heart in the team. He finally got to meet his date and retire peacefully. We knew it all along (and so did Thor) that we was always worthy of wielding the Mjolnir. And he had some of the best moments in the movie. And he finally proved that his powers did not come out of a bottle but from his heart. Chris Evans, like Robert Downey Jr was made for this role. The both of them will be truly missed. Team Cap or Team Iron Man? Nah. Team Avengers.

The mighty Thor seemed a bit too mighty in Endgame. But fat Thor was a fitting concept. He has had one of the best character arcs in the MCU and this showed a different way how people handled grief. He had lost his parents, his brother, his place, his girlfriend, his favourite weapon, his people but he still managed to chug down barrels of beer and play Fortnight. In the end it was satisfying to see his maturity when he made the Valkyrie as the ruler of New Asgard and went away with the 'Asgardians of the Galaxy'. It was a risk Chris Hemsworth took willingly. He had seen how humour worked well for Thor and he was ready to take him in another direction to show that you don't have to be buffed to be a superhero. It's all about willpower.

All the other characters were satisfying as well. Hulk and Bruce Banner finally merged to become Professor Hulk. Black Widow sacrificed herself for her only family-the Avengers. Hawkeye finally got back to his family. Tony Stark's funeral scene itself showed how much the MCU had grown by panning the camera on each of the different characters it had created over the years.

As much as we loved Christopher Nolan's take on the superhero genre in the Dark Knight trilogy, Marvel Studios has shown us how a cinematic universe should be built. With the end of Phase 3 with Spider-man Far From Home, Marvel has opened up a whole sea of possibilities. As Endgame and the latest Far From Home trailer has hinted about alternate realities and dimensions, we can expect a lot of non-linear storytelling. Since Black Widow died in Endgame we're still not sure what her movie will be about. It could be a prequel but this is the MCU and we have already seen Loki getting resurrected numerous times, even the scene in Endgame where he escapes with the tesseract ended with cheering and applause from the whole audience. So we cannot be really sure where MCU will be heading with this one.

After Thanos, the next most probable supervillain could be Galactus and with the acquisition of the characters like the Fantastic Four, the Silver Surfer, the X-Men by Disney from Twentieth Century Fox, we will most probably be seeing a lot more of them in the future as well. With the unprecedented success of Black Panther that fetched three Academy Awards and three nominations, Marvel Studios is also looking forward to create more diversity on the big screen which will include characters like Shang Chi and Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel).

Even if Endgame does not earn any Oscar awards it doesn't matter. It has gone far beyond that and has won our hearts. And from here onwards, one thing is for sure: Marvel still has plenty of stories to tell and it won't be stopping for a pretty long time.

Cover Image courtesy of radiotimes.com