So, if you haven’t seen the new Avengers movie yet and care about spoilers… turn away now! This review will be filled with all the spoilers, so come back to this after you watch the movie! Last chance to look away…

Avengers: Endgame Review 

It seems like not so long ago that we were first introduced to the Marvel universe with the unexpected choice of Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man. Superhero movies had mostly been flops before 10 years ago, so this move was a gamble that took until the first Avengers movie to pay off. Endgame is the climax of a long story, and the Russo brothers took the time to reminisce on this legacy, and created a beautiful tribute to a movement that has changed the world.

Avengers Endgame begins quickly- no fanfare or logo. After a brief scene with Clint, we go to Tony Stark and Nebula stranded in space, immediately following the effects of Infinity War. Captain Marvel brings them home; and the first 10 or so minutes of the movie show the Avengers dealing with the tragedy of the previous film, and what their next step is- to defeat Thanos and to make this right. The Avengers, with Nebula’s knowledge, find Thanos alone on a planet, but he has destroyed the Infinity Stones. With a confirmation from Nebula that the stones have truly been destroyed, Thor cuts off the head of Thanos. The Avengers have defeated Thanos- and there’s still 2 hours and 45 minutes of movie left.

(Photo via BGR.com)

The next scene is a black screen, telling us that it has been 5 years since the snap. Everyone is trying to move on, but the world has been forever scarred. Thankfully, hope arrives with the sudden reappearance of Ant Man at the compound. He shares that there may be a way to manipulate the quantum realm to go back in time and fix things. The next few scenes show them trying to recruit some familiar faces: Tony, Bruce, and Clint, who has turned into the vigilante Ronin- killing bad guys that should have deserved Thanos’ snap. Thor is even brought back from New Asgard, although the 5 years have not treated him well. The team back together, they try to put into motion a plan- a “time heist” that will bring back the Infinity Stones, by going back in time, to previous Marvel movies, to capture the stones before Thanos is able to. While in the time heist, shenanigans occur, and Thanos from 2014 becomes alerted to their plan.

The time heist is successful, aside from the heart-breaking death of Natasha, and all the stones are brought back to Earth, 2024. Tony makes a gauntlet, and Bruce snaps his fingers- seeming to bring back everyone. But before they can know for sure, the compound is brutally attacked by Thanos’ ship that is brought from 2014 into 2024. Thor, Steve, and Tony all go head to head with Thanos, and all hope seems lost until Dr. Strange opens portals that brings back literally every character from the past 10 years of Marvel history that were in the snap.

Tony Stark saves the day in the end, putting the gauntlet on his own hand and snapping Thanos and his army out of existence. The effort, however, kills him. After his funeral, Steve takes the Infinity Stones and goes back in time to place them exactly where they were taken from. He decides to stay in the past and hunt down the love of his life, Peggy Carter, and grow old with her. He reappears at the end as an old man, passing the shield on to Sam, with a watchful Bucky nearby.

There was a lot to unpack in this movie. I feel the Russos made so many different decisions with the characters and the story, and it was an unexpected result. Personally, I rated the movie 8/10 for a few reasons, and I actually think Infinity War was a better movie. When the movie began, and some of the more odd choices were shown, I thought, ok- so it starts weird, but we go back in time and it is fixed. The 5 year gap, fat Thor, the merging of Bruce and the Hulk- all things that I thought might be reversed before the movie was over. It feels kind of weird for some of these things to be canon, and I hate it that the world felt that 5 years. With a movie this size, it would of course be too difficult to have meaningful moments from every character, but some of them didn’t have more than a line or two- or none at all. But at the end of the day, this was about the original team, and that is what we focused on. Some slap-stick moments and silly humor felt a touch out of place, but I think the tone of the movie was supposed to be much more lighthearted than Infinity War.

In my Infinity War review, I surmised at who would stay dead and who would come back- and I think I was mostly right. Gamora that was killed in Infinity War stayed dead- Gamora of 2014 though is still out there somewhere. Vision stayed dead, as did Loki. Any non-snap death stayed dead. I was surprised, pleasantly, by Steve’s conclusion- I never dreamed they would be so kind to him, even if it kind of doesn’t make sense. I kind of figured all along that Tony would die, since it would make the most sense story wise. What I was not prepared for was Natasha’s death. That entire scene with her and Clint on Vormir tore my heart out. I am glad that Clint was allowed to go back to his family, and not be punished by the story for what he had done in despair. Thor’s choice to join the Guardians was an interesting decision, and I am eager to see how that will play out in future films.

Once the new Spiderman movie comes out, this phase of the Marvel era will be over. While I am saddened at the change, I am looking forward to see what new characters they will bring to life in the future, and I hope that they can create an even bigger world than what we were given the past 10 years. So thanks, Marvel, for stories that have helped shape a generation.

Final Score: 8/10

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