MCU: Endurance of the Endgame
It all started with Tony Stark
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Remember the Summer of 2008 when The Dark Knight dethroned Iron Man at the box office and DC's future was looking bright, while Marvel's future was uncertain?
Boy howdy, we've come a long way in just eleven years.
*Spoilers for Avengers: Endgame throughout*
(obviously)
As an eternal DC fan (save your taunting, there's more depth to Batman than most Marvel characters combined), I must declare that we're currently witnessing film history in the making here, and despite any valid criticisms against comic book movies in general, after this week is over, Blockbuster cinema as we know it will be changed forever... Because it's here. After eleven years and twenty-two films, the final chapter in Marvel Studios' first saga of its mega comic-book-movie franchise-plan has finally dropped. And it's making a shit ton of money, as if we needed to further wank Disney for not only consuming every major film studio alive, but also to earn a record breaking one-and-a-half BILLION dollars worldwide in less than three days.
By getting the audience to this exact point, with eleven years and twenty-two films of grueling dedication, the Russo Bros. have crafted an infallible mold designed for success, riding on the coattails of every singular
The accomplishments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have literally never been done before in the history of cinema. Ever.
Even if they're not the accomplishments the internet asked for.
That's not to say these films are by any means spectacular, or flawless (though some do come close). Even with recent origin films like Black Panther and Captain Marvel (both of which being much stronger individual films than Endgame), if there's any downfall to the MCU, it's that with twenty-two films under the belt, this franchise arguably peaked only six movies in with Joss Whedon's The Avengers in 2012 (later dubbed Avengers: Assemble), as everything afterward proved to show little beyond franchise connective tissue, not to mention Assemble is indubitably one of the greatest Blockbuster films ever made.
We've all made words on how these Marvel movies are part of a machine; a formulaic workflow that's essentially churning out the same film regurgitated over and again, but that doesn't deviate the impact of 2018's Infinity War as franchise-finale setup (even if it goes little beyond setup), and 2019's Endgame as a swan-song delivery on ALL things payoff and thank you to the fans for sticking around for eleven goddamned years, bearing through all the quality but also the irrelevant, lifeless and forgettable entries of the MCU.
And YET, Endgame somehow manages to make nearly all the frustrations up until now worth wallowing through. Sure, Edgar Wright enthusiasts will forever weep for the Ant-Man movie that never was (and cringe for the Ant-Man movie we got instead), but being that Scott Lang the character is a legitimate plot device in Endgame (even if only as a means for exposition and comedic relief) makes for Ant-Man (2015) as a film we can now collectively shrug off in acceptance, rather than in denial.
This, folks, is Endgame's entire formula to being successful, and the key as to exactly why folks are not just eating it up, but going back for second and third helpings. Like the series finale of MASH, Endgame is an expression of delayed gratification; an extended thank you to the fans for journeying through the emotional highs just as much as suffering through the franchise lows. And not unlike MASH, the finale isn't the best of the bunch, but it's a reward for sticking around through the bullshit, first and foremost. Endgame (respectfully) treats its audience like a bunch of goddamned animals hungry for an actual meal; wild dogs who've been eating an assortment of mere Kibbles & Bits with the occasional bone thrown in, only to come to the conclusion that all the Kibbles have been making up a meal all along.
Yes, remember Natalie Portman was in these movies?
Remember Thor: The Dark World?
Here's a scoop of The Dark World
WHOSAGOODBOY?!?
For other explanations on this moral, see: "It's not the destination, but the journey."
(So in other words, Endgame is a LOT like MASH)
Endgame is a movie almost entirely centered around callbacks, being that the middle hour-and-a-half section of the film is literally a nostalgic trip down memory lane as Earth's Mightiest Heroes declare that they won't be ripping off Back To The Future, just before taking part in a time travel story line that's LITERALLY a ripoff of Back To The Future: Part II, down to the characters interacting with their past selves. Many folks are already complaining about the film's plot holes bigger than Doctor Strange's wizard portals, but the Russo's are at least kind enough to have the characters make self aware banter about the absurdity of time travel, so in the end if a person's concern about convoluted plot lines trumps the well rounded character arc for Steve Rogers, that person has completely missed the point of the film.
The film is obviously about Cap trying to bone Peggy.
And to be fair, Endgame is intended to be a victory lap first, and though a huge chunk of the film is literally a highlights reel it's a victory lap damn well earned. The Russo's take the gang literally through such specific moments in time, down to obscure characters, crucial moments and nostalgic events from all the sweaty nerd-lore of eleven years, that it culminates this entire universe to a point where it feels like the franchise is high-fiving the fans, and they do so by providing exceptional payoff. But in order to earn the payoff, Feige and the gang wring their audience dry of all their patience by means of time. Not the runtime of three hours, but the time of five years into the future, in which the characters grieve for their losses.
Many might disagree but Endgame's first hour is easily the strongest of the three. After the loud, action-packed Infinity War, we start with the still, cold open of Hawkeye losing his farm family to the snap (Linda Cardellini reprises her role as the franchise's MILF), which then jumps from Tony Stark and Nebula genuinely bonding while marooned in space, to being rescued by Captain Marvel (HELLO, BRIE). Back on Earth, a now skinny and unhealthy Stark essentially tells Steve Rogers to f**k off, by reiterating a PTSD-ridden speech from Ultron almost verbatim (in an incredibly well acted bit by RDJ), and from there Captain "new girl" Marvel (who's all about that superhero life), initiates the gang to go find Thanos, where Thor literally goes for the head this time, and defeats their nemesis with a single blow in the film's first big surprise (mind you, this is ten minutes into the film).
Just to reiterate, they BEHEAD Thanos TEN MINUTES INTO THE FILM. Obviously we all knew he'd come back, but WHO THE HELL SAW THAT COMING?
IMAGINE THE POTENTIAL
By following a group of various survivors dealing with therapy in their own form of grieving, be it group counseling or playing Fortnite and drinking beer with Korg (fat Thor being the film's second big surprise) we get a slow burn of the heroes' grief affirming their very character transformation. It was at this exact moment that the Russo bros. proved they had something special on their hands. Because had the film spent three goddamned hours having our heroes go, "Let's make a plan to kill Thanos once and for all" it would have just felt like Infinity War: Part II (despite the film very much so being Infinity War: Part II). But Endgame is different; it FEELS different. The way it's shot; the timing in the pacing; it's so carefully unwoven, and not slicing between quick plot-scenes every few minutes. Everything about Endgame naturally progresses by killing off the big-bad in the opening, and then taking its sweet time to utilize its plot by having the characters embark on a quest to bring back; to literally avenge their dead friends (I told you the movie was precious).
And once the time travel nonsense begins, the movie starts to have fun with itself and in doing so, it pays respect to the OG Avengers that started it all; the original six of Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
By snapping half of this franchise's characters out of existence, The Russo's use the mad titan Thanos as a means of exposition; a plot device to LITERALLY wipe out a huge chunk of the characters that have spanned well beyond the likes of Hulk and Thor, and in doing so, the filmmakers brilliantly allow breathing room for the likes of Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, because if Endgame proves anything beyond closure, it's that these two have been the beating heart of this franchise behemoth.
So much quaffed hair at once
On the other hand, we have Steve Rogers; a lost soldier from WWII-era 1940s, who romanticizes saving the planet from bullies (what a guy!) just as much as secretly desiring a romance with his one, true love Agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). Being frozen in time for over seventy years, Steve literally loses his entire world and makes up for it by spending many
All this to say, these films prove that there's legitimate character development beneath the spandex, and the Russo's go out of their way to use time travel as a means to prove how much the heroes have changed over time (it's not JUST callbacks). Take the Battle for New York in 2012, for instance. We have Hulk, now Banner-Hulk (Hey! A nod to the comics! Good for them) who attempts to pretend to be animal-Hulk we know and love, by forcing comical grunts and lazily thrashing cars, if only as a means to prove that Hulk has become just as much a comedic relief as the now "Thicc Thor."
Aw lawd, he comin
As if the core four (primarily two) don't already feel like they've come a long way, the Russo's are even respectful enough to give Clint/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Widow/Natasha (Scarlett Johansson) a sendoff that doesn't sweep them completely under the rug.
New haircuts...
Same sexual tension.
THIS THANKSGIVING:
"A LONG WAY SINCE BUDAPEST"
So, we first see Renner spend a few minutes in a rainy, violent Japan hunting down assassins, which seems to make for a MUCH more kick-ass spinoff movie, before spending his remaining time making hot and heavy banter with his old pal, ScarJo. And while these two have always played second fiddle to the primary four, their Soul Stone Vormir storyline together is one that feels emotionally earned. I mean, of COURSE they both want to be the ones to off themselves to save the other. It's a beautiful scene of selflessness between two folks who genuinely love each other, wonderfully juxtaposed against Infinity War's scene of Thanos selfishly throwing the only daughter he cares about off a cliff to her death (the two scenes play out almost identically, down to the score). Sure Natasha gets no love at the end of the film, but her sendoff with Clint is one that expresses the harmony between the characters flawlessly.
And despite Tony's ten minute funeral not including ANY appreciation for Nat's sacrifice (aside from a few words between Renner and... Scarlet Witch? Have these two characters ever even spoken?), the film is at least respectful in part as an ode to female empowerment, and that's something to appreciate in this otherwise sausage-fest of a franchise.
She may ask to speak to the manager,
But she's still a total babe
For a tribute which includes Nebula's unexpected character arc as a victim of abuse (I mean, she LITERALLY kills her old, brainwashed self), the film's final battle literally takes a moment to pause for the women of these movies, beginning with Captain Marvel bursting through the clouds and soaring through a giant alien ship to just effortlessly thrash Thanos' army. There's something about a character so powerful, who embraces an invincibility that feels near matched to the likes of Superman, and having that someone be a woman; to be the charming-AF Brie Larson, that is SO goddamn satisfying, it can only be understood once you see Thanos attempt to head-butt her, only to hear a dink, and cut back to Larson smiling, unfazed. And Larson just controls that role in way that's instantly, and unapologetically badass (I give plenty of wanks to all of it).
I mean there's LITERALLY a scene in this movie that begins with a quote like, "She don't need help - she GOT help" (I'm paraphrasing of course) where Cap Marvel leads (very specifically) all of the female heroes exclusively against the alien invasion, and the scene contains more estrogen than when Eowyn kills the Witch King in ROTK (mind you, this is EXCLUDING Black Widow). Sure, the scene might only be designed to enrage the alt-right neck-beards of the internet, but it's an effective scene nonetheless.
As for that final battle, I mean talk about forty minutes of endless payoff.
*Actual footage of Kevin Feige eating the box office alive*
Despite the final battle's very bombarding CGI in what feels like a battle of the Return of The King ripoff, the film's flaws at that point no longer matter, because the Russo's have spent more than two hours earning the audience's decade-long satisfaction. In what would later be revealed in behind-the-scenes footage from Chris Pratt's phone (because, of course), the big battle finally gives fans what they've wanted since Civil War: A reunion with EVERYBODY. Literally everybody. Save for the folks who wouldn't need to be fighting, every major and supporting hero, from nearly all of the MCU shows up, from Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) to all of the Guardians (and ALL their friends), to Gwenyth Paltrow donning one of the suits from Iron Man 3, to Tessa Thompson riding a giant Pegasus. They're all fighting together in one, absurd, giant scene at the exact same time. For a brief moment in time, (and perhaps will never be done again in film), twenty-one movies are exhaled in one, peaceful sigh of relief.
Again, Endgame is by no means a flawless film, but it pulls off an accomplishment never been seen before in cinema. Die by them, or scowl at their success, these movies have provided an incredibly worthwhile sendoff for eleven years and twenty-two films of patience. In 2008, there was no possible outcome where anyone could have foreseen this far ahead. There's simply too much involvement that's affected this franchise, from Disney purchasing the studio rights in 2009 to Ed Norton getting axed as The Hulk in 2010. Even post Avengers, with Edgar Wright walking away from Ant-Man in 2014, to Joss Whedon's feud with Feige in 2015; all these mishaps and misdirections have led for a change that's boiled down to a final showdown with Thanos; a showdown that even Whedon admits to not having given thought to, after teasing him six years ago.
More importantly than a showdown, this has been a culmination of many characters spanning multiple films coming together at once. It's connecting every single dot fanboys have been stringing together since Sam Jackson in an eye patch snuck out from behind Tony Stark's couch to tell him "There was an idea..." Oh there was an idea alright, but to see the idea unfold in real time isn't just astounding. It's practically unheard of.
FULL CIRCLE, BITCHES
To begin a franchise literally with Tony Stark, and chronologically with Steve Rogers, and then to END the franchise with their rounded character arcs and story lines coming full circle, it's more than remarkable, it's respectable. Marvel Studios' storytelling pieces have all fallen into place SO well for themselves that despite what anyone wants to say about any of the singular films, for just a moment in time everything in this franchise has finally paid off. To think back to Jon Favreau of all people bringing this franchise to life in 2008 with RDJ, and to think of just how far these movies have come since, amidst all the chaos; the formula; the mediocrity; but more importantly, among the world building; the payoffs, and the positive response to it all; it's simply mind-blowing.
And so, as time marches on, and we continue to give more money to the mouse, The Marvel Cinematic Universe lives another day as the singular most profitable franchise in movie history.
Personally, unless Feige's gonna deliver a hard-R, very violent, Japanese-based film noir spin-off with Jeremy Renner, I'm OUT.
*Checks notes*
Such film does NOT appear to be in the works, so I think it's safe to say I'm tapping out. I'm done with these movies. And being the ending we have, I'm perfectly okay with that.
*Awkwardly shuffles off stage*
GOODNIGHT, EVERYBODY
