It’s hard to articulate the good and the parts of Avengers: Endgame without going into spoiler territory, but for all of you, I will try my very best. I apologize if my very best is a rambly mess of feelings, but that’s where I am right now. Because this movie is, in many ways, all we expected it to be, filled with tons of nods to all the movies that came before it, and a beautiful showcase for the future of the MCU, a future that looks bright and hella, hella diverse.
Though I’m still waiting for my latinx superhero, Marvel. Come on, it ain’t that hard.
And yet, the movie is not perfect, and when the dust settles there’ll be a lot of people who don’t agree with how things went, and there will certainly be a lot of people who’d like to headcanon a different ending for some characters. That was to be expected, though. It’s almost impossible to do justice to so many people, so many journeys, and it’s certainly hard to do so while stuck in the same old ideas of what superhero movies should be.
Which, again, is why we desperately need the future of the MCU to look more diverse, not just on screen, but BTS, and especially when it comes to the writers. It’s a big dang world out there, and new perspectives can only make the Marvel Cinematic Universe better.
But I will say this for Avengers: Endgame, in general, it makes you feel for characters you didn’t think you could actually care about, so many movies in, and it reafirms what is best about most the characters you already loved before. It also sets up the future beautifully, a future where it’ll be not just Spider-Man leading the way, but Captain Marvel, Valkyrie, Gamora, Nebula, Scarlett Witch, Hope Pym, Shuri, Okoye and the Dora Milaje, and hopefully, many, many others.
Does it end the arc that started with Iron Man in a satisfying way, as Chris Evans put it? That’s for every person to decide, I feel. There’s a lot to like in this movie, and enough is left open-ended that you feel like there’s absolutely a chance for some storylines to be picked up in the future, while still giving some sort of ending to this journey we’ve been on for over ten years.
Plus, there’s enough setup for about 10 different Disney+ series, and I will gladly take all of them, especially a bunch of female centered ones. Valkyrie? Check. The Dora Milaje? Check. Pepper Potts? I’d be game. And that feels like an achievement.
As for the rest, well, next week we’ll do a real spoilery review/catharsis of our feelings about everything, but for now, I will say, regardless of what you feel at the end, I don’t think this is the movie to skip. Part of the journey is, indeed, the end, and you don’t have to agree with it, or like it, but that doesn’t mean you can escape it.
Or, like, you probably can, there’s fanfic to be had, but you probably need to watch the movie first to start producing that, right?
Avengers: Endgame is in theaters now.
