Avengers: Endgame
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"Everybody wants a happy ending. Right? But it doesn't always roll that way. Maybe this time. I'm hoping if you play this back, it's in celebration. I hope families are reunited, I hope we get it back and something like a normal version of the planet has been restored, if there ever was such a thing. God, what a world. If you told me ten years ago that we weren't alone, let alone, you know, to this extent, I mean, I wouldn't have been surprised, but come on. The epic forces of dark and light that have come in to play. And for better or worse, that's the reality Morgan's gonna have to find a way to grow up in. So, I thought I better record a little greeting, in the case of an untimely death, on my part. I mean, not that death at any time isn't untimely. This time travel thing we're gonna try and pull off tomorrow, it's got me scratching my head about the survivability of it all. Then again that's the hero gig. Part of the journey is the end. What am I even tripping for? Everything's gonna workout exactly the way it's supposed to. ...I love you 3,000."
— Tony Stark
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 "This is the fight of our lives. And we're gonna win. Whatever it takes."
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Avengers: Endgame is a 2019 American epic post-apocalyptic superhero drama film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the direct sequel to Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and the 22nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by The Russo Brothers (Anthony and Joe Russo) and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, and features an ensemble cast including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Danai Gurira, Benedict Wong, Jon Favreau, Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Josh Brolin. In the film, the surviving members of the Avengers and their allies attempt to reverse the damage caused by Thanos in Infinity War. It premiered in Los Angeles on April 22, 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on April 26, as part of Phase Three of the MCU. Two sequels, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (a fifth film) and Avengers: Secret Wars (a sixth film), are in development, planning to release in 2025, and set to end the sixth phase of the MCU.
Plot
Ever since his encounter with Captain Marvel back in 1995, Nick Fury believed that a group of unique individuals with supernatural abilities could come together and protect Earth from otherworldly threats, this idea came to become The Avengers. For years the Avengers worked together to protect Earth, but a conflict over the Sokovia Accords split the Avengers apart, as a result, they were unable to stop Thanos the Mad Titan from obtaining all six Infinity Stones and erasing half of the population in the universe. Nick Fury was one of the victims of the Decimation but right before he disappeared he sent an S.O.S. call to Captain Marvel who soon enough reached Avengers HQ.
In 2018, twenty-three days after Thanos erased half of all characters in the universe, Tony Stark and Nebula Kanika Mann, the only two survivors of the Battle of Titan, were stranded at the Benetar about to run out of oxygen when Captain Marvel found and brought them back to Earth. Back home Tony scolded the Avengers for not listening to him when he said Earth needed protection beyond the Avengers before collapsing. Carol Danvers suggested finding Thanos and taking the Infinity Stones to bring back all the Decimation victims, with Nebula telling the group where Thanos left. What's left of the Avengers raided Thanos' retirement farm only to find a broken defenseless Thanos; using the Infinity Stones to snap his fingers nearly killed him, and now he destroyed the stones to ensure no one can undo his victory. Enraged, Thor decapitated Thanos knowing their victory over him was hollow as now there was nothing that could bring back all of the victims.
5 years later, in 2023, planet Earth succumbed to despair and chaos over the loss of half of the population, Captain Marvel returned to space to scout any planets she could find only to find every society she ran into to also be in total disarray as well. One day, a rat walked over Luis' Van and accidentally activated the Quantum Tunnel there, releasing Ant-Man who was left stuck in the Quantum Realm right before the Decimation happened. Scott, however, had only spent five hours in the Quantum Realm and soon realized that he technically traveled to the future and caught up with the Decimation, also learning that he was presumed to be a victim. Realizing that he effectively time traveled, Scott went to Avengers HQ where Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers resided and suggested using the Quantum Realm to go back to the past and fix the Decimation, however with Hank Pym gone none of them knew anything about the Quantum Realm.
The three visit Tony Stark to talk about time travel, but in the past five years Tony married Pepper and now has a daughter, Morgan Stark. Tony, not wanting to risk his new happier life, refused to help. The group next visited Bruce Banner who has since permanently merged his consciousness with Hulk's body, becoming the "Professor Hulk". Hulk agreed to help but Quantum mechanics were outside his expertise so his early time travel tests on Scott went wrong.
Meanwhile, Tony figured out how to safely travel the Quantum Realm to reach the past after all, and after some convincing from Pepper agreed to the plan under the condition that Morgan must continue to exist after they mess with the timeline. Black Widow tracked down Hawkeye who had become a serial killer after his family vanished during the Decimation and convinced him to return. Hulk visited Thor, who had established an Asgardian town in Scotland for the few Asgardians left but fell into depression and became an overweight alcoholic, nonetheless, Thor agreed to join the Avengers once more.
Tony developed a prototype time travel suit to work alongside a more advanced Quantum Tunnel, but Scott warned that without Hank Pym to produce more Pym Particles they only have a very limited supply to work with. Hulk also explained that traveling to the past wouldn't change the present but instead create alternate timelines. Hawkeye volunteered for a test run, which after proving to be successful the Avengers began to prepare their time travel plans.
The Avengers planned a "Time Heist" where they steal the Infinity Stones from different key points in history and bring them to the present, so they can create a new Infinity Gauntlet to bring back everyone who disappeared. Rocket and Nebula returned from space to join the Avengers to participate in the Time Heist. Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, and Ant-Man traveled to the Chitauri invasion of 2012 when the Space Stone, Mind Stone, and Time Stone were all found in New York. Thor and Rocket traveled to Asgard in 2013 when Jane Foster was infected by the Reality Stone. Black Widow, Hawkeye, Nebula, and War Machine traveled to Planet Morag in 2014 right before Star-Lord stole the Power Stone and so Black Widow and Hawkeye can go to Planet Vormir to get the Soul Stone from the Red Skull.
Hulk founds the Ancient One who explained that Doctor Strange wasn't a sorcerer yet and warned that taking away the Infinity Stones to fix the present would mess up the different timelines they're creating, but agreed to give the Time Stone after Hulk promised that once the present is fixed, they'll return the Infinity Stones to the moment they were stolen so that the timelines won't be affected. Captain America obtained the Scepter with the Mind Stone after tricking HYDRA agents who were about to steal it and defeated his previous self. Iron Man and Ant-Man attempt to take the Tesseract but the Hulk of the past ruins their plan allowing Loki to flee with the Tesseract. Running out of options, Tony suggested going further back in time to a place where both the Tesseract and more Pym Particles could be found while Ant-Man and Hulk take the stones they successfully stole back to the present. Rocket and Thor stole the Aether from Jane Foster while Frigga comforted Thor and helped him regain his confidence, Thor also took the chance to take the Mjölnir of 2013.
The War Machine and Nebula effortlessly knocked out a dancing Peter Quill and obtained the Power Stone, but right before Nebula would return to the present her signal was hijacked by the Thanos of 2014, alerting him of the Avenger's plan to undo the Decimation in 2023. Thanos kidnapped Nebula and had the Nebula of 2014 go pose as her future self and sabotage the Time Heist, meanwhile the Nebula of the present desperately tried to convince the Gamora of 2014 to stand against Thanos knowing she would eventually do so in the future. Stark and Rogers arrive at a S.H.I.E.L.D. base in 1971 were both Hank Pym and the Tesseract were located, they stole Pym Particles and another Tesseract without much trouble, but Stark ran into his father Howard Stark while Rogers saw Peggy Carter. Tony had a long talk with Howard, who was unaware that Tony is his future son, and finally made peace with his father, before leaving with Rogers back to the future. Black Widow and Hawkeye were guided by Red Skull to the Soul Stone but are told that to obtain the stone one of them must die, the two competed to be the one to make the sacrifice but Romanoff won and threw herself off the cliff, ending her life and giving Barton the Soul Stone.
All of the Avengers returned to the present with the Infinity Stones having succeeded in the Time Heist but are devastated to learn that Romanoff gave up her life in the process. Despite the tragic loss, Stark proceeded to create an Iron Infinity Gauntlet to house the stones and prepare a second snap, with Hulk volunteering to do the snap as he had the best chance to survive. Unknown to anyone, the Nebula of 2014 had replaced the present Nebula and sneak into the Quantum Tunnel to bring the Thanos of 2014 into the present. Hulk's snap was successful and all the vanished victims slowly started coming back. However, their victory is short-lived as Thanos immediately laid siege to Avengers HQ destroying the place and leaving all but Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man trapped under the ruins of the building.
Past Nebula attempted to take the Iron Gauntlet from Hawkeye, but she was defeated by Present Nebula and Gamora. Thanos declared that the Avengers made him realize that erasing half of the population won't save the universe as he had theorized, now he'll instead kill every single living being in the universe then create a new one based on his ideals. Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America all battle Thanos but are overpowered, right before Thanos killed Thor Captain America lifted Mjölnir and used it alongside his Shield to face Thanos one-on-one, but he's also defeated and Thanos broke the Vibranium shield. Thanos then summoned his entire army preparing to destroy Earth. Captain America, now puffing, got a reminder from Sam about the warp portals that started appearing from which every single superhero who had perished in the Decimation appeared starting with T'Challa, then Dr. Strange, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man, the Masters of the Mystic Arts, the Wakandan Army, Howard the Duck, Captain Marvel, Pepper Potts wearing her own Iron Man suit dubbed "Rescue", and the rest of the Avengers having escaped the ruins of Avengers HQ. Now with every hero truly united, Captain America declares "Avengers! ...assemble."
An all-out war broke between Thanos' army and the ultimate Avengers army. All of the heroes fend off Thanos' forces while keeping the Infinity Stones away from the Mad Titan, but Hulk reminded them that they need to return the Stones to their periods. During the battle, Stark asked Doctor Strange if the 1 in 14,000,605 scenario where they win was happening, but Strange couldn't answer. Thanos eventually destroyed the Quantum Tunnel and snatched the Iron Gauntlet with the Infinity Stones. Captain Marvel made a last-ditch effort to stop the Mad Titan, but even she was defeated. At the last moment, Iron Man tackled Thanos and tried to take the Gauntlet but was thrown away. Thanos declared his victory, "I am inevitable!", and snapped his fingers, only to find the Stones were not on the Gauntlet anymore, Iron Man had pulled a sleight of hand and transferred the Stones from the Iron Gauntlet to his suit. Tony declared "I am Iron Man!" and snapped his fingers, erasing Thanos and all of his armies from existence, putting an end to the Mad Titan once and for all, however, the power of the Infinity Stones was too much for Tony to handle. Iron Man died peacefully having finally succeeded in stopping the tragedy he foresaw in that vision all those years ago.
A funeral was held for Tony Stark honoring the very first superhero that Nick Fury recruited to the Avengers and the one who put an end to the conflict of the Infinity Stones for good. Steve Rogers volunteered to return all the objects that were stolen during the Time Heist to their periods, but to everyone's surprise, he returned as an old man. Steve calmly explained that after he returned everything he decided to stay in 1945 and live the 70 years he missed out when he was frozen and married Peggy Carter. Sam and Bucky approved Steve's decision and Rogers made Sam the new Captain America.
In 1945, Rogers and Carter are seen dancing together, where they express their love towards each other, and they kiss.
Why It's the Ultimate Endgame
- It's the epic culmination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's "Infinity Saga" arc, and also the culmination of the Avengers quadrilogy, concluding all the events that took place over the previous twenty-one movies in the franchise, and knocks it out of the park.
- Incredible and perhaps the best soundtrack composed by Alan Silvestri. While Infinity War takes the music Up to Eleven, the musical mastery in this film takes it Up To 100 (and possibly beyond).
- Traffic's "Dear Mr. Fantasy" is played over the Marvel Studios logo, adding an astonishingly appropriate bluesy feel to the first act. And on re-watch, it becomes a suitable song for the End of an Age of the MCU.
- "Supersonic Rocket Ship" by The Kinks plays when Professor Hulk gives Scott a taco, and when he and Rocket go off to find Thor in New Asgard. It's a surprisingly optimistic song for a post-Snap world, and it really gives the encouragement needed for undoing the Snap.
- The blood-pumping "Doom and Gloom" by The Rolling Stones plays as the Avengers prepare to go back in time, which is more than inspiring for a trip through time.
- Though it only plays for a few seconds, "Hey Lawdy Mama" by Steppenwolf makes stepping into The '70s feel all the more alive and is the perfect send-off music for Stan Lee's final cameo.
- The last 30 seconds of "No Trust" echo the opening for the title card of Infinity War, but this time with extra trumpets and drums to emphasize that this is a finale to the Infinity Saga.
- "Totally Fine" is an appropriately dark reprise of "Porch" from the last scene of Infinity War before the credits. Whereas "Porch" has a serene and bittersweet tone, emphasizing that Infinity War is Thanos' film, and that though he had to sacrifice so much, he completed his goal and is at peace in his garden, "Totally Fine" has a more intense and dark reprise of the music with drums, showing that this is now the Avengers' film, in which they just found out Thanos destroyed the Infinity Stones and the damage he did is irreversible. This makes the tone shift to downer since the Avengers are once again the protagonists, and they have all lost hope. There's also a beautiful moment of Rewatch Bonus. Near the end of "Totally Fine," when Tony is recording his video will, re-watchers will notice the theme is very familiar. It's a section from "The Real Hero", beautifully book-ending the movie.
- "One Shot" feels like a deliberate Call-Back to "A Promise", much like how the scene it plays over calls back to Fury's promise that the Avengers will return when mankind needs them most, with the Avengers fulfilling their promise by being back when not just mankind, but the whole universe needs them to set things right. Top it off with Captain America's Rousing Speech and the Avengers setting off to retrieve the Infinity Stones from the past, and it's the ultimate They're Back moment of the MCU.
- "Becoming Whole Again" deserves props for setting the very bleak tone of the brave new world that Scott, who had only spent what he felt was five hours in the Quantum Realm, returns after five years. From his shock and awe at the world around him to the sheer terror that befalls his face when he realizes that he was pronounced dead for five years, this track does an amazing job at scoring what the world has become in Scott's absence. Thankfully, the track takes a turn for the sweet towards the end when Scott tearfully reunites with his now teenage daughter, whom he's so happy to see.
- The heist-infused version of the Avengers theme that plays in the scene where the group discusses the plans for the Time Heist, complete with subtle bongos. It's a small addition to the classic theme, but sets up a fun energy going into the high-stakes heist.
- The latter portion of "Tres Amigos" (which plays as Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor confront 2014 Thanos in the ruins of the Avengers Facility) contains an intermittent string motif that perfectly captures how far Thanos has jumped off the slippery slope and truly become the Mad Titan as he announces his new plan to use the Infinity Stones to destroy the current universe and build a new one.
- There's so much to dissect regarding "Portals", including a brilliant Call-Back to "Assemble" from the first Avengers film.
- "Portals" builds up its majestic fanfare, until Professor Hulk shows up, with the piece transitioning into the same bombastic prelude that played during Banner's transformation into the Hulk before punching the Leviathan in the first film.
- In the first film, before "Assemble's" prelude, there was a portion with only strings. During "Portals", Banner and the Hulk are now merged; there's no hesitation or tension on the part of Banner, so "Portals" transitions straight to the prelude.
- In both films, it's Banner's emergence from a pile of rubble along with the prelude that signifies that all the Avengers are ready for the final fight. It's one reason why Doctor Strange asks Wong "Is that everyone?"
- The bombastic prelude in "Assemble" lasts for ten seconds. In Endgame, it's twenty seconds, to denote the enormity of the moment and the totality of all the current MCU heroes being assembled.
- The Avengers once more "reload", with Captain America "reloading" by summoning Mjölnir.
- Once the Avengers and Thanos' forces collide and engage in combat, it's a reprise of the music from the most famous shot of the first Avengers that showed them all in action in a single uninterrupted take. No piece could have been more appropriate.
- During "The One," there is a reprise of "One-Way Trip," (starts from 1:27) the music that played as Tony flew into space in the first Avengers film. The fact that it fits so seamlessly in Endgame that it took some good-eared fans to make the connection is a testament to Silvestri's abilities as a composer.
- "The Real Hero", a somber piece near the end of the film when we're shown Earth's lives slowly returning to normal, then Tony's Video Will and his funeral. We do remember who is the one hero who gave it all.
- The second half of "This is My Choice" starting around 2:17 from Captain America's first movie is reprised when Old Man Cap hands over the shield to Sam Wilson/Falcon. This piece is used in the first Captain America movie when Steve tells Peggy he's going to crash Red Skull's plane, and he assumes it will end in his death. It is used again when Steve actively makes the choice for the Captain America legacy to live on through Sam, resulting in an awesome moment that will leave you sobbing happy tears.
- "It's Been a Long, Long Time". When that theme played to signify the reunion of Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter in the past after the former returned as an old man to pass on the shield, and the legend, to Sam Wilson. "Go Ahead" as the theme for when the hand-over took place cements the transition.
- The first half of "Main on End" is basically a rearranged "Portals", which is fitting as the film is one huge tribute to the All-Star Cast of the franchise, mirroring the one big scene in the film. The last third stands out for its dedication to the Big Six, who started and carried the franchise all along, with a rearranged Avengers' Theme. Endgame will not be the end of the MCU, but with this piece, it serves as a great send-off for them.
- In a musical tribute to Iron Man, a melancholic jazzy-symphonic version of "Make Way for Tomorrow Today" plays to wrap up the ending credits, along with the six clanks of Tony making his first suit of armor in his debut movie.
- The film included every single one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe superheroes that have ever existed within the Infinity Saga, and everyone gets their time to shine, be it a minor appearance or a major role.
- It provides some of, if not, the greatest action sequences the MCU has ever had.
- Some of the scenes where the theater exploded in jubilation include the now iconic, portals scene to reveal the resurrected heroes, Captain America proving to be worthy by lifting the Mjölnir, and Iron Man snaping his fingers to defeat Thanos and his army.
- This movie brings the original six (Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Thor, Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton) back together ever since Age of Ultron and, like the first two films, they are again the main focus of the story and all of them go through a major character development, unlike Infinity War; because when you think about it, Thanos was the real main character of Infinity War; and while that movie also features nearly all of the MCU heroes until that point, only Tony Stark, Thor, Doctor Strange, Star Lord, Gamora, Scarlett Witch and Vision were relevant to the plot as the others didn't do a lot outside of joining the battle against Thanos.
- Additionally, while the original six are the movie's main focus, the surviving heroes from Infinity War (except for Captain Marvel) also get a pretty good amount of screentime and development, like James Rhodes, Scott Lang, Rocket Racoon, and Nebula, the latter having a great side plot of facing her past evil self.
- Excellent direction by the Russo brothers.
- Great action scenes involving fan-pleasing moments, especially the scenes mentioned above.
- Awesome cinematography.
- Astonishing visual effects.
- The pacing is great and well-done.
- Great acting especially from the original six.
- Alongside good action, the movie also has plenty of emotional moments for all the main Avengers, concluding many of their plot threads.
- The film gives Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and Black Widow proper send-offs, closing their character arcs with satisfying resolutions.
- Tony Stark's iconic "I am Iron Man." quote also returns after eleven years, and his death is very emotional.
- The movie begins and ends with quiet, intimate moments.
- Unlike in other previous MCU movies, the humor works very well.
- Pepper Potts plays a major role once again after six years, following the absence.
- Good characterization for each of the original six Avengers and the others like Ant-Man and War Machine and each of them gets their own time to shine. Thor, in particular, is accurate to the Ultimate comics in the way he is portrayed, and he has been given more character development, now suffering from PTSD (which is a much more severe case than that of Tony Stark's PTSD), depression and alcoholism and being forced to overcome his failed attempt of defeating Thanos in Infinity War.
- To compensate for their absence in Infinity War, Ant-Man and Hawkeye return as major characters with very significant roles.
- By time traveling back to the events of The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World and Guardians of the Galaxy, we can see moments which were unseen in these films, like what the Avengers did immediately after defeating Loki but before Thor brought Loki and the Tesseract back to Asgard or that Nebula and Gamora were slaughtering the Korbinites before they were send to aid Ronan the Accuser to retrieve the Power Stone from Star-Lord.
- The movie implements time travel in a way that isn't overly confusing yet breaks the trend of other time travel tropes, serving as a less confusing theory for time travel because it reinforces that what already been done can't change the future.
- It sometimes makes fun of the "changing the past can change the future" cliché that has been used too many times.
- While Thanos in Infinity War showed his pragmatic side, he showed his ruthless, more brutal side as a fierce conqueror, which is major character development for him in Endgame. Plus, unlike most generic destroy the world/universe villains, Thanos has a reasonable motivation, in which nobody accepted his solution to prevent overpopulation, so he has to destroy it and rebuild it where he is leader to make sure overpopulation will never be a problem again in his universe.
- Happens to be Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice but improved since it managed to execute the main character's death scene better since here, it is more rewarding since we've been through so many films with Iron Man so him sacrificing his life may seem permanent now that we really don't know if he can come back, unlike BvS whereas Superman dies in his second film, and it was known that he was going to come back in the next installment.
- The ending is perfect and concludes not only everything in the Infinity Saga, but the whole Avengers quadrilogy very well.
- Not to mention, it even uses the song It's Been a Long, Long Time from Captain America: The First Avenger for the end credits.
- Much like in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2, the end credit sequence is also beautiful, as it pays tribute to everyone who was part of the franchise so far, and even includes the signatures of the main stars.
- It does have a hint that teased the other projects, such as Thor joins the Guardians of the Galaxy, hinting the fourth Thor movie.
- Memorable dialogue. For example:
- Tony: "I love you tons." Morgan: "I love you 3000."
- Wanda: "You... took... EVERYTHING from me." Thanos: "I don't even know who you are." Wanda: "You will."
- "I went for the head."
- "That is America's ass."
- "You're about 5 years too early."
- "No... No, I don’t think I will."
- "I know what I must do. I will shred this universe down to its last atom."
- "AVENGERS! ...assemble."
- "I am...inevitable."
- And most importantly, this scene, the scene is where it all started to end it and also the unforgotten scene ever made: "And I... am... Iron Man." And snaps.
Snapped Qualities
- Although every single hero in the franchise appears in this movie, only the surviving ones from Infinity War are given significant focus, and almost every other character only serves as brief supporting roles.
- Captain Marvel only appears for a few minutes total that had a minor role despite being built up as the ending of Infinity War suggesting she would be a significant role character and the marketing advertising. The directors confirmed that this was because Endgame was filmed before the standalone Captain Marvel origin movie is due to the schedules, so the character was still unexplored and underutilized at the time. Possibly, it was also a bit of deliberate misdirection, as she actually does play a major role in taking down Thanos - but at the start of the movie, when it's too late to make any difference.
- The scene in the Battle of Earth where the female heroes team up, while a nice little nod to the comic team A-Force, is rather very cringy by some as it only serves to pad out a few minutes of runtime and to give the movie a modern Disney-esque dose of tokenism, what makes it more forced is just the characters have a stupid excuse to come together and help Captain Marvel bring the Gaunlet to the Quantum tunnel, even though there is no point if she managed to destroy Thanos' entire mothership.
- The female heroes teaming up scenes has been criticized by everybody even by feminists as it was seen as an opportunity for the females to actually fight, but instead they do nothing other than appear in this scene, making it nothing but feminism propaganda.
- Some of the humor is occasionally hit or miss, involving the use of internet memes like dabbing, the lunch scene dragging on for too long, or Korg playing Fortnite (even if it was redeemed by Thor yelling at NoobMaster69, who is seemed crying).
- The Fortnite reference might have been excusable due to an event going on in Fortnite to promote the movie, also since this movie took place in 2023, Fortnite was starting to get less popular in 2019, so basically they were using a dead trend.
- The time travel logic can get pretty confusing for some, especially those who liked to go with the logic from Back to the Future that what someone does in the past affects the future, which also helps raise the stakes.
- Speaking about it, the time travel logic is presented as a plot contrivance since Tony Stark managed to figure it out in a few minutes. There was no struggle to perfect time travel, just it happened to be quickly solved, making the time travel plotline seem like a deus ex machina to bring back everyone.
- While the pacing is great as mentioned above, it can be rather inconsistent. As the first hour moves at an unnecessarily slow pace that can make the film very boring to the film moving at an unnecessary faster pacing as of the second hour that can sometimes make the movie hard to follow.
- Major nitpick: Black Widow's death is completely ignored at the end of the movie and no one but Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch tributes her sacrifice. Even Professor Hulk doesn't do it, even though he references how he wanted to bring Black Widow back to Cap because he loved her.
- Speaking of Hulk, Hulk wasn't treated with respect as much as many other characters, with both his personalities just coming in terms with each other offscreen and despite him saying it is necessary to have Banner and Hulk combined, he isn't even strong, with a comedic moment where he pathetically fails to impersonate his old self. Plus, there could've been a scene where Bruce meets Natasha in the soul world when he snaps considering when he says he wanted to bring her back at the end of the film.
- Plot hole: Why didn't anyone even try to check to see if Scott Lang was alive and stuck in the Quantum Realm during the five years that pass between the Snap and the rat bringing him back to Earth? After all, his daughter did manage to survive the Snap as well.
Reception
Avengers: Endgame was near-universal acclaimed by both critics, audiences and fans of the Marvel/Avengers series. The film was widely praised for giving proper closure to many of the plot threads that had been established throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well as its direction, acting, musical score, action sequences, visual effects, and emotional weight, with critics lauding its culmination of the 22-film story. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 94% with an average score of 8.23/10, based on 553 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Exciting, entertaining, and emotionally impactful, Avengers: Endgame does whatever it takes to deliver a satisfying finale to Marvel's epic Infinity Saga.". Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 78 out of 100 based on 57 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare "A+" grade on an A+ to F scale, the third Marvel film to earn the score after The Avengers and Black Panther (2018), and those at PostTrak gave the film 5 out of 5 stars and an 85% "definite recommend".
Box office
Avengers: Endgame broke multiple box office records, surpassing the ones its prequel had previously established, including becoming the highest-grossing film of all time, overthrowing Avatar, which held the record for almost ten years before said film reclaimed its throne in 2021. Unsurprisingly, James Cameron, the director of Avatar and Titanic, congratulated Marvel Studios for achieving the milestone.
The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars
In May 2018, then-Disney CEO Bob Iger said of Marvel's plans beyond Endgame, "I'm guessing we will try our hand at what I'll call a new franchise beyond Avengers, but that doesn't necessarily mean you won't see more Avengers down the road. We just haven't made any announcements about that." Iger added, "Given the popularity of the characters and given the popularity of the franchise, I don't think people should conclude there will never be another Avengers movie." Shortly after the film's premiere, the Russo brothers said they were not opposed to returning to the MCU in the future due to their positive relationship with Marvel Studios, but did not plan to do so at that time. In January 2021, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige said another Avengers film would happen "at some point".
In July 2022, at the San Diego Comic Con, two sequels, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars, were both announced, releasing on May 2, 2025 and November 7, 2025 respectively. The two films will serve as the conclusion to Phase Six of the MCU. Kevin Feige confirmed that the Russo brothers would not be returning to direct the sequels, seeking to find another directing duo. Shortly after the announcement, Destin Daniel Cretton, who directed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), was confirmed as director of The Kang Dynasty. It is unknown if the directors were set to directed Secret Wars.
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Trivia
- Avengers: Endgame marks the final cameo appearance of Stan Lee, who had passed away on November 12, 2018, although some of his cameos had been recorded before his death. The cameo is based on his actual look during the 1970s. The crew used the Lola Visual Effects to de-age Stan Lee back to his 70s self.
- Robert Downey Jr. was the only actor in the movie who read the entire script. He once told the crew of this film that his son once said, "I love you 3000" to him. The director liked the phrase so much he decided to include it in the movie.
- Robert Downey Jr. surpassed Hugh Jackman's record for the most appearances in the film as the same superhero, with ten. He set this record in only 11 years, whereas Hugh Jackman did it in 17.
- Evangeline Lilly and Paul Rudd were filming Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) and this film at the same time.
- When the film broke the box office record held by James Cameron's films like Titanic, he wrote a congratulatery message to the Marvel studios, with a photo of the Avengers 'A' being the iceberg that sinks the Titanic.
- The Russos changed their Instagram profile to reference the "Thanus" meme, in which Ant-Man defeats Thanos by shrinking, going up his backside, and expanding inside him.
- Josh Brolin also referenced the meme by posting a video on his Instagram of him having trouble taking a dump.
- Natalie Portman's appearance in the film was created with leftover footage from Thor: The Dark World (2013), and she also did voice-over work for a scene when she is talking in the distance. Although Natalie Portman didn't shoot any new scenes, she attended the film's premiere.
- Like the previous film, the Russo brothers wrote a letter to the fans, asking them to not give spoilers about the movie, as part of a viral campaign on the internet. The hashtags were #DontSpoilTheEndgame and #ThanosDemandsYourSilence.
- Even though Captain Marvel was released one month before the film, Brie Larson shot her scenes for this movie first. The scene at Avenger's Headquarters was Brie Larson's first day on set as Carol Danvers. Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, the co-directors of Captain Marvel, were present on-set during the filming of her scenes to ensure consistency of portrayal. In an interview with CinemaBlend, they talked about the experience. "Just to clarify, we were actually shooting simultaneously," Fleck revealed, "The Russos shared the script with us, we shared ours with them, and we each gave each other feedback on them, so it was a very fluid approach to the character."
- In India, an alternate version was created where all swear words are muted.
- There are more MCU movies coming out such as, Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), The Marvels (2022) and MANY more.
- When the film was first announced in October 2014, the original title was Avengers: Infinity War - Part II.
- Unlike Infinity War, Endgame features mainly an original story that does not draw inspiration from any existing comics.
- On December 7, 2018, with the release of its first trailer, the title of the film was revealed to be Avengers: Endgame. Additionally, its release date was changed from May 3, 2019, to April 26. Feige said the title was decided on since development started on the films and confirmed that Doctor Strange uttering the word "endgame" in Infinity War was a direct reference to the title of the film.
- The Avengers Assemble moment was considered by WatchMojo.com to be one of the greatest modern movie moments.
- Tony Stark's MK85, his recent and final suit wasn't built to protect him, but to protect his companions and the world according to Robert Downey Jr. in an interview.
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