It’s been eleven years since Iron Man was released in cinemas and since then, every Marvel film has bought us one step closer to the epic battle we witnessed in Avengers: Infinity War. The cliffhanger it finished on left us in shock and since then, we’ve all been waiting for the climactic grand finale that is Endgame.
And it didn’t disappoint.
In the opening scenes, we watch Hawkeye lose his entire family to the snap. Next, we see Iron Man stranded on a ship with Nebula, saying his goodbyes to Pepper Potts. Captain Marvel swoops in to save his life only to disappear again until the end of the feature. Ultimately, she was not the key player that we had imagined. Instead, she helps the Avengers locate Thanos only for Thor to decapitate him when they learn that the infinity stones have been destroyed. Before we can process what’s just happened, things flash forward five years and everything has fallen apart.
How does one go about depicting a world that has lost half its population? Grey shots of empty football stands and abandoned car parks are one way to start. Captain America runs a therapy group and one man admits that he could not get through a date without crying. Black Widow holds back her tears and Iron Man has disappeared off the grid with his family to escape the reality of what has happened. Even worse off is Thor, who feels like such a failure that he has become a recluse, drinking, overeating and wasting his days playing videogames. Seeing the invincible superheroes we idolize suffer so greatly reminds us that they are human and reinforces how traumatic the consequences of Thanos’s actions have been.
And so the Avengers decided they had to do something about it.
It all starts with an idea from Ant-man and suddenly the Avengers are scattered across time. There are some exciting battles, including Captain America fighting his past self, but there were also plenty of tender moments. Tony Stark meets his father and Thor is reunited with his mother one last time. Collecting the Infinity Stones is not the real challenge. The real challenge is combating Thanos when he catches word of their plan. Hulk may have put on the glove and reversed the snap but Thanos now intends to wipe out everyone, smugly commenting that he will enjoy erasing all life on planet Earth.
The final battle scene was the phenomenal climax that we’ve all been dreaming of. The Avengers use the stones to open portals and every single superhero that has ever appeared in Marvel shows up to fight Thanos and his army. Black Banther and his army from Wakanda are at the ready along with Doctor Strange, the guardians of the galaxy and Spider-Man. Visually, the battle was off the charts and Captain Marvel shows up at just the right moment to take down one of Thanos’ ships.
Highlights of the big battle include Giant-Man’s return and Captain America picking up Thor’s hammer. The real hero of the fight was Iron Man, who gave his life to eradicate Thanos and his army before they could take down everybody else. Black Widow also sacrificed her life earlier in the film and Hulk’s reaction broke our hearts.
The final scenes were emotional but there is no other way it could have gone. Iron Man has been a core Avenger since the start and it seems fitting that he should go in the biggest and most heroic way possible. At his funeral, all the Marvel superheroes gather and the camera shifts chronologically through them, concluding with the man who started it all, Nick Fury.
Overall, the Avengers may have triumphed but Endgame left us feeling emotionally fragile though also completely fulfilled.
An incredible finale.
5/5
