“Avengers Endgame”
Welcome to the column where I talk about one of the most anticipated movies of all time and the epic conclusion to the initial saga that the MCU started on in 2008, the one and only…
…AVENGERS ENDGAME.
You might have heard of it, it is a little follow up to the successful Infinity War movie. I am pretty sure everybody who is going to read this is well aware of the movie and what it entails. Marvel has billed this as the conclusion of the first 22 films and bring a final end to the “The Infinity Saga”
I wanted to use this as an occasion to share the history of the MCU, how it came to this level/film, and where it could possibly go from here.
The History
Let me give a brief recap of the MCU so far.
Spoilers warnings and all that.
The first Iron Man film, the first movie of the MCU as we know it, came out in 2008. The film was clearly a standalone in most ways, but there were big hints (inclusion of SHIELD, Nick Fury, etc.) that showed they were doing this with a large plan in their mind. But at that time, no one could have predicted how it would have grown over the years. Unable to use their popular characters like Spider-man, Wolverine and the Fantastic Four, they focused on an obscure three, Iron Man, Captain America and Thor. Then came the ultimate team up movie, the Avengers, uniting six heroes to fight off an alien invasion. That was the one that effectively put their mark on the global stage, a mark which has become deeper over the years.
With two billion dollar success in Avengers and Iron Man 3 along with the critically acclaimed Winter Soldier, even the huge risk of Guardians of the Galaxy paid off huge. Each film increased the hype and the popularity and by the time, the second Avengers rolled out, it was a guaranteed billion.
They started introducing new heroes like Doctor Strange, Ant-Man, Captain Marvel and Black Panther; the latter two who broke a billion of their own each. The third Captain America film even introduced a new version of Spider-man after a deal with Sony spinning him off into his own film.
The underlying Thanos conflict which had been slowly simmering came to a head in Infinity War. A film that finally delivered the start of a fight everybody had been waiting for. In a killer cliffhanger, Thanos destroyed half the universe marking the first time a villain actually succeeded in what he wanted to do.
At that moment, the frenzy for this film has been unlike anything before. Whether you love the MCUu, hate it or criticize it, you will probably go see it and experience the end of the journey.
My Experience
My first experience with the MCU as a whole was in 2015. Everybody was going on about the latest “Avengers” movie. Me being me, I watched all the prior movies so I could catch up before watching age of Ultron. It fascinated me; it made me read the comics. Yeah there are people who watched the MCU movies and CW Arrowverse and went on the read the comics. Shocker right?
Either way that first time in the movie theatre watching those larger than life super-heroes on the big screen was just fantastic. It was absolutely amazing seeing all those cool super-heroes on the big screen. Gradually, I learned how much I could about the Marvel movies and the comics and even got into DC Comics and their movies as a side effect.
I think it has been a big part of my life. My love for super-heroes is well known to those around me; I think it was these movies and comics that played one part of shaping me and being my inspiration and the person I am in my day to day life. The MCU has taken us on an amazing journey and while the MCU is not going to end, the MCU will be quite different with the biggest effect, due to the Fox purchase, being the return of the X-Men and the Fantastic Four along with the Earth possibly in the galactic spotlight for stopping Thanos.
Endgame
So far Endgame has been a very different kind of movie in terms of various factors. Easily the biggest super-hero movie so far and probably will be for a long time; the hype around this has been unbelievable. The advance ticket sales records, box office estimates, the complete craze for getting tickets on the first day to avoid spoilers, it all bodes very well for the film.
The marketing has also been great as we have seen only about 6 minutes of a 3 hour movie. The movie also seems to be the end of the road for Chris Evans who plays Captain America and Robert Downey Jr. who plays Iron Man; two of the actors instrumental in the MCU reaching this level. It is going to be very interesting seeing how and if their journeys conclude.
To be honest, I don’t think anyone will even care if the movie is bad (it won’t be) but just saying, it won’t be a big deal as it is about the end of their time with some of these super-heroes and minor flaws won’t really bother anybody who love these movies and have to come to see this conclusion.
So, yeah I have my tickets. Going to avoid spoilers, go see the move. Cheer and every second of the mammoth three hour movie and come out fully satisfied. That’s my goal for the movie.
AVENGERS ASSEMBLE
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Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, Avengers: Endgame stars 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 and Bradley Cooper, with Gwyneth Paltrow and Josh Brolin. The film arrives April 26.
