[Spoilers] Avengers Endgame is the Superhero Film We Deserve and the Conclusion We Need Right Now
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Oooh, Lord. Forgive me on this one if I ramble - I'm fresh out of a 4 hour sleep after the midnight UK showing of Avengers: Endgame and my nerd brain is on fire right now.
First thing is first, if it isn't immediately obvious from the headline of this post: this is your warning that this post contains spoilers for Avengers: Endgame.
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Well, we finally made it, MCU fans. The long-awaited conclusion (that we sort of didn't really want to come) of the original Avengers cinematic universe saga has finally graced our screens and what a conclusion it was. I watched the Infinity War/Endgame double bill in 4DX and I can honestly say it was the best cinematic experience of my entire life. Scottish cinema goers aren't ones to make a fuss during films - you don't typically get whooping, cheering or clapping here - but the literal audible gasps and screams throughout this film from MCU fans was a collective acknowledgement that this was a truly mind-blowingly epic send off to what has been the most significant comic book franchise in cinematic history (don't come for me DCEU stans, you know it's true).
Admittedly, I was a little worried at first; we see the Avengers go down the route we long suspected they would take and I was concerned that we were going to see a somewhat predictable road to a nicely wrapped up happy ending.
The team, using Nebula's help after she and Tony are rescued by Captain Marvel, track down Thanos in his garden to take back the Infinity Stones and restore those who were lost. Thanos though is nothing if not iron-willed, and his last act with the stones is to destroy the stones to prevent temptation to ever use them again. Cue Thor finally getting his moment and beheading Thanos with Stormbreaker, alas several weeks too late.
With the Infinity Stones gone, the team back down and attempt to move on with their lives until eventually everyone's favourite fan theory comes to pass when Scott Lang (Ant Man) - who we know from Ant Man & The Wasp is trapped in the Quantum Realm after The Snap - is accidentally set free by a curious rat 5 years later, only to find the world's population decimated, and heads straight to the Avengers (or, what is left of them *sob*). Using the Quantum Realm and Tony's genius (with a little help from none other than Professor Hulk(!)) the team fashion a way that they can move through time at will (a "Time Heist", God love Scott Lang) to get the Infinity Stones from the past and use them in the future.
So as great as this was, it did leave me feeling a little dubious that all that had come to pass was going to be neatly erased and the film would follow the almost worn-out superhero format of near defeat then resounding, absolute triumph. Oh, me of little faith.
When Thanos from the past finds out of their plans due to a connection with past and present Nebula during their timeline overlap, he exploits this connection and makes his way to the present, just after Banner/Professor Hulk uses the stones to restore everyone lost in the snap.
What comes next is the most phenomenal piece of cinema in recent times, and you can call me uncultured for that but you can kiss [Captain] America's ass. There is far too much to pick apart in the epic battle that ensues but there were for me, very clear highlights.
The first one being CAPTAIN AMERICA WIELDING MIJOLNIR. FINALLY. There were literal screams in my showing (yes, including me) when this happened and honestly I nerdgasmed so hard that I barely took in the next 5 minutes of the film. We have been waiting for this since Age of Ultron and my fiancé and I had the exact conversation last week about Cap moving the hammer; you're either worthy or you're not, so he must have been trying to spare Thor's feelings by pretending he couldn't lift it? Thor echoed everyone's sentiment when he shouted "I KNEW IT!" and honestly I thought after that helicopter scene we had seen peak Cap but seeing him whirl around Mijolnir like a pro was all kinds of amazing (hot) and vindicating.
The next highlight for me was the badass heroine fight scene. The men have had their turn at trying to get the stones out of the battlefield and now it's the womens' turn (minus Black Widow who of course died getting the soul stone at Vormir *sobs again*). Is the superhero genre still a sausage fest in general? Yes. Did my heart do backflips at watching Captain Marvel, Nebula, Gamora, Valkyrie, Scarlet Witch, Okoye, Shuri and Pepper Potts (in a nod to Rescue) take on the baddies in a badass fight sequence? Also yes. Amazing. It's a refreshing antidote to the female erasure in comic book and action movies, a thrilling and epic taster of representation in the genre - proof that representation doesn't detract from a story, but enhances it for everyone, that it doesn't need to be made into a song and dance to be significant. It should just be.
And then...there is the sacrifice. When Tony uses the Infinity Stones one last time to destroy Thanos' forces, knowing it will kill him, we see him die surrounded by his loved ones. I love the parallel they drew with Tony and Spiderman here from Infinity War, where a devastated Peter Parker tells Tony that he's okay, that he did it, that he saved them as Tony dies in front of him, a role reversal from when he disappears in Tony's arms, begging him for help. It's a resolution; Tony's biggest fear in Age of Ultron is all of his friends dying and him failing to stop it and it has haunted him since.
It's time to rest, now Iron Man. You did it, you saved them.
I was not the only one openly crying at this point, I don't think there was a dry eye in the screen. Hell, I'm tearing up as I write this.
There's Cap's resolution, too - his life with Peggy Carter, the dream he has held onto for years - when he goes back in time to return the stones to their original timelines. We see a wedding ring on his hand as he passes his shield, and the Captain America mantle, onto Sam, when he meets them in the future, now an old man. We see a flashback to him dancing with Peggy in what looks to be their living room. He finally gets that dance with her, a life with her. He finally gets to live his life for himself. It's beautiful and so fitting. Again, sobs all round.
My first thought after the credits rolled (waiting for an end credit scene that never came, I admit I was hoping for Loki) was "how did it manage to be better than perfect??". I'm sure people will find fault, a plot hole, a character failing in some way, but honestly the story and the delivery surpassed every expectation I had upon first watch.
Avengers: Endgame is the promise that heroes do prevail no matter how long or arduous the journey, that sacrifice is sometimes worth it, that when you stand for something good you will always win, even if the odds are over 14 million to one. That even the most "inevitable" forces of evil can be vanquished if good people come together and fight against it. And really, isn't that what we need right now? That kind of hope?
The one criticism I've already started to see on social media is in the treatment of Thor. Now I'm not getting into the use of fat-suits in media or using fat bodies as a punchline because I don't feel it is my place, but as a fan of using humour to talk about mental health, I didn't actually hate what they did with Thor. Do I see where people are coming from when they say they made his mental health a punchline and how it could be harmful? Absolutely, but it doesn't mean I entirely agree. In actual fact, I think this very casual armchair (or cinema chair) diagnosis of Thor having PTSD is wildly dangerous and actually throws around a lot of misinformation. People, Gods included, are allowed to react to situations negatively without being labelled with a diagnosable mental health condition. Thor shows clear signs of grief - avoidance, denial, guilt, depression - yes, and it's evident that overall he hasn't been coping well, but that does not make for a diagnosis of PTSD. I accept that he does show some signs of emotional numbing and avoidance which are part of PTSD symptoms, but you can't diagnose someone based on 10 minutes of cumulative screen time and in the absence of professional qualification.
We are allowed to experience negative emotions, it is a natural response to what he has been through, and I fear that this attempt to ride on high horses about mental health portrayal does more harm than good. Telling people that experiencing these emotions or even periods of low mental health in response to a very significant stimulus means they have a diagnosable mental illness is in my opinion, wrong, unless you are qualified to do so.
In any case, I am a fan of finding self-deprecating humour in poor mental health, which is the vibe they were going for with Thor, whilst still bringing a real level of emotion to it. At the end of the day, if you're looking for a complex narrative about mental health awareness, this film was never going to be it.
That's not to say that there's not room to address that aspect in the aftermath of Endgame in subsequent MCU films, for instance in Spiderman and if they choose do focus on mental health then they have a duty to do it well, but I'm reluctant to join the hunting party for this particular criticism. I am curious to hear the opinions of people with PTSD though, because maybe I've missed the mark on this one.
Overall, this film blew me away, and I can't think of a more suitable way to conclude this particular chapter of the MCU. A cinematic universe that has spanned a decade, being carefully crafted and designed at each stage, with call backs to previous films and fan-favourites along the way. This latest instalment is the finishing touch to a masterpiece. It's been a Hell of a ride, but now it's time for our heroes to rest.
What did you think of Avengers: Endgame? Do you agree or disagree with anything I've discussed above? Sound off in the comments!
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