Avengers: Endgame, Character Arcs and the End of an Era (Review)
I told myself I was going to write this over a month ago. Then I just… didn’t. And then I kept on not writing it. Granted, I had a lot of stuff going on — exams, travel, and moving back home from my exchange, then starting a job forty-eight hours later among them — but still. I’ve had a lot of chances to write this, and I kept on not writing it.
And to be honest, I still don’t know what to say here. And I’m still not quite sure if I liked Endgame, either.
Was it a good movie? Arguably, yes. Did it do its job at making me emotionally invested? Well, I cried three times, so I’d assume so. But I honestly can’t decide if I liked the movie or not. I might never know. But I will say this: it was probably the best end of an era Marvel could’ve given us.
Endgame was a gamechanger. It was a three-hour movie that people willingly sat through and were emotional about. It has the biggest opening weekend box office ever. Just like Infinity War before it, it changed how we see movies.
But it was also a marvel in character writing, because it managed to tie up its characters’ endings without betraying their previous development.
I’m not going to compare it to Game of Thrones, because I haven’t watched a single episode of it, but the main consensus I’ve gotten from Twitter is that the ending sucked and ruined most of its characters and plotlines. Fans hated it. And while I may not have watched GoT, I’ve experienced the same kind of disappointment with shows before, Voltron chief among them. And I get it — it’s hard to write good, satisfying endings for beloved characters. It’s even harder to write ones that hardcore fans will accept. But I think Marvel managed it.
Every single one of the original Avengers is someone we care about, someone we’ve spent countless movies getting to know. We know their fears, their weaknesses, their mistakes. Marvel is amazingly good at making viewers emotionally invested in their stories; that’s why Infinity War made so many people sad. (It’s also why I full-out sobbed when they did the reverse-snap and everybody came back, Peter Parker leading them, but that’s neither here nor there.)
And while I hate to say it, Tony Stark had to die. It was the only way they could both follow the pre-set narrative and give his character a final, satisfying ending. The last few movies have been about him trying to fix the mistakes born out of his own hubris, and often creating more problems along the way. To have him selflessly sacrifice himself for the others — especially after having a kid, which, as a sidebar, was super sweet to see — allows him to finally, fully redeem himself like he’s been trying to since Civil War. Tony Stark was a hero, and even though he made a lot of mistakes along the way, he died a hero, too. (The fact that he got to meet his dad and understand him better was a pretty nice way to tie up his arc as well.)
His funeral was heartbreaking, but it was just as fitting — especially the “proof Tony Stark has a heart” send off. (I’ll never get over the fact that apparently they filmed that scene as a wedding, but hey. It’s a testament to the actors’ skills. Also, I re-watched that scene on YouTube before writing this, and I cried again.)
And Cap — look, I have a lot of feelings about this. Captain America has always been my favourite original Avenger. I know a lot of people say he’s boring, but at his core, he’s just a guy with a lot of heart who always tries to do what’s best, and that’s what I love most about him. Even after he becomes Captain America, he’s still the kid from Brooklyn, fighting bullies twice his size in an alleyway. (And I love that he got to use the I can do this all day line again.)
But the thing is, Steve Rogers has always been the fish out of water. Sure, he blends in well, knows how to survive in the twenty-first century, but he’s never really fit in perfectly. And he’s never really wanted to be there, either. Bringing him back to the forties to be with Peggy makes sense. (It also made me ugly cry.)
And Peggy… my own love for her character aside, she’s such a hugely influential person in Cap’s life. He learned so much from her. He loved her. He still, to this day, keeps a picture of her in his pocket. His greatest desire, as shown in Age of Ultron, was to go back and dance with her. I would wager that when he’s not sure what to do, he asks himself “what would Peggy do?” too.
After so much hardship — after losing his friends and everyone he loves, after doing so much for everyone else — Steve Rogers finally got his happy ending. So yeah, I got emotional. I’m sure I’m not the only one. Because goddamn it, Captain America deserves to be happy. And we finally got to see him have the life he deserves.
As for Thor… look, even my wildest theories wouldn’t have predicted that. But I liked it — while Thor has definitely come a long way from the arrogant dude in the first Thor movie, he’s always been confident, always been sure of himself. Seeing him suddenly unsure of himself was an interesting switch, but seeing him return to his former confidence — and in the same “non-heroic” body as before — was even better. I’m also very, very glad that he’s one of the Guardians now, which should make for a very interesting movie.
To be honest with you, Nat was the only one whose end felt off to me. While I do think that her death sacrificing herself for the Soul Stone fit her narrative, and it felt mostly satisfying to me, I’m curious to where that leaves her solo movie, and I’m sad they killed her off. I liked her.
It’s sad that we’ll never get to see these characters again, even though we all knew it was coming. I’m sad Tony Stark is gone. I’m sad Cap isn’t Cap anymore. I’m sad. But Marvel gave them the best send-off they could, and I’m glad for that.
What did you think of Endgame?
Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Marvel Entertainment in any way. Any base images used in this post do not belong to me.
