Avengers Endgame Thoughts (SPOILERS)

It's been 11 years since Iron Man: The First Iron Man hit cinema screens and kicked off both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Infinity Saga which has culminated with Marvel's most recent and ambitious endeavour on the big screen, Avengers: Endgame.

This isn't going to be a formal review as I don't really know if I would be able to condense how I feel about this film into something even resembling comprehensible writing. It'll be more of my general thoughts on aspects of the film as well as stand out elements that I really enjoyed. I mainly just want to gush over how great this film is and how much it means to myself and many others who have been on this journey since 2008 when we all first saw Iron Man. Also I know it's already in the title but MASSIVE SPOILERS for the film since I really can't say why I loved it so much without spoilers.

The film itself is Marvel Cinematic Universe perfection. I would say that this is by far my favourite MCU entry to date and perfectly wraps up the last 11 years worth of films in a way that I could never have dreamed but wouldn't have any other way. The general plot involves the remaining Avengers who survived The Snap teaming up to travel back in time to collect the Infinity Stones before Thanos can get them so that they can return all the lives that Thanos wiped out when he acquired the gauntlet in Infinity War. The film immediately throws a curveball by having the Avengers find and kill their time's Thanos within the first 10 minutes of the film after discovering that he has destroyed the Stones so that they won't be able to undo what he did. I was surprised at this sudden dramatic confrontation early on in the film but it perfectly set up the rest of the events that unfold after the five year time skip in 2023. And then seeing how the remaining Avengers were coping with their defeat after the five years. Thor in particular I found the most interesting. After failing to defeat Thanos the first time and then only killing him properly once he had ensured that they couldn't reverse what he had done, Thor had become a beer bellied drunken recluse and although seeing Thor with a massive belly was ridiculously funny at first, once I started to think about it I found it more tragic that such a strong willed character could fall so far. But after losing not only his home, his entire family, his friends, half his people and then failing to defeat Thanos when it counted most, it's only logical that he would become depressed and cut himself off from everyone due to his shame. The rest of the characters also had interesting reactions to the events on Infinity War. Seeing Iron Man with a family after the events of The Snap gave even more gravity to his decision to help as acquiring the gauntlet and undoing Thanos' actions could potentially make him lose his new life with Pepper and his daughter Morgan.

The mid section of the film is the time travel part which I found incredibly fun as it allowed us to revisit a bunch of scenes from old MCU movies and not only give us a fresh perspective on some of them but also fill up our nostalgia meter whilst giving us some great character moments as well as some hilarious encounters with past versions of the 2023 Avengers. The best of these being Captain America running into his 2012 counterpart and having to fight him over Loki's sceptre which was something I never knew I wanted to see until I saw it.

The humour was also a great addition to the film. There was a lot more than I was expecting given the high stakes of the movie but most if not all of it landed well and when the moment required less humour it was dialled back to allow for the seriousness of the situation to come through.

The visuals of the movie were stunning throughout, but a moment in particular that stands out the most is the final battle at the end of the film. This is by far the greatest scene in the entire MCU and features every single hero from the past 11 years coming together to defeat Thanos one final time. I would say that this scene alone is worth the price of admission and had me shaking uncontrollably in my seat for the entirety of it's duration. I don't think we'll ever get a scene of this scale and with this many characters ever again in the MCU.

And finally the ending. Going in I don't know if I had a solid idea of how I wanted the film to end but after watching the film I realise that it couldn't have happened any other way and that I wouldn't want it any other way either. Not only did it feel like the definitive ending of the MCU up till this point but it was also incredibly satisfying to see how each character's stories were wrapped up and added to the weight of the fact that this is the last time we may ever see a lot of these characters on screen.

So that's the main "review" but I thought that I would also talk about some stand out moments/elements of the film that I really enjoyed that weren't necessarily plot related but added that little bit extra to the experience and made me love the film even more.

Firstly lets get the sad parts out of the way first. Endgame marks potentially the last time we will see both Iron Man and Captain America on the big screen as well as Black Widow outside of her future solo film. Black Widow's death was incredibly sad to see on screen but her sacrifice was incredibly important for the films progression and further raised the stakes for the rest of the Avengers going forward. Although she isn't my favourite character I still always enjoyed seeing her on screen with the rest of the Avengers and was saddened to see her fate unfold. Next up is Captain America who, although not actually dead, is officially retired from the role and has passed on the shield to Falcon who will become the next Captain America. Having Steve travel back in time to live out his life with Peggy as he always wanted to was a fitting end to his character arc. Although not a tragic end, it was no less emotional as a closing point for the film. And finally Iron Man. As the hero who started the MCU off in 2008 it felt right for him to be the one who ended the fight by sacrificing himself to defeat Thanos in this movie. Seeing him wield the Infinity Stones himself as he has done before in the comics was an incredible moment to witness and his sacrifice and subsequent death was incredibly heartfelt and earned as the way for him to complete his journey as a hero.

And now for some more positive things that I loved. Most of which take place in the final battle of the movie.

I've already gushed enough about the battle itself but one of the stand out moments for me was when Captain America lifted Mjolnir for the first time.. Seeing him tag team with Thor as the two of them fought Thanos with their respective hammers was awesome to see as they both traded hammers multiple times and used dual lightning attacks together. It was definitely something I had hoped to see at some point in the MCU after seeing him make the hammer budge in Age of Ultron.

The next stand out scene from the final battle was the return of all the heroes who had been turned to dust in Infinity War and uniting to fight against Thanos and his army. Seeing that many heroes on screen at the same time was by far the greatest thing to ever come out of the MCU. And if that wasn't amazing enough already, Cap finally said the line we had been waiting for since the Avengers first united in 2012. Avengers Assemble. I was shaking uncontrollably as soon as the portals started to open and all the heroes were coming to help in the fight and when Captain America finally said the line I was so happy that felt like I was going to cry.

In the final battle we also got the first appearance of the all female superhero group A-Force in the MCU. As more and more female heroes have been added to the Marvel roster over the years, and with Captain Marvel finally getting her first solo movie earlier this year, it was only a matter of time before we got all the female heroes teaming up on the big screen. Like Cap fighting his 2012 self, it was something that I wasn't expecting going in but what incredibly happy to see on the big screen and makes me excited at the prospect of a Captain Marvel lead A-Force movie at some point in the future.

And speaking of Captain Marvel. The final stand out thing from the movie that I absolutely loved was the hairstyle that they went for with Carol Danvers. I never thought a haircut would be one of my favourite things from a movie filled with so many other amazing moments, yet here we are I guess. After the time skip Captain Marvel shows up with her short hair straight out of the comics and my god it was glorious. I already loved the look of the character beforehand but being a strong advocate for short haired Captain Marvel being peak Captain Marvel, I was incredibly excited to see this look finally put to big screen. The haircut almost increases how powerful she looks. Also although she wasn't in the film a whole lot, the moments she was a part of were all excellent. Especially her arrival at the end of the film to help fight against Thanos and her one-on-one fight with the Mad Titan which had me loving her even more. Not to mention her assembling A-Force to try and take the gauntlet to the time travel van (note to self: must draw short haired Captain Marvel).

Overall this film is a triumph in terms of superhero cinema. It perfectly wraps up the Infinity Saga in ways that I could never have anticipated but wouldn't have any other way. It brings the emotion and spectacle when it needs to and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I don't think I have had a cinema experience as amazing and fulfilling as this one and it will be hard for me to have another like it. I would say that the only downside is that in order to feel the full weight of what this film represents you should acquaint yourself with the other 22 MCU films that came before it. However given that there's been 11 years to catch up, and the MCU has been pretty mainstream since The Avengers: The First Avengers broke records back in 2012, if you're going into this movie with no prior knowledge of the MCU, you only really have yourself to blame to be honest. As a conclusion to 11 years worth of fantastic movies, I couldn't have asked for anything better. I would honestly say that not only is this my favourite MCU movie of all time, but one of, if not my favourite movie of all time. This movie means so much to me and millions just like me who have followed this cinematic journey from the very beginning, and will continue to follow it far into the future. I am saddened by the ending of this chapter in the MCU, but I'm infinitely more excited to see what direction Marvel goes next.