End of an Era: Endgame Neatly Wraps up a Decade of Superhero Movies [REVIEW]

The 12-year-old epic saga of Marvel superhero movies has finally ended with the spectacular crescendo that is Avengers:Endgame. The over three-hour film takes us through the highs and lows of the franchise and delivers an acceptable sendoff for the heroes an entire generation grew up loving.

The film itself carries a much different tone than many of its predecessors. While there are certainly still many scenes of shenanigans and heroes punching bad guys, we are left simultaneously with the immense relief we can hopefully start watching some new kinds of films and a bittersweet reminiscence over all the fun memories we all share from the films. Be warned: Spoilers will ensue.

Everyone expected this movie to break records long before it was even released. This titan of a CGI action film grossed more than $1 billion in the opening weekend alone. I’m sure somewhere deep in Disney’s headquarters, Mickey Mouse himself has his feet up on his desk and is smoking a big cigar while counting literal wheelbarrows-full of cash.  

The Avengers begin their latest quest in the aftermath of the movie’s predecessor, Avengers: Infinity War. Thanos, the franchise’s ultimate baddie, finished his master plan of turning half of all living creatures in the entire universe into ash and retired to the quiet life of a farmer on some remote planet. Our heroes finally catch up with him only to discover he destroyed the infinity stones, their only hope of saving the day. Things don’t look good.

As far as opening scenes go, this whole sequence does a great job of reminding viewers what happened previously and establishing the tone for the next two-and-a-half hours. While there are certainly moments of hope, and, of course, they save the day in the end, the feeling of hopelessness and dread is never far behind. Eventually they develop a plan to save the day, but of course nothing turns out like they expect, and we have to witness the characters deal with loss in a way they never really had to before. 

While this is first and foremost another superhero movie, it could also fall into the category of a kind of heist movie. Or, a “time heist” as Paul Rudd’s Ant Man calls it. The gang decides the only way to get the infinity stones and save the day is to go back in time and steal them from their past selves. With this in mind, the writers put an interesting twist on both genres. When was the last time you saw a superhero movie that followed a lot of the classic heist movie tropes? And when was the last time you watched a heist movie where all the main characters wore tights and had super strength? 

Many of the actors in the franchise rose to stardom over the years. Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth are household names nowadays. But none have put more blood and sweat into the series than Iron Man’s very own Robert Downey Jr. He reignited his career and catapulted his character Tony Stark into what became the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  

It seemed only fitting that a character like his should get the honor of ending what he began all those years ago. While the chaos of battle against Thanos rages on for a second time, Stark manages to get control of the infinity stones and use them to erase Thanos and save the day. But the power of the stones turns out to be too great and Iron Man pays the ultimate price. 

“We’re gonna be ok. You can rest now, Tony,” Pepper Potts, Tony’s love interest, says to him in his final moments.  

Many of the characters we’ve all grown to love get their own special kind of sendoff. Each one seems tailor-made to the character and puts their legacy to rest in a way that does each of them justice. 

With the great baddie Thanos finally defeated, a new chapter is opened up in the MCU. Many beloved classic heroes are retired or redefined. And the door is swung wide open for new hero films to take their place, such as Captain Marvel, Spiderman and Black Panther. Superhero films will probably never end, but at least we can all say we were there to witness the finale of its golden age. 

Endgameis a fitting finale to a massive franchise that can leave everyone satisfied. Its only major flaw would have to be that its yet another superhero movie in a market that seems oversaturated. I’d give it 4 out of 5 stars.