Avengers: Endgamewas the end of an era. The film concluded the Infinity Saga and was the culmination of a decades-long franchise that included around 20-odd films and shows, countless characters, and numerous story arcs.Endgamewasn’t a film; it was an event. And yes, we were hyped and excited for it, and most likely very emotional throughout it. Since the conclusion of the film, it seems like many people, fans and critics alike, have been unable to feel the same kind of awe that they had withEndgame. The film was unique, but it was not perfect.
Endgameis easy to love — after all, our heroes, who never lose, have to find a way to win and they do so through a time heist! Who doesn’t love time travel? IfAvengers: Infinity Warwas the crossover to end all crossovers,Endgamemanaged to beat even that. The portals scene with Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans)finally saying the iconic line “Avengers Assemble”? Goosebumps. Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) sacrificing himself to save the universe? Tears. This film incorporates so many throwbacks and Easter eggs from the franchise, you’ll find yourself discovering new ones on each rewatch.Endgameis so close to perfection, yet the film’s missteps are unfortunate, and they’re glaring.
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The Same Old Heroes Get the Spotlight in ‘Avengers: Endgame’
WhileEndgamewas the swan song of the original Avengers team, one didn’t quite expect them to have as much of the spotlight as they do. They’re the main characters in a film that should have transitioned viewers to the next phase of heroes. That doesn’t happen.
A lot of the issues of the film come from the filmmakers’ blind spots — after a decade of white male lead characters, the film should have given other characters the limelight. The characters of color are all but sidelined. James Rhodes/War Machine (Don Cheadle) has the most screen time among the characters of color but nowhere near as much as the six original Avengers. Most people expectedOkoye (Danai Gurira)from Wakanda to have a much larger role in the film, but she’s only in one scene before the final battle.
Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel(Brie Larson), who is so powerful she flies an entire ship across the galaxy to save Tony and Nebula (Karen Gillan) and protects the rest of the galaxy while the Avengers patrol Earth, is absent for the majority of the film, including most of the climactic final battle with Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his army. She was positioned to be the next leader of the Avengers, andEndgamewas expected to be a passing of the baton to her — but she hardly interacted with the team, and no batons were anywhere in sight.
The original team grabbing all the screen time would have made sense if this was the final farewell, but then four of them returned in Phase 4, and three of them are still alive and on more adventures.
Black Widow’s Sacrifice Is Forgotten in ‘Avengers: Endgame’
Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow(Scarlett Johansson) was the only female member of the original Avengers team introduced in Phase 1. For far too long, she was also the only female superhero in all of the MCU, and despite that, she didn’t always get the best on-screen treatment. Her characterization had improved a great deal by the end of the Infinity Saga, but thenEndgamehappened, and it’s like Marvel had learned absolutely nothing in 11 years.
Following the Snap and the decimation of half the galaxy, including a huge chunk of the Avengers, Natasha becomes the leader of the remaining Avengers, directing them across the galaxy. She’s hurting from her loss — as we find out inBlack Widow, which only came out in Phase 4, after the Infinity Saga — she lost not one but two families in the Snap. That makes her all the more determined to find a way to bring them back.
While her character growth from being an object of affection to team leader is wonderful, all the work is soon undone. Natasha and Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) go to Vormir in 2014 to get the Soul Stone. As we found out inInfinity War, the only way to earn the Soul Stone is by sacrificing a soul in its place. They fight each other to sacrifice themselves, but Natasha “wins” in the end and plummets to her death. This writing choice is so infuriating, especially becauseGamora (Zoe Saldaña) was killedin the same way in the previous film. The MCU is a franchise full of white male characters, so why choose to kill off the tiny number of female characters that we have?
We can’t ignore the fact that, from all the original Avengers, the one who is sacrificed is Black Widow, the sole woman, and her absence during the climatic “Avengers Assemble” scene looms large. And to rub salt in our wounds, Natasha doesn’t even get a memorial.The entire cast comes out to immerse a wreath for Tony, but Natasha doesn’t get one. All that directorsJoe and Anthony Russohad to do was add a wreath in the water for Natasha, and we wouldn’t have such a major complaint to make, but it’s obvious that the filmmakers forgot Natasha was a person, not just a plot point.
Thor is the Best Avenger, So Why Is Everyone So Mean to Him?
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) has had the most interesting character arc in the MCU, especially in the Infinity Saga. His march towards depression following the loss of all of his loved ones, Asgard, and then half of his people was signposted inInfinity War, and it’s driven home when Thanos taunted Thor for not going for his head, thereby giving Thanos the chance to Snap half the universe to dust. Thor blames himself for the Avengers’ loss, and then when they discover that Thanos has destroyed the stones at the start ofEndgame, he spirals further out of control.
Five years after the Snap, Thor is the absent king of New Asgard, hiding out in his basement, playing video games and watching cable, while drinking himself out of shape. The decision to put super-fit Chris Hemsworth in a fat suit is irksome.Fat suits are the worst; they are an insult to an entire community. That’s bad enough, but the way the camera keeps highlighting Thor’s new body is an obvious attempt to humiliate him and anyone with such a body.
Diegetically, Thor’s weight gain is due to his deep depression and PTSD. His alcoholism should be more concerning, but no one in the film addresses his drinking, only his weight. One would expect a group of literal superheroes, the best of the best, to be beyond such digs as Thor looking like ‘melted ice cream’, or being filled with ‘Cheese Whiz’ or giving him the nickname of Lebowski. Even Thor’s mother, Frigga (Rene Russo), makes a dig at his weight by telling Thor to eat a salad. Ma’am, Thor needs therapy, not lettuce. Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) is the biggest culprit. Thor spends a lot of screen time with Rocket, and it’s astounding Thor doesn’t go over the edge, especially after Rocket slaps Thor when he’s in the midst of a panic attack. Note to people: do not do this!
Thor, of course, doesn’t react even once to the insults, which is the most authentic part of his characterization. Most fat people let the jibes wash over them because they’ve heard it all before, and it’s not going to change who they are, but most often it’s because one simply doesn’t know how to react to such uncalled-for cruelty.
Despite all this, Thor is such a fierce protector throughout the film. From intervening when a faceless gamer is harassing his friend Korg (Taika Waititi), to shielding Rocket when Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) activates his version of the Infinity Gauntlet, Thor never stops being a hero. He’s also first in line to face off against Thanos. The fact that Thor is excited and not jealous when Steve lifts Mjolnir shows what a big-hearted friend he is.
Though Thor’s transformation is seriously problematic, at least the filmmakers, andHemsworth himself, knew that Thor was still worthy irrespective of his weight. Heroes come in all shapes and sizes and Thor proves that inEndgame.
The Third Act of ‘Avengers: Endgame’ Is Divisive
There’s a constant complaint about the Marvel formula and how each property ends with a big battle with a bunch of nameless soldiers fighting to the death. After the ingenious time heist sequence in the second act, one would have expectedEndgameto buck the trend and do something different with the climax, but that doesn’t happen. Thanos arrives on Earth with a giant army, and the Avengers, plus warriors from Wakanda, Kamar-Taj, and who knows where else, appear and start fighting. That being said, Marvel’s formula works because each boss fight is unique and different. So, even if the actual fight sequence is uninteresting, the character moments like T’Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) knowing Clint’s name andall the ladies coming togetherto protect Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland) and taking on Thanos is fist-pumpingly awesome.
The final battle wasn’t the only controversial element of the third act though. Once the Avengers have won, and Tony’s memorial is over, Cap takes on the mission to return all the Infinity Stones to their original places in the timeline. But then he doesn’t return. It’s a tense scene as Bruce and Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie) desperately try and figure out what went wrong, all the while Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) serenely looks on. We discover, much to our horror, that Cap had decided to remain in the past, and he’d only revealed his plan to Bucky. Why would he do that to Sam, who is Cap’s other best friend? Or to Bruce, who Cap has known for quite a while?
Endgamedoesn’t do justice to the platonic relationships in the film, especially regarding Cap. Why wasn’t Cap at Tony’s side when he died? Throughout the film, the two of them try to extend olive branches to each other, but they never got the chance to patch up their friendship. And Cap leaving Sam in the dark, and deciding on his own to hand over the Captain America shield to him just makes no sense. No wonder Sam is reluctant to take on the mantle inTheFalcon and the Winter Soldier— it wasn’t his decision.
Cap’s choice to return to the past and get together with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) ruffled plenty of feathers when the film came out, but it does make sense diegetically. These two have loved and pined for each other for years, and since Peggy didn’t end up with the other love of her life, Daniel Sousa (Enver Gjokaj), she deserved this happy ending, just as much as Cap did. Does him sacrificing his friendships make sense? No. Does Cap deserve to finally be happy? Yes.
As hard as it is to admit,Endgamehas its issues. Interwoven in the spectacle of the film are rankling flaws. Acknowledging these problems doesn’t make the film worse, nor does it mean we can’t love it and rewatch it a thousand times. But acknowledging the mistakes means future properties can be better. Now only if the people making Marvel stories would acknowledge them as well, we could actually see some improvements.
