By Lucas Greifzu – Editorial Editor

*WARNING: This article does contain spoilers for Avengers Endgame*

Marvel has leaped over the highly set bar that it set for the final chapter in the decade long story that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Heading into Endgame, the MCU has grossed nearly $19 billion across 21 movies, including four of the 10 biggest movies of all time. The trailer promised Earth shattering (literally) action throughout the movie, and it delivered on that promise quite thoroughly. This movie has had even more hype leading up to it than Avengers Infinity War did, and with it being the aftermath of Infinity War, it surely lives up to the hype.

Thanos is back in the latest and final installment of this branch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After fulfilling his destiny in Avengers Infinity War, many people were left wondering what could be next. While 50 percent of all life in the universe was wiped out by Thanos, Earth still has some defenders. Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Hawkeye, Black Widow, War Machine, Rocket, Nebula, Ant-Man, and Captain Marvel headline the list of heroes that Earth has left after Thanos’s snap. However, Thanos has an army of his own with him including the Black Order. Avengers Endgame is set up to be one of the better movies that Marvel has put out in the past decade.

The movie starts off with Tony Stark and Nebula stranded in space on the remnants of the Guardians of the Galaxy’s ship. It mentions how they have been drifting through space since their battle with Thanos. It also mentions how they have been without food or water for days, which means that Tony is severely malnourished. The next scene shows that Tony is fading towards death, however Captain Marvel appears from the depths of space and rescues the pair. When they arrive back on Earth they are greeted by the remainder of the Avengers, as well as Pepper Potts. After a brief discussion between the group it is revealed that Tony has no knowledge of where Thanos might be, but his adopted daughter Nebula does. The group discovers that Thanos is on a remote planet, and they go to visit him to get some answers. When they arrive they come to the realization the Thanos has destroyed the infinity Stones, thus ending their hopes of bringing back the 50% that was lost.

Next, the movie jumps forward in time five years, and we see Captain America leading a group therapy session in New York City. He tells the group that the world is in their hands, and that they have to do something with it. Next we see Scott Lang escape from the quantum realm, where he has been trapped since Thanos’s snap. He returns to the Avengers headquarters where he explains that instead of five years he was only trapped in the quantum realm for five hours. He continues to explain that using this knowledge they might be able to use the quantum realm in order to travel back in time and get the Infinity Stones and bring everyone back. They bring the idea to Tony Stark who is living in the woods with his wife and daughter. Tony says that it can’t be done and that even if he could, he can’t risk losing what he has gained.

Not wanting to give up, they bring the idea to the other genius that they know, Bruce Banner. It is revealed that Banner has found a way to combine his two forms and become Professor Hulk. He says that quantum physics isn’t really in his wheelhouse, but he still offers to help. They return to HQ and try to send Scott back in time. However, it doesn’t go fully according to plan. First they try and bring Scott back but he comes back as a teenager, then he comes back as an old man, then as a baby, before finally returning as his normal self. After this semi success, Captain America goes outside, where he is greeted by Tony. He reveals that he has cracked the code on time travel and has fully functional time space navigators. He also reveals that he has the original shield that Captain America used, which he gifts to him. They now have to gather the whole team in order to go on the mission. Hulk and Rocket travel to New Asgard in Norway to bring Thor back to the team. However, when they get there they discover that Thor has PTSD from the battle with Thanos. After some convincing they manage to get Thor to come back to the team, and the whole team is back together. 

After that, they have to plan where to go in order to get the Infinity Stones. After some deliberating, they find out that there are three Stones in New York in 2012, 1 Stone is Asgard in 2013, 1 Stone on Morag in 2014, and 1 Stone on the planet Vormir in 2014. On the mission to New York, Hulk is assigned the task of getting the TIme Stone from the Ancient One. After he promises to bring all of the Stones back to their proper timelines once they finish using them, she allows him to take it. On that same mission, Captain America is tasked with getting the Mind Stone, (Loki’s Scepter), after the battle of New York. Finally, Tony and Scott are in charge of getting the Space Stone, (Tesseract), from the Avengers after the battle of New York. All goes according to plan until Tony accidentally gets hit by the Hulk and loses the Stone to 2012 Loki. 

Meanwhile, on Asgard, Thor and Rocket don’t run into too much trouble while getting the Reality Stone. Thor seeks some advice from his mother prior to leaving Asgard. She tells him to stop trying to be someone that you are not. Thor also manages to grab Mjolnir before they travel back to the present. On, Morag, War Machine and Nebula easily manage to capture the Power Stone. However, Nebula is captured by 2014 Thanos, who takes advantage of the connection between present Nebula and 2014 Nebula. They devise a plan to send 2014 Nebula to the future in order to bring 2014 Thanos to the present. Subsequently, on Vormir, Hawkeye and Black Widow are greeted by the guard of the Soul Stone. He informs them that one of them will need to sacrifice themselves in order to get the Stone. In the end, Black Widow ends up sacrificing herself in order for Hawkeye to get the Stone. FInally, back in 2012 New York, Tony and Captain America devise a plan to get the Space Stone. They travel to SHIELD HQ in 1970, this allows them to get more Pym Particles, and the Space Stone. While there, Tony has an encounter with his dad Howard Stark. He thanks him for everything that he did for him and says he wasn’t that bad of a dad. Captain America also sees Peggy Carter while he is at the camp and pauses to think about what he’s going to do when this is over. 

Upon returning to the Avengers compound, Clint is forced to break the news that Natasha has died to the rest of the group. They all agree that they have to continue on with the mission for her as well as for the countless others that have been snapped away by Thanos. After some deliberation on who should wear the gauntlet Hulk ends up putting it on and snapping his fingers. However while this is happening 2014 Nebula is busy bringing Thanos’s ship into the future. After Hulk snaps his fingers there are some subtle clues that show the snap worked and that everyone is back where they were before the snap. Unfortunately, the Avengers are greeted with several blasts from Thanos’s ship which blow up the compound and leave a giant crater in its wake. First out of the rubble we see Hawkeye who finds the gauntlet in the remains of the building. He is greeted by several of Thanos’s hound creatures. He manages to escape before being greeted by Nebula who alerts Thanos that she has found the gauntlet. But before she can take it and leave present Nebula and 2014 Gamora show up and kill her.

In the final portion of the movie we see Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor standing on a ledge looking down on 2014 Thanos sitting in the crater. They then approach him and begin to fight him. This fight doesn’t amount to much accept for the discovery that Captain America is able to wield Mjolnir, which he was previously believed to be unable to do. Thanos eventually quells the forces of the three Avengers, breaks Captain America’s shield and severely injures his arm and leg. While Captain America is getting up from this blow, Thanos’s army comes down from the ships and prepares to attack whatever remains of the Avengers. But, before he can do this, the Avengers who got snapped away by Thanos appear out of portals created by Doctor Strange. This leads to the final battle scene in which there are several good matchups, however it has a not so happy ending. In the end, Tony ends up getting the Infinity Stones on has hand and snaps away Thanos and his armies; this unfortunately does end up killing Tony Stark. 

After the huge battle scene, we see a message that Tony recorded before he went on the time travel mission. He says that he’s recording the message in case of an untimely death on his part. We then see the funeral that is held for Tony. All of the heroes are present, as well as the kid who helped Tony out in Iron Man 3. We then see a heartfelt moment between Hawkeye and Wanda. The final scene of the movie takes place when Captain America goes to return the Stones to their proper timelines. He goes on the mission, but flies past his return point on the way back. The camera shows a man sitting on a park bench in the woods where the mission took place. This is Steve, and Falcon approaches him. In the end, Captain America ends up giving Falcon his shield and telling him that he deserves it. The final shot of the movie is a clip of Steve back in time dancing with Peggy Carter, who he decided to spend the rest of his life with.

Overall, there are a lot of good things in this movie. But the primary thing is the final fight scene. This scene was so high budget and so well made that it takes the cake as the best Marvel fight scene that they’ve put out. This scene is very similar to scenes from movies like Ready Player One, because it’s on such a massive scale. What I mean by that is that every possible character that they’ve introduced in the MCU are all coming together to fight Thanos and his massive army. This is something that Marvel movies don’t traditionally do well, so it is very noticable when it’s done correctly. 

Another positive thing is the movie’s run time. Avengers Endgame clocks in at just over three hours. While some might think that three hours is a little long for a movie, Avengers Endgame manages to keep your attention throughout the movie. Also, since this is the final installment in this chapter of the MCU, a longer movie that wraps everything up is what was needed. Finally, the long run time allowed for all of the stories that needed to be wrapped up to do so. What I mean by that is, for example, Iron Man and Captain America’s stories both got wrapped up in a good way. This is good because a lot of franchises don’t do this with their characters, and it leaves the fans wanting more.

The final positive thing is that there were a lot of good spots and lines in this movie. Everything from the women power scene, to Captain America lifting Mjolnir, to Howard Stark, to Captain saying “Avengers Assemble at the end, to Tony repeating that he is Iron Man before he snaps his fingers. These are only a few of the spots and lines that take place throughout the movie, and there are so many more that are worth taking a look at. 

However, every movie has its low points, and the big one in Endgame is that it might raise more questions than it answers. With main character such as Tony and Cap dying, people are wondering what’s next for the remaining heroes. We get to see that Thor is joining the Guardians of the Galaxy and that Clint is going back to be with his family, but we are still unsure about what might be next in the MCU. 

Another downfall is that time travel being introduced can lead to future problems. For example, why wouldn’t the Avengers just go back in time and bring a version of Tony or Natasha back. Another example would be if the Avengers do ever lose again they could just simply go back in time and fix it. While using it in this movie worked out well, using it in the future might prove tricky. 

Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars