Avengers: Endgame

***Avengers: Endgame*** is a 2019 American epic post-apocalyptic superhero drama film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the direct sequel to *Avengers: Infinity War* (2018) and the 22nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, and features an ensemble cast including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Danai Gurira, Benedict Wong, Jon Favreau, Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Josh Brolin. In the film, the surviving members of the Avengers and their allies attempt to reverse the damage caused by Thanos in Infinity War. It premiered in Los Angeles on April 22, 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on April 26, as part of Phase Three of the MCU. Two sequels, *Avengers: The Kang Dynasty* (a fifth film) and *Avengers: Secret Wars* (a sixth film), are in development, planning to release in 2026 and 2027, and set to end the sixth phase of the MCU.

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## Plot

In 2018, twenty-three days after Thanos erased half of all life in the universe, Carol Danvers rescues Tony Stark and Nebula from deep space and they reunite with the remaining Avengers—Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, Thor, Natasha Romanoff, and James Rhodes—and Rocket on Earth. Locating Thanos on an uninhabited planet, they plan to use the Infinity Stones to reverse his actions, but discover Thanos has already destroyed them to prevent further use. Enraged, Thor decapitates Thanos.

Five years later, Scott Lang escapes from the Quantum Realm. Reaching the Avengers Compound, he explains that he experienced only five hours while trapped. Theorizing that the Quantum Realm allows time travel, they ask a reluctant Stark to help them retrieve the Stones from the past to reverse the actions of Thanos in the present. Stark, Rocket, and Banner, who has since merged his intelligence with the Hulk's strength, build a time machine. Banner notes that altering the past does not affect their present; any changes create alternate realities. Banner and Rocket travel to Norway, where they visit the Asgardian refugees' settlement New Asgard and recruit an overweight and despondent Thor. In Tokyo, Romanoff recruits Clint Barton, who became a vigilante after his family was erased during the execution of Thanos' plan.

Banner, Lang, Rogers, and Stark time-travel to New York City during Loki's attack in 2012. At the Sanctum Sanctorum, Banner convinces the Ancient One to give him the Time Stone after promising to return the various Stones to their proper points in time. At Stark Tower, Rogers retrieves the Mind Stone from Hydra sleeper agents, but Stark and Lang's attempt to steal the Space Stone fails, allowing 2012-Loki to escape with it. Rogers and Stark travel to Camp Lehigh in 1970, where Stark obtains an earlier version of the Space Stone and encounters his father, Howard. Rogers steals Pym Particles from Hank Pym to return to the present and spies his lost love, Peggy Carter.

Meanwhile, Rocket and Thor travel to Asgard in 2013; Rocket extracts the Reality Stone from Jane Foster, while Thor gets encouragement from his mother, Frigga, and retrieves his old hammer, Mjolnir. Barton, Romanoff, Nebula, and Rhodes travel to 2014; Nebula and Rhodes go to Morag and steal the Power Stone before Peter Quill can, while Barton and Romanoff travel to Vormir. The Soul Stone's keeper, Red Skull, reveals it can only be acquired by sacrificing a loved one. Romanoff sacrifices herself, allowing Barton to get the Stone. Rhodes and Nebula attempt to return to their own time, but Nebula is incapacitated when her cybernetic implants link with her past self, allowing 2014-Thanos to learn of his future self's success and the Avengers' attempt to undo it. 2014-Thanos sends 2014-Nebula forward in time to prepare for his arrival.

Reuniting in the present, the Avengers place the Stones into a gauntlet that Stark, Banner, and Rocket have built. Having the most resistance to their radiation, Banner wields the gauntlet and reverses Thanos's disintegrations. Meanwhile, 2014-Nebula, impersonating her future self, uses the time machine to transport 2014-Thanos and his warship to the present, which he then uses to destroy the Avengers Compound. Present-day Nebula convinces 2014-Gamora to betray Thanos, but is unable to convince 2014-Nebula and kills her. Thanos overpowers Stark, Thor, and a Mjolnir-wielding Rogers and summons his army to retrieve the Stones, intent on using them to destroy the universe and create a new one. A restored Stephen Strange arrives with other sorcerers, the restored Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, the Ravagers, and the armies of Wakanda and Asgard to fight Thanos's army. Danvers also arrives and destroys Thanos's warship, but Thanos overpowers her and seizes the gauntlet. Stark steals the Stones and uses them to disintegrate Thanos and his army, at the cost of his life.

Following Stark's funeral, Thor appoints Valkyrie as the new king of New Asgard and joins the Guardians. Rogers returns the Stones and Mjolnir to their proper timelines and remains in the past to live with Carter. In the present, an elderly Rogers passes his shield to Sam Wilson.

In 1945, Rogers and Carter are seen dancing together, where they express their love towards each other, and they kiss.

## Why It's the Ultimate Endgame

1. It's the epic culmination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's "Infinity Saga" arc, and also the culmination of the *Avengers* quadrilogy, concluding all the events that took place over the previous twenty-one movies in the franchise, and knocks it out of the park.
2. Incredible and perhaps the best soundtrack composed by Alan Silvestri. While Infinity War takes the music Up to Eleven, the musical mastery in this film takes it Up To 100 (and possibly beyond).
	* Traffic's "Dear Mr. Fantasy" is played over the Marvel Studios logo, adding an astonishingly appropriate bluesy feel to the first act. And on re-watch, it becomes a suitable song for the End of an Age of the MCU.
	* "Supersonic Rocket Ship" by The Kinks plays when Professor Hulk gives Scott a taco, and when he and Rocket go off to find Thor in New Asgard. It's a surprisingly optimistic song for a post-Snap world, and it really gives the encouragement needed for undoing the Snap.
	* The blood-pumping "Doom and Gloom" by The Rolling Stones plays as the Avengers prepare to go back in time, which is more than inspiring for a trip through time.
	* Though it only plays for a few seconds, "Hey Lawdy Mama" by Steppenwolf makes stepping into The '70s feel all the more alive and is the perfect send-off music for Stan Lee's final cameo.
	* The last 30 seconds of "No Trust" echo the opening for the title card of Infinity War, but this time with extra trumpets and drums to emphasize that this is a finale to the Infinity Saga.
	* "Totally Fine" is an appropriately dark reprise of "Porch" from the last scene of *Infinity War* before the credits. Whereas "Porch" has a serene and bittersweet tone, emphasizing that *Infinity War* is Thanos' film, and that though he had to sacrifice so much, he completed his goal and is at peace in his garden, "Totally Fine" has a more intense and dark reprise of the music with drums, showing that this is now the Avengers' film, in which they just found out Thanos destroyed the Infinity Stones and the damage he did is irreversible. This makes the tone shift to downer since the Avengers are once again the protagonists, and they have all lost hope. There's also a beautiful moment of Rewatch Bonus. Near the end of "Totally Fine," when Tony is recording his video will, re-watchers will notice the theme is very familiar. It's a section from "The Real Hero", beautifully book-ending the movie.
	* "One Shot" feels like a deliberate Call-Back to "A Promise", much like how the scene it plays over calls back to Fury's promise that the Avengers will return when mankind needs them most, with the Avengers fulfilling their promise by being back when not just mankind, but the whole universe needs them to set things right. Top it off with Captain America's Rousing Speech and the Avengers setting off to retrieve the Infinity Stones from the past, and it's the ultimate They're Back moment of the MCU.
	* "Becoming Whole Again" deserves props for setting the very bleak tone of the brave new world that Scott, who had only spent what he felt was five hours in the Quantum Realm, returns after five years. From his shock and awe at the world around him to the sheer terror that befalls his face when he realizes that he was pronounced dead for five years, this track does an amazing job at scoring what the world has become in Scott's absence. Thankfully, the track takes a turn for the sweet towards the end when Scott tearfully reunites with his now teenage daughter, whom he's so happy to see.
	* The heist-infused version of the Avengers theme that plays in the scene where the group discusses the plans for the Time Heist, complete with subtle bongos. It's a small addition to the classic theme, but sets up a fun energy going into the high-stakes heist.
	* The latter portion of "Tres Amigos" (which plays as Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor confront 2014 Thanos in the ruins of the Avengers Facility) contains an intermittent string motif that perfectly captures how far Thanos has jumped off the slippery slope and truly become the Mad Titan as he announces his new plan to use the Infinity Stones to destroy the current universe and build a new one.
	* There's so much to dissect regarding "Portals", including a brilliant Call-Back to "Assemble" from the first Avengers film.
		+ "Portals" builds up its majestic fanfare, until Professor Hulk shows up, with the piece transitioning into the same bombastic prelude that played during Banner's transformation into the Hulk before punching the Leviathan in the first film.
		+ In the first film, before "Assemble's" prelude, there was a portion with only strings. During "Portals", Banner and the Hulk are now merged; there's no hesitation or tension on the part of Banner, so "Portals" transitions straight to the prelude.
		+ In both films, it's Banner's emergence from a pile of rubble along with the prelude that signifies that all the Avengers are ready for the final fight. It's one reason why Doctor Strange asks Wong "Is that everyone?"
		+ The bombastic prelude in "Assemble" lasts for ten seconds. In Endgame, it's twenty seconds, to denote the enormity of the moment and the totality of all the current MCU heroes being assembled.
		+ The Avengers once more "reload", with Captain America "reloading" by summoning Mjölnir.
		+ Once the Avengers and Thanos' forces collide and engage in combat, it's a reprise of the music from the most famous shot of the first Avengers that showed them all in action in a single uninterrupted take. No piece could have been more appropriate.
	* During "The One," there is a reprise of "One-Way Trip," (starts from 1:27) the music that played as Tony flew into space in the first Avengers film. The fact that it fits so seamlessly in Endgame that it took some good-eared fans to make the connection is a testament to Silvestri's abilities as a composer.
	* "The Real Hero", a somber piece near the end of the film when we're shown Earth's lives slowly returning to normal, then Tony's Video Will and his funeral. We do remember who is the one hero who gave it all.
	* The second half of "This is My Choice" starting around 2:17 from Captain America's first movie is reprised when Old Man Cap hands over the shield to Sam Wilson/Falcon. This piece is used in the first Captain America movie when Steve tells Peggy he's going to crash Red Skull's plane, and he assumes it will end in his death. It is used again when Steve actively makes the choice for the Captain America legacy to live on through Sam, resulting in an awesome moment that will leave you sobbing happy tears.
	* "It's Been a Long, Long Time". When that theme played to signify the reunion of Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter in the past after the former returned as an old man to pass on the shield, and the legend, to Sam Wilson. "Go Ahead" as the theme for when the hand-over took place cements the transition.
	* The first half of "Main on End" is basically a rearranged "Portals", which is fitting as the film is one huge tribute to the All-Star Cast of the franchise, mirroring the one big scene in the film. The last third stands out for its dedication to the Big Six, who started and carried the franchise all along, with a rearranged Avengers' Theme. Endgame will not be the end of the MCU, but with this piece, it serves as a great send-off for them.
	* In a musical tribute to Iron Man, a melancholic jazzy-symphonic version of "Make Way for Tomorrow Today" plays to wrap up the ending credits, along with the six clanks of Tony making his first suit of armor in his debut movie.
3. The film included every single one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe superheroes that have ever existed within the Infinity Saga, and everyone gets their time to shine, be it a minor appearance or a major role.
4. It provides some of, if not, the greatest action sequences the MCU has ever had.
	* Some of the scenes where the theater ***exploded* in jubilation** include the now iconic, portals scene to reveal the resurrected heroes, Captain America proving to be worthy by lifting the Mjölnir, and Iron Man snaping his fingers to defeat Thanos and his army.
5. This movie brings the original six (Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Thor, Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton) back together ever since *Age of Ultron* and, like the first two films, they are again the main focus of the story and all of them go through a **major character development**, unlike *Infinity War;* because when you think about it, Thanos was the real main character of *Infinity War*; and while that movie also features nearly all of the MCU heroes until that point, only Tony Stark, Thor, Doctor Strange, Star Lord, Gamora, Scarlett Witch and Vision were relevant to the plot as the others didn't do a lot outside of joining the battle against Thanos.
	* Additionally, while the original six are the movie's main focus, the surviving heroes from *Infinity War* (except for Captain Marvel) also get a pretty good amount of screentime and development, like James Rhodes, Scott Lang, Rocket Racoon, and Nebula, the latter having a great side plot of facing her past evil self.
6. Excellent direction by the Russo brothers.
7. Great action scenes involving fan-pleasing moments, especially the scenes mentioned above.
8. Awesome cinematography.
9. Astonishing visual effects.
10. The pacing is great and well-done.
11. Great acting especially from the original six.
12. Alongside good action, the movie also has plenty of emotional moments for all the main Avengers, concluding many of their plot threads.
13. The film gives Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and Black Widow proper send-offs, closing their character arcs with satisfying resolutions.
	* Tony Stark's iconic "*I am Iron Man.*" quote also returns after eleven years, and his death is very emotional.
14. The movie begins and ends with quiet, intimate moments.
15. Unlike in other previous MCU movies, the humor works very well.
16. Pepper Potts plays a major role once again after ***six years***, following the absence.
17. Good characterization for each of the original six Avengers and the others like Ant-Man and War Machine and each of them gets their own time to shine. Thor, in particular, is accurate to the *Ultimate* comics in the way he is portrayed, and he has been given more character development, now suffering from PTSD (which is a much more severe case than that of Tony Stark's PTSD), depression and alcoholism and being forced to overcome his failed attempt of defeating Thanos in *Infinity War*.
18. To compensate for their absence in *Infinity War*, Ant-Man and Hawkeye return as major characters with very significant roles.
19. By time traveling back to the events of *The Avengers*, *Thor: The Dark World* and *Guardians of the Galaxy*, we can see moments which were unseen in these films, like what the Avengers did immediately after defeating Loki but before Thor brought Loki and the Tesseract back to Asgard or that Nebula and Gamora were slaughtering the Korbinites before they were send to aid Ronan the Accuser to retrieve the Power Stone from Star-Lord.
20. The movie implements time travel in a way that isn't overly confusing yet breaks the trend of other time travel tropes, serving as a less confusing theory for time travel because it reinforces that what already been done can't change the future.
	* It sometimes makes fun of the "changing the past can change the future" cliché that has been used too many times.
21. While Thanos in *Infinity War* showed his pragmatic side, he showed his ruthless, more brutal side as a fierce conqueror, which is major character development for him in *Endgame*. Plus, unlike most generic destroy the world/universe villains, Thanos has a reasonable motivation, in which nobody accepted his solution to prevent overpopulation, so he has to destroy it and rebuild it where he is leader to make sure overpopulation will never be a problem again in his universe.
22. Happens to be *Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice* but improved since it managed to execute the main character's death scene better since here, it is more rewarding since we've been through so many films with Iron Man so him sacrificing his life may seem permanent now that we really don't know if he can come back, unlike *BvS* whereas Superman dies in his second film, and it was known that he was going to come back in the next installment.
23. The ending is perfect and concludes not only everything in the Infinity Saga, but the whole Avengers quadrilogy very well.
	* Not to mention, it even uses the song *It's Been a Long, Long Time* from *Captain America: The First Avenger* for the end credits.
	* Much like in *The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2*, the end credit sequence is also beautiful, as it pays tribute to everyone who was part of the franchise so far, and even includes the signatures of the main stars.
24. It does have a hint that teased the other projects, such as Thor joins the Guardians of the Galaxy, hinting the fourth *Thor* movie.
25. Memorable dialogue. For example:
	* Tony: "I love you tons." Morgan: "I love you 3000."
	* Wanda: "You... took... ***EVERYTHING*** from me." Thanos: "I don't even know who you are." Wanda: "You will."
	* "I went for the head."
	* "That is America's ass."
	* "You're about 5 years too early."
	* "No... No, I don’t think I will."
	* "I know what I must do. I will shred this universe down to its last atom."
	* "AVENGERS! ...assemble."
	* "I am...inevitable."
26. And most importantly, this scene, the scene is where it all started to end it and also the unforgotten scene ever made: ***"And I... am... Iron Man."*** And snaps.

## Bad Qualities

1. Although every single hero in the franchise appears in this movie, only the surviving ones from *Infinity War* are given significant focus, and almost every other character only serves as brief supporting roles.
	* Captain Marvel only appears for a few minutes total that had a minor role despite being built up as the ending of *Infinity War* suggesting she would be a significant role character and the marketing advertising. The directors confirmed that this was because *Endgame* was filmed before the standalone *Captain Marvel* origin movie is due to the schedules, so the character was still unexplored and underutilized at the time. Possibly, it was also a bit of deliberate misdirection, as she actually does play a major role in taking down Thanos - but at the start of the movie, when it's too late to make any difference.
	* The scene in the Battle of Earth where the female heroes team up, while a nice little nod to the comic team A-Force, is rather very cringy by some as it only serves to pad out a few minutes of runtime and to give the movie a modern Disney-esque dose of tokenism, what makes it more forced is just the characters have a stupid excuse to come together and help Captain Marvel bring the Gaunlet to the Quantum tunnel, even though there is no point if she managed to destroy Thanos' entire mothership.
		+ The female heroes teaming up scenes has been criticized by everybody even by feminists as it was seen as an opportunity for the females to actually fight, but instead they do nothing other than appear in this scene, making it nothing but feminism propaganda.
2. Some of the humor is occasionally hit or miss, involving the use of Internet memes like dabbing, the lunch scene going on for too long, or Korg playing *Fortnite* (even if it was redeemed by Thor yelling at NoobMaster69, who is seemed crying).
	* The *Fortnite* reference might have been excusable due to an event going on in *Fortnite* to promote the movie, also since this movie took place in 2023, Fortnite was starting to get less popular in 2019, so basically they were using a dead trend.
3. The time travel logic can get pretty confusing for some, especially those who liked to go with the logic from *Back to the Future* that what someone does in the past affects the future, which also helps raise the stakes.
	* Speaking about it, the time travel logic is presented as a plot contrivance since Tony Stark managed to figure it out in a few minutes. There was no struggle to perfect time travel, just it happened to be quickly solved, making the time travel plotline seem like a deus ex machina to bring back everyone.
4. While the pacing is great as mentioned above, it can be rather inconsistent. As the first hour moves at an unnecessarily slow pace that can make the film very boring to the film moving at an unnecessary faster pacing as of the second hour that can sometimes make the movie hard to follow.
5. Black Widow's death is completely ignored at the end of the movie and no one but Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch tributes her sacrifice. Even Professor Hulk doesn't do it, even though he references how he wanted to bring Black Widow back to Cap because he loved her.
	* Speaking of Hulk, Hulk wasn't treated with respect as much as many other characters, with both his personalities just coming in terms with each other offscreen and despite him saying it is necessary to have Banner and Hulk combined, he isn't even strong, with a comedic moment where he pathetically fails to impersonate his old self. Plus, there could've been a scene where Bruce meets Natasha in the soul world when he snaps considering when he says he wanted to bring her back at the end of the film.
6. **Plot hole:** Why didn't anyone even try to check to see if Scott Lang was alive and stuck in the Quantum Realm during the five years that pass between the Snap and the rat bringing him back to Earth? After all, his daughter did manage to survive the Snap as well.