Movie Reactions: Avengers Endgame

Updated: Feb 21, 2020

This past week has been momentous in the entertainment industry as Avengers: Endgame premiered in theaters. Endgame has been years in the making, as all the prior Marvel movies have led to this one. In fact, I feel like Endgame is legendary in this way, since the creators have tirelessly worked to weave storylines and characters together.

My intention is to not make this review full of spoilers, but I will be discussing Avengers: Endgame, so if you don’t want to know anything, I suggest you stop reading now.

I am a huge fan of the Marvel franchise to the point that I usually see the movies the day they are released. For Endgame, I actually went to see it on Thursday night, the day before release, because Infinity War left me completely shattered and I had to know what was going to happen next. And Endgame certainly delivered in this regard, as there is a resolution to what occurred in Infinity War. But I have many other thoughts about this movie.

Overall, I loved Endgame. There was plenty of action and adventure, and even humor, which is what everyone has come to expect from Marvel. I liked that the humor wasn’t overdone, though, because the circumstances in Endgame are definitely a little more serious than in past movies. If anything, I think the stakes were raised in Endgame, and it clearly showed as each character was more emotive. It was particularly interesting to see how these characters dealt with their emotions. In most cases, their reactions were uncharacteristic for them, which truly conveyed the trauma and grief they were going through, since one resorted to revenge, some suppressed their true feelings, and others tried to move on. There were a few who did have a natural reaction to take action and find a solution, which is what superheroes are supposed to do. What I liked, though, was that there was variation.

Photo taken by Sara M Schaller

Since the characters’ feelings were laid bare on the screen, it is no surprise that I cried about two or three times. At one point during the movie, the whole theater was completely silent and all you heard was sniffles and sobs. In a way, seeing the movie was somewhat sad because you leave knowing that this is the end, not for the entire Marvel franchise, but for what we all have come to expect.

As a creator and storyteller myself, I found this revelation to be eye-opening for two reasons. One, it made me realize how invested fans become in a series, as they begin to have an emotional response to the events that occur in a story. Two, it shows how the events and reactions in Endgame reflect life in a real way, because after all the trauma, grief, and fighting these characters have gone through, it is absolutely believable that they would not be same once it is all over. And since they are no longer who they were when they began this journey, it makes sense why future Marvel movies will be different because the characters have changed.

Lastly, I want to remark on my favorite and least favorite parts of the film. I want to begin with my least favorite part since I might start ranting a little.

My least favorite part of Endgame was what happened with Captain Marvel. She was barely in the entire film, and this frustrated me because she is supposed to be the all-powerful superhero, but the writers and directors did not let her live up to those expectations. I felt the need to remark on this because I posted about my favorite fictional heroines in the past, and she was on that list. I thought her character had so much potential, but the creators let me down in Endgame.

Another female on my fictional heroines list was Arya Stark, and she definitely showed up last week by saving everyone on Game of Thrones.

I don’t want to go on a tangent here, but I have to comment on this because Arya has stayed true to her character throughout the entirety of Game of Thrones whereas Captain Marvel has completely changed.

Throughout Game of Thrones, Arya’s main purpose has been to get revenge on the people that hurt her and her family, and the writers have maintained this storyline for Arya. All the seasons of the show have actually shown Arya develop into a strong warrior and assassin for the purpose of fulfilling this goal. Oppositely, there was a distinctive shift in character for Captain Marvel between the movie Captain Marvel and Endgame, and I believe this has to do with the change in writers and directors.

In Endgame, the writers made Captain Marvel secondary to the Avengers when she joined up with them. Additionally, not only was Captain Marvel hardly in Endgame, but the creators willingly made her character choose to not act or participate for the majority of the movie. This was not the case in the movie Captain Marvel, for she very much wanted to help save the universe and was capable of doing so. I can only attribute this shift to the varying creators.

I guess why I am so irritated about this is because I know what it’s like creating characters. Every aspect of them is intentional, and for someone to completely change or reinterpret those intents is frustrating, especially when you believe that it makes the character less like the person they are supposed to be. However, I also understand the need for change and reinterpretation. It’s just hard to face in this circumstance since I loved the character Captain Marvel was when she was first introduced to us. I must admit, though, that when Captain Marvel appeared in Endgame, they did make her do remarkable things. I just wanted her to be in the movie more.

As for my favorite part of the film, it was the ending (and when I say ending, I literally mean the absolute last scene that you are left with). This scene is something that I have been waiting for that left me with this reaction. I can’t say more because it will spoil it, but it is a scene between my two all-time favorite Marvel characters.