Avengers Endgame has released all over the world today. Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Endgame picks up after events of the 2018 release Avengers Infinity War.
Half the superheroes that the audience had come to know and love disintegrated after Thanos’ snap and it seems like the remaining superheroes will do everything in their power to bring back the fallen heroes.
From the promotional material and the interviews, the makers have strongly suggested that this film will focus on the dynamics of the six original Avengers – Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye. Of course, they will be strongly supported by Captain Marvel and Ant-Man. The film also brings back the characters who survived Thanos’ snap which includes Okoye, James Rhodes, Rocket and Nebula among others.
Fans were overwhelmed after the emotional end of Avengers: Infinity War and the early reviews of Avengers: Endgame suggest that the audience is going to have a strong reaction to this one as well. Much like the last film, the makers have requested the audience to not share any spoilers.
Many core Avengers are going to bid adieu to the Marvel Cinematic Universe after Avengers: Endgame. Their contracts are expiring with this movie, and though they can be renewed, many of them have already moved on. Chris Evans has explicitly said he is hanging up the Captain America suit. Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow) and Chris Hemsworth (Thor) might stick around for a little more. There is a Black Widow movie in development and a fourth Thor movie is also said to be in the pipeline. Hemsworth has also expressed interest in continuing to play the role. However, their roles in post-Endgame MCU will likely be limited to appearances. Hemsworth has joined the Men in Black reboot, which, unless he really is the God of Thunder, kind of precludes him of being a full-time part of some other big franchise. Also, with so many superheroes around (and the number is only going to get bigger with X-Men and Fantastic Four), it will soon become impossible to tell stories when you have a veritable army of characters vying for screentime. The makers are using Endgame to give a perfect send off to the superheroes who began it all.
Avengers: Endgame will have the original superheroes fighting to undo the damage Thanos caused. They are expected to employ the use of time travel and so on. They will also, the trailers say, fight the Mad Titan again and exact vengeance from him. However they accomplish their goals, it is clear that the focus is going to be on the old guard of the Avengers, the group who fought Loki and the Chitauri in the first Avengers film. The directors have said as much. Joe Russo said in his recent Mumbai visit, “This movie focuses on the six original Avengers and closes the book and the stories being told about them in the last decade. We spent a lot of time with the writers to see that we deliver a powerful, emotionally impactful ending and hopefully it will be delivered.
Last year’s Avengers: Infinity War, the third film in the franchise, had the bad guy winning in an MCU movie for the first time. Thanos acquired every Infinity Stone from the heroes and obliterated half the living population of the universe. Many major characters who were introduced after phase 2 like Peter Parker and T’Challa died as well.
Avengers: Endgame is certainly not the end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it is an end. It will wrap up the giant story that began in 2008 with Iron Man when a certain Avengers Initiative was put forward by Nick Fury.
Marvel Cinematic Universe started with Iron Man in the year 2008 and Robert Downey Jr’s star power scaled new heights soon after the film. Over the years, Marvel films have helped in creating new heroes who are worshipped throughout the world. It’s only a testament to their success so far that Avengers Endgame tickets in India were sold within minutes. As per online ticket booking site BookMyShow, they sold 18 tickets per second. There are talks about 24X7 shows in cinema halls across India. Such kind of fandom is unheard of.
MCU is expected to broaden its scope after Avengers: Endgame as Disney has more characters to play with after the Fox acquisition. Marvel president Kevin Feige is yet to announce the studio’s direction after Endgame but sequels for Black Panther and Doctor Strange are speculated to be in the pipeline. Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is also in the works and there has been a strong chatter about a standalone Black Widow movie. Spider-Man: Far From Home is scheduled to release in July 2019.
Avengers Endgame stars Robert Downey Jr (Tony Stark aka Iron Man), Chris Evans (Steve Rogers aka Captain America), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner aka Hulk), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow), Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton aka Hawkeye), Brie Larson (Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel), Paul Rudd (Scott Lang aka Ant-Man), Danai Gurira (Okoye), Don Cheadle (James Rhodes aka War Machine), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Bradley Cooper (Rocket) and Josh Brolin (Thanos).