In story-telling, the ending can be considered to be one of the most important, if not the most important aspect of the story. It caps off everything that the characters had gone through, and brought closure and tying up certain loose ends a very complete entity. When Iron Man came out back in 2008, the whispers of an Avengers film started coming around, even though the plan for one was already thought up by Marvel. After Iron Man’s success, followed by Captain America and Thor, it came time for the main event: The Avengers. Released in 2012 to a massive box-office success, The Avengers wasn’t just a blockbuster, it was an event. Featuring some of the most well-known heroes in the Marvel universe in one movie, the bar was raised for comic-book movies. Thus began Phase 2 of what would become the MCU or the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We began seeing sequels to each of the main character films that have been released thus far, as well as Guardians of the Galaxy, all leading up to Avengers: Age of Ultron. While not the critical success that the first film was, Ultron helped usher in Phase 3 of the MCU, and this is where things start coming together for the coming showdown with the Avengers’ greatest villain yet, Thanos. Avengers: Infinity War was the culmination of 10 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe building to this point. Not only did Infinity War NOT disappoint in any way, it also raised the bar again with much higher stakes by the time the film ended. Everything that we, as fans, have seen is all coming down to what may be the final Avengers film, at least as far as the current team goes: Endgame.
In Infinity War, Thanos was traveling through the universe to collect the 6 mystical and powerful Infinity Stones so he could “bring balance” by destroying half of all life in the universe. Despite a very heroic attempt by Thor, Captain America, Black Panther, Bruce Banner, Iron Man, Spider-Man and the Guardians of the Galaxy, Thanos would ultimately succeed in destroying half of the universe with a single snap from his Infinity Gauntlet. We saw the effects of the snap as we witness Black Panther, Winter Soldier, Falcon, Peter Quill, Spider-Man and Doctor Strange disintegrate into dust, leaving Iron Man stranded on alien planet and the Avengers as well the planet completely decimated. People had often complained that Marvel was unwilling to kill some its main characters over the past 10 years. Well…..that’s exactly what they did here. Now, to be fair, like in the comic book story of Infinity War, a good number of these deaths are likely to be reversed, mostly because some of these characters still have movies coming out, so killing them isn’t really an option. Some of the characters appear to be truly dead: Loki, Gamora, and Heimdall among others. The ending of Infinity War left things on a very down note, and with the stakes never having been higher than they are now, we will be given Avengers: Endgame in April which will conclude the MCU’s version of the Infinity War. The Infinity Stones are still going to be in play, particularly the Time and Reality Stones. But what is also going to up the ante is the inclusion of a new superhero, Captain Marvel, who will be getting her own film in March, but she will figure heavily into Endgame’s outcome. The trailer that Marvel released just recently gives you an idea of where things stand in the MCU, but it doesn’t really give anything away, which is what a teaser trailer should do. In the months leading up to Avengers: Endgame, there’s going to be a lot of speculation as to who will survive and who won’t and how some of these deaths will be reversed. Make no mistake about it, the MCU will be very, VERY different after Endgame. With Chris Evan’s and Robert Downey, Jr.’s contracts expected to expire, one has to wonder what will happen to these characters. Will they die or will they ride off into the sunset. Honestly, I expect one of them to die, specifically Captain America.
While I could go on for hours speculating what will happen in Avengers: Endgame, I’m far more curious as to what other people have to say about this. I have to be honest: I’m a huge fan of the MCU movies, even though some are not as good as others. Like many other fans, I’ve invested ten years into these stories and I can’t wait to see how it all comes to an end in its current form. The Avengers will most likely continue into the future, as well as the rest of the MCU, but form will it take and will future movies continue to be interconnected with each other? Only time will tell. Honestly, I can’t say I’ve been more excited for a story arc to be concluded. Not because it’s been going on for ten years, but because of where the previous films have brought us. I want to see how this ends and if it will surpass Infinity War in terms of scale and scope. Infinity War set the bar really high, and I hope that Endgame will be more than up to the challenge.