Avengers: Endgame Thoughts and Reviewing Predictions

Endgame: Initial Thoughts

SPOILERS ahead

Prior to seeing Endgame I watched through the entire MCU catalogue (something I've never done before); it was the first time I'd seen The Incredible Hulk (which wasn't as bad as I'd imagined, but it's not a good film). I've seen Endgame once and I'm still processing it. Right now I'd call it a great film--it didn't hit me quite the way Infinity War did, perhaps because I've been covering it so intensely. As a send off for the three phases of the MCU it made some bold choices and, with one exception, I think they were good choices. The film was much funnier than expected, but that didn't detract from its emotional beats. Did we feel the impact of Infinity War? I think we did. Was there character progression for the main characters? Absolutely--of the OG Avengers only Black Widow doesn't get an arc in the film. Were the deaths dramatically effective? I think so, even if (again) there was one that leaves me baffled. Has the film successfully concluded Marvel's opening phase while also setting up its future? The former absolutely, while with the latter is more of a mixed bag. Speaking of characters, the Russo's have a gift at making underwhelming or underused characters shine, and in this we get the best version of Frigga in this film (alas we didn't get the same treatment for Valkyrie, who remains bland, although burying her on the throne is one way to deep-six her as a major ingredient in the MCU-films).

That said, any film that's three hours long is going to be called slow (just like any Netflix series with 13-episodes is going to be called too long), but the pacing was fine. Like any conclusion it attracts criticism (64-years later and people still make jokes about the eagles in The Lord of the Rings). What's it's not is a disappointing or underwhelming end of an era--it's not the Matrix sequels, it's not The Dark Knight Rises, it's not Spider-Man 3, X-Men: The Last Stand, etc.

A more general thought: this earns the right to not simply be Infinity War 2--it does so because the film isn't really about Thanos, it's about undoing what he does with the Gauntlet--about saving those who were lost. In that sense past-Thanos is simply another obstacle (a formidable one), but not the main antagonist--the problem of the film is bringing the Snapped back.

A few other random observations: I enjoyed the Russo's making use of one of the comics bigger boondoggles of having Cap be a secret Hydra agent--that little nod, so perfect for the context of the film, is the only positive way to use that idea. Speaking of Steve Rogers, the assumption is that he's done as Cap--he's old, Evans wants a break, etc--is overblown. If the MCU ever wants to, bringing him back isn't that hard--he's been de-aged in the comics before (or we could see time travel), so while it's more likely Evans won't return, he still could since he wasn't killed off.

Uncertainties/Disappointments

There's no such thing as a perfect film and Endgame has a few elements that stand out to me as either problems or disappointments (some of which may be resolved in the future):

• 1) Black Widow's death: it struck me as a poor end for the character--yes, she pays back her debt to Clint in a way, but how does that move her character forward? She'd already repaid him by becoming a better person
• 2) How can a Black Widow movie happen if she's dead? We've had endless rumours it's a prequel (originating with former THSer Charles Murphy, who has a good track record), but how trivial is that going to be if we never see the impact of whatever that film is trying to do? If this is as straightforward as it seems it will be the first MCU film I have no interest in since Ed Norton's Incredible Hulk (keeping in mind there might have been foreshadowing via Banner's comment at the end of Endgame about really trying to bring her back)
• 3) Cap's time travel feels a bit wonky--the theory is he lives with Peggy in a separate timeline until she dies of natural causes and then travels back to his own timeline as old man Cap to give up the shield to Falcon--it's an odd approach, although it does give him his happy ending
• 4) The five-year jump--how will that work exactly? Those who survived the Snap have aged and those who haven't, haven't, which is a little odd (not necessarily the biggest of deals, just one I wonder if the future films will deal with at all)
• 5) Lack of mid/post-credit scene: I understand the logic of leaving them out, but they are such a hallmark of the MCU that I was disappointed to not see one

Reflections on My Predictions

There were three notable things that I got right:
1) The death of Tony Stark (which I predicted all the way back in March of last year); I was by myself predicting this up until December (other than a 4chan Far From Home scoop in May)
2) Cap wouldn't die (I suggested retirement, although I did not imagine how he'd give up the shield)--this went against an avalanche of popular opinion that was sure Steve Rogers would die heroically in the film.
3) There would be no use of B.A.R.F. tech (something I long suspected was a plant by the Russo's to spread disinformation); the biggest advocate of this was Charlie Schneider, who, given the size of his audience, is significant.

There are plenty of things I got wrong, with the biggest being the Stark Gauntlet--a very popular theory (including a toy leak which was real, despite my doubts), but one I thought in-universe was unlikely (it was hard to figure out who could handle the Power Stone or who could wield the Gauntlet--the film's solution was that no one directly handles the former except Thanos, and that using the Gauntlet nearly kills Hulk and does kill Tony). Another, and I'll gladly eat humble pie here, was rejecting the legendary five-year gap (most prominently pushed by Jeremy Conrad & his buddy Daniel). I thought Jeremy's evidence for it was weak, but within the film's narrative it makes sense, making room for: Kamala Khan, Stature (Cassie Lang), Kate Bishop, etc (it's good for successor/inheritor characters). Going back to Jeremy, the evidence prior to the film was weak (it was never clear to me that the universe would stay five years in the future). I wonder if he or (more probably) Daniel had some fragment of insider knowledge; regardless, we can remove that as an error from Conrad's track record (as well as the strike against him believing Frank Grillo's walked-back claim that there would be a new (black) Captain America).

Reflections on Leaks/Predictions from Others

We'll colour code this to break up the wall of text; those coded red are completely wrong, those coded orange are partially correct, and those in green are completely correct:

Jeremy Conrad
The five-year jump

Tony Stark's child would be sacrificed (initially saying it would be a young child and then suggesting that role would be Katherine Langford's--see below)

THS (That Hashtag Show - posts lost via a hack)
Emma Fuhrmann was in the film playing an aged-up Cassie Lang
Howard Stark would appear
The Wrap (Umberto Gonzalez)
Katherine Langford would appear in the film
Nerdist (post deleted afterwards)
Rocket and Hulk would form a bond/friendship--other than their brief mission to New Asgard, this isn't emphasized in the film (indeed, Thor is more his buddy)
News-catching Reddit Posts
Hela would appear (this included claims that people saw her on set)

The film would draw inspiration from Return of the King with Thor playing the role of Aragorn

News-catching 4chan Posts

January plot summary of the film was complete bunk
The most famous (infamous?) 4channer gets his own breakdown below (it's a mixed bag)
Actors
Frank Grillo: there would be a new, black, Captain America; Grillo also confirmed his own appearance
Tom Holland: Doctor Strange talks a lot about the Quantum Realm

Mark Ruffalo: the Ancient One would return

Ty Simpkins: Harley Keener would appear

Hayley Atwell denied being in the film
Aaron-Taylor Johnson denied being in the film

Popular Theories

The Soul Realm would appear/be involved
A link/hint of the X-Men/mutants*
Doctor Strange would help Tony & Cap's relationship
Ant-Man would appear far in the future and/or past before arriving at Avengers HQ (the infamous door cam video)
Quicksilver would return
Yondu would return

*I do wonder if the Snap, which generates a tremendous amount of energy, are what causes mutations

The Famous 4chan Post

This is the one Jeremy Conrad was promoting and I went over it a month ago:

• Iron Man reassembles the Avengers and decides to build his own Infinity Gauntlet to undo what Thanos did. They recruit Ant-Man to help them travel through time and space using the Quantum Realm to retrieve the Infinity Stones from different time periods. Thanos finds out about their plans and becomes hellbent on stopping them

It's actually Captain America who assembles the Avengers, but Tony does build his own Infinity Gauntlet with nanotech; the idea of undoing the Snap is Scott Lang's, who simply arrives rather than being recruited, but the plan and Thanos' pursuit is correct

• The movie revolves around the relationship between Captain America and Iron Man

This is incredibly generic and echoes frequent comments by the Russo's beforehand, so it's not really a prediction

• At one point, Captain America and Thor fight Thanos. Timeline alterations have restored Mjolnir, and Cap wields it against Thanos to allow the others to escape, and is killed holding Thanos off

The first part of this is true, the latter is not

• At one point, Hawkeye must protect the unfinished Stark Gauntlet from Thanos' minions. He plays an "instrumental" role in Thanos' defeat

The first part is true, the second is more ambiguous (what does Clint do directly to defeat him other than be part of a long chain of heroes who try, unsuccessfully, to prevent Thanos from grabbing the Gauntlet?)

• Thor's subplot centers on him assembling an army to challenge Thanos. Captain Marvel joins him

This is wrong on all points, as Doctor Strange gathers the army off screen at the end

• Hulk's subplot centers on Banner and Hulk finally merging to become Professor Hulk. He is the one that ultimately wields the Stark Gauntlet against Thanos, losing his arm in the process

The first part of this is wrong (Banner achieves harmony off-screen), the second is partially correct (he doesn't use it against Thanos, he simply uses it, nor does he lose his arm, it's simply badly injured)

• Nebula's subplot centers on her efforts to redeem herself. At one point, she fights her murderous past self

The first part is wrong (she's already redeemed), but the second is correct

• Several MCU movies are revisited and retconned (probably not permanently), such as the Avengers retrieving the Power Stone creating a timeline where the Guardians of the Galaxy never came together

This is completely wrong, as there are no ripples in time at all (we now have a Gamora from the past, but that has no impact on the existence of the Guardians at any point in the film)

• There's a pivotal scene between Doctor Strange and a fully CGI character being shot on a secret location, with a skeleton crew, and takes up a relatively sizeable portion of the budget.

This is also completely wrong; Strange barely appears and spends most of his time holding a water break

• Only two of the original Avengers [are] meant to survive the movie. Cap dies.

Completely wrong; only two die and Cap retires

• The title was Avengers: Infinity Gauntlet at one point, but it might be changed after Zoe Saldana accidentally leaked it

Kevin Feige has debunked this one--it was always Endgame

In total the poster got five things right, three partially right, and ten completely wrong. What the poster seems to have known is a rough outline of the plot with a selection of specifics that are hit and miss (mostly miss)--whether that's due to changes to the outline or the poster's own speculation we'll likely never know.

One final addendum, a guy called Roger Wardell (who I've never heard of), known via two apparently dead Twitter accounts (this seems to be the main and first one, but this has Reddit excited) seems like he knew some of Endgame's elements if it's accurate. I don't know how easy it is to fake Twitter dates, so I have to assume it's real for now--oddly this information did not circulate much despite containing a couple of juicy spoilers.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)