Connections in Avengers: Endgame

Much has been written about Avengers: Endgame, which is no surprise as it has the second-highest box office earner of all time at well over $2 billion and is the culmination of the most successful movie franchise ever with 22 Marvel Cinematic Universe movies over 11 years. So of course plenty of fans, journalists, and bloggers have written about its story, effects, casting, and all other aspects of the film from a variety of perspectives. As my first geeky blog post (unlocked by our wonderful Patreon patrons), I wanted to bring some Geek Critique Pod-style analysis to the movie by analyzing it through the theme of Connections.

Now I’ll be honest, I’m a huge Marvel fan who has been reading the comics my whole life, and I freaking loved this movie. I recognize it has some faults, some of which I’ll discuss, but as a whole I think it was a touching and entertaining end (for now) to the movie universe that has been building since Iron Man came out in 2008. And the reason it was able to pull off the seemingly impossible task of providing an emotional climax for a cast of characters that we’ve seen through so many movies is because it centered so much around the connections between those characters. These heroes (and villains) mean so much to so many of us viewers because we see how much they mean to each other.

The core cast of remaining Avengers are all seen as struggling through the aftereffects of Thanos’ decimation of half the life in the universe. And their ability or inability to move on is central to their motivations through the movie. Cap helps survivors move on with their lives, but realizes that he hasn’t moved on from the connections he had in the 1940s. Through the despair caused by the loss of his family, Hawkeye becomes the violent, sword-wielding Ronin (in an unfortunate appropriation of Japanese culture). Black Widow feels the need to keep the idea of the Avengers going, because losing that would mean that Thanos took everything she had, and she sacrifices herself for Clint and all those who were Vanished. Thor has given in to despair after he failed to protect his people and the universe from Thanos twice over, losing all those he cares about except the new friends he met in his third film. And Iron Man, who has moved on most successfully and refuses to do anything that might harm the family he has gained, is pulled into the Time Heist because of his own lost connection with Best Boy™ Peter Parker.

In a movie that is as packed with as much plot and action as this three-hour film, there’s little room to include long scenes on motivations and relationships. Still, the film manages to include just enough to let the viewer see where each of the core characters is at before the Time Heist begins. The only real misstep is with Hulk, who has the most profound character arc of the MCU, as the filmmakers decided to have it culminate off screen in the five-year gap. So while it is great to see Professor Hulk as a famous and mentally healthy superhero who dabs and provides tacos, it would mean so much more to see how he got there. Banner and Hulk were always depicted as two different personalities; how did they come to terms? Did they synthesize, or did Banner just take over? They are arguably the most connected characters in the MCU, and it would have been great to see how their relationship changed instead of just the finished product.

The film also succeeds as a culmination of a movie series and as a comic book adaptation because of the connections with previous movies and the comic book source material. The Time Heist itself brings these characters back into scenes and locations we have literally seen before, providing not only nostalgia but also the opportunity to see connections and discontinuities between the moments of the past and those of the future. Steve confronts the betrayers in Hydra and the more naïve version of himself that they were able to deceive. Cap saying “Hail Hydra” as a way to cunningly trick a group of fascists that he physically confronted when in the same situation in The Winter Soldier is also a great moment for comic fans like myself who were unhappy with Marvel’s handling of the 2017 storyline that had history rewritten so that Cap was always a member of Hydra himself. I’ll take a smart Cap using the phrase as subterfuge over a violent Cap using it to stoke Nazi beliefs any day.

Anyway, back to the Time Heist. Tony speaks with his dad in the only real adult conversation they ever had together, finding closure in their troubled relationship. And we see Thor re-enter the regal, godly halls of Asgard to meet his noble mother, but he feels entirely out of place as the comic relief he has become since Thor: Ragnarok. The overall handling of Thor’s despair is another missed opportunity of the movie, as it is used as a cliched fat-phobic punchline for most of the film, but seeing the juxtaposition when our modern Thor reenters the Asgard of the earlier films makes his ultimate decisions to join the Guardians of the Galaxy and find his own way feel much more earned. The Time Heist itself is also an amazing comic book convention, to explore what-ifs and revisit past continuity to add nuance and complexity or even change the past as a way to further develop that character in the future. Time travel and retcons (retroactive changes to continuity) have definitely been a mixed bag in comics, but when they are used to actually explore characters and narrative (as in Endgame), they can add a lot to a story.

The connections between these characters culminates in the most cheer-inducing, heart-swelling, comic-booky moment in any movie, when those snapped and other allies join the Avengers to face off against past-Thanos and his army. The scene is like an epic splashpage from the comics, when an entire page (or two) is taken up by a single panel, with huge battles of massive numbers represented down to fine detail. And the whole battle is filled with incredible moments that are actually touching because of the connections made over this huge movie saga. From Falcon’s “On your left” message, to the coming of the remaining Asgardians, Wakandans, sorcerors, Avengers, and Guardians, and to especially seeing an alive and well Spider-Man swing in and take off his mask, each appearance is like seeing a friend return to help in a time of need.

During the fight, I found myself smiling at so many small moments that harken back to previous movies and scenes. Cap picking up Mjolnir, as he almost did in Age of Ultron. Spider-Man introducing himself to literally everyone he meets because he is just the Best Boy™, and Captain Marvel’s smile as she meets him. Past-Gamora rejecting Star-Lord’s affections. The Wasp joining Ant-Man and calling Steve “Cap” like their discussion in Ant-Man and the Wasp. Black Panther with Shuri and Okoye leading the charge and kicking ass. And honestly, I’ll admit that I teared up a bit to see Pepper in her Rescue armor fighting back to back with Tony, covering each other and working together as capable partners.

Of course, that leads me to the “feminist moment” of the battle, which I see as a missed opportunity. Don’t get me wrong, it is amazing to see so many strong and diverse female heroes on screen together. But the moment feels so shoehorned in, precisely because there weren’t actually any connections between these characters, especially not any substantial relationships built on their shared experiences as women. I would love to see those women coming to each other’s aid because they have had to uplift and support each other in the patriarchal professional field of superheroing. But when few of these characters really know each other and Marvel continues to focus its biggest movies on the same three white men (no matter how much I love them!), I think their inclusion of a scene with all its female heroes facing off together is superficial pandering at best while they still have a great deal of work to do on representation. Not to mention that two of those characters (Scarlet Witch and Captain Marvel) are the only two in the movie that single-handedly best Thanos; having them team up with all the other super heroines for a task that Spider-Man was able to do largely on his own is just overkill. Ultimately, the moment feels like Marvel is trying to pat itself on the back for being inclusionary, but with little narrative weight given to the actions of these powerful women, they still serve to prop up the overwhelmingly white male characters the studio has banked on for over a decade.

But I will say that this movie also left me hopeful for the future of the MCU. With Tony dead, Steve old, and Thor joining an ensemble cast, there is so much more room for already-successful characters like Black Panther and Captain Marvel to really take center stage. Add to that the new possibilities that come with a black Captain America and the turn towards representation exemplified by the upcoming Shang-Chi movie, I think that the MCU can start to be a place where new stories can be told, and new connections forged. And with amazing characters like Kamala Khan, Amadeus Cho, Miles Morales, and Doreen Green available from the comics, Marvel has so much great material to build off of! I am so grateful and impressed that Endgame wrapped up so much so well. Now let’s see what’s coming next.