Avengers: Endgame brings a decade of worldbuilding to a satisfying and spectacularly epic conclusion.

Avengers: Endgame is a thoroughly rewarding experience for longtime fans, as the plot offers plenty of scope to revisit key moments from earlier movies. There are also so many subtle nods to the larger MCU that totally justified my decision to rewatch the origin stories and Infinity Stones-centric movies. The time-jump to the Battle of New York was particularly awesome and just unbridled fan-service. It felt like a series of Shawarma scenes as we get new perspectives of the Avengers doing mundane things. I whooped in delight when Endgame revisited the iconic elevator scene from Winter Soldier with an inspired twist.

At the heart of Endgame are the heroes we’ve been following since the very beginning. While Infinity War felt crammed with too many heroes, Endgame does a remarkable job of balancing its character arcs that it seemed like each hero got their own solo movie. Despite a runtime of over 3 hours, the movie whirs past at lightspeed, playing out as a series of exciting time-heists before the epic, climactic battle.

Even though the Avengers are only fighting CGI monsters, the battle is quite simply spectacular and works so much better than the Battle of Wakanda, since it is tempered with so many character-focused moments. The internet has theories, but the post-credit sceneclip is still undecipherable. I’d been hoping for a ‘Snikt!’, as there could be no better way to mark the Disney/Fox merger, but it was not to be.

Despite tackling ambitious projects with mounting stakes, the Russos have always managed to deliver movies that are loved by fanboys and critics alike. With an unprecedented mass hysteria accompanying Endgame’s release, it’s quite staggering that the movie managed to exceed expectations. It bears further testament to the Russos’ mastery of assembling tentpole movies that their portfolio of MCU movies (Winter Soldier, Civil War, Infinity War, and Endgame) is now good enough to rival even The Dark Knight, arguably the greatest superhero trilogy of all time. Nolan’s trilogy ended on a thunderous, satisfying note when the end credits ushered in Batman’s heir. Endgame somehow manages to emulate that by giving us a wondrous sense of closure as the MCU comes full circle.

In terms of sheer scope and ambition, the Infinity Saga (the first twenty-two films in the MCU) is a staggering accomplishment that has revolutionized cinematic storytelling. Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios can look back with pride as Avengers: Endgame brings a decade of worldbuilding and interwoven stories to a satisfying and spectacularly epic conclusion.

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