This last weekend’s box office smash, Avengers: Endgame, set revenue records. The Marvel movie took in $1.2 billion, crushing its Infinity War predecessor and of course James Cameron’s claim to the title with Avatar.  However, fans looking for the film to crush the cliché Hollywood ending will be sorely disappointed when MCU delivers this epic in a nice little 3 hour package complete with a bow on top.  

Despite having all the needed ingredients to bring a sense of epic struggle between good and evil, Endgame follows the same tired one-sided finish that we’ve all come to know (and some love) over the decades of these incredible hero stories come to life.  However, while fans and critics alike cry out in triumph for this amazing piece of cinema… I cry for the missed opportunity.

A Stream of Heroes and Villains

One of the incredible legacies that Stan Lee left us was a seemingly unending stream of heroes and villains.  The MCU inspired thousands, if not millions, of us to engage in the struggle between good and evil.  The detailed and amazingly illustrated pages inspired us to find the ways in which, despite difficulty, we could preserver through hard work and self sacrifice.  Now while you might be saying that is exactly what Endgame delivers, I’d say think about our last year and the opportunity to pay homage to the legend and creator.

While I enjoyed as much as the next person the chance to see all my favorite heroes reborn…or unashed…whatever it was whenever they did it… I can help but feel a bittersweet taste in my mouth.  No one would argue the permanence of Tony Stark’s departure or that of Natasha Romanoff. But, to bring back literally half of the rest of the universe seems to lack a sense of loss that, for this viewer, is needed.  I’m not suggesting that the film had to keep the loss from the struggle between good and evil permanent to reach that level of epic we saw in Nolan’s The Dark Knight…but to quote the creator, “with great power, comes great responsibility.”

What do you think was Endgame’s biggest blunder?

Avengers: Endgame fail