‘We are in the Endgame now’, said Dr Strange, even though
creators swore that the title of the final instalment of Phase 3 from the MCU
had not been mentioned in the previous films. They are liars and we love them
for it.
In preparation, me and my friends went back and watched
‘Avengers Infinity War’ for the third time and I can honestly say, it could not
have been a better movie considering what it was. As always, I will start with the
negative, yes the one. The main complaint is that with so many heroes, no one
got enough screen time and that is true. Captain America hardly got any lines
in but that is what is so amazing about the MCU, he didn’t need to because his
actions spoke millions: ‘I'm not looking for forgiveness, and I'm way past
asking permission’, is a sum of the 'Civil War' outcome and ‘We do not trade
lives’ is his moral code in a gist. Five lines was plenty for a movie with 28
superheroes. He also got a magnificent scene, where the puny human from
Brooklyn, born in 1918, resists the mighty titan with his bare hands. I swear,
I got goose bumps. Plus, Endgame will take care of limited screentime, as most of the
additional Avengers were erased and only the six original Avengers (and Antman
and War Machine and the Racoon) were left to fight. And if things go the way I
think they will, the Endgame will do justice to Steve Rogers.
There were a couple of details which were the utmost
celebration of what the MCU has achieved and I would like to point them out.
First one is the emotional turmoil it placed our superheroes in and how we all empathised.
Thor had to witness his people get slaughtered, his best friend (and last)
sacrifice himself and his brother choked in an impromptu act of kindness. So he
is hurt and pissed and deservingly gets the best shot at Thanos out of all the
Avengers. But he should have gone for the head. Then, both Peter Quill and
Wanda Maximoff have to fight every inch of their being and kill the people (or
robots respectively) they love for the greater good. And once they manage that
unimaginable task it is undone in seconds. Still does not mean I forgive Peter
Quill for FUCKING UP the whole universe, but you know, I empathise. After the
life-ending snap, many last words were a knife through the heart; Black Panther
say ‘this is no place to die’ as he gets erased from existence and Peter Parker
turns to dust in the hands of Iron Man, who felt guilty enough as it was about
this kid he took into his care, but he now has to watch him die, essentially. It was
all heart breaking.
On the subject of Peter Parker, everything about this
Spiderman is compensation for the Emo and Hipster Spidermans of the past. He is
a movie nerd and a millennial, hence the pop-culture references, but possibly
the best (and unlikely) version of a teenager you can get. He is so innocent
and selfless it does not even cross his mind that an alien attack is diversion
enough for him to disappear. He perfectly translates his ‘small scale’
vigilante duties to the Infinity War scale by saying ‘You can’t be a friendly
neighbourhood Spiderman if there is no neighbourhood’. I’m sorry, even though that
quote has the word ‘Spiderman’ in it, it is proper deep. Later on, his spidey
sense, just like Mantis’, warns him about what is to come, a detail that made
me love the Russo brothers just a tiny bit extra. And lastly, my favourite
detail, in the middle of the scariest fight of his life, he takes a moment to rejoice
about being an official Avenger. He is as likeable as he should have been three
Spidermans ago.
Spiderman is a major Marvel character and perhaps doing him
justice is what was expected. However, what the MCU will be known for is taking
characters like the Guardians of the Galaxy and making them superstars. I am
not saying anything original here, but I think we need a moment of appreciation for
the MCU and James Gunn in particular for making them such standouts, that
within a second of ‘The Rubberband Man’ playing, we knew who was coming up on screen.
That is not a small feat and it just goes to show how ironclad these characters
are in everyone’s mind.
And it is time to address the Titan in the room, and that is
the best worst, villain since Christopher Nolan gave Batman a sore throat.
Thanos is the balls (and that is not a reference to his chin, although it could
be). He is not your typical villain with equal power to the hero, but with
cruel intentions; he has the six infinity stones that control the universe. He
can make half of existence disappear with the snap of his fingers. He is so
strong, we ignored the fact that Iron Man’s suit is now essentially the Green
Lantern ring (Wait, is this a crossover episode?), because it didn’t really
matter anyway. And apart from that, he has suffered, he is dedicated and there
is an argument behind his actions. He has seen his own planet deteriorate
because of overpopulation and he is aware that there are finite resources in
this universe. He has therefore decided to take it upon him to ‘bring balance
to the universe’. He is probably a vegan too. Of course, he is also an
emotionally detached, murderous maniac, which is what I would be if I was vegan
as well. But we see him ache for Gamora, we see him show some recognition, even
maybe admiration, for the selfless defenders, their effort, determination and
self-sacrifice. He is not likeable, but he is surely more likeable than his
skinny son, Ebony Maw; I think I literally cheered when he got his ass
‘Alien’ed. I recognise that Thanos is obviously worse than one
of his mere helpers, but he is given more character and played by Josh Brolin.
I am glad Brolin also plays Cable, because otherwise I could see me mourning
his loss from the MCU. And my friends would rightfully kill me if I shed a tear
for Thanos.
But the most important thing that made this movie a success,
was the dynamics. The Russo brothers kept enough track of the progress so far,
to know who had met whom and who had heard of whom and some of those unlikely
pairings were the best entertainment in the MCU. Namely Peter Quil and Thor,
Peter Quil and Iron Man, Iron Man and Dr Strange, Hulk and Bruce Banner and
Iron Man and Captain America. I know the last pair did not interact, but considering
the 'Civil War' aftermath we needed Tony Stark to hesitate before calling Steve
Rogers. How do you make that phone call? What a beautiful human moment.
Why is this that big a deal? Because this is not just the
final installment of Phase 3; it’s the final instalment of all three phases. It
is possibly the biggest movie event to date, certainly comicbook-wise. There is
nothing more anticipated, nothing of more pop-culture importance. I’ll say it
even if no one else does, it is more important than Game of Thrones. Why?
Because there are more years of investment, an extra three to be precise, and
most importantly this is our nerdom payback. We were mocked and we relied on
paper drawings and movies worthy of the mockery we faced to get our dose of
nerdiness. And then the MCU transformed this silly, childish, fictional world
to the epitomy of Hollywood, getting everyone from the hottest actors to Oscar
winning actresses involved. It got niche directors into the mainstream, it
incorporated other movie genres and most importantly, it gave spandex-wearing
characters three dimensional personalities. So I thank you Marvel, I trust you
and I welcome the shock and tears (and funny puns) that will surely make the
Endgame a celebration of the superhero genre.
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