A Feminist Review Of "Avengers: Endgame"

I am perfectly aware that you do not need this review to decide whether or not to go to The Avengers. Not only that, I suspect that no matter what follows, there is a 95% chance you have already watched or watched the movie during this long weekend. The picture has already broken presale and first day records, and will definitely show record grossing over the weekend. The only question is whether "Avengers 4" will have time to collect their first billion this weekend, in the same that there will be several billions, there is no doubt. Avengers: Endgame is heading to the top-grossing films list and will likely overtake Avatar and Titanic by the end of the year.

By and large, this review is just an introduction to the comments, where fans will call Endgame the best comic book movie ever made, and haters will pour another bucket of bile on the picture. In the eleven years that have passed since the release of the very first Iron Man, everyone has formed a clear attitude towards the Disney / Marvel comic universe and Avengers: Endgame is unlikely to change your opinion.

Avengers: Endgame is a beautiful title with an interesting pun that is difficult to convey in Ukrainian or Russian. Endgame is not only the "Completion" (Ukrainian version of the name) of the game, "Final" (Russian version), but also the endgame, the final part of a chess game. Half of the pieces have been removed, there is room for maneuver on the board, but the last move can already be calculated.

A year ago, after the very emotional finale of Avengers: Infinity War / "Avengers: Infinity War" , it was obvious how Endgame would end. This is a farewell to the characters that have become almost dear to us over the past 11 years, the completion of the main storylines, an answer to questions asked in previous films.

If you have not followed the events taking place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe very closely, then you risk missing a lot of interesting moments. Before going to the cinema, it is worth revising at least three previous parts of "The Avengers", or better in general, all the full-length films that have been released so far. I wonder if the head of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige, who gave the MCU thirteen years of his life, conceived all these connections and cross-references from the very beginning, back in 2006, or is it a successful improvisation and adaptation of the events of previous films to Endgame?

Avengers: Endgame will take you on a tough emotional roller coaster to bring everyone in the hall to catharsis by the final scene. There are some very dark, serious episodes in the film that can squeeze a tear from the hardest viewers, and you will surely hear sobbing all over the audience. On the other hand, as in the case of Avengers: Infinity War, literally every emotional scene here is followed by an immediate release in the form of another silly joke from Thor, Rocket or Ant-Man. Sometimes it looks a little intrusive and ridiculous, but these are Marvel films, we are already used to such tricks of the scriptwriters.

The first half of a long, 3 hours 1 minute, film contains several optional and slightly drawn-out scenes, during which the narrative sags noticeably, but in the second part of the time you will not be bored and the point is not at all in perfectly staged action scenes, which are abundant here, just follow the events of the picture, look for references and easter eggs so interesting that three hours fly by unnoticed. Yes, some of these Easter eggs are more like a collection of Internet memes, but nevertheless, it still works. Incidentally, there are no post-credits scenes in Avengers: Endgame for the first time in several years. It's too early to tease the viewer with new films, so here Disney / Marvel decided to put an end to it. For now.

Avengers: Endgame is a farewell movie. Obviously, in the fourth phase, we will not see most of the heroes of the previous series. The way Disney / Marvel got some of the characters out of the game will surely not please some fans who have favorites, but there's nothing you can do about it. Moreover, despite the telling name, the game continues and Avengers: Endgame is not at all the final film of the third phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The honor to close the chapter is Spider-Man: Far From Home, which is slated for release on July 2, 2019.

But what will happen to the franchise next is not yet clear. Despite the information appearing from time to time about work on the next Marvel films - there are no dates, no names, no details about the plot of the upcoming films.

At the moment, it is known about the next Marvel films, work on which is already underway. Black Widow is a solo film about the Black Widow starring Scarlett Johansson, which, by all accounts, will be a prequel to the events of The Avengers. The Eternals is a film about the Eternals, a race of superhumans created by the Celestials during their experiments on ancient Earth. The only Eternal in the films of the first three phases of the MCU is Thanos. Doctor Strange 2 is a sequel to the film about a doctor-magician performed by Benedict Cumberbatch. Black Panther 2, which is in a very early production stage. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, work on which will not begin in any way due to the constant scandals around the figure of the director of the film, James Gunn. Shang-Chi is a film about a martial artist and the first film featuring an Asian superhero in the MCU. In addition, there are rumors of a restart of the Blade series.

At the same time, we are not yet saying goodbye to some of the characters of Infinity War, some of them will move to the streaming service Disney +, which is scheduled to launch in November 2019. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Scarlet Witch and Vision will receive their own series. (WandaVision), Loki and Hawkeye. The release of mini-series, the starting seasons of which will contain 6-8 episodes, is scheduled for 2019-2021. Their characters will be performed by all the same, familiar to us from previous films, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Tom Hiddleston and Jeremy Renner.

So the grand experiment of Marvel and Disney is far from over. The Marvel Comics Universe is about to change and it’s very interesting where it will lead the franchise in the next 10-12 years. We'll see.

---