Minor spoiler warning

Claude Brun, Staff Reporter
Originally published May 16, 2019

It’s amazing to think that the Marvel Cinematic Universe started over 11 years ago with the release of “Iron Man,” meaning many people have grown up with these characters. Considering that, it makes the conclusion to that story started so long ago all the more emotional for many. This makes reviewing the conclusion to the first major arc of the MCU outside of the context of the other 20 movies nearly impossible, as this film relies so much on the characters and plot devices of those films. Because of this, someone going into the movie without any of that knowledge may be overwhelmed by the sheer reliance on things established in the earlier films and see “Endgame” as little more than the average mega-budget blockbuster action flick, but for someone who has been invested in many of these characters for over a decade, it should feel immensely gratifying to see them come together to face their greatest threat yet.

Having 20 movies worth of characters inevitably leads to issues balancing their screen time, even with a three hour runtime, but “Endgame” wisely chooses to focus mostly on the original Avengers, allowing the time to develop fitting conclusions to all of their arcs, probably the one thing this movie needed to accomplish above all else. That being said, many other fan favorite characters are pushed to the side, despite getting at least a few seconds to shine. While this may not satisfy their die hard fans, the focus on a smaller cast of characters makes this galactic scale story feel surprisingly personal.

By now, you probably know what a Marvel movie is shot and edited like, and this one is no different. The exposition and planning scenes are usually brief but filled with enough humorous interactions between characters with well established chemistry that they rarely feel boring, despite the gargantuan three hour runtime. The special effects and production design are also, of course, top notch but “Endgame” has more variety than many other MCU movies due to the various locations—new and old—the characters visit.

While it doesn’t contain too many surprises or any major changes to the formula, the 22nd movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe does provide a fitting conclusion to the stories set up in the previous 21 films, while leaving room for further exploration of many of the characters.