Last Wednesday, Shane and I finally went to see Avengers: Endgame. Those of you who have read my Marvel posts in the past will know how weird that is for me, because usually, I’m full-out fangirl and can’t wait longer than opening night.
This one was different.
For the last 11 years, Marvel Studios has been leading up to one final story: Endgame. After that movie, I knew nothing would ever be the same. And there was a big part of me that wasn’t sure I was ready to give that up.
But it was getting increasingly difficult to avoid the spoilers online, especially with my phone sending me notifications every day. It thought it was being nice because it knows I like Marvel, but it knew not what it was doing. So I had to make a decision.
Did I want to watch the movie and experience every potentially heartbreaking moment for myself, and possibly (definitely) cry, or did I want to have someone tell me what happened and then not be able to feel anything at all?
So we went.
For the first time after watching a comic book movie, our drive home from the theatre was pretty quiet. We talked over a few of the key points, but for the most part, we were both stunned. There was so much to take in, and the studio hasn’t been silent about the fact that everything will change after this.
But I think that’s a good thing.
As far as I’m concerned, Endgame is an amazing movie, and I absolutely believe it is the movie that we all deserve. It’s exactly what we’ve been waiting for for over a decade, and I can’t imagine a more poignant ending to a series that has brought fans together across the globe. It’s bittersweet; I’m glad the studio ended the movie the way it did, but I can’t tell you why.
All I can say is that if you’re holding onto the stories we know and love like I was, and you’re afraid of the change, don’t be.
It will hit you hard. It might even stun you a little. But it will be worth it to experience it for yourself.
I will never ruin this movie for anyone else.
I’m not normally one to ruin movies for anyone; if you’ve read my movie reviews in the past, you’ll know I always mark where the spoilers start so those who don’t wish to have something ruined can save themselves.
But I’m going to make a special effort not to ruin this one. You know, unlike the guy who got beaten up for walking out of a theatre and spoiling the ending for everyone waiting in line.
He obviously doesn’t follow Marvel Studios on Instagram.
I think the last time I experienced this much hype around a movie was when we were coming to the end of the Harry Potter saga, and everyone got mad about people ruining the sixth movie. I was less sympathetic with that one because the exact same thing happened in the book, which was still very relevant at that point (the book was 2005 and the movie was 2009).
But in that situation, there was only one possible outcome, because they were bound to canon. With Marvel, the comics themselves are over 20 years old, and have multiple different ways of ending the Infinity War story arc, and that isn’t even accounting for the 18 possible storylines the Russo brothers wrote for Endgame.
So for those of you who haven’t seen it yet, I hope with all my poor little Marvel-loving heart that you get to see it before someone spoils it for you. And for those of you who have, I hereby challenge you to join me: Let’s not spoil the Endgame.
