With Avengers: Endgame, the first phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is over. The last decade has seen a grand, 22-part opera that revolutionized…
With Avengers: Endgame, the first phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is over.
The last decade has seen a grand, 22-part opera that revolutionized modern cinematic storytelling. But now this phase, collectively termed the Infinity Saga, is over — and several of our beloved characters are gone too. This means there’s an opportunity to shake things up and really redefine what it means to be an MCU movie moving forward.
Here’s what I want to see from the MCU now that Endgame is over.
Warning: Big spoiler territory going forward. Proceed at your own risk.
Countless sci-fi and fantasy films end with massive conflicts between computer-generated armies. From Starship Troopers in 1997 to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, we’ve long grown bored with faceless, nameless hordes crashing into each other. Just look at DC’s Man of Steel to see how boring city-smashing CG can be.
Endgame’s ending ambitiously brings together every MCU hero in a final clash with Thanos and his CG pets. It’s an even denser retread of Infinity War’s final battle, and while visually impressive, it’s a jarring departure from the film’s earlier intimate focus on the core Avengers. After sharing emotional moments with the characters we’ve come to love over the last decade, glorified cameos for the likes of Black Panther and the Guardians of the Galaxy make things less relatable, detaching me from the experience.
Seeing all these guys in action is cool as hell, but we don’t need to end every superhero movie with a massive battle anymore.
