And that's a wrap folks. The long winding and often convoluted saga of the Marvel cinematic universe reached a breaking point with the distribution of
Avengers Endgame. The movie is a long one, that's for sure. I at first was going to wait a week or so to see it, but it was clear that details of the story were going to shake loose sooner than later, so I found a front row center seat at a early morning screening and enjoyed it mightily. There are great laughs and there are tears, lots and lots of tears. sagas we've been following for some years now have found some degree of resolution and yes there is death, both for the benefit of the world and otherwise. Below is a spoiler rich discussion of some thoughts about this ultimate movie and what it says about the nature of heroism and about humanity.
UNAPOLOGETIC SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT SO TREAD WITH EXCEEDING CARE...
Someone told a friend of mine that they'd not need to have seen earlier movies to enjoy this one. That's not even remotely true. The earlier Avengers films are needed, along with
Iron Man,
Captain Ameica: The First Avenger, and
Thor. Others certainly help, but without knowing the themes of both the Shellhead, Cap, and Thor story lines, apprehending the meaning of this one will be elusive I suspect. And there was also the Black Widow who found her way into many if not most of these tales. What are those themes?
For Iron Man or better yet Tony Stark it's about learning the limits of life and finding humility which comes with love. The Stark we meet in
Iron Man is a cock-sure genius who is dead certain he knows everything about everything and if he doesn't he can in mere moments. His universe is one he controls utterly and there are no problems he cannot solve. He is given a second chance at life by Yinsen, a man who sacrifices his life for the greater good and for his family as well. Stark and Cap debated in the first Avengers movie about the nature of heroes and need to fall on the barbed wire for others, to sacrifice your life for others. Despite his origin, Stark is certain he can find a way to solve all equations and to come extent he does, though it creates startling shifts in his understanding of the world. In
Endgame he goes there, he gives his life intentionally for the benefit of others, others he cares about more than himself and it's suggested that's because he's now a father. Parenthood can change you they say and it seems to have changed Tony Stark. He wanted to build a shield around the world, to keep it safe in anticipation of any danger, but it always seemed his efforts were thwarted by the whims of life and death. In
Endgame he finally understands what Yinsen showed him so long before, there is no protection which is absolute, no shield strong enough, there is only what individuals do when they are required and for the first time, Tony Stark lays his body on the wire.
For Captain America it's been a different journey. He's always been the hero's hero, the template for bravery and goodness. But in order to become the hero he had to give up his life and his love. He did it, he made the choice but in this movie he gets the chance to choose again. I won't pretend to understand all the vagaries of the plot here, with its time-traveling details, but somehow Steve Rogers is able to make the universe safe and still find time to live life slowly. While some aspect of him slept in the ice, some other aspect found marriage and happiness and sadness and grief and all the rest of that bittersweet package we call the daily life. He was not just the hero anymore, he was the man named Steve Rogers. He's not the perfect warrior, he became the imperfect human and had the humility to become just a guy from Brooklyn, which in the final analysis was all he ever was. The heart of these movies has always been their success in tapping the emotions of the audience and the saga of Captain America or more properly Steve Rogers does that in spades. Who knows what the future has in store for those who remain, but that's life ain't it.
For Thor, it was always about meeting the obligations which were his as the son of the mighty lord of Asgard, Odin. We meet him as a callow youth who bellows and brags and fights with vigor and bristling stupidity. His strength is his weakness, his pride is his downfall and we see him in the first story learn that leaders are not born, they are made. He becomes in that first story worthy to accept the mantle and in later stories he does just that. In this one, the burden has become too much and he's lost his way again as many of us do. He's a god but he's not perfect and he hides from his pain behind the balm of drink and distraction and ignores what must come next. By being pulled back into the larger story he slowly and reluctantly again learns that gods are just people too. In the end he gives up his leadership, he chooses to do it and that's the difference. He is pointed in the way of the future and into the depths of time and space.
And finally for the Black Widow the saga ends. She has been in many the most fascinating character in all of these movies, first appearing in the second Iron Man flick and becoming a linchpin of the Avengers team. Her guilt over the grim past always weighs heavily it seemed, even as she quipped with a particular gallows humor. Her special history and unique connection to Hawkeye, in many the most normal and "human" of the characters proved her worth, though she doubted it always. Her romance with Bruce Banner seemed to be a special match, two "monsters" trying to hide themselves behind human faces. She said once that her "ledger was full of red", and the movies are a relentless march toward her salvation which comes with her self-sacrifice, meant to save the world itself. She is dead in that distant dimension and somewhat forgotten at the film's conclusion. But that's the way she was considered within the narrative flow of the movies, always crucial but often underestimated and sadly all too often overlooked. The depth of character in the Natasha "Nat" Romanova has been one of the true revelations in the movie universe.
Other heroes came and fought and will fight again. Thor will certainly find a place of some kind with or without Chris Hemsworth with the Guardians of the Galaxy. But for Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, and Natasha Romonova the road seems well and truly to have ended, or at least it has for the nonce. Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr. and Scarlett Johanson are gone, but with any delightful fictional character there is a more than a tiny bit of immortality.
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