I still have a couple of scattered thoughts about Avengers: Endgame that I wasn’t able to address in my review for
it. I will lay them down here in this blog
post. Spoilers ahead.
* * *
During the exhilarating portals scene, where the heroes and their
allies poured in to stand with Captain America in the battle against Thanos and
his army, Doctor Strange and Wong had this exchange:
“Is that everyone?”
“What? You wanted more?”
Uh, I actually did, Wong. Yes,
it was a mindboggling ensemble already.
But I could think of a few characters that I wish could have been in it.
* * *
For starters, I wish Black Widow, Vision, and Loki could have participated in
that epic throwdown. I understand why
they couldn’t, so I wasn’t really disappointed about it. Still, it was pretty sad that those
characters/actors weren’t able to join in the fun.
* * *
I was expecting for Nick Fury, Maria Hill, and the remnants of
S.H.I.E.L.D. (at the very least, those operating in the Helicarrier in Age of Ultron) to step out from one of
those portals. They surprisingly didn’t. They should have been there in that final
battle.
* * *
Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne were cool and all that, but I would have
loved it if the OG Ant-Man and Wasp – Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) – joined the
fight, too. You can never have too many
size manipulators.
Speaking of size manipulators…
* * *
A whole team of Giant-Men/Goliaths would have been awesome. I was reminded of how cool it was that the
Ultimates – the Earth-1610 version of the Avengers – had a division of such in
their team. Nevertheless, Scott Lang –
in Giant-Man form – getting to punch that Chitauri Leviathan was sufficiently
rewarding already.
* * *
It took a second viewing for me to notice that one of the groups that
aided the Avengers in the final battle was the Ravagers. Since that was the case, it’s a bit of a
letdown that the Russos failed to include the MCU versions of Starhawk
(Sylvester Stallone), Martinex (Michael Rosenbaum), Charlie-27 (Ving Rhames),
and Aleta (Michelle Yeoh) – who, if you can remember, are Ravagers in this
reality – in that final battle.
* * *
I understand the necessity for Endgame
to have a more focused narrative, and that it didn’t have time to introduce any
new superhero character. That being
said, I was disappointed that there wasn’t a new superhero that got to debut in
this film. Okay, Pepper Potts debuting
as Rescue counts as one. But I would
have loved another MCU-debuting superhero participating in that final battle. How about Red Hulk? William Hurt’s Thunderbolt Ross was on hand
anyway. Plus, as proven by Captain America: Civil War, the Russos
are very much capable of integrating superhero introductions to the plot
without making the whole thing come off as bloated and unstable.
* * *
And lastly, the characters I would have really, really, really wanted
to be surprised about joining that final battle was Netflix’s Defenders.
* * *
During the onset of the MCU’s supposed TV arm – Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,
Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, etc. – we were promised that “all are connected.” But that turned out being complete BS. Agents
of S.H.I.E.L.D. did some minor tie ups early on – which, in retrospect,
were actually pathetic – and the Netflix shows made some nods to events and
elements from the movies. In the end,
everything was a big nothing burger. As
it turns out, Marvel Studios and Marvel Entertainment, and its subsidiary
Marvel Television (the company making the films are separate from the company
that is making the comics and TV shows, but both are subsidiaries of The Walt Disney
Company), weren’t really on the same page about the TV shows’ “all are
connected” philosophy. Never did the MCU
films acknowledge the TV shows. Well,
not until Endgame. But the best they could offer was a cameo for
Agent Carter’s Jarvis.
* * *
Apparently, Howard the Duck – who first had cameos in the Guardian of the Galaxy films – was actually
in that final battle. He came out of the
portal with the Ravagers. It was a
blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment. It would
have been a more exciting cameo if he was given a more prominent screen time as
well as a few lines to say.
* * *
Adam Warlock was an important player in the fight against Thanos in
the Infinity Gauntlet comics. He was teased in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and I somewhat imagined that one of
the surprises set for Endgame was
Adam Warlock’s debut – that Marvel had cast an A-list actor, and thoroughly kept
it a secret. Anyway, I wasn’t really bummed
that the character was absent in this movie.
* * *
“Hey, Peter Parker. You got
something for me?”
I make it no secret that I’m not much of a fan of Brie Larson and her
characterization of Captain Marvel. However,
I thought she was very likable in that brief exchange with Spider-Man. It seemed like the two instantly develop a rapport with each other. That moment
almost echoed the endearing chemistry that their comic book counterparts used
to share. I was anticipating that that
scene would develop into a sequence where they would get to perform their iconic
slingshot maneuver, and my heart sank when what came next was a borderline-cringey
A-Force reference instead. If Spidey and
Captain Marvel performed a slingshot maneuver at that moment, it would honestly
have made up for my disappointment for the film’s lack of Defenders.
* * *
Another interaction I wish Captain Marvel had was with Hulk. From day one, I wanted to see these two
characters’ version of the fastball special (the original is by Colossus and
Wolverine) – in which Captain Marvel throws Hulk from space, turning him into a
destructive projectile – be performed on the big screen.
* * *
It was nice to see Endgame
adapt Professor Hulk. But I did wish
there had been a “Hulk Smash!” Savage Hulk moment, where he bullies and obliterates
Thanos’ forces and gets a rematch with the Mad Titan.
Hopefully, we’ll get to see Joe Fixit Grey Hulk next time.
* * *
According to reports, the upcoming Black
Widow movie is going to be a prequel.
Makes sense, with Natasha Romanoff now dead and all. However, here’s another option: don’t make it
entirely a prequel, but also a film set post-Endgame (simultaneous past and present narratives a la The Godfather Part II) and introduce
Monica Chang to the MCU. It can also tie
up with the Shang-Chi movie that Marvel is rumored to be developing.
* * *
* * *
Based on the rules established by the plot (as laid out mostly by Bruce Banner), the 2012 timeline where Loki escaped should be already a splintered
timeline that couldn’t be fixed. Even if
Cap manages to return the Mind Stone and the Time Stone at the exact time they
were first taken, the escape of Loki still happened at that point in time.
Moreover, how did Cap manage to return the Mind Stone Scepter to those
Hydra sleeper agents without messing up Winter
Soldier? After all, he had let them
assumed that he was Hydra, too. A
possible solution is that he could pretend that it was Loki masquerading as Cap
that took the Scepter from them, and he had just taken it from “Loki” and was
returning it to them. Thus, the Hydra agents
would think that the one who whispered “Hail Hydra” to them was Loki, and wasn’t
the real Cap. The problem is, it would be
predicated to the event of Loki escaping.
Meaning, again, this alternate timeline is unerasable.
But maybe the whole thing was the setup for the upcoming Loki series
for Disney+.
* * *
Another issue arising from Cap’s time travel mission was when he
decided to stay in the past and marry Peggy Carter. In Captain
America: The Winter Soldier, it was revealed that Peggy was married to one
of the thousands of WW II soldiers whose lives were saved by Cap’s sacrifice. If so, then by stepping in and marrying Peggy
Carter for himself, Cap created an alternate timeline. From that point on, he would be living in an
alternate timeline, and it would have been impossible for him to show up in his
old age at that bench, for that is no longer the timeline he’s in.
The solution here is that the “husband” mentioned in Winter Soldier had been Cap all along (this
really could be, as there were photos of Peggy and her children, but no photo
of her and her “husband.” Maybe they were keeping his identity a secret). That
should keep the timeline linear.
Nevertheless, even if this is so, how was Cap certain of all these? How did he know he wouldn’t be creating an
alternate timeline by retiring in the past and marrying Peggy? If he was that “husband” all along, how was
he able to come to this knowledge? Surely,
he didn’t just act out of thoughtless impulse without any consideration for
these things, right? It would have been
uncharacteristic of him.
* * *
I presume that Cap was briefed by Hawkeye that the
guardian of the Soul Stone was the Red Skull.
Still, I’m extremely curious how that meeting would have turn out.
* * *
Seriously, an entire movie can be made out of Captain America’s off-screen time travel
mission, and I would love to see one made. Maybe that will also serve to clear up all the implied plot holes.
* * *
I kind of hated it when Avengers NOW! made Sam Wilson the new Captain America in the comics. However, I’m genuinely excited where the MCU will be taking this with Anthony Mackie. I felt it was more earned in his case.
* * *
On the other hand, though I was heavily skeptical at first, I ended up enjoying the run of the female Thor (who was later revealed to be Jane Foster) that Avengers NOW! introduced. It had been a longtime wish of mine to see her in the MCU. It would be so awesome if Marvel puts this into development and convinces Natalie Portman to come back and commit to this project.
* * *
I won’t ever get
tired of rewatching that scene where Star-Lord and Thor “cleared up” who the
leader of the Guardians would be. If that was any indication, Chris Pratt and Chris
Hemsworth are going to make so much comedy gold in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Really looking forward to it!
* * *
Thor was never a Guardian of the Galaxy in the comics. Iron Man was.
Captain Marvel was. Even Ant-Man
was. Bu not Thor. So why is MCU Thor made to join MCU
Guardians? My guess is that decision was
made when James Gunn was still fired as director, and the Marvel bosses were
planning to let Thor: Ragnarok director
Taika Waititi helm it.
* * *
Beta Ray Bill is a current Guardian in the comics though. Maybe Vol.
3 will see Thor passing the torch – i.e. Stormbreaker – to Beta Ray Bill?
* * *
By the way, Star-Lord just got to Earth. Shouldn’t he hang out a bit longer and be
updated on stuff?
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