Avengers: Endgame was the culmination of eleven years of hard work. A magnificent treat for fans and a gorgeous cinematic experience to boot. I have been a fan of comics ever since I could read. But to see them brought to life the way the Marvel Cinematic Universe has managed was a "maybe one-day" scenario. And am I glad that day arrived sooner rather than later.
Endgame has done justice to its characters and given fans a truly satisfying ending. For me personally, it was a feeling of "don't be sad that's it's over, be glad that it happened."
It has been a long journey for Marvel to get here. Back in 2008, Marvel took a gamble with Iron-Man, an A-list character in comics but a relative unknown B-lister in the mainstream. No iteration of Iron-Man could get Tony Stark right. The comics described him as a self-destructive, self-indulgent genius playboy. But even the comics couldn't strike the right balance between his carefree persona and the side that cared too much. Not until Robert Downey Jr. somehow ended up on Jon Favreau's radar. Favreau had experience with another Marvel A-lister, Daredevil. But the Devil of Hell's kitchen left something to be desired.
So, neither director nor actor were bulletproof. They were starting from scratch, at rock bottom as it were. Iron-Man was released in 2008, the same year, superhero movies were elevated to a higher level of cinema with the Dark Knight. The end-credits with Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury scene was almost an afterthought but it laid the foundation for what would go on to become the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Endgame is the full circle fans deserved and thank you to the cast and crew of the MCU for delivering it. Though Endgame is not perfect, I say this as a nitpicky fan of course, but these tiny imperfections still shine like kintsugi, and if Endgame does anything better than give fans everything they asked for, is that it gives fans hope for the future. The MCU is far from done and this fan will be waiting for what the studio comes up with next. Thank you Marvel for making super-heroes great again.
