Top Five Callbacks/References: Avengers: Endgame

Spoilers ahead – consider yourself warned.

Far and away, Endgame’s best quality is the time it takes to honor the past.  Whether it’s the return of past characters, iconic callbacks, or emotional parallels to classic scenes, this film is a feast for long-time fans, jam-packed with nuggets of continuity goodness.  Here are my favorites.

Jarvis!!!

Quite simply, Jarvis!!!  I really love it when franchises that maintain more loose connections get bigger references (like when new Who gives a shoutout to something that’s only ever appeared on Torchwood or The Sarah Jane Adventures,) and with Marvel, while the TV shows are clearly in the same universe as the movies, the movies don’t often acknowledge that.  So, seeing that tiny cameo from James D’Arcy’s Jarvis was good for my Agent Carter-loving heart – so happy to see him, still plugging away at Howard’s side (albeit with John Slattery instead of Dominic Cooper.)

Thor and Frigga

I have mixed feelings about how Endgame handles Thor’s story, but I really love this scene.  Frigga (raised by sorceresses, you know) immediately cops that Thor is from the future and that he’s clearly been struggling.  After everyone and everything Thor has lost and how he’s abused himself over it, this final chance to see his mother and speak with her one more time is so important/healing for him.  A lovely scene, knocked out of the park by both Chris Hemsworth and Renee Russo.

“On your left.”

Okay, so normally, I find it a little cheesy when characters repeat lines from earlier in the story in a significant way, but this one is too good to pass up.  First, “On your left,” is short enough and was enough of a recurring thing when it was first introduced in The Winter Soldier that it makes sense as something both Steve and Sam would remember (not to mention, it’s directly tied to how they met, which gives it greater significance.)  As such, it doesn’t have the usual “let me flip back through the script to make sure I get the exact quote” feel to it.  And man, that moment… Steve is battered and bruised, hauling himself up to face down Thanos’s army all on his own.  And then, those words in his ear piece, “On your left,” and the floodgates/portals open, bringing in Sam and all the other dusted characters to have Steve’s back.  It’s both emotional/intimate and a total fist-pump moment – awesome!

Elevator Scene 2.0

Another Winter Soldier callback.  The original elevator scene is a classic, and here, with Cap having traveled back in time to the events of The Avengers, his task of retrieving Loki’s scepter/the Mind Stone brings him into a paradoxically-foreshadowing echo of that scene (because, for Rumlow and company, this is several years before The Winter Soldier, but for Steve, he knows in hindsight that they’re all secretly Hydra.)  Parallel shots to the original elevator scene prime us for an epic fight, but instead, Cap plays smart, using what he learned in The Winter Soldier to get what he needs.  When Rumlow doesn’t buy his claim that Secretary Pierce ordered him to take the scepter, Cap sidles up to him and whispers, “Hail Hydra,” letting Rumlow think they’re on the same side.

“Come and Get Your Love”

We all remember Peter Quill’s exuberant dance while collecting the Power Stone, listening to “Come and Get Your Love” on his Walkman.  Well, good old time travel… Nebula and Rhodey get to drop in on this moment, allowing us to revisit it from their outside perspective, the one where Peter is grooving around with his headphones, dancing wildly and singing along to music only he can hear.  A fun scene, perfectly capped by Rhodey’s deadpan, “So he’s an idiot?”

Spoilery Thoughts On Avengers: Endgame

Says it in the title, people.  Full and complete spoilage ahead.  Don’t read if you don’t want to know.

Writing my Endgame review posed a challenge, because there was so little I could actually say.  It was a lot like writing up a Doctor Who season finale, only with the knowledge that it was the culmination of 10+ years of stories, so the no-spoilers stakes were even higher than usual.  As such, while I did take the liberty to say I liked it, I couldn’t say much of anything about what “it” in fact was.  So today, with the (again) full and complete spoilage ahead, I’m making it a little easier to say whatever I want.

We’ll start with my issues.  Some of the time-travel business gets a little haphazard, and it feels like the rules they set up for it aren’t all that consistent (I still haven’t gotten my head around how Nebula kills her younger self.)  Also, there are definitely moments where the story feels steered in such a way to make things happen the way the production team wants, which can make certain developments feel kind of manufactured (case in point, my dear Natasha and the Soul Stone – I admit that, as much as I hate to lose her, I’m glad that it’s her choice, but I still feel that her and Clint being the ones to end up on Vormir in the first place is fairly forced.  And come on, guys, you already fridged an important female character in the last movie!  Did you really need to take Widow too?)  Finally, I don’t think the film on the whole strikes the right note with Thor.  I completely understand him falling apart from his guilt after Infinity War, and the movie brings his story home when it really counts, but it feels uncomfortable to mine so many cheap laughs from Thor being fat and drunk when both are so rooted in his intense trauma and misplaced guilt.

The issues aren’t what have really stuck with me, though.  While I recognize they’re there, I pay way more attention to the way my heart grows three sizes for basically the whole duration of the movie because of all the meaningful moments and impactful scenes.  That time-travel confusion doesn’t matter as much to me when it’s our vehicle to revisit so many familiar scenes and characters from the franchise’s history (the Battle of New York!  Thor and Frigga, my heart!  Peter Quill dancing as he collects the Power Stone!  All that and so, so much more!)  Each of these, over and over, feels like a thank-you to the fans for loving these characters and following them across franchises, ever since Tony Stark first created the Iron Man suit.

While I of course would’ve loved to see the dusted characters return sooner, along with more Carol Danvers(!), keeping the main story a little tighter is, I think, the right call.  We need time to make our goodbyes to the original six, and this is the first team-up film that really gives prominent space to all of them.  Yes, Tony and Steve still have the biggest storylines, but Natasha, Thor, Bruce, and Clint all have a lot to go through as well – really, I wouldn’t say any of them get shortchanged, even if I still think there are too many Fat Thor jokes.  And the additions to the core team are well-chosen.  Obviously, Scott’s Quantum Realm connection is vital to the “time heist” resolution, and it also just helps so much that, having been in the Quantum Realm when the Snap happens, he joins the team with a lot more freshness and optimism, valuable to people who’ve been ground down for the last five years.  And I’m really happy to see so much Nebula – it makes total sense, of course, but going in, I knew there was gonna be a ton going on in this movie and was worried that there wouldn’t be much room for her.  But she’s integrated into the group as she should be, considering the strong personal stakes for her.  Rocket represents the Guardians well, and although Rhodey doesn’t have quite as well-definied a role (other than being the one person of color on the team?), I’m glad he’s there.  I had no idea that Rhodey and Nebula bonding scenes were something I needed!

The climactic fight is just everything, really all the things.  I love seeing Thor find his strength again.  Of course Steve is worthy of lifting Mjolnir (we all knew it!), and that moment is every bit as awesome as it ought to be.  And when the dusted characters return… boy howdy.  Considering just how many characters are packed into the final battle with Thanos and his army, the movie does a splendid job giving basically everybody standout moments while still including important character beats!  It’s pretty much a straight fangasm from start to finish.

As for the ending, again, time-travel head-scratching, but emotionally, I’m okay with how it shakes out.  Between Tony having an adorable daughter and getting one last moment with Howard in the past, it’s not too much of a surprise that he winds up being the one to sacrifice himself in the end.  And even though he would obviously have preferred a different outcome, I like that he seems mostly at peace in making the choice, and that Pepper is there at the end to tell him he can rest (okay, so I for-sure cried in the theater, and I teared up again just writing that sentence now.)  And while I’m sad that Steve and Bucky will never have that time together again, I understand Steve’s decision to stay in the past with Peggy after returning all the Stones (and yeah, I cried) – after all that Steve’s given, he deserves whatever he wants.  It seems like Bucky knows what’s about to happen, and I like Steve passing the shield and the title onto Sam.  One thing’s for sure:  I’m now even more pumped for the Sam-Bucky series on Disney+.  (Also, Thor as a Guardian now?  Yes, please!)

Because of course, it keeps going.  I’m sure the MCU will be in good hands with our new heroes, but if the ones who started it all had to move on, I’m glad they got to go out in such a memorable way, with this heartfelt film celebrating all they’ve been to us over the last decade.

Avengers: Endgame (2019, PG-13)

Here it is:  the big one.  Going in, I really didn’t know what was going to happen or even what I wanted to happen, and while on one hand I was so ready for it, on the other I was in total “I can’t even” mode.  But I came out on the other side.  I won’t get into any plot spoliers for this review (save all that for future Marvelous Wednesdays,) but I will get into my impressions/reactions and how I thought the plot served the major characters.

As far as a plot summary goes, I won’t say anything that isn’t revealed in the trailer.  The surviving heroes – chiefly, the original six Avengers, plus a few additional characters and bonus cameos – deal with the aftermath of the Snap and prepare to do “whatever it takes” to reverse its effects, hoping to bring back everyone they lost and defeat Thanos for good.

This is a film that’s the culmination of over a decade of groundwork, and you very much feel that baked into the core of the movie.  It’s “a love letter to the fans” in the truest sense of the phrase, with numerous allusions, callbacks, and surprise inclusions from the last 10+ years of the franchise.  There were multiple moments that, from a fan perspective, were just so damn satisfying.  I definitely cheered, I whispered, “Yessssss!”, I welled up, and I may or may not have done some excited hand-flapping.

With the franchise’s big team-up films, I’ve been impressed with how the Russos and their crew have managed to juggle the ever-increasing cast.  To me, they’ve displayed an ability to balance the needs of the story (meaning some characters by necessity will have much more screentime than others) with the desires of the fans to see meaningful moments for their favorites (not that we’re ever 100% satisfied, since there’s never enough screentime to go around, but even though we only see some characters briefly, we pretty much always see them used to good effect.)  With the big focuse here on the original six and a few significant add-ons, there’s not nearly as much juggling required, at least compared to Infinity War, but it’s still a major balancing act, and on the whole I think they do a great job with it.  It feels like a true ensemble piece for the major characters, with all of the old guard getting their own emotional through-lines and important contributions to make.  For the most part, the other significant characters get less focus than the core six, but most of them are similarly-integral to the story and have their own journeys to go on.

In a way, the movie reminds me of one of the more successful series finales for a TV show (even though, going forward, the MCU will live on in a different way.)  It attempts to take our heroes to higher stakes than they’ve ever faced before while honoring the past and bringing beloved characters to resolutions based on everywhere they’ve been before.  The original “heart” of the series takes pride of place, but characters who’ve joined the story along the way are incorporated well into the proceedings.  It’s a goodbye but not an ending, and more than anything, it’s a thank you to the fans who’ve loved it for so many years.

Warnings

Strong comic-book violence, drinking, language, and strong thematic elements.