Avengers: Endgame Spoilers

The following contain spoilers for Endgame and many Marvel movies. You have been warned. 

The Captain Underpants book I was referring to was The Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People in which the characters travel to an alternate timeline. One of them comments how such a situation can only occur in silly children stories and when the writers have run out of ideas. With all the occurred in Infinity War, where else could they go. To the movie's credit it does run with its own rules and logic of time travel and a funny joke on how films like Back to the Future are all lies. I can only imagine the therapy sessions of past Captain America receiving after getting a beating from future/current Captain America. The one time my brain started to sprain is how Cap returns the stones back to their original places. He decides to stay in the past to live a normal life with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) and grows old but long enough to meet his friends at the moment where he was sent and pass the mantle to Sam Wilson aka Red Falcon (Anthony Mackie). A beautiful ending for sure but if he could go back and change a moment like that with no negative effect on the future then how come Nebula when she shot her bad self from the past still remain alive and not be erased like in Looper. A minor nitpick I can overlook since time travel movies are tough to write about and are easy to pick apart.

The time travel story does lead to great moments that reminded me of the best parts of Back to the Future Part II and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The characters getting to see what the audience see's, and treading carefully into past events (retrieving the stones after the battle in the first Avengers movie), unexpected meetings that carry great weight on the time-traveling characters (Tony having a chance to talk with his father Howard Stark[John Slattery] and Thor with his mother Frigga [Rene Russo]), unintentionally causing certain events to transpire for better or worse (Thanos from another time period seeing his destiny and conducting a new plan of action).

I'm surprised on how many people they got to reprise their roles including Robert Redford and Natalie Portman. My favorites being Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One who has some banter with Bruce Banner and made all the more awesome when its revealed that she secretly took part in battle of the first Avengers movie in protecting the city. The other being Taika Waititi as Korg who along with Miek, Valkyrie and what's left of the Asgardians survived Thanos not once but twice from his attack on their ship at the beginning of Infinity War and his infinity snap. Arriving at New Asgard feels like a Waititi movie with green pastures, and Thor as the sad-sack pretending that all is alright with Korg and Miek as his quirky roommates and take part in the last battle. 

With Captain American and Iron Man ending on a heroic and noble note, and the bringing the infinity stone saga to close, Disney still can't help but milk in a few sequel teases. If Guardians of the Galaxy and Doctor Strange can be concise with their story structure why can't the rest of the Marvel films follow? While Endgame doesn't have a cliffhanger ending like its many predecessors several plot points remain unanswered. Gamora (Zoe Saldana) is nowhere to be found after the final battle nor at Iron Man's funeral. The last we see of her is when she meets Peter Quill aka Star Lord (Chris Pratt) for the first time. Since she came for a different time-zone and Quill tries to embrace her since her current self died at the hand of Thanos for the Soul Stone her blunt reaction is understanding. Was she unintentionally erased with Thanos and his army? If not why isn't she with the people who helped defeat her monster of a father? Why flee and hide than stay with her reformed sister. She may not yet not trust Quill and his Guardian of the Galaxy gang but better with them as she starts to learn who they are and what occurred to her other self. Makes for a better tease for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 than having her simply disappear.

Other teases like Alternative Past Loki (Tom Hiddleston) escaping with the space stone didn't bother me because he was one of the many Marvel characters announced to get his own TV show on Disney+. Other characters include Hawkeye (which is how I knew he wouldn't die), Red Falcon with Winter Soldier [Sebastian Stan] (make sense with Falcon now being the new Captain America), and Scarlet Witch [Elizabeth Olsen] (Paul Bettany as Vision is also set to appear but how can he if is without the mind stone to keep him alive? I can only guess that its a prequel to Infinity War or him being an android is somehow rebuilt by another way).

After watching Captain Marvel, I couldn't wait to see how she would assist in Endgame only to have her appear at the beginning and end. Even worse she doesn't get an introduction to the Avengers, all we have is what was shown at the end credit scene of her solo movie. We do get a scene of War Machine asking where has she been in all the catastrophes the Avengers fought to which she replies with a valid answer and why she isn't in most of the movie. Other galaxies are suffering the same devastation caused by Thanos. Time and space (no pun intended) run different than on Earth; for all we know she could still be helping the Skrulls on finding a home. Would it have hurt to at least have her say a quick hello to Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), since they were the ones who went through so much when they first met and basically began the Avenger initiative?   

As the final battle was about to commence, Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) tells Wong if that's everyone to which the response is "You wanted more?!"Actually, I kind of did. The Defenders (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist) and the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. who also introduced Ghost Rider. Granted I haven't seen much of these shows but wasn't the point to have these TV shows taking place in the same universe was to have them get together in the final battle of all time? Sif (Jaimie Lauren Alexander), the remaining Asgardian warrior is still nowhere to be found or mentioned along with most of the characters of The Incredible Hulk like Betty Brant (Liv Taylor) and The Leader (Tim Blake Nelson), though it appears that's the one movie Marvel want to forget,  than why bring in Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt) further into the MCU with Civil War to Endgame? Goes to show the limits of what a movie can deliver than what a comic-book can.

All of of this can be seen as trivial complaints but the one issue that I can't overlook is the treatment of Black Widow. While her death is noble in order to obtain the soul stone and have Hawkeye be with his family, why is it that she gets no funeral with Iron Man? Her death is acknowledged only once after the Avengers return from the Quantum realm with the stones and when Hulk uses them to bring everyone back. With all that Disney is trying to promote girl power and have a cool scene that features just the female heroes in action, you would think Black Widow would receive at least a memorial of some kind during the final montage where friends and family are reunited. The movie makes it clear that that if death by snap there's a chance to return, otherwise you stay dead like Heimdall (Idris Elba), and Present-Day Gamora and Loki. Does this mean that her upcoming solo movie will be a prequel/origin story? Follow the What if? formula from Disney+ or pull an Agent Coulson resurrection maneuver?

With all that said, Endgame is still a movie I highly recommend. Of the moments I didn't mention that were amazing include Captain America getting his shield back, being able to pick up Thor's old hammer Mjolnir, finally saying "Avengers Assemble," Iron Man being the one who kept Captain America's shield and returning to him, reconciling with said hero, and his final words that began the Marvel Cinematic Universe "I am Iron Man."Rest in peace Tony Stark and a round of applause for Robert Downey Jr. who like Tony proves that any one can change for the better and Chris Evans as Captain America, another true hero who like Evans we doubted could pull this off on first glance and prove us wrong.

To all who helped make the Marvel Cinematic Universe possible and to what lies ahead in the future and most of all to Stan Lee rest his soul, in his final cameo, who stated it all with Steve Ditko.

P.S. This movie had so many heavy scenes but the two scenes in particular broke me. The first was seeing Ty Simpkins reprise his role as Harley Keener, the boy who helped Tony Stark in Iron Man 3, now a teen attending Stark's funeral. After all this time he never forgot Stark and the help he gave. The other with Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) consoling Iron Man's five-year old daughter Morgan Stark (Lexi Rabe) after the funereal. I can't think of anyone  but Favreau for this scene, bringing to mind that tearful ending of Made, the first film Favreau directed.