If you haven’t seenAvengers: Endgameyet, this post spoils…everything. Seriously. If you don’t want to know how this movie ends then make like half of the known universe and disappear
Avengers: Endgameis, not to put too fine a point on it, one of the biggest pop culture events of all time. In every way possible, what the Russo Brothers have created here is the culmination of 10 years and 22 movies-worth of storytelling. It’s a big achievement. Like really big. The type of big with the gravitational pull to change a universe. And that’s exactly what it does. By the time the credits roll—without an end-credits scene, mind you—the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, from the still-mysterious Phase 4 and beyond, has been dramatically altered.
Here is every way thatAvengers: Endgamechanged the MCU.
(Seriously though, last spoiler warning.)
No More Tony Stark
In the climactic moments ofEndgame, Tony Stark plucks all six Infinity Stones from Thanos' hand and places them into his Iron Man gauntlet. With a snap of his fingers and one final “I am Iron Man”, Tony turns the Mad Titan—along with his entire Chitauri army, Black Order and all—into non-existent clouds of dust.
It’s a win all around for the Avengers just moments after those dusted in Infinity War were returned to life, but the effort of using the Stones is too much for Tony. The Arc Reactor in his chest blinks out one last time and Iron Man…dies. Like, for real.
How This Affects the MCU:The Marvel Cinematic Universe essentially just lost its main character.Iron Manwas the big bang that created the MCU in the first place, and since thenRobert Downey Jr.has appeared as Tony Stark in 10 Marvel entries. He was the first to hear fromSamuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury about an “Avengers Initiative.” He ended the Battle of New York. He brought Tom Holland’s Spider-Man into the Marvel fold. Without Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, it’s safe to say there wouldn’t be an MCU, so an MCU that is now without Downey Jr.’s Iron Man is an uncertain one, indeed.
Although, that isn’t to say there won’t be an Iron Man at all. Comic book history has decades-worth of mantles being passed from person to person—just look at the next entry in this piece—and it’s worth remembering that Tony Stark may be gone but there’s still like, at least 30 Iron Man suits in his basement.Endgameintroduced Tony and Pepper Potts' (Gwyneth Paltrow) daughter, Morgan Stark. It also had Pepper herself get armored up for the final battle with Thanos. We already know James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) knows his way around a suit. The future is a bleak one without Tony Stark, but it’s the possibilities are endless.
Sam Wilson Is Captain America; Steve Rogers Is an Old Man
While the exact details ofEndgame’s time-traveling theories are a bit sketchy, the inarguable final result is this — when Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) traveled backward in time to return the Infinity Stones to their proper places, he stayed there. He found the love of his life, Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) in the 1970s, asked for a long,longoverdue dance, and lived out the remainder of the life he once lost.
Back in modern day, an elderly, content Steve Rogers found his old Avengers crew and passed along that iconic vibranium shield—and, presumably, the title of Captain America—to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie).
How This Affects the MCU:If Tony Stark was the brain of the MCU sinceIron Man, Steve Rogers has been its heart sinceCaptain America: The First Avenger. It looks like the Avengers will still have a Captain America, but Sam Wilson is a very different man than Steve Rogers. He’s a soldier, but one molded by a different war, in a different time. Then there’s the matter of Sam Wilson…not being superhuman. There’s no super serum running through Sam’s veins. He’s not only a different Captain America, he’s an entirely human Captain America.
It’s also important to note that Chris Evans is most likely done with the role for a long, long while, Steve Rogers is still alive. Old, and looking unnervingly like Joe Biden, but alive. The door is open just a bit wider for a possible Evans return down the line, even if his Steve Rogers would probably have a bit of a problem lifting anything made of vibranium without like, straining a hip.
Black Widow Sacrificed Herself for the Soul Stone
By the close of Avengers: Endgame we’ve lost half of the original six heroes who assembled inJoss Whedon’s 2012Avengers, two to death and one to time-traveled induced retirement. Maybe the most tragic isScarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, because it’s the one that felt inevitable starting about ten minutes into the movie. With no blood family to call her own and desperate to close out a redemption arc stretching a lifetime long—all that red in her ledger she referred to inAvengers—Natasha flings herself off the cliff on Vormir, completing the soul-for-a-soul deal that the deadliest Infinity Stone requires. As Hulk later confirms, the Infinity Gauntlet can bring back everyone who was dusted, but it can’t bring back Natasha.
How This Affects the MCU:Well, there’s theBlack Widowstandalone movie that’s finally in the works afteryearsof expectations.Cate Shortland(Lore) is set todirect.Ned Benson(The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby) is writing the script. Florence Pugh, Rachel Weisz, and David Harbour are onboard to co-star alongside Johansson’s Black Widow, who just…died inEndgame. Just when we thought we were figuring this standalone movie thing out, Marvel goes and throws a bloody question mark over everything. Assumedly, it will be a prequel—maybe we’ll finally find out just what the heck happened in Budapest—but we were also all assuming Thanos wasn’t gonna' get his head chopped off 12 minutes intoEndgame.
Thor Is a Guardian of the Galaxy Now (?)
Clearly, the most important development inEndgameis the fact Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is a chonk now. Just an absolute unit, the God of Thunder.
Oh, he’s also blasting off into space aboard the Benatar, seemingly teaming up with the Guardians of the Galaxy for the time being. (Although Peter Quill is clearly still the captain. Clearly. Clearly.) He looks to be committed to whatever role he’s serving with the Guardians, because he’s left the throne of Asgard—which is a seaside settlement on Earth after the events ofThor: RagnarokandInfinity War—in the capable hands of Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson).
How This Affects the MCU:This changes pretty much everything about the expectations forJames Gunn’sGuardians of the Galaxy 3. Marvel PresidentKevin Feigesaid Gunn delivered a draft of the script to Marvel on inJune 2018, a few months after Endgamewrapped filming. How big is Thor’s role inGuardians 3? Was the conclusion ofEndgamean official joining of the team, or just Odinson hitching a ride?
There’s also a new wrinkle in the lead-up toGuardians 3:Zoe Saldana’s Gamora is back from the dead…technically.Endgame’s time-travel shenanigans brought Gamora from the past—before Thanos murdered her on Vormir in Infinity War—to the present, with no knowledge of ever having joined the Guardians or loved Peter Quill. (Nebula: “It was either him or a tree.") She’s not with the rest of the Guardians at the end of the film but Quill is running a search for her on the ship’s computer, adding another possible layer toGuardians 3.
Unrelated, but important: If Marvel would like to do a fourth “Thor” movie that’s actually just about Valkyrie, Korg, and Miek, I’d be extremely game.
Hulk and Bruce Banner Are Now One
Into getting literally right-hooked into a depressive state for the entirety ofInfinity War, the big, green alter ego of Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) is back and folks, he’s wearing cardigans. At some point duringEndgame’s five-year time jump, Bannerre-exposed himself to gamma radiation and merged his two halves; the muscles and strength of the Incredible Hulk with the brain and significantly more chill personality of Banner.
Even more surprising, noted spoiler fiend Mark Ruffalo made it throughEndgamealive, albeit with a severely damaged Hulk hand.
How This Affects the MCU:This can really only mean more Hulk. While any possible standalone movie is still in the hands of Universal—who, inRuffalo’s own words, “don’t know how to play well with Marvel”—this new-and-improved Hulk makes the character more versatile for the odd cameo or two. The battle raging inside of Bruce Banner has been the character’s story for all ten years of the MCU; it almost got an entire S.H.I.E.L.D. heli-carrier killed inAvengers, led to tragedy inAvengers: Age of Ultron, forced Banner to reckon with himself inThor: Ragnarok. But that arc is over, and now we’re getting something closer to the comic books, a Hulk that can justbethe Hulk. Truly, “the best of both worlds.”
But seriously, get your ish together, Universal.
No One Is Chasing After the Infinity Stones
This is low-key the most significant change thanks toEndgame. (Not the most significant Loki change. That’ll be on Disney+.) With all six Stones returned to their proper places and timelines and Thanos wiped from existence, no one in the MCU is currently hunting down the Infinity Stones.
How This Affects the MCU:Thanos' hunt for the Infinity Stones and Earth’s attempt to wrangle together a defense force strong enough to stop a threat that massive has been the underlying story of the MCU since the beginning. Sure, other conflicts have come up, villains have reared their heads, dark elves have come and gone. But in the background and the forefront, there’s always been the Stones. The Tesseract inFirst Avenger. Loki’s scepterAvengers. The Aether inThe Dark World. The Orb inGuardians of the Galaxy. A decade-long story told over 22 movies.Avengers: Endgamedoes a lot, and itmeansa lot, but in the most literal possible sense of the word, it’s the full-stop endgame for that story.
No one outside of Disney’s inner circle knows what’s on the other side. What faces will populateGuardians 3, who will be living and who will be dead come time forBlack Widow,how many eons we’ll cross to get toEternals. But thanks to one last snap of Tony Stark’s fingers, we know for certain that the story those movies will tell overthenextten yearswill be something we’ve never seen before.
Note: This article was initially published at a prior date, but in advance ofAvengers: Endgame’srelease on Digital HD on July 30th, we’re highlighting our spoiler-filledEndgamecontent.
