Page Text: Avengers Endgame and the MCU
I tweeted this a couple of days after seeing Avengers Endgame and thought I’d save it here for posterity.
I can’t stop thinking about Endgame and this 10 year cinematic achievement… The best way I can describe my feelings is with a bit of silence, my hand on my heart, and a tear in my eye. Whatever happens next, we have lived in this time and we’ll always have these movies.
It might seem extreme to some of you, but to me (and many others) this is as incredible and fulfilling as it was improbable. It is an affirmation of who I was as a child, and the power of these stories I adored.
And I know a lot of people are “tired of the Marvel formula” and cynical about the commercialism of it. And sure, there is some truth to that. But I think these movies are (mostly) incredibly well written and crafted, and some people miss that because “super heroes”.
Reducing them to “super heroes punching things” is like looking at Star Wars and seeing “space lasers and a dog costume”. It is myopic, condescending, out of touch, and most of all plain wrong. Sure, there is that, but it is also SO MUCH more.
There is depth, there is meaning, there are messages, there is growth… Like any good pop culture story does, they tell relatable tales through fantastical imagery. And the fact that this one was built consistently over 10 years and 20+ movies is awe inspiring.
If you find yourself disagreeing, look at the reverence for things like The Three Musketeers as a literary achievement, and remember it was originally a pop series in a newspaper. It was easy to miss at the time, and I’m sure many people did because it wasn’t “noble”.
Anyway, I’m not saying everyone should love them, but I am saying that it brings me so much joy, and I’m grateful I was able to experience this becoming a reality.
Ok, rant over. Watching it again in a couple of hours.
April 30th, 2019