I have held my silence for too long. We need to talk about the Avengers: Endgame ending because I’m kind of tired of avoiding the topic.
When Avengers: Endgame came out, it felt like we were on top of the world. It was 2019, Marvel was undoubtedly at its peak, and some of the best Marvel films were released during that time. After the ending of this iconic film, which went on to become one of the biggest movies ever, many fans wondered what would happen next in the MCU.
Of course, 2020 happened a year later, and things within that universe ended up more topsy-turvy than a roadside carnival ride. Sooner or later, the MCU got back on track (relatively). But regardless of that, even after the film initially came out, I still had some faith that the ending of this film would pay off.
Now, it’s been six years since it came out. Yup, you read that right – six years, even though it really feels like it was yesterday. And while I will gladly rewatch the MCU until the cows come home, there’s just something about this ending that I have to talk about– and that I really don’t like anymore. Let’s get into it.
I Used To Like The Ending Back When The First Film Came Out
So, I was a huge Marvel fan from about 2012 to 2020. Don’t get me wrong—I still am—and I was in a movie theatre seat the moment Thunderbolts* and its incredible reviews were released in theaters.
But that younger version of me? From middle school to the end of college? Oh, she was a true lover of the MCU, from the first Avengers onwards, and only continued to fall more in love with the franchise as a whole. My lock screen was Bucky Barnes for the longest time before I met my boyfriend. So yeah, I was just as pumped for Avengers: Endgame as any major Marvel fan.
At first, I really did like the ending. Was it sad? Yes, but it definitely fits the vibe that the film was going for. Truly, at the end of Infinity War, I didn’t know how they were going to all make it out of this alive. Thanos seriously felt like this impossible threat that made me wonder if the villain truly was going to win in the next movie.
Of course, somehow, the Avengers (and crew) helped save the day, beginning with that iconic “On your left” scene and more. And when the movie ended with not only Steve leaving this all behind but Tony dying to complete the circuit, I really felt…complete. I had no qualms.
However, times change, and so do opinions. This one has been on my mind for a bit.
But Overtime, A Lot Of Things Haven’t Made Sense, Or Feel…Wrong
Before I dig into this, I do want to establish that I know about the Avengers: Endgame time travel rules. I know that there’s a way to split the timelines instead of invading another one, so the timelines don’t get messed up and the future isn’t rewritten and somehow, someway, Steve would be able to live a happy life.
But now I watch it, and it honestly irks me.
Time travel within the MCU has gotten so messy. As a huge fan of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, I was seriously looking forward to the multiverse saga, and I wondered how they could bring that to the live-action scene.
Of course, I was ready to watch all the Marvel TV shows that really began to dig deeper into timelines, how time works within this huge universe, and more. Even so, watching those in comparison to the end of Endgame just doesn’t sit right with me anymore.
I feel like there are just certain time aspects that don’t make sense to me, but the even bigger issues are that the endings of two characters – Steve and Tony – don’t feel earned anymore, because of how much the time-travel and multiverse have set them up. Let me explain.
Steve’s Ending Just Doesn’t Sit Right With Me Anymore, And It’s Not Just About Peggy
I was a huge Captain America fan. I will rewatch those movies until the day I die. Like I said, Bucky was my home screen; I was that fangirl. So yeah, I can totally understand why younger me thought that Steve transporting himself into a different, split timeline to be with his long-lost one-time love would be romantic.
But now, it really doesn’t feel earned.
It’s not just because I don’t think he deserves to be with Peggy. I love Peggy. I think she’s a badass MCU character that didn’t need powers to show she was a boss and would be able to accomplish literally anything she set her mind to. I wish we had gotten more of her, specifically within the MCU and not just Agent Carter.
However, I don’t think we got enough of Peggy and Steve’s relationship throughout the franchise to feel that he truly loved her and would leave everything behind to go and be with her. Yes, they had moments during Captain America: The First Avenger, and I know that there’s this cliche in some of these movies that those kinds of relationships influenced by war and passion are very strong.
Even so, I don’t see them together. I think at specific points, I can understand why Steve was so hung up on her, but I also feel like Peggy learned to move on with her life. She had a whole world without him. While I think Steve returning to the past was on a different timeline, it still felt like it ruined a lot of her character development from other parts of the MCU.
There’s also the fact that Steve never seemed like the guy just to abandon all of his friends – to just pass on the shield to Sam (even though I love him as Captain America) and, more importantly, just leave Bucky to deal with literally all his trauma on his own so that he could go and live a life with Peggy. Huh? Is this the same Steve who spent an entire movie trying to keep Bucky safe in Civil War? I am very confused.
The More I Think About It, The More It Feels Like They Betrayed Tony’s Legacy Too
And then there’s Tony. My guy, Tony. The man who started it all.
What was the point of killing him off if he’s just going to come back?
With the Human Torch cameo in Deadpool and Wolverine, I can understand why Chris Evans was brought back for that. It was long-awaited; people wanted to see the X-Men infused into the MCU, and it was an already established character. It makes sense to merge universes.
But as exciting as it is to see Robert Downey Jr. on the set of Avengers: Doomsday, this feels…wrong. So wrong. We watched him give his own life to save the universe, to save the Avengers, to save his daughter and his wife and everything else, and now you’re saying that he’s just coming back as…Dr. Doom?
I know it’s not really Tony, but obviously it’s setting up the surprise that the Avengers will see Tony’s face and be like “Oh my god, a different version of you, wow” or whatever. But it feels like fans were punched in the gut to watch his character die, only to see the actor brought back as a villain. That death feels…hollow now.
I don’t know, maybe I’m overthinking both of these. These are just superhero movies at the end of the day. But when a film is as critically praised as Endgame was, it makes you really look back on it with a critical eye…and some of these things don’t add up anymore. It might be time for another marathon while we wait for more upcoming MCU films.
