‘Avengers: Endgame’ is everything the MCU has been building toward

Posted on May 3, 2019

By MARK VIOLA

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is unlike anything we’ve seen before in the history of film. Beginning in 2008 with “Iron Man,” the series now spans 22 films, with the latest, longest installment to date, “Avengers: Endgame” bringing the saga to an emotional, satisfying conclusion while still leaving room for the universe to continue on in future movies.

“Endgame” is the direct sequel to last year’s “Avengers: Infinity War,” but it is much more than that. Unfortunately for those uninitiated in the mythos of the MCU, “Endgame” has references and nods to just about every film that came before it. That’s because, to the amazement of many — myself included — and the consternation of others, each installment, while a story unto itself, has in some small or large way been building toward “Endgame.”

I said last year that “Infinity War” had 10 years and 18 films of build-up to live up to, and the movie did just that, although still taking us all by surprise in the end. “Endgame” has the added expectations levied upon it by last year’s cliffhanger, along with fans’ knowledge that this film would serve as the final capstone to the Infinity Saga that started back in the original “Iron Man.”

Once again, the film succeeds in meeting, if not exceeding, those expectations while also delivering a three-hour epic that I can only compare to “The Return of the King,” another film that concluded a different epic saga.

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