MCU Sunday #19 and #20 Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame

 

 Preface: As promised last year, I plan to review every single currently available movie in what is known as the  Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) over the year 2024. These will appear in order of their release over that time period. This is the nineteenth (and twentieth) installment. (Oh, and by the way, after I've exhausted all of the currently available MCU movies I will be rounding out the year with some of the other available movies made from the Marvel comics pantheon.)

Notes: In each of the MCU installments you will be seeing references to two recurring events that occur in nearly every MCU movie.

Where is Stan Lee?: Stan Lee was the driving genius behind Marvel Comics.  He usually shows up in a cameo.  Sometimes these are so quick you gotta be sure you don't blink. Occasionally he gets a line  of dialogue.

And the Credits Roll: You should always stay in the theater for the credits when watching a MCU movie, because during the credits and at the end there is a teaser (or two) that is worth the wait.  Often they were a teaser for the next installment of the films.

 

 

 
Note: As stated in the last post (MCU Postponed) I decided to post a review of both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame as one post, since both are together essentially one longer film divided into two movies.  This means that the chronological portion of the series is going to be out of order, but I felt it necessary to do it this way.  Beginning next week I will circle back to Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel, both of which appeared in theaters before the second movie in this post.  I will be back on track when I get through those two.  Patience.

 

When these two films hit the theaters there was a change in the way that Marvel did films.  Although there was a running thread in the other 18 movies in the MCU cycle, with these films, for the first time, there was what was obviously a cliffhanger aspect. In my experience of 45 years of watching movies in theaters, I had only experienced this a few times. The most recent one (for me) at that time, had been when I saw Back to the Future Part II. Understand that I was not in the know when I saw that one, but late in the movie I realized that there was no way this was going to end as a complete story.  And sure enough, the credits rolled with the enticement to come back for Back to the Future Part III.

Now, I am not so rigid in my film viewing that I don't like to see those words "... to be continued... appear.  But I have to admit that I prefer to wait until the cycle is complete and watch all of them in succession rather than wait for the next installment, since sometimes it can take a couple of years before the next one.  By which time I will probably have forgotten a lot of the previous movie.

Which is why I decided to pair these two as one movie.  Three weeks is a lot less than three years (and no, it wasn't three years between the two, that's just a metaphor for the post...). 

With this iteration of MCU, all of the previously introduced characters over the past 10 years or so are brought together in one climatic showdown.  And much of the previously only tantalizing tidbits of what the future held finally come to fruition.  For instance, we finally get to see the significance of the Tesseract, an object first introduced way back in the first Captain America film.

 

 

 

Avengers: Infinity War (2018):

The first thing that happens is Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his cohorts are attacking the refugee ship of Asgardians who have escaped Asgard after it's destruction (See Thor: Ragnarok).  Already having acquired one of the Infinity Stones, he is seeking the rest of them, and he knows that one of them is being held by the Asgardians.  And, of course, it is encased in our old friend, the Tesseract. During the encounter, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is killed and The Hulk, who tries but fails to subdue Thanos by his lonesome, is cast to Earth.  Which is Thanos' next goal.

 

Back on Earth, Hulk has reverted back to Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and enlists the help of Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), who in turn seeks out Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). Banner tells Stark about Thanos and his goal to acquire all the infinity stones.  But since Stark has no idea what the hell the infinity stones are, he gets an education in them.

 

 
See. at the beginning of the Big Bang, the Infinity Stones were created and scattered throughout the universe. The Stones, which control various aspects of the universe keep the universe in existence by their presence, but if someone were to put them all into one place they could manipulate the universe to their own wishes.

The Stones govern six various aspects of existence: Power, Space, Reality, Soul, Mind and Time. (and Thanos already has the Power and the Space Stones.  Thus he is a third of the way to that power to change things (and not necessarily for the better... he is a villain, after all...)

But the threat is imminent in New York.  While discussing the options of what to do about the Time Stone which is currently in Dr. Strange's possession, a spaceship appears.  

And on a school bus nearby, Peter Parker, alias Spiderman (Tom Holland), senses something is up.

Where is Stan Lee?

Stan is the bus driver who dismisses the imminent danger to the kids of the bus with the comment "What's the matter with you kids?  You never seen a spaceship before?"

 

So Iron man and Dr. Strange and Spiderman do battle with Thanos' main man, Ebony Maw ( trying to prevent him from taking the next stone, the Time Stone.  But, though they succeed in not being eliminated from the scene, Maw manages to get the stone, albeit with Dr. Strange still attached to it.  (There's more than one way to get what you want...)

Meanwhile the Guardians of the Galaxy, consisting of our friends Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), Gamora  (Zoe Saldana) and Baby Groot (Vin Diesel) answer the distress call pit out by the Asgardians, but arrive late and see the destruction that Thanos put on the ship. They rescue Thor (Chris Hemsworth), who somehow is still alive.

And revived, Thor tells them that Thanos' next objective is probably to get the Infinity Stone, which is being held by The Collector (Benecio Del Toro) on Knowhere.  He thinks the Time and Mind Stones are safe because they are on Earth under the protection of The Avengers. (He doesn't know yet that the Time Stone's safety has been compromised.) And since no one even knows where the sixth stone, the Soul Stone, is, ergo, Thanos must be going to acquire the one held by the Collector.

But before they go after Thanos, Thor needs to have a new hammer made for him to replace the one his sister destroyed in Thor: Ragnarok. Thus half of them head off to Nidavellir, while the other half head of to Knowhere to confront Thanos.

Meanwhile, despite Thor's insistence that the Stones on Earth are safe, after the Time Stone has been compromised, Vision (Paul Bettany), who has the Mind Stone in his forehead, is attacked by a couple more of Thanos' henchmen.  But Vision an Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) are saved by the efforts of Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Falcon (Anthony Mackie). They take Vision to Wakanda where, maybe, with the help of Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and War Machine (Don Cheadle), they can prevent Thanos from getting the Mind Stone.

Back on Knowhere, the remaining Guardians confront Thanos, but are too late to prevent him from acquiring the fourth Stone.  And it turns out that "no one knows where the sixth stone is" was a bit premature presumption.  It turns out that Gamora has that knowledge, and Thanos not only gets the Reality Stone, but also gets Gamora (and we can all guess what he is going to do to get her to reveal the location the Soul Stone (the sixth stone we mentioned.)

WE do get some insight into Thanos' motivation, albeit somewhat twisted.  See he knows that if life is unchecked it will expand beyond the capacity for the resources of the universe to sustain it.  A valid observation, true, but his solution is to eliminate half of the known universe's life to keep the other half from starving from this low capacity of resources.  Not exactly the most equitable of solutions, even if it does solve the immediate problem.

THe movie starts to get a little complicated here, so try to keep up.  Thor and Rocket and Groot have gone to Nidavellir to get the dwarves to make Thor another hammer.  Star Lord,  Drax and Mantis have gone to Titan in search of Drax.  Meanwhile, Dr. Strange, Iron Man and Spider-man have escaped captivity but had to crash land on the nearby planet, you guessed it, Yitan.  Where the two forces meet up and, initially, not knowing who the other force is end up in combat.  But that is quickly resolved when it is revealed that both have the same goal; the defeat of Thanos.

Back on Nidavellir, Thor finds out that the dwarves were the ones who made the glove that Thanos is using to combine the power of the stones.  And, of course, Thanos being Thanos, he killed off every last dwarf on the planet except one. (Should've finished the job, since now there is one left to recreate the mighty hammer of Thor.

Thanos, meanwhile has sought out the Soul Stone.  Which is guarded by... Red Skull (remember the bad guy behind the nefarious Hydra in Captain America: The First Avenger? Yeah, everybody;s getting into the act in this film...) But the Soul Stone is special.  It requires a sacrifice, a soul for the Soul. Thanos must sacrifice one that he loves so he can acquire the stone.  End of movie, since Thanos loves no one.

 

Not so fast.  Apparently Thanos really does love his adopted daughter, Gamora, surprise surprise... At least it is to her and to the viewing audience, since he certainly doesn't show it very well. So if you are keeping track, Thanos has now got 4 stones.  He still needs Dr. Strange's Time Stone and Vision's Mind stone.  Which of course is Thanos' next objectives.  While Thanos fights on Titan to get the Time Stone, his allies battle the remaining Avengers in an attempt to get Vision's Mind Stone.

Ultimately Dr. Strange surrenders the Time Stone to save Iron man, and Thanos immediately transfers to Wakanda to get the final stone. Vision begs Wanda to use her power to destroy the Mind Stone, but Wanda, thought successful, fails because Thanos has the Time Stone and can reverse time to a point before she destroyed it, and Thanos gets the stone.  He then uses the power of the stones to eliminate half of all life in the universe and we watch as many of the Avengers and the rest of the universe dissipates into nothingness.

And the Credits Roll:  

In New York, the dissolving people are creating a bit of havoc, and among those who disappear is Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson).  No hint at a preview here, just a continuation of the effects of Thanos' goal.

Thus we move on to how the remaining Avengers will try to set things right, but that won't come until after the intermission.

 

 

Avengers: Endgame (2019):

The movie opens, of course, after half of the universe has been eliminated by Thanos' use of the Infinity Gauntlet.  (And note: Since I jumped the sequential portion to do this, you have to accept that Captain Marvel and The Wasp are going to be present, even though they haven't been formally introduced as characters yet.)

The remaining Avengers assemble after Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) rescues Iron Man and Nebula from being stranded in space.  The remaining Avengers aren't exactly going to go quietly into that good night.  Along with Iron Man, those remaining Avengers, Thor, Captain America, Black Widow, War Machine and Hulk seek out Thanos in his "retirement Home" in order to retrieve the Infinity Stones and (hopefully) reverse the damage Thanos had done.

But when they find him, it turns out that after he succeeded in eliminating half the universe he destroyed the stones.  Thor, not exactly a happy camper at this news, decapitates Thanos.

Five years later, the remaining Avengers are still struggling to adapt to this new life. Enter Ant-Man, who has been trapped in some kind of time loop.  When he breaks free he has no idea what has happened.  But gradually learns the truth, especially after he finds his name among those who were lost during the dissipation.

He seeks out the Avengers where he reveals that 5 years earlier he got stuck in the quantum realm, and even though 5 years passed here in the physical realm, only 5 hours passed for him in the quantum realm.  So maybe, just maybe, they could use that quantum realm in some way to alter the present reality. (Can you say "time travel"? Yes! Finally! One of my favorite topics!)

Unfortunately, they need a big brain to help pull it off.  And Tony Iron Man Stark is too cynical and set in his new ways to commit.  But the team finds Bruce Banner, who now, more or less, is The Hulk.  Except with the brain capacity of Bruce, They could still use Tony's expertise, but it may require some convincing.  Especially since Bruce's expertise is not quantum physics.  He has a couple of glitches trying to make that time machine work.  (Maybe they should have sprung for the DeLorean instead of that second hand minivan...)

Time to gather the remaining Avengers.  Thor has turned into an alcoholic wallowing in self-pity, but he may not be the toughest challenge. What really may be the challenge is Hawkeye, who is now basically a mercenary. A good mercenary, to be sure, since when they find him he is in the process of taking out the Yakuza, the Japanese equivalent of the mafia. (No, not just a few key members of the upper echelon... the whole damn Yakuza...)

So with all these (admittedly limited) heroes, plus Tony Stark's modifications, the Avengers plan is to go back in time and get each of the stones before Thanos has a chance to get them. (So I'm thinking... If they are successful in getting just one, wouldn't THAT be enough to stop the damage Thanos caused? Well, it may not be that simple...)

So the Pym Particles that Ant-Man has to power these trips back in time are limited, since, after all, Hank Pym is no longer around to create new ones.  So each member has one and only one opportunity to acquire his or her Infinity Stone from wherever in time and space they choose to make their attempts.  But, hey, a cake walk right, since no one knows they will be going back to try to collect them.

The first team, which includes Cap, Hulk, Iron man and Ant-Man end up in New York City during the Battle for New York (See The Avengers).  There are 3 stones in the same area at this time, so they have objectives to kill three birds with one trip.  Hulk makes an attempt to take the Time Stone from the Sorcerer Supreme, who is reluctant to give it up, until Hulk convinces here that after they have set things aright, the stone will be returned to it's original point mere nanoseconds after it disappeared with him.

The second team, with Thor and Rocket, go to Asgard. And the third team, War Machine, Nebula, Black Widow and Hawkeye end up on Morag.

And on Morag, where the past iteration of Thanos and Gamora and Nebula are seeking the Power Stone, Nebula, who is part machine after all, is getting some interference in her memory from the present iteration of Nebula.  Thus, the past iteration of Thanos discovers some of the details of the Avengers' plans. So maybe this whole time travel scenario may not be a cake walk after all.

Especially when the New York team fails in acquiring all three stones.  It seems during the encounter that had previously happened at SHIELD with Loki captured ended up a bust because Loki managed to escape and take the Tesseract with him.  But Iron Man and Cap have a new plan, one which involves another time leap.  They go to 1970, where not only is there the Tesseract, but they also have the possibility of acquring more Pym Particles for their time travelling.

Where is Stan Lee?

In 1970, Stan Lee (who had in reality died by this time) is a CGI de-aged hippie who tells people "Hey man, make love, not war" as he zooms by a military installation.

 

Which is the destination of Cap and Iron Man. Tony meets his father and has a lasting moment as his father is just on the verge of becoming a father, (to Tony).  And they get away with the Tesseract  and a few Pym particles.

Meanwhile on Vormir, where Red Skull tells Hawkeye and Black Widow the price to get the Soul Stone is a "soul for a soul" the two battle with each other to see which one of them will be the one to be sacrificed.  (Yeah, OK, these are heroes not villains... They are battling to see which one of them will give up his or her life as a sacrifice so the other can retrieve the Soul Stone...)

Having acquired all of the stones and fitted them to the Infinity Gauntlet, the question then becomes who will be the one to put it on and reverse the effects.  As Hulk points out, the power being mostly gamma ray operated, he, having become Hulk in the first place from gamma rays is the most obvious choice. Although he succeeds, it turns out that Thanos, who found out about the Avengers plan, may have other ideas about how things should go.  (After all, after you have accomplished a life long goal, would YOU want a bunch of malcontents disrupting YOUR success?)

Of course, Thanos fails to take into consideration that, having reversed the damage he originally did, he not only has to deal with the survivors of his destruction, but all those heroes who had been eliminated... Here comes Dr. Strange, Black Panther, Star-Lord, you know, the whol she-bang.  Oh, it's going to get good...

"Avengers! Assemble!"

 

After the (eventual) defeat of Thanos, the Avengers have to return the stones to their proper point in time.  And, spoiler alert!) not ALL of the heroes are going to come out on the other side of the battle and it's solution.  But, boy, is it going to be a glorious battle to the finish (sort of like the legendary battle of Ragnarok from the original Norse mythology...)

Ultimately, when Cap goes back to return the stones, he doesn't come back the same way.  He is now an old man.  It seems he decided to go back to the 40's and live out the life of his dreams that would have happened if he had not gone into hibernation.  Sad but also happy ending.

And the Credits Roll: 

There is no after credits scene previewing upcoming sequences here.  I think maybe this was originally intended to be the final in the MCU sequence.  Of course, you know that's not the case as a new Phase came on the scene later.  

So where do these movies rank in the pantheon?  Well, to be honest, I can't rank them separately, because if I did, Avengers: Infinity war would be unfairly ranked lower just because of the unresolved issue of the ending.  (Reemember, I did say i didn't particularly like the to be continued endings of films.  I prefer my movies to be wrapped up in a neat little shell so that each can be watched without having to cue up another movie.  But that is only when I don't expect to have to see another one, so something like The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit get a pass because I knew going in they would be left unresolved.

So when you see that ultimate ranking at the end of this MCU jaunt, you will see both ranked together. And they do get a fairly high ranking when paired together.

Well, folks, its time to head home.  The old Plymouth is not going to be a time machine.  So I can't go back in time and alter the past, so please drive safely.

Quiggy