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| I don't think Thor intends to miss this time. |
So here we are. The Avengers had
gathered the Infinity Stones from across time and space, performed their own
“Snap” and were hoping they could just drop the Stone’s off again. But,
instead, a 2014 Nebula brought the 2014 version of her father’s entire army to
the future to steal victory back. And all that’s standing in the way of them
are three of Earth’s mightiest heroes, three Avengers. Let’s get to it.
While Thor, Iron Man, and Cap are
looking down on Thanos, the others are having issues of their own. Ant-Man,
links up with Rhodey, Rocket and an injured Hulk. He saves them from a falling
rubble, and buys them time for Rhodey to get a new armor. Clint, meanwhile, had
found the Iron Infinity Gauntlet in the rubble, and has been running ever since
to keep it from Thanos’ forces. He does some pretty sick arrow shots to dodge
around Chitari and the Black Order. I bet he missed doing that. Nebula 2014
arrives and tricks Clint into giving her the Gauntlet. He’s saved from his
screw up by the arrival of Gamora and 2023 Nebula. They try to talk 2014 Nebula
into helping them, but she refuses. They had seemed to have forgotten that a
decade ago Nebula was a bit of a zealot. 2023 Nebula executes her past self,
that’s got to be flipping weird to think about, and the ladies claim the Iron
Infinity Gauntlet.
 |
| So is Cap now both an Unstoppable Force and Immovable Object? |
Topside, the big three rush Thanos.
Despite Tony’s newest suit, Thor’s new dual wielding hammer fighting style, Cap
fighting with his shield again, and their damn near perfect coordination and
team work, Thanos proves to be a match for them. He shrugs off energy blasts,
lightning strikes, Uru and Adamantine-Vibranium weapon blows and good ol’
fashion smacks like a prize fighter. That and his twin bladed sword of alien
make is strong enough to chip Thor’s weapons and Cap’s shield. It’s a slug
fest. During a lull in the fighting, Thanos reveals his change in ideology. He
now sees that so long as people remember what was lost, there will be those
that try to go back. To ensure this never happens, this time he’ll use the
Infinity Gauntlet to obliterate the Universe and remake it from the ashes. This
obviously puts the others in a rage and the fighting picks up again. At one
point, he knocks Iron Man and Cap away, and pins Thor to the ground with
Stormbreaker’s blade to his throat. He’s millimeters from removing Thor’s head
when, suddenly, he’s smashed in the head by Mjolnir. Thor didn’t throw it, and
it wasn’t returning to his hand. It instead returned to its new wielder,
Captain Steven Grant “America” Rogers. Thor smiles wickedly as he proudly
announces “I knew you’d be Worthy!”
Despite having two Thunder Gods on
the battle field and a mobile tank in the form of Iron Man, Thanos fights on.
He ends up thoroughly cracking Cap’s shield, and separating him from Mjolnir.
He also summons up his army, so it’ll be three on about ten thousand. Despite
this, he gets back up. Before Cap can perform a sacrificial run, he gets a call
on his com. “Oh your Left, Cap!” Nice call back to how Cap met Falcon, guys.
Suddenly, Sling Ring portals start opening up everywhere, to Wakanda, to Titan,
to New Asgard, and to New York.
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| With Friends like these, I fear for their enemies. |
Let’s do a roll call, shall we?
Captain America. Iron Man. Thor. Falcon. Black Panther. Shuri of the Panther
Tribe. M’Baku of the Jibari Tribe. General Okoye of the Dora Milaje. Dr.
Strange. Star-Lord. Drax the Destroyer. Mantis. Groot. Spider-Man. Winter
Soldier. Valkyrie. The Wasp. Wong. Scarlet Witch. Gamora. Nebula. Ronin. Howard
the god-damn Duck. The Masters of the Mystic Arts (Wizards). The Armies of Wakanda.
The Dora Milaje. The Armies of Asgard.
And the debut of Virginia “Pepper” Potts in her Rescue Armor. And when Stephen
asks if that’s everyone and Wong sarcastically asks “Oh you wanted more?”
Rocket, Giant Man, Hulk and newly armored War Machine join in as well.
Despite the grim odds, Captain
America smiles, and he says the line. That line we fans have been waiting for.
“Avengers, Assemble!” And they charge.
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| AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!! |
The next several minutes are pure,
weapons grade awesomeness. Blasters, guns and webbing are fired, lightning and
shields are thrown, and every other sort of weapon is unleased. I especially
liked this bit where Tony and Pepper fly around in the sky and tandem blast
Chitari. Spider-Man reunites with Iron Man and they have a moment. Star-Lord meets
up with Gamora and get’s smacked in the crotch for it. Giant Man crushes Null
Obsidian. Cap and Thor trade off using weapons to obliterate opponents. Captain
Marvel flies in part way through the fight and OBLITERATES the Sanctuary II.
Both she and Scarlet Witch take shots at and push back Thanos. One of the best
exchanges being Wanda screaming “You Stole Everything From Me!” in reference to
the original Thanos killing Vision, from her perspective, minutes ago. Thanos
just scoffs and says “I don’t even know who you are.” To which the Witch tries
to squish him. It’s glorious. While the fighting is going on, the Avengers are
trying to get the Iron Infinity Gauntlet to Scott’s van. Why? Because it has
the only working Quantum Gate. They want to return the Stones and thus thwart
Thanos forever. The gauntlet changes hands several times, ending up in an
overwhelmed Spider-Man’s hands. Even his armor’s Instant Kill Mode is
overwhelmed. He’s saved by the women of Marvel, a prototype A-Force maybe, and
they push through their forces.
Unfortunately, Thanos destroys the
Quantum Gate. He gets the Gauntlet. Captain Marvel intercepts and keeps him
from snapping. She takes a headbutt from the Titan, and almost gets the
Gauntlet, but Thanos uses the Power Stone’s power to strengthen himself and
knock her away. Tony leaps onto Thanos and struggles with him. Thanos throws
him away. And then we have two of the greatest lines of this series.
Thanos smiling smugly, “I am
Inevitable.” Snap. Nothing happens.
Tony lifts his hand. All Six
Infinity Stones settle on his Iron Gauntlet. He puts his fingers together. “I.
Am. Iron Man!” Snap.
Thanos and his entire army are
turned to dust.
 |
| And thus the Mad Titan Falls. Not with a resounding clang but with a single small snap. |
Shortly thereafter, Peter, Rhodey
and Pepper find Tony. He’s severely burned from using the gauntlet, and looks
like he’s hanging on by a thread. Peter and Rhodey are able to say their
goodbyes. Pepper, and props to Gwyneth Paltrow’s acting talent, with tears in
her eyes tells him that “It’s okay. We’ll be fine. You can go.” And he drifts
off, most likely thinking of her, and a little girl named Morgan.
Afterwards, they hold a funeral at the Stark’s
lake side home. Tony, having predicted this eventuality, recorded a goodbye to
his friends and family. He tells them, essentially, it’s been a hell of a ride
and he wouldn’t have changed anything. And to his little girl, he signs off
saying “I love you 3000.” They give Tony’s original Arc Reactor “Proof Tony
Stark Has a Heart” a Viking funeral. By the lake, Clint and Wanda mourn
together for their friends that were lost along the way. And at the house,
Happy Hogan, Tony’s old bodyguard, is spending time with Morgan. I see him get
choked up when the little girl mentions getting cheeseburgers. Another nice
call back, guys.
Thor decides to handover the reigns
of Asgard to the one person that kept the people together while he was
wallowing, Valkyrie. You go, Brunnhilde. Oh yeah, that’s her first name, I
don’t think the movie mentioned that. He decides to hook up with the Guardian’s
of the Galaxy. He and Peter have a pissing contest but everyone else seems to
be in good spirits about it. Peter, I think, is also a little distracted by the
thought of finding Gamora again. The 2014 version seemed to have remained in
the present following her father’s death but vanished after the fighting
stopped.
Meanwhile, Captain America has
volunteered to take the Stone’s back to their proper locations. He vanishes
while Sam and Bucky watch. But he doesn’t reappear like Hulk thought. A few
moments later, Sam notices an old man standing by the lake. He goes over and
realizes it’s an old Steve. Turns out, after dropping off the Stones, and I
imagine having a super awkward chat with the specter of Johann Schmitt, he
decided to stay in the past and give “life” a try as Tony, and Natasha, used to
encourage him. He lived a full life with the love of his life, and, at some
point, decided to offer up his shield to Sam. Sam is hesitant to take up the
mantle, but Steve and Bucky encourage him to do so. He takes the shield and
with it the Mantle of Captain America, and swears to do the name justice. We
end on a scene from Cap’s time in the past. That’s right, we close the film on
Steve and Peggy finally got their dance.
Oh my god, what can I possibly say
about this movie. It was the perfect ending to what I think we’ve all decided
to dub the Infinity War Saga. It had all the drama, the explosions, special
effects, and heart that I wanted to see in this film. I loved just about every
minute of this movie. Everyone got the time they were due. Like I said last
month, this goodbye was a lot like Wolverine and Professor X’s goodbye in
Logan. The only complaint I can think of is that I wish they’d included a
proper memorial for Black Widow and Vision. While it was sweet to see Clint and
Wanda mourn together, and to hear Banner admit that he tried to bring her back
with his snap, it’s still not quite the same as seeing a statue in their honor
or something. But that’s a pretty minor nitpick. It’s beautiful, painful,
bittersweet and yet exactly what I wanted to see. I almost feel sorry for
future Marvel movies, as they have Enormous shoes to fill. To everyone who has
worked on, acted in, or just loved these movies as much as me, it’s been a hell
of a ride. Now, I’m going to take a page from Thanos and find a quite place to
bask.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/27289553
Twitter: @BasicsSuperhero
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