THE ENDING(S) OF AVENGERS: ENDGAME
Where will the Marvel Cinematic Universe go from here?
Tony Stark is dead. Natasha Romanoff is dead. Steve Rogers, having opted to live out his life with sweetheart Peggy Carter, is now an old man who can barely lift his Captain America shield to pass the mantle to Sam Wilson. Thor’s shipping out with the resurrected (As) Guardians Of The Galaxy. And Spider-Man, the royals of Wakanda and Nick Fury have all dusted themselves off from the Snap.
Hulk and Hawkeye, meanwhile, seem happy enough, the former still merging Bruce Banner’s brains with the green meanie’s brawn, and the latter returned to his family, who have risen, Phoenix-like, from the ashes.
But what does all this mean for the future of the MCU? Well, for starters, we know from the Spider-Man: Far From Home trailer that all of Peter Parker’s best pals were, it seems, by happy coincidence, Snapped and returned, meaning they can now vacation in Europe as none of them are five years older and looking for work. The trailer also opens the possibility of a Marvel Cinematic Multiverse, with Thanos’ Snap tearing a hole between dimensions.
But even ignoring that gamechanging scenario, the possibilities induce headaches. Will the Black Widow solo movie be a prequel or will Natasha Romanoff somehow be brought back? It’s a fate that seems to await Vision (Paul Bettany), who’s not in Endgame, given the Wanda Vision streaming series (co-starring, you guessed it, Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch) is lined up for Disney+. Hawkeye also has his sights set on Disney+, as does Loki, who appears in Endgame as a past version of himself (the one at the end of Avengers Assemble) and then grabs the Tesseract and teleports to freedom. Similarly, Endgame sees a younger version of Gamora brought into the present (2023), so, presumably, future versions of Loki and Gamora won’t have had many of the experiences we’ve shared with them in the past. Argh. Will Thor be in GOTG Vol. 3? Will the Guardians be in Thor 4? Will the announced Falcon series on Disney+ actually be Cap’s show? And will there be more Avengers movies, perhaps promoting Captain Marvel and Black Panther to leaders of the pack, or recasting Iron Man? Not even Doctor Strange could compute the possibilities.
‘THE POSSIBILITIES FOR THE MCU’S FUTURE INDUCE HEADACHES’