Your 3-hour-movie survival guide

Be sure to plan ahead before you settle in.

they decide to go another round with Thanos, this time with some help – including the new superhero on the block, Captain Marvel (Brie Larson).

Revealing any more details would probably earn a very severe talking-to from Cap. That said, “Endgame” mines some serious matters while being funnier than any “Avengers” flick before it, exposing unseen weaknesses and new strengths in people we’ve spent hours watching and worrying about in darkened theaters. Plus, the thing renders the word “epic” pretty much obsolete.

“Endgame” loses momentum in the middle of its three-hour run time, but it unleashes the largest and most fistpumping, goosebump-causing, insanely destructive action climax in a superhero movie yet. Good luck to anybody trying to surpass this one, because the mold has been broken.

In that way, it’s peak Marvel in terms of sheer spectacle, although for once “Endgame” is one of these hero fests that revels in its present rather than looking to the future. The main characters here, although their abilities are otherworldly, are seen at their most human weighing loss and life. What is worth the ultimate sacrifice to those who can seemingly bring the world to its feet, and what do amazing folks do with second and third chances after proving they’re not as amazing as they once thought?

It allows for awesome character moments across the board: Downey and Evans shine like the all-stars they’ve always been, and Ruffalo, Johansson, Renner, Hemsworth and Paul Rudd (as Ant-Man) also do some of their superhero best.

“Endgame” is tragic and uplifting, rousing and grounding, while leaving minds racing and making everybody cry (even the toughest guys). Marvel movies have managed to find endearing, crowd-pleasing magic amid these fun and flawed comic-book characters in the past decade, and “Endgame” pays off all that goodwill by letting them do what they do best on the biggest stage yet.