So I watched Avengers Endgame recently. Now for those who don’t know, your boy is a HUGE nerd, so this movie was a big deal to me and many others. To those who have somehow avoided watching a single Marvel movie, I applaud you. I also urge you to stop starving yourself of the cinematic achievements Marvel has made over the last 11 years.
Marvel films have kept us coming back to the cinemas - we ignore increasingly expensive ticket and popcorn prices because we like watching superheroes fight monsters and struggle to balance on the line between good vs. evil. 2019 marked the end of what Marvel producer Kevin Feige calls “The Infinity Saga”.
To make a long story short, a big purple man has been looking for six infinity stones for the latter half of the 21st century as our local heroes, The Avengers, try to stop him. Spoiler alert: The Avengers win, the universe is saved and life goes on (Double spoiler alert, they kill millions both physically and emotionally, and cost countless cities billions of dollars in property damage but again, that’s a topic for another blog).
This narrative has been pre-emptively thought out and calculated for over a decade, so this was a big deal for people who have been keeping up with the films. But this also signified the end of a massive ongoing “cinematic universe.” Now does this mean that comic book movies are going to stop appearing on the big screen? Absolutely not! This medium has created a cultural hurricane that destroys every box office record it touches and with the addition of more characters and creators working behind the scenes, I’m sure that this trend will continue for quite some time.
What I want to talk about is the actual END of Endgame. Tony Stark, the character that stood as the cornerstone of this crazy project, dies. As in he’s not coming back. As in he didn’t sign on for another movie deal. Now if you’re reading this without having watched the film and you feel angry and betrayed, you’ve had months so I feel no ways. Nerds like myself debated over Tony’s death, and the general consensus is that it would’ve made no sense if he survived after everything that’s happened.
They needed to find a way to close out this chapter and having the writers pull a narrative move like the Revenant where the protagonist BARELY survives and pans to black as the audience sees a healthy Tony blowing up stuff in the Iron Man suit after a time skip would feel cheap and disingenuous. This needed to happen.
Tony Stark’s death signifies something far greater than RDJ moving on from action movies. It left audiences figuring out how to deal with their own Endgame. Now, don’t go snapping your fingers and forming a tear in the space time continuum, but what if it’s time to let go of things in your life? What if you truly are at a philosophical, emotional or physical terminus? If you’re like me, you’ve probably encountered or know someone that’s been in a position where the end is coming, whether it be a job, a relationship, a questionable fashion choice. If we know we’re not happy or moving forward, why do we stay and tire ourselves out?
There is something poetic to be said about individuals that see themselves beyond their present selves. To be able to draw out the probable future of their actions and look past the trauma of change that is required to get to a desired place of growth and opportunity. The great Big Body Bes once said: “I’m down to die, you scared to live”. Too often we find ourselves coming to a grinding halt at the idea that ‘bad things’ will happen to us if we take that leap and step out of our comfort zone. The truth is, you’re right. Bad things will 100% happen. It’s inevitable, they happen to everyone; it’s a part of the balance of life.
The most astonishing part of being human is our consciousness. The gift of recognizing the self, our strengths, and developing the resiliency to overcome and improve our environment; robbing ourselves of that growth is rather counterproductive. Now I’m not saying that I have elite levels of resiliency and dive into new opportunities head first with no fear causing me to have a 100% success rate in everything I do. But I AM saying that life never gives you more than you can handle, so why not see what happens by occasionally putting yourself in front (or stepping out) of the limelight?
So just to wrap things up: Endgame was a good movie, try new things, DON’T try and harness the power of six cosmic stones (or do if a wizard tells you to do so) but DO learn to check in with yourself and identify what is and isn’t working in your life. Let me know what you think about this whole concept of the End. Do you think our paths are set in stone or do we have a say? Have you ever made that "big" decision yourself? Feel free to share your thoughts!
Thanks for dropping, giving this a read & here’s I’m Good by Wafia as a parting gift. Click on the needle below, Be Good, Do Good & enjoy.
