Avengers: Endgame is going to be unlike anything audiences have seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far. The upcoming Avengers: Infinity War sequel has a lot it needs to achieve, and that means doing its own unique thing as it attempts to balance everything… and end almost everything.

Aventgers: Endgame needs to serve as a true sequel to Infinity War, meaning it’ll be dealing with the aftermath of Thanos’ snap, aka the Decimation, with Thanos wiping out half the universe. It needs to bring heroes back from the dead, but also serve as a final chapter for not only the current phase, but the MCU’s first saga, which will conclude the story that began with Iron Man in 2008.

So, Avengers: Endgame has 21 other movies to tie together, while also still telling its own story. The marketing alone has already been different - coming from just the first 20 minutes of the film. That’s just a taste of what to expect, as everything we know suggests Avengers: Endgame will be unlike anything else in the entire MCU.

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Endgame Looks Like The Darkest MCU Movie Yet

The trailers for Avengers: Endgame haven’t given much away, since all the footage comes from early in the story. Instead of seeing any real action, the onus is on setting Endgame’s tone. And that tone is one much darker than anything Marvel fans used to from the MCU. This isn’t just the sense of foreboding that came with Infinity War; this is what comes next. What Endgame’s marketing establishes, more than anything else, is a real sense of loss. The grief is palpable. We’ve seen Steve Rogers trying to come to terms with the Decimation; Tony Stark trapped in space, accepting of his fate, and a black-clad Hawkeye - now Ronin - in a rain-soaked Japan. Only Scott Lang, turning up at the Avengers complex in the first Endgame trailer, has cracked either a smile or a joke.

This extends outside the Avengers too, as shown in Avengers: Endgame’s Super Bowl spot. The shots of the Statue of Liberty establish a world mourning an incomprehensible loss of life. Likewise, the gloomy overhead shot of Citi Field. The color palette is dark and depressing, filled with greys and blacks, rather than the pop, primary colors we expect from Marvel. There are support groups for people. It calls to mind the first season of HBO’s The Leftovers - bleak, grim, and people giving up and reeling in the wake of devastation - more than the MCU. That’s not a bad thing - The Leftovers is a stunning piece of television, after all - but it’s a huge tonal shift for the franchise. It’s also a necessary one, though, because the franchise has been running so long and because Endgame picks up after Infinity War’s death-filled ending.

It’s The First Real “Avengers” Movie

The Avengers first assembled back in 2012’s The Avengers movie, with the six original heroes - Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Hulk - coming together to stop Loki and the Chitauri invasion of Earth. During that movie, Tony Stark gives a great speech to Loki about the role of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, telling the God of Mischief: “If we can’t protect the Earth, you can be damn well sure we’ll avenge it.”

It’s one of Stark’s best lines, and a huge mission statement for the Avengers as a team. But it’s not a promise that’s actually ever been fulfilled. In The Avengers, Stark  and the rest of the team succeed in defeating Loki at the Battle of New York, staving off the invasion. They were able to protect the Earth, so there was nothing to avenge. The same was then true in the first Avengers sequel, Age of Ultron. Once again the Avengers assembled and, this time in Sokovia, were able to prevent Ultron from fulfilling his nefarious plan. Earth had once again been protected.

Finally, after some time spent fighting each other in Captain America: Civil War, the Avengers were once again tested in 2018’s Infinity War. Fighting the battle on multiple planets, for the first time they were unsuccessful. Thanos collected all six Infinity Stones, snapped his fingers, and wiped out half the universe. The Avengers had failed to protect the Earth. That means they’re now going to Avenge it. For the first time in the MCU, this is going to be a movie driven by that need to avenge something, rather than protect it. In a sense, that makes it the first true “Avengers” movie.

Page 2 of 2: Avengers: Endgame Is A Marvel Experiment & Ends The MCU’s First Saga

Endgame Tries A Lot Of New Things For Marvel

Not only does Avengers: Endgame have the Avengers actually avenging, but it’s trying out a number of other things that are new to the MCU as well. The clearest of these from the marketing is the lineup of the team. Infinity War killed off a number of major heroes, that means the ones left on Earth need to band together. This does include some of the original Avengers - Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, and Bruce Banner - but Hawkeye’s exact role in Endgame is unclear, and Tony will spend some of the movie separated. Joining the ranks, then, are Ant-Man, War Machine, and Rocket Raccoon. There’ll be new group dynamics at play. Some characters are meeting for the very first time (Thor and Ant-Man, for example, should be great).

On top of that, though, are the plot devices. Although we don’t know to what extent yet, Avengers: Endgame is going to be a time travel movie. The heroes will be traveling back as they (presumably) attempt to stop Thanos from collecting the Infinity Stones and undo the snap. Time travel has been loosely hinted at before, but this brings it fully into the MCU. That is a serious game-changer. That goes hand-in-hand with its use of the Quantum Realm, which will likely be how the Avengers time travel. It’s been featured before as well, but now we’re looking at a movie that explores it in much more depth, and opens up things like time vortexes.

It’s not just going back in time that’s new, though. There’ll also be a significant time jump within the movie. This has been rumored for some time - an older Cassie Lang was reportedly cast last year - but the trailers somewhat allude to it. We see Black Widow with her Infinity War hairstyle at one point but then a much longer, braided style at others. New Avengers: Endgame images have confirmed it’ll be red again too, so there’s going to be a leap in time at some point. These are all bold, ambitious techniques and chart a new course for the MCU. That’s without mentioning that Endgame could be the first 3-hour-long MCU movie, with a rumored intermission - itself a new step for the franchise.

Endgame Marks The End Of The MCU’s First Saga

Avengers: Endgame doesn’t just end Phase 3 of the MCU, but it ends the entire Infinity Stone saga as well. Marvel may have separated their movies into phases, but almost everything up to this point has been linked by either the Avengers’ roster or the Infinity Stones (and often both). It’s one big, 22-movie story; Endgame brings that to a close. Whatever happens with Thanos, it’s unlikely the Mad Titan will be in another present-day MCU movie. He might appear in The Eternals, but otherwise his time is done (at least for a good while). Likewise, Marvel can’t make another Infinity Stones movie. The Infinity Stones may be destroyed, or scattered and protected. Regardless, this is the end of the saga built around them, which has been going since the MCU’s Phase 1.

Even bigger than that, though, is Endgame is the end of the line for some original heroes. At the very least, it’s almost certainly the last time we’ll see Tony Stark and Steve Rogers. Both Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans are expected to be done with the MCU after this. They’re the two biggest heroes, the ones who lead the team and who everyone recognizes. Marvel movies are always building to the next one. There’s always been an eye on the future for the likes of Iron Man and Captain America. Another fight, another movie. Avengers: Endgame will be different because it really is the end for them. After this, the MCU will never be the same again.

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