Avengers: Endgame is a three-hour movie that not only serves as a conclusion to the story that began in
Infinity War, but also as the culmination of the 21 Marvel Cinematic Universe installments that preceded it.
So, to say there's quite a bit to unpack here is a bit of an understatement!
For that reason, we're not delving into every single scene from
Endgame - although, to be honest, most of them are fairly significant - but we will be covering all of the major plot points, moments and reveals.
Obviously if you haven't seen the movie yet it;s best to stop reading now, because we're going to
spoil the hell out of it.
Simply click on the VIEW LIST (ONE PAGE) button below!
Ronin
The movie actually opens with a scene from the trailer that prompted a lot of speculation, as Clint Barton gives an archery lesson to a mysterious young woman. It turns out that this is his daughter Lyla, and his wife and two sons are nearby having a picnic.
The theories surrounding this one were spot on, as Lila vanishes when she goes to retrieve her arrow, and the rest of Barton's family follow. This leads to Hawkeye becoming Ronin, and setting out to murder any criminals that survived "The Snap."
Captain Marvel To The Rescue
We then cut to Tony Stark and Nebula aboard The Benatar, which they have managed to get into the air again but only temporarily. Now adrift, oxygen is running out and Stark is almost done.
Iron Man records his final message to Pepper, and lies down to prepare for the inevitable. Nebula then places him in the cockpit and bids a silent farewell, but all is not lost (obviously).
There was speculation that it'd be Pepper who would suit-up as Rescue to make the...um, rescue, but it's actually Captain Marvel, who carries the ship down to Earth where the surviving members of Earth's Mightiest Heroes are waiting.
Plan A
It's here that Stark and Steve Rogers have a somewhat low-key reunion (they do have a much better scene together later on), and it's clear that there's still some bad blood between them.
While Tony recovers, the others hatch a plan to track down Thanos and use the Infinity Stones to reverse The Decimation and return their friends - and half of all life in the universe - to the land of the living.
Danvers does a recon and finds no one on the garden planet aside from The Mad Titan, and the others move in.
Thor Goes For The Head
After the team subdue a now weakened Mad Titan, they discover that he only used the Infinity Stones to reduce them to atoms, destroying them forever. Rhodey doesn't believe him, but Nebula assures her hew friends that her father does not lie.
Then, just as the villain is about to admit that he may have been too hard on Nebula in the past, Thor takes the advice Thanos gave him in Infinity War and cuts his head clean off!
The end of Thanos? Not exactly.
Five. Years. Later
A bit of a time-jump? How about five years!
We skip forward half a decade, as the world attempts to move on and restore some sense of normalcy. Cap talks things out as part of a group, while Nat holds down the fort at HQ getting regular mission updates from Okoye, Rocket, Danvers and Rhodey. The latter reveals that Barton has been taking out criminals in particularly violent fashion, and a clearly upset Black Widow asks him to track her old partner down.
At this point Cap drops by for a chat, and the pair are interrupted by none other than Scott Lang at the front gate.
Scott's Plan
Scott returns from the Quantum Realm completely by accident (a rat is basically responsible for saving the universe), and soon realizes what's happened when he's reunited with his now teenage daughter.
Though five years have passed on Earth, Lang was only in the QR for five hours, and believes this might be the key to reversing The Decimation. Because his theories are mostly based on Back To The Future, the team decides to seek the advice of someone a bit more qualified.
Morgan
Tony Stark is now living an idyllic life with Pepper and their adorable daughter Morgan, who we first meet wearing the Rescue helmet her father his working on for his wife. Some foreshadowing, perhaps?
Tony basically dismisses Scott's plan when the others show up to try to convince him to help, but, of course, curiosity gets the better of him and he ultimately figures out a way to safely travel through time.
Hulk Out
In the meantime, the others have gone to see Bruce Banner, who has managed to combine his genius-level brain with the brawn of The Hulk after a few hours in the lab. "Professor Hulk" agrees to help, but warns them that quantum physics isn't really his area of expertise.
What follows is a hilarious test-run scene, with Scott returning from The QR as a teenager, an old man, and a baby. Fortunately, Stark shows up with a fix, and it's here we finally get to see him and Rogers make amends as Tony returns his old friend's shield.
Thor Has... Let Himself Go
Hulk and Rocket travel to New Asgard, where we're reintroduced to Valkyrie. She hints that Thor is not The God of Thunder he once was, and that's an understatement!
Thor has put on a few (okay, more than a few) pounds and has developed a slight drinking problem. He spends his days playing video games with Korg and Miek (yay), and is still wracked with guilt about how things went with Thanos.
He agrees to accompany his friends with the promise of beer, but it's abundantly clear that The King of Asgard is dealing with a
lot of baggage.
The Time Heist
Banner points out that they can't simply go back and stop Thanos from using the stones because that will only alter
that timeline, so they decide to travel back and acquire the stones themselves. This means we get to revisit scenes from several previous MCU movies, and see a few old friends.
Rocket and Thor travel to Asgard for The Ether, where the latter gets to see his mother again and reacquires Mjölnir. Cap, Stark and Lang go for The Tesseract but lose it to Loki, forcing them to alter the plan. Tony settles on a time and place where they can get the Tesseract back and lift some more Pym particles in the process.
Meanwhile, Banner goes to see Doctor Strange but has to deal with The Ancient One instead. She eventually agrees to hand over The Time Stone when Bruce explains that Strange willingly gave it to Thanos in the first place, but only if he agrees to return each stone to its respective timeline once The Decimation is reversed.
Thanos Returns
Rhodey and Nebula are tasked with retrieving The Power Stone on Morag, but they jump to a time when Thanos, Gamora and a very different version of Nebula are also in the vicinity.
Rhodey escapes with the stone, but Nebula is captured and bad Nebula takes her place. With past Thanos now aware of what happens in the future, he is able to plan an attack that The Avengers will never see coming.
Black Widow Does Whatever It Takes
Nat and Clint travel to Vormir, where they encounter The Red Skull and must give up the same thing Thanos did in order to earn The Soul Stone. Both former S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents want to be the one to do whatever it takes and it looks like Hawkeye "wins" the right to leap from the mountain, but Widow manages to pin him to the side.
Clint is determined not to let her go, but Nat tells her friend that it's okay, before pulling from his grasp and plummeting to her death in a sequence that plays out a lot (too much?) like the Gamora scene from Infinity War.
Hulk Snap
Back in the present, the devastated heroes realize that they can't get Widow back and swear that her sacrifice won't be in vain.
Thor wants to be the one to use the new Gauntlet and reverse The Decimation, but Bruce knows he's the only one strong enough to achieve this. The effort almost kills him and leaves him with a severely injured arm, but Banner manages to snap his fingers and restore the 50% of life in the universe that Thanos erased.
Unfortunately, it's then that The Mad Titans launches his attack, and Avengers HQ is reduced to rubble.
Cap Is Worthy
Iron Man, Captain America and Thor regroup and attack Thanos with everything they have, but even without the Infinity Gauntlet The Mad Titan proves to be too much for them to handle.
Just as the villain is about to drive Stormbreaker into Thor's chest, he's hit in the back by Mjölnir, which then flies back into the hand of... Steve Rogers! Yes, Cap is worthy to wild the mighty hammer of Thor, and uses it to put a serious beat-down on Thanos before he too is taken down.
Then, Thanos' entire armada arrives on the scene, and Rogers faces down an army.
Avengers, Assemble
Just as all hope seems lost, we hear Falcon in Cap's earpiece, and all of the "dusted" heroes are transported to the battle by Doctor Strange, Wong and their fellow sorcerers. They also bring hundreds of Wakandans, Asgardians and various others as backup.
As Giant Man emerges from the rubble with Hulk, Rhodey and Rocket in hand, the scene is set for one of the most jaw-dropping battles in cinema history. "Avengers," shouts Captain America as he calls Mjölnir to him; "Assemble."
"You Can Rest Now, Tony"
Captain Marvel shows up to take out Thanos' warship, but The Mad Titan still manages to get his hands on the new gauntlet. After a tussle with Stark, he snaps his fingers and... nothing. Tony managed to get all of the stones away from him and fashions a new gauntlet from his own armor to house them.
Responding to Thanos' "I am inevitable" with "I am Iron Man," Stark snaps his fingers and wills The Mad Titan and his forces out of existence.
This proves to be Tony Stark's last heroic act, as he succumbs to his catastrophic injuries after an emotional goodbye to Rhodey, Spidey and Pepper.
The Funeral
That scene we heard about that was said to feature pretty much every main character in The MCU? It's Tony's funeral, and it's an incredibly emotional sequence for a variety of reasons.
After watching a holographic recording of a message Tony left in the event of his death, Pepper places the "Proof that Tony Stark has a Heart" keepsake she gave him in the lake, and the camera pans back over the assembled heroes and their families before stopping on Nick Fury.
Asgardians of The Galaxy
After the funeral, Thor decides to take Frigga's advice and focus on being the man he is and not the man he's meant to be. He leaves Valkyrie as Queen of New Asgard, and joins the Guardians of The Galaxy for some new adventure.
On The Milano, we're treated to another terrific scene between Thor and Star-Lord as they argue about who's in command.
Please let Thor be part of the team in GOTG Vol. 3!
Old Cap/New Cap
Cap decides to return The Infinity Stones to their rightful timelines, but when Bruce can't bring him back they assume something must have gone wrong. It's then that Bucky spots an old man sitting nearby on a bench, and Sam goes to investigate.
After he returned the stones, Steve decided to live the life he never got to before going into the ice. He presents Falcon with his shield, passing on the mantle of Captain America.
The Dance
Turns out Steve didn't spend his time in the past alone! Sam notices a wedding ring and asks his friend if he'll talk about "her," but Rogers declines.
The final shot of the film pans into a house where music is playing, and we see Steve and Peggy Carter finally having that dance. Rogers kisses the love of his life, and we fade to black.