The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been in a fascinating place, as the massive franchise's future is largely a mystery. Avengers: Infinity War arrived in April, and brought a devastating ending that no one expected. The bad guy one, with Thanos succeeded in wiping out half the galaxy with the snap of his finger. Audiences and Avengers alike were left to watch in horror as countless characters faded to dust before our eyes.
The ending of Infinity War has been discussed countless times in the months following its release, and answers will finally come when Endgame arrives in theaters this coming April. Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige recently revealed how long The Snap had been planned, and how happy he was with the visceral reaction fans had to the sequence, saying:
And that ending, which we had been working on for many years, and I do remember people, on all of the movies we've made and I'm sure on many of the movies we'll make in the future, whenever the good guy wins, which is often --- good guy, good woman, good hero wins --- they go, 'Eh, it's kind of predictable. Good guy wins' Well, sometimes that's fun. But for years I remember thinking, 'I wonder what they're going to do when they don't?' Because we knew that was coming. And it couldn't have been better. The reaction was the best. The reaction. Was. The. Best.
It looks like Kevin Feige delights in breaking hearts, and the MCU has never had a gut punch quite like Thanos' finger snap of death (aka The Decimation). And after every Marvel installment resulted in a somewhat happy ending, Feige and The Russo Brothers delighted blowing minds and defying expectations with Infinity War's big loss.
Looking back at the last ten years of filmmaking, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has rarely had anything but a happy ending for its blockbusters. Perhaps the most ambiguous ending also came during Phase Three, as Captain America: Civil War ended its titular conflict, but left the Avengers divided. The affects of that movie are still unresolved, as Tony and Cap haven't met face to face since their final battle with Bucky.
But Avengers: Infinity War pulled no punches, and a ton of characters fell throughout the course of its runtime. Even if you take The Decimation out, Thanos brutally murdered the likes of Heimdell, Loki, Gamora, and Vision. And with half of all living things now wiped out as well, Infinity War isn't close to a happy ending. That is, unless you're Thanos.
It should be interesting to see how Avengers: Endgame ultimately turns out. The surviving Avengers are in a precarious position, and need to find a way to reverse The Snap. Captain Marvel will no doubt factor heavily into the story, as well as Paul Rudd's Ant-Man.
Avengers: Endgame will arrive in theaters on April 26th, 2019. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your trips to the movies in the New Year.
