Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame is a 2019 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the direct sequel to Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and the 22nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the film features an ensemble cast which includes Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Danai Gurira, Benedict Wong, Jon Favreau, Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Josh Brolin. In the film, the surviving members of the Avengers and their allies attempt to reverse Thanos‘s actions in Infinity War.

The film was announced in October 2014 as Avengers: Infinity War – Part 2, but Marvel later removed this title. The Russo brothers joined as directors in April 2015, with Markus and McFeely signing on to write the script a month later. The film is a conclusion to the story of the MCU up to that point, ending the story arcs of several main characters. Its plot revisits several moments from earlier films, bringing back actors and settings throughout the franchise. Filming began in August 2017 at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia, shooting back-to-back with Infinity War, and ended in January 2018. Additional filming took place in the Metro and downtown Atlanta areas, New York State, Scotland, and England. The official title was announced in December 2018. With an estimated budget of $356–400 million, the film is one of the most expensive films ever produced.

Avengers: Endgame premiered in Los Angeles on April 22, 2019, and was released in the United States on April 26 as part of Phase Three of the MCU. The film received praise for its direction, acting, musical score, action scenes, visual effects, and emotional weight, with critics lauding its culmination of the 22-film story. It grossed $2.799 billion worldwide, surpassing Infinity War‘s theatrical run in eleven days and setting a number of box-office records; it was the highest-grossing film of all time from July 2019 to March 2021. The film was nominated for Best Visual Effects at the 92nd Academy Awards, among other accolades. A fifth Avengers film and a sixth, Avengers: Secret Wars, are scheduled for release in 2026 and 2027, respectively.

Plot

In 2018, twenty-three days after Thanos erased half of all life in the universe,^[a] Carol Danvers rescues Tony Stark and Nebula from deep space and they reunite with the remaining Avengers—Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, Thor, Natasha Romanoff, and James Rhodes—and Rocket on Earth. Locating Thanos on an uninhabited planet, they plan to use the Infinity Stones to reverse his actions but find that Thanos has destroyed them. Enraged, Thor decapitates Thanos.

Five years later, Scott Lang escapes from the Quantum Realm.^[b] Reaching the Avengers Compound, he explains that he experienced only five hours while he was trapped. Theorizing that the Quantum Realm allows time travel, they ask a reluctant Stark to help them retrieve the Stones from the past to reverse Thanos’s present actions. Stark, Rocket, and Banner, who has merged his intelligence with the Hulk’s strength, build a time machine. Banner notes that altering the past does not affect their present; any changes create alternate realities. Banner and Rocket travel to Norway, where they visit the Asgardianrefugee settlement of New Asgard and recruit an overweight, despondent Thor. In Tokyo, Romanoff recruits Clint Barton, who became a vigilante after the erasure of his family.

Banner, Lang, Rogers, and Stark time-travel to New York City during Loki‘s attack in 2012.^[c] At the Sanctum Sanctorum, Banner convinces the Ancient One to give him the Time Stone after promising to return the Infinity Stones to their proper points in time. At Stark Tower, Rogers retrieves the Mind Stonefrom Hydra sleeper agents; Stark and Lang’s attempt to steal the Space Stone fails, however, allowing 2012-Loki to escape with it. Rogers and Stark travel to Camp Lehigh in 1970, where Stark obtains an earlier version of the Space Stone and encounters his father Howard. Rogers steals Pym Particles from Hank Pym to return to the present and sees his lost love, Peggy Carter.

Rocket and Thor travel to Asgard in 2013;^[d] Rocket extracts the Reality Stone from Jane Foster. Thor is encouraged by his mother, Frigga, and retrieves his old hammer, Mjolnir. Barton, Romanoff, Nebula, and Rhodes travel to 2014; Nebula and Rhodes go to Morag and steal the Power Stone before Peter Quill can,^[e] while Barton and Romanoff travel to Vormir. The Soul Stone‘s keeper, Red Skull, says that it can only be acquired by sacrificing a loved one. Romanoff sacrifices herself, allowing Barton to get the Stone. Rhodes and Nebula attempt to return to their own time, but Nebula is incapacitated when her cybernetic implants link with her past self; this allows 2014-Thanos to learn about his future self’s success and the Avengers’ attempt to undo it. 2014-Thanos sends 2014-Nebula forward in time to prepare for his arrival.

Reuniting in the present, the Avengers place the Stones into a gauntlet that Stark, Banner, and Rocket have built. Banner, who has the most resistance to their radiation, uses the gauntlet to undo Thanos’s disintegrations. Meanwhile, 2014-Nebula (impersonating her future self) uses the time machine to transport 2014-Thanos and his warship to the present and destroys the Avengers Compound. Present-day Nebula convinces 2014-Gamora to betray Thanos, but is unable to convince 2014-Nebula and kills her. Thanos overpowers Stark, Thor and a Mjolnir-wielding Rogers; he summons his army to retrieve the Stones, intent on using them to destroy the universe and create a new one. A restored Stephen Strange arrives with other sorcerers, the restored Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, the Ravagers, and the armies of Wakanda and Asgard to fight Thanos’s army. Danvers also arrives and destroys Thanos’s warship, but Thanos overpowers her and seizes the gauntlet. Stark steals the Stones and uses them to disintegrate Thanos and his army, sacrificing himself.

After Stark’s funeral, Thor appoints Valkyrie as the new king of New Asgard and joins the Guardians. Rogers returns the Stones and Mjolnir to their proper timelines and remains in the past to live with Carter. In the present, an elderly Rogers passes his shield to Sam Wilson.