Waiting For The Endgame

Okay, I’m calling it.  The wait between “Infinity War” and “Endgame” is officially too long.  I haven’t been so anxious for a resolution since “The Empire Strikes Back.”   I was only 6 when ESB came out and I can still recall arguing with my friends about how Luke was going to get Han out of the carbonite.  

Right now I’m suffering from what I’ll call “Speculation Fatigue”.  My brain is tired of wondering what is going to happen in Endgame.  Yeah, sure, there’s less wait between Avengers 3 & 4 than there was between Star Wars 5 & 6, but the stakes are higher.  Frozen Han Solo?  Ha!  Try, “Half the universe has been disintegrated.” 

I’ve watched dozens of Youtube videos with fan theories, videos that will be obsolete in just a few months.  It reminds me of all the books that came out before “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” was released.  We still own some of the fan-made books that give their predictions for book 7.  Most of their theories were dead wrong, of course, and I’m hoping Endgame surprises me just as much.  But I’m not really sure that’s possible any more.  I’ve heard just about every possible sequence of events, so whatever happens it won’t be “Wow, that’s unexpected!” so much as “Wow, that’s fan theory #347!”  But I’m just so exhausted by all the speculation that I’m losing my excitement for the movie.  By the time it actually comes out, I might be like, “Let’s get this over with.”

I’m not sure they should have released the trailer for “Spider-Man: Far From Home” until after Endgame.  In the Endgame trailer, they were so careful not to show any scenes with people who had been dusted, so it’s weird that they would be okay releasing the Spider-Man trailer at this time.  At the very least, they shouldn’t have shown Nick Fury in the trailer; that’s one more person we now know survives.  Sure, showing Spidey means that the dusted people come back, but Fury still could have been killed later in Endgame by other means. 

But the fact that Fury’s in the mentor role instead of Tony Stark could also be a spoiler.  Yes, everyone knows that RDJ is quitting after Endgame, but we don’t “know it” know it, you know?  In D&D terms, that’s “out of character knowledge.”   I kind of miss the days when I didn’t know much about a movie before seeing it; Stark’s departure would have so much more shock value.  Now I’m going to spend the entire movie wondering if this is the scene where he gets killed. 

Anyway, “Far From Home” looks okay.  I laughed here and there, but nothing about the trailer really stood out.  With Stark gone, I guess Happy Hogan’s going to be a Spider-Man character now?  Mysterio and Hydro-Man (or whatever that is, possibly an illusion) looked great, but the MCU is starting to look more cartoonish.  I guess I’m okay with that.  I’m glad this series has maintained such consistent quality for so many movies, and after Endgame it might well be time to start getting really wacky. 

My hopes for Endgame and beyond:

I hope Tony sacrifices himself to save Steve; it would be a perfect apology for Civil War.

I hope (as some have speculated) that Steve is sent back in time, and lives out his days with Peggy Carter.  It would be the kindest possible way to retire the character.

I hope time travel isn’t overused in saving the day.  The last thing I want is a “Ta-da!  The first movie never happened!” victory.  

I hope we get another Thor movie.  I know four movies is a lot for one character, but Ragnarok felt like such a reboot in both content and tone, that I really want to see another Thor done in that style.

I hope they don’t gloss over the Asgardian refugees this time.  Other than Thor’s line about how Thanos “killed half my crew”, Infinity War was maddeningly silent on the fates of Korg, Valkyrie, and the other survivors.  If they don’t mention it in Endgame and don’t make another Thor movie, then the question will bug me forever.  You know (lots of “ifs” coming), if Drax dies in Endgame (since Dave Bautista is angry about the firing of James Gunn), and if Gamora doesn’t come back to life, and if there isn’t going to be another Thor movie, then Valkyrie and Korg could make decent members of the Guardians.

I hope that future movies feel more self-contained.  I’m afraid that the minute Endgame is over, they’ll jump right into the build-up for the next major crossover event.  

I hope General Ross gets fired, and has his career so totally ruined that he spends the rest of his life collecting discarded soda bottles to buy Ramen noodles.

Beyond that, anything goes.