Tumgik
#Infinity War was so great Endgame could never measure up
veterveter · 3 years
Note
Are you in the mcu fandom? Just curious that's it
Heyyyy friend!! Thanks for asking!
Yeah, in a pretty casual way. I really loved catching the films at the cinema at midnight premieres and stuff as soon as they came out, it was a cool and collective experience. Especially Infinity War and Endgame, it felt like such a global experience we all shared. I miss that, I hope we can have that again soon. I’ve been enjoying the D+ shows too, WandaVision had a strong start and TFATWS has... Zemo. I’m not fiercely passionate about it though, I bug my friend to give me all the deep lore I might need.
Tumblr media
This being said you can always come @ me to discuss MCU stuff, friends!! I’ll try and be really smart for you.
8 notes · View notes
keanureevesisbae · 3 years
Text
eunoia - prologue
Tumblr media
Summary: Sam is trying to adjust to a life post-Steve Rogers.
Sam Wilson x Quinn (Asian ofc)
Warnings: Some spoilers for Civil War, Inifinity War, Endgame and TFATWS
Wordcount: 2.2k
A/N: Did I just abandon my other wips to work on this one? Maybe. This story follows around 50% of TFATWS storyline, but it’s not identical. I honestly don’t know whether or not people are gonna like it, but if you do, please let me know 🥺Our boy Sam deserves all the fics 🥰
Masterlist // eunoia masterlist // 
Tumblr media
Not a day goes by that Sam doesn’t think about Quinn. It was at the Joint Terrorist Centre’s headquarters in Berlin when he first saw her on security camera’s. While Bucky was being interviewed, a different set of cameras showed another interrogation room. It was nearly identical to Bucky’s room, though the difference was that there a woman was strapped in a similar containment cell. They had found her earlier that day and according to some intel she was part of another Hydra program, though there was not much known about her yet.
With the reactivated Winter Soldier Program, Sam tried to capture Zemo, before the fugitive disappeared into the crowd. Together with Steve, they took Bucky into an abandoned building. While Bucky slowly regained consciousness and both Steve and Sam being distracted, no one noticed someone sneaking up behind them.
In a twinkling of an eye, both Steve and Sam were tied up with one rope, despite the two of them being on opposite sides of the room. With a certain focus, the petite woman marched up to Bucky, ready to do whatever was her task. As her fingers wrapped around his neck, tips digging in his neck, Bucky seemed to recognize her. A soft ‘hey’ from the Winter Soldier was enough to snap her out of it.
The rope stopped cutting into Sam’s skin, as the woman looked around her. She dropped the rope and she ran her hands through her long black locks. There was something about her that intrigued him. Her eyes darted from one side to the other, before they landed on him.
Sam didn’t know her that long, but he could see that there were a lot of undisclosed feelings. She was confused, maybe even a bit scared.
She introduced herself as Quinn, though adding the fact that she had no idea what her  real name was and Quinn seemed fitting.
Just like Bucky, Quinn was also a target of Zero’s spree. She remembers Zemo breaking her out of the secret and deserted Hydra facility back in Munich, where she was put into cryogenic stasis. Zemo released her into the world, only for her to be caught within a few hours. She had no idea if that was Zemo’s intention, her getting caught that soon.
‘Just a few hours ago,’ Quinn explained, ‘there was this guy with black hair, questionable facial hair, who told me to catch a guy. It was a picture of you.’ She gestured towards Bucky, who tilted his head as his gaze softened.
‘You remember me?’ Bucky asked her.
She shrugs. ‘I don’t know,’ she whimpers. ‘I didn’t when he showed me the picture, but… There is something I sort of remember of you. You walked into the room, dressed in all black, looking visibly exhausted. You were in this other cell and looked at me and told me that it was all gonna be okay.’ Quinn let out a soft—yet meaningless—chuckle. ‘That’s not quite working out.’
Without any more painful questions, Steve suggested she came along and Sam and her actually fought alongside the rest on the airport, making sure Bucky and Steve were on that flight and just like the rest who stayed behind, they were imprisoned in the Raft.
Sam watched her, day in, day out. She was yet again strapped inside a containment cell within her cell, another counter measurement to make sure she was unable to escape. Sam saw how she kicked an entire van to the side on the airport, without breaking a sweat. It made him question whether or not she was just cooperating or if the restraints were really working.
Her petite frame was perfect for her to blend in the crowd, in contrast to Bucky, however strength wise, they were around the same level.
Speed wise, it was Quinn who had the upper hand there.
She simply sat in the cell, staring ahead of her. Sam wondered what happened inside her head, but when they made eye contact, all he could see was sadness and hopelessness.
At night, when the lights were dim and everyone was asleep, he told her that it was all gonna be okay.
‘How do you know?’
‘I just do,’ he said.
For the first time, she smiled at him. ‘And I just have to trust you on that one?’
‘It’s the wisest thing to do. Besides, what have you got to lose?’
After Steve freed them from the Raft, he did not know what to expect from her. Deep down, Sam kinda hoped she would join him. On the airport, it was obvious how well they worked together, but just like Clint, Scott and Wanda, she decided to live her own life.
And just like that, she disappeared.
Sam never thought he’d see her again, but when they all met in the New Avengers Facility, when they learned about Thanos’ plan to capture all the Infinity Stones, she walked in as if she never left. She stayed close to either him or Steve, not once speaking up about what she did in the meantime and Sam never felt like he could ask.
When they landed in Wakanda, Quinn took him aside and asked: ‘You got my back?’
He smiled at her, realizing that his efforts in gaining her trust back at the Raft and the Facility had helped. ‘Always,’ he promised.
But he didn’t keep his promise. He didn’t have her back like he promised.
Quinn was the last person Sam saw, before he disintegrated into ashes, together with half of the world population. Her hand on his cheek, as her eyes darted from side to side, slightly confused of what was happening, but also realizing that he couldn’t have her back anymore.
While Sam was aware that she was right there on the battlefield after they were all brought back, the first time he saw her was on Tony’s funeral. After Steve told him, Banner, Bucky and Quinn he was going to return the Infinity Stones and Mjølnir—looking back on it—it was obvious she knew what Steve decided to do. Sam can still hear the words that left her lips then: ‘Are you sure you want that to be your future?’
Sam did not know what it meant then, but he sure does now. After he received the shield minutes later of a much older Steve, Quinn did what she always does: disappear.
He never knew where she went, what she was doing and while he respects her decision, he still thinks about her. Every single day. His hope of seeing her again, hasn’t faded away and sometimes it frustrates him. He barely knew her, why is he so hung up on her then?
Sam lets out a sigh, as he drives his truck over the roads to his destination. It has been a rough couple of weeks. He is working closely together with the United States Air Force and after a few missions, he made his decision whether or not to give up the shield.
Without Steve, the shield is nothing.
He desperately needs a break from all of this and there is no place like Delacroix Louisiana to wind down from the hectic of an after Blip world. He had been there two times, but both times ended abruptly as the Air Force needed him.
Now, he has the time. All the time in the world to relax and forget about an Avenger like life.
Sam parks his car on the dock and his nephews AJ and Cass are the first to notice him. ‘Uncle Sam, uncle Sam,’ they exclaim.
‘Ah, there you two are,’ he says, hugging the two boys tightly.
‘How long are you gonna stay this time?’ Cass asks.
‘Awhile,’ is the answer he is giving his nephews, but that is mostly because he wants to keep them in suspense a little.
AJ scoffs. ‘That’s not an answer.’
‘Okay, okay, gotta give you that,’ he chuckles. ‘How about: at least two weeks?’
The two boys high five each other. His sister Sarah loudly places a crate on the ground. ‘Finally,’ she says, ‘took you long enough.’
‘Nice to see you too,’ he retorts with a smile, before giving her a hug. ‘Missed you.’
‘Of course you did,’ she says. ‘We missed you too, just like almost everyone here. Almost got me thinking that you’re the favorite Wilson sibling.’
‘That’s because I am.’ He carries the crate to where Sarah wants it and he smiles when his eyes land on the family boat. ‘She sure is a beauty.’
‘A broken beauty,’ Sarah says, ‘that is costing me a fortune.’ She places her hands on her hips as she says: ‘With both the house and the boat needing some fixing up, every penny I got to spare is going to the house.’
‘Is this about you wanting to sell it again?’
‘Yes, since I’m not willing to sell a working organ on the black market in order to afford its repairs.’
‘I told you I would fix it,’ Sam says.
Sarah rolls her eyes. ‘Yeah, you told me that months ago, but the boat still isn’t working. You know the situation, Sam, the thing’s gotta go.’
‘Sarah, you’re kidding. We grew up on this thing.’
She scoffs. ‘Yeah, I know, I was there. It’s just that I cannot afford it anymore.’
Sam sure loves his sister, but there are moments where he—just like back in the days—he’d want to put her behind the wallpaper, making her shut up. It’s always this doom thinking. Everything or nothing at all, there is no in between. ‘You know I can help with this.’
‘Yeah, big help you’ve been.’
Sam clenches his jaw. ‘Well, I’m sorry I was taken away by the blip.’
‘It’s not about you being gone for the blip,’ Sarah says. ‘It’s about the fact that there is too much for me to do here. I need to keep the house, so it’s either keeping the boat or the business and since the business is my income, it’s only logical that the boat has got to go.’
Great, he has been back for a few minutes and he is already having this conversation with his sister. ‘I’ve got this, Sarah, I promise.’
She doesn’t believe him, he can see it in her eyes, but decides to drop the matter. Maybe she realizes too that this is no conversation for them to have after he got back for only a few minutes.
The two of them step back on the dock, where his nephews are stretching out their necks, almost like they are searching for something. ‘Whatcha looking at?’ Sam asks. ‘See a pretty lady?’
‘Is that,’ Cass starts, only for AJ to exclaim: ‘Auntie Quinn!’
The two boys drop their stuff and rush over the dock to the woman Sam never thought he’d see again, let alone right here. Quinn holds out her arms and despite the boys being nearly the same height as her, she still manages to catch them both as they jump in her arms. They must’ve known about her enhanced strength, Sam thinks to himself, otherwise they wouldn’t have jumped right in her arms.
But that raises another question: how could they’ve known?
‘Auntie Quinn?’ he asks Sarah.
Sarah nods. ‘Auntie Quinn,’ she confirms.
She’s gonna leave it at that? ‘Care to explain?’
‘I think it was two weeks after you were blipped away. It was chaos here, like literal chaos. People were missing, I hadn’t heard anything from you. She walked up the dock and offered her help. I thought for at least a month she was an angel send from the heavens. She told me she saw you right before you were blipped away and that she went to your place back in DC. She found out about us and decided to see how it all went down here. Thankfully she did, because I desperately needed her help. She assisted with the business, helped raising the boys.’
To say he is confused, would be an understatement. ‘She stayed here?’ he asks. ‘During the entire blip?��
‘Oh yeah,’ Sarah says, holding up her hand to Quinn. ‘I think all in all, she stayed here for four years. Sometimes she went away for a few weeks, but she always returned. Near the end, she called me and told me that Steve needed her. It’s actually the first time I’ve seen her in a while.’
Sam can’t stop looking at the big smiles and chuckles being exchanged between AJ, Cass and Quinn. She hugs his nephews tightly and even from a distance he can tell she is scolding them for growing taller.
‘I think that without her,’ Sarah continues, ‘I barely would’ve made it. She was slightly clueless though. Had issues with the simplest tasks, like cooking and day to day stuff, but she’s a fast learner.’
It shouldn’t warm his heart like it does, but Sam can’t help but smile as he realizes that Quinn went on the look out to care for his family.
‘She told me she had no memories of growing up. Poor thing,’ Sarah says, shaking her head as she as well looks at the trio. ‘She tried so hard to remember, but in all those years she spend here, no luck. I wonder if she does now.’
She doesn’t. Sam doesn’t need to ask her, because he simply knows.
Quinn still doesn’t remember her past.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
22 notes · View notes
weirdochick56 · 5 years
Text
I love you too, you big dork- Bucky Barnes One Shot
Bucky Barnes x Reader
Warnings: Explicit language. Fluff. A bit of angst.
Disclaimers: I don’t own any MCU characters/plots.
Word Count: 6, 034 words
Summary: Bucky and the Reader are best friends. Best friends who are in love with eachother, that is. When the Reader walks in on a conversation Bucky is having with Sam, Steve and Thor in which he says he doesn’t love her, she’s too heartbroken to face him. But maybe a little bit of distance is all it takes to make someone realize that they need someone more than they realize. 
A/N: Guys, I literally refuse to watch Endgame. I’m so scared someone I love (literally the entire cast) is gonna die so yeah. I’m good staying in my world where Infinity War and Endgame don’t exist. (I’m joking. I’m sure I’ll watch it eventually.)
*
Tumblr media
You groan softly as another strand of hair gets caught in your lip gloss, and begin peeling it off your lip slowly. Your eyes darted everywhere, hand clutching your small purse so tight, your knuckles turned white. 
There were a lot of people here. Too many to count, actually, and you found yourself bumping into partying bodies every five minutes and having to stumble past in your tall heels after muttering a small ‘sorry’. It was a bit overwhelming. 
When Tony said he was going to be throwing a party to celebrate your latest win, you expected something of a more...intimate nature. Just the Avengers and a few close friends. Not such a huge party, with all the lights and bar filled with drinks and snacks.. and you certainly didn’t expect this many people to be invited. Most of which were celebrities and world-renowned corporate leaders, no less.
You weren’t afraid to admit that although being a superhero and working alongside the world’s mightiest heroes, you felt utterly inferior to all the beautiful models and actresses surrounding your every angle. I mean they were all so tall and slender and just...mesmerizing. And you were just, well, you. Good old’ Y/n. Ordinary and safe. Dull. Tedious. Boring.
You weren’t big on all the glitz and glamour and mystique that came with being an internationally-known hero. Your abilities had given you an advantage when it came to war tactics and fighting and being a wonderful warrior on the field- which granted, also gave you a great advantage work-wise, but other than that, there wasn’t much more to you. 
Most of your life had been miserable thanks to how ‘special’ your abilities made you and consequently, most of it was spent inside your own head rather than caring about your outer appearance and social habitats. It wasn't until you’d been recruited into SHIELD and later on the Avengers and found a purpose- that you started caring about the way you presented yourself to the rest of the world.
Even now, clad in a gorgeous black bodycon cocktail dress, soft curves all on display, and your hair pinned up into an elegant bun with only a few strands framing your delicately-painted face- you couldn’t help but feel utterly uncomfortable. Out of place in this glamorous party entirely.
Your gaze finally lands on a familiar face amidst the colorful party lights huge party crowd and you can't help but heave a relieved sigh.
“Tony!” You tap on his shoulder, having to practically yell over the music. Tony halts his conversation with the famous party guests. 
“...uh sorry, just hold on a sec.”  He smirks charmingly then he spins around to face you. “Ye-” he stops mid-sentence when his gaze lands on you, eyes widening like two saucers and jaw snapping open. “Holy shit,” he breathes, eyes wandering over your face and body a hundred miles per minute, his gaze unbelieving. 
“Damn, kiddo. I knew you were a stunner but damn.” His eyes are practically bulging from his head. 
You feel yourself blush aggressively, smiling in your usual shy manner to hide how much you didn’t believe what he was saying. “Thank you.”
“You look stunning, kiddo.” He smiles brightly, flashing you those pearly whites.
You roll your eyes at him, shaking off the compliment as smoothly as you can. “Thanks. Hey, have you seen Bucky?” You frown, looking around for your best friend. “I know he said he didn’t wanna mingle, but I thought he’d be chilling out in a secluded corner or something for sure. I mean, it’s what he usually does.”  
When you face him again, Tony is smiling down at you, all..knowing and self-important.
You instantly shrink away from his condescending silence, crossing your arms over your chest defensively. “What?”
He laughs smugly. “Nothing. I’m just wondering what exactly it will take for either of you to admit that you love eachother.” 
You’re taken aback by Tony’s words, freezing momentarily with shock. You can’t help it when your heart races at the idea of James Buchanan Barnes actually loving you back but quickly shake the notion off, not wanting to dwell on something that could never happen and as a consequence only hurt you. 
You push an innocent smile out onto your face, ignoring the extreme resistance from your facial muscles and how sick to your gut your next words make you feel. “Well, of course I love Bucky. He’s my best friend.” 
Your shrill tone causes you to mentally cringe as you leisurely swallow the bile creeping out your throat, physically forcing it back down your esophagus.
But Tony sees right through your poorly-executed act, sighing and shaking his head as if he knew. And he did know.
“We both know exactly what I mean kiddo. You can’t keep acting like you’re not completely head over heels for eachother forever.”
You suppress your fluttering heart as much as possible, opting to instead paint a measured smile that could fool the pants off anyone on your face. Choosing your words carefully, you are even more careful to speak them with a breezy kind of casualness to your tone. 
“Ugh. Me and Bucky? Pfft, that’s honestly gross. He’s like a brother. Can you imagine dating a brother?” You scrunch your nose up in disgust then force an amused chuckle as if the notion is absolutely ludicrous even though it’s literally been the only thing on your mind for the past year. “Nothing like that could ever happen between us.”
Every word that comes out of your mouth is a single stab to your chest, but you try to keep your voice leveled and light as a feather. You hadn’t expected it to be as painful to say out loud as it was, though, and despite your resolve to fool Iron Man, your voice wavers slightly. You cringe mentally when Tony raises a single, skeptical, dark brow. 
He knew. He always knew, dammit.  
“Whatever floats your boat kiddo. I guess.” He sighs. “I’m pretty sure I saw him hanging out with Thor, Steve, and Sam out on the balcony.”
You facepalm, eyes lighting. “Oh shit, yeah! How come I didn’t think of that!?” You smile brightly up at Tony, leaning in to kiss his cheek. “Thanks, Tony. love ya’!”
You hurry off as fast as you can in heels (which is a surprising amount). You hear Tony laugh behind you, mumbling under his breath. 
“It’s only a matter of time, kiddo.” 
*
When you approach the balcony, you see all four men seated across from eachother, loud laughter erupting from their mouths and a bottle of some unknown substance settled in between them. 
Bucky sat with his back to you, and you lick your lips when you notice his long hair gelled back into a neat man-bun, your favorite hairstyle on him. His suit jacket was carelessly thrown over the couch he was sitting on and the sleeves of his dressing shirt were rolled up, exposing his veiny flesh arm and his menacing steel one. His back muscles flexed whenever he shifted positions and for a moment you genuinely questioned if James Buchanan Barnes could be considered a kink. 
Literally, anything and everything the man did was sexy. God, he made the most mundane things sexy. Like frowning, or making pancakes or laughing. You sigh, thinking about all the cute facial expressions that handsome face could twist and spread into. 
Interrupting your train of thoughts, you focus back on your friends. They seemed to be having a great time, and you were slightly jealous about not being invited to be a part of the mini-celebration. 
You raise a determined brow, ready to join the party when something abruptly stops you mid-step. It’s Bucky’s voice. It sounds...off.
It’s hushed and pissed-off, very unlike the demeanor the rest of the group gave off with their boisterous laughter and witty smirks. So unlike it, in fact, that it forces you to nestle behind the slightly cracked balcony door and eavesdrop on their conversation. 
Okay, yeah, not your proudest moment, but you were curious as to what the trio of friends could’ve possibly said to Bucky to get him so worked up. His teeth were gritted and his hands were clenched into fists as he leaned threateningly forward. 
“Would you stop fucking saying that? She’s a kid, for fuck’s sake! I could never feel something like that for her.” 
You frown. Who was he talking about? You? You decide not to jump to conclusions, secretly holding onto the hope that it wasn’t, because deep down you know if it was, your heart would be broken.
“...I could never feel something like that for her.” You shudder, waiting for someone else to speak with a racing heart.
Steve sighs. “Buck, man, I love you. You know you’re like a brother to me, but that’s exactly why I have to be completely honest with you.” He leans in, a sympathetic smile tugging at his lips as he pats Bucky’s shoulder comfortingly. “You’re in love with Y/n. There’s no way around it, man, I’m sorry. You’ll have to stop denying it to yourself eventually.”
You swallow a gasp, heart fluttering. Shit, they are talking about me, you cursed mentally, clutching your hands to your chest and pursing your lips tightly. 
The seconds seem to drag on into minutes and then into hours until finally, Bucky speaks up again, voice somewhat defeated. 
“She’s a kid and my best friend. I can’t have feelings for her,” he mumbles decisively and your chest clenches, eyes prickling with unshed tears.  
Sam clicks his tongue sympathetically. “That’s the irony of love, man. You don’t really get to choose who you feel it towards.” 
Thor frowns. “But...Y/n is extremely beautiful. An astonishing character, as well. And she is without engagement.” His frown deepens. “I’m failing to see exactly what the issue is?”
Bucky sighs defeatedly then he turns to the god with a small sad smile that makes your chest ache. It’s devoid of any and all hope which slowly begins to kill yours as well. 
“She is stunning, isn’t she?” His smile lightens up a bit, light grey eyes getting a far-off look. “I always thought she was a classic beauty. Like the ones you saw back in our time, Steve.” He looks at his best friend, who smiles and nods warmly in quiet response. “She’s so smart, too. Do you remember when she first arrived here? How she fixed that problem Tony had been struggling with in his lab for weeks in just a few minutes?” He pauses to laugh incredulously. “It was like-” he motions his head blowing up, making explosion sounds. 
You suppress a giddy giggle, pressing a hand to your mouth as you listen closely. 
“A-and she’s so fucking kind and giving. She never says no to doing you a favor. Ever, no matter what it is or how hard it may be. She’s always more worried about our comfort than her own. It’s so sweet.” He chuckles. “Most of the time I’m worried she’ll neglect herself if she’s hurt in our stead. Because that’s just the kind of person she is.” 
His expression grows serious but still soft and tender. “She wakes up earlier than all of us and goes to sleep later than all of us, working. She thinks no one knows or notices because she thinks no one cares enough to want to know or notice. But I do. I always do,” he mumbles softly, picking at his fingernails. 
A long silence stretches and your heart is beating so erratically in your chest, you’re sure it’s in the process of bursting from your ribcage.
Finally, Steve speaks. “See? You can lie to us all you want Bucky, but it’s yourself who you can’t run away from.”
Bucky blinks as if snapping out of a trance. He clenches his jaw tightly, plunging his fingers into his hair and rubbing hard, messing it up. “Fuck,” he growls, frustrated. 
“I don’t love her. I don’t.”
You take that as your cue to walk in, a disturbingly convincing smile plastered on your face. 
“You don’t love who, Buck?” You play it off smoothly, casually strutting into the balcony.
Sam’s, Steve’s and Thor’s eyes immediately snapped towards you. Bucky, took a few seconds to fully view you. 
He stiffens up at first, then slowly shifts to you, a small smile on his face. It freezes there, though, when his eyes land on you, all dolled up. 
It wasn’t like you at all to dress up. Most of the time, you opted to hide underneath big hoodies and baggy shirts and pants. You just didn’t feel comfortable giving anyone the power to be able to judge your appearance in any way, shape, or form. 
As a superhero, you usually hid behind a large cloak, shielding a bit of your face and body effectively from the public. You’d decided you’d try something out of your comfort zone today. 
So the shock factor was already there, but watching Bucky’s face morph from a very forced relaxed smile to completely gobsmacked expression, lips parted, pupils dilated, Adam’s apple bobbing up and down as he swallowed thickly was absolutely worthy of a picture. 
Sam interrupts your little moment, wolf-whistling.
“Well shit, Y/n. I had no idea you all of that underneath...” he laughs lightly, gesturing towards you lightly. 
Steve elbows him sharply as you raise a brow at Sam. 
“Really Sam?”
He shrugs, rubbing the sore spot on his ribs. “What? It’s true.” 
Steve sighs, rolling his eyes at his best friend before turning to you with his usual chivalrous, soft smile. “You look gorgeous, kid.”
Thor’s smile is brighter than the sun as he takes you in shamelessly. “You are quite the sight, Y/n. Such beauty has never been heard of or seen in all the nine worlds!”
Fighting off a raging blush, you snorted in a very unladylike manner. “C’ mon guys. Stop trying to make me feel good about myself. We all know I’m not that much to look at.”
They all immediately shut your statement down. “Y/n, babe, have you seen yourself already? You’re gorgeous,” Sam huffs, rolling his eyes. 
You try to protest, but Thor quickly cuts you off, a wolfish grin spread on his handsome face. “Y/n, you underestimate your beauty. It shines brighter than many of the stars in this galaxy, I’ll tell you that much.”
You bite the inside of your cheek, trying really hard not to cry with adoration. You didn’t need their approval to feel good about yourself, but it sure was nice to have the accolades of a demi-god.  
“Y/n,” Steve pulls your attention back to him, a comforting smile pulled over his lips. “You’re a beautiful woman.”
With their earnest faces and watchful eyes, you give in to the urge and hide your boiling hot face in your hands, groaning. “You guys! I’m gonna cry.” 
They quiet down and you slowly pull your hands from your face. You’re met with Bucky’s soft gaze, pure, earnest admiration lining every part of his gorgeous face, making his eyes shimmer with a certain honest beauty you’d never seen on him. 
Your breath hitches at the beauty of the way he looked at you. The softness, the sincerity. The support.
You pause, looking at him and for a moment forgetting other people were in the same room as you. right now, only he and you existed. 
You waited with a caught breath for him to say something. His eyes watered, you bite back a gasp at how raw emotion lining his eyes and expression to the brim was.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispers quietly. “Absolutely beautiful.” 
Your heart races and a soft smile tugs at your lips. “Thank you, Buck.” 
He stares at you for a minute longer before swallowing sharply and looking back at his others friends, almost like he just realized they were there. 
You notice the trio looking at him with ‘told you so’ expressions, smug smirks curling their lips. Sam snickers. 
You have hope for a split second. Hope that he’ll turn back around and declare that he’s been in love with you too, that he wants you just as much as you do him. And your heart inflates with happiness and love and you hold onto that emotion for safekeeping. 
And then it’s broken when Bucky shakes his head firmly ‘no’. 
The guys’ faces fall. They know what that means. They don’t know that you also know what that means, but it doesn’t matter because somehow Bucky has once again managed to fix and break your heart in the matter of a few seconds. 
He turns back around to face you and you notice that although he still has that tenderness to him, that softness you saw a few minutes ago, it now looks tortured in his gaze. Repressed.  
He smirks playfully as if to cover it up, but it looks forced. 
“Maybe we could wingman eachother. I’ll get you some hot Hollywood actor only if you promise to get me a Victoria’s Secret model.” He chuckles and winks at you. 
You suppress the fresh wave of tears threatening to spill over and force a small smile. 
“I think I’m good, thanks. I’ll uh-” you push past the huge lump in your throat. “I’ll see you guys later.” You spin on your heels headed for the door.
With one last glance over your shoulder, you catch Steve’s eye. He smiles sympathetically. And mouths a small ‘sorry.’
Before you fully make it outside, you catch a small bit of their upcoming conversation. 
“Really dude!? Friend zoning her? Why can’t you just admit you’re absolutely gaga about her?!”
Bucky groans under his breath, exasperated. “Have you thought maybe it’s cause I’m not?”
You walk away faster, unable to hear more of the conversation. Too painful.
*
The next morning, you walk into the kitchen and find Bucky sitting on a stool, sipping on a cup of coffee. 
You barely spare him a glance, headed straight for the fridge. Normally, you’d be chatting him up, hanging onto his every word and watching with ever-growing excitement and intent as he told you about whatever new adventure he’d been on to conquer the still-unknown 21st century. But not today.
“Oh, mornin’ doll,” he chirps happily, excited to see you. 
You merely smile politely, closing the fridge door behind you softly. “Morning James.” 
And then you simply walk out, water bottle in hand. 
Bucky freezes, raising a brow. 
“James?” he mumbles under his breath. 
*
That afternoon, Bucky is lounging on the living room couch, watching one of your favorite movies of all time, Scream.
When he sees you, he instantly perks up, excited at the prospect of watching a movie with you. “Hey doll, look I’ve got-” 
You cut him off sheepishly. “Sorry Buck, I can’t speak right now, I’m a bit busy.”
He visibly deflates with disappointment but smiles understandingly nonetheless. “Oh..okay.” 
 And with that, he sees you leave in a hurry, suspicion nudging him in the back of his mind. 
He gets worried. Were you...were you mad? But why? What did he do?...
*
The next time Bucky sees you, it’s been a few days since he’s talked to you. You were always rushing off somewhere, suddenly entirely busy. He was getting suspicious...and hurt. You never seemed to have time to be more than just polite to him. 
The other Avengers, on the other hand, got more than just a few minutes of your time.
He was convinced he’d done something to anger you. He just didn’t know what and it was driving him nuts to try and figure it out. 
He’d asked Steve and Sam for help earlier that week but all they’d done is make him feel worse about the whole thing. 
“I just don’t know what I’ve done,” Bucky growls, frustrated. 
Sam and Steve look at eachother, snickering. 
“What?” Bucky frowns. 
Sam sighs. “I think we’ve called you out on your bullshit enough times, Buck. You’re a grown-ass man. Figure it out.”
So he decided to ask the only other person who could tell him what was wrong with you; you. 
And so Bucky waited, hiding out in your room until you come back in.
You sigh as you step into your room, kicking your shoes off and curling your fingers around the ends of your crop top and tugging upwards, intending fully to take it off. 
 “Oh my God, doll, stop!” Bucky’s gruff yell startles you so much, you accidentally send a vase hurtling towards his head.
 He shrieks, ducking down just in time to dodge it. It crashes on the wall behind him, breaking into a milling tiny pieces.
Holding a hand to your rapidly-beating heart, your huff. “Jesus fucking- Bucky! You scared the living heck out of me, you dickhead!” 
He smiles sheepishly. “Sorry, doll.” 
“What are you even doing here?” you breathe, brows furrowing in confusion.
He suddenly grows stern, posture straightening out and eyes leveling with yours, arms crossed over his broad, muscular chest. “Can I know why the hell you have you been avoiding me?” 
You’re taken aback by his bluntness, but manage to mask your shock fairly well with fake innocence, pretending to be busy taking your socks off.
“Avoiding you?” You snort. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. I haven’t been avoiding you.” 
He chuckles humorlessly, voice gruff with simmering anger. “Oh, don’t lie to me, doll. We both know I’m able to see through your bullshit easily.” 
Something about how sure he sounded in the last statement hit a nerve within you. Your blood boils. How can someone so oblivious to how you felt about them be so sure that they know you so well?
“Stop, Bucky. Okay? I haven’t been avoiding you, so just...leave me alone,” you heave a tired sigh. 
“No.” His response is so quick, so resolute, it nearly gives you whiplash.
You laugh incredulously, raising a brow at him. “No?”
“No.” 
His response is easy. Almost too easy. 
You scoff. “Why?”
He snorts, looking at you like you’d grown two heads. “Because you’re angry with me and I have no idea why, doll.”
“No, I’m not,” you mumble quietly.
“Yes, you are.” 
“Okay. How do you know that for sure?” You challenge. 
The corner of his mouth curls arrogantly. “Your fists are clenched and you’re biting the inside of your cheek.”
He was right. Ugh, of course, he was. You slowly release your clenched fists and relax your tense jaw, sucking on your teeth and avoiding his smug gaze. Your blood boils, even more, swarming your head with angry thoughts. 
“Stop acting like you know me,” you suddenly snap, eyes watering. 
Gosh, why did he know you so well? Why did he have to make not loving him so hard? Why did he have to know small cute details like that? And why did he have to be so- perfect and beautiful?
“But...I do know you,” he states like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Like there was no other answer but that one.
You wanted him to stop having the upper hand here. But who were you kidding? He always would. Because you were in love with him and he wasn’t in love with you. 
“No, you don’t,” you hiss, hands slowly clenching into fists again, trying to contain your ever-growing anger.
“Yes, I do,” he insists again, so sure of himself. 
“No, you don’t,” you growl. 
“Yes, I do.”
“No, you-”
“Why are we even arguing about this!?” He snaps aggressively before his tone softens. “C’mon doll, we sound like children.” He sighs, licking his lips and runs his fingers through his hair. “l- look, the point is, you’re pissed at me. I just need to what the hell it is I did to deserve it, is all, alright?” 
You bite your lip. “Listen, James just leave me alone please I’m-”
“No, see!? Since when do you call me James? Honestly, Y/n! What the hell have I done to you to deserve you treating me like this?”  His voice cracks as he steps closer to you, hands reaching out to touch you. “Why are you pushing me away?” He whispers softly, hurt.  
That’s it. You can’t hold back all the overwhelming emotions bubbling within you for the past few years anymore. All the hurt and anger of years upon years of loving a man who could never love you back like you did him, come bubbling to the surface. You break like a festering sore after it’s been holding back all it had inside for far too long.
“You made me fall in love with you!” Your scream is powerful, deafening. 
Bucky’s eyes widen, mouth snapping shut, body freezing. If it weren’t for the situation, you would’ve laughed at him. he looked like a deer caught in headlights. 
But you can’t stop now that you’ve started. Unable to avoid vomiting your confession onto him, you continue, fingers gripping your hair.
“Y-you‘re just- there,” you breathe, licking your lips to moisten up your dry mouth. “In me, all the time. Every fucking second of every-fucking-day and I just-“ you lick your lips then chuckle humorlessly. “I’ve tried so fucking hard to fight it off when I realized what was happening. So, so hard. But that only made it worse and before I knew it, BAM!” You clap your hands together. “There you were Bucky Barnes. Everywhere within me.”
Bucky breathes in a sharp breath. “Doll I-“
“And it just drives me absolutely insane. Like- why couldn’t you just stay my best friend? Why couldn’t you just make me want you as a friend? W-why did you have to go ahead and be all sweet and kind and gorgeous and perfect and just-God. You give me butterflies.” You open your eyes as wide as they’ll go. “Did you know that? Butterflies Bucky, I mean...who the fuck gets butterflies?”
“Doll.”
“And I’m just so...” you laugh humorlessly, searching for the correct words to describe what you felt towards this man. This man who- despite everything- you couldn’t help but love.
“Doll.”
“...pissed at you. Because you can’t fucking love me back. Yeah, that’s why I’m pissed! Because here I am, young n’ foolish Y/n; entirely, completely, undoubtedly, fully, stupidly, ludicrously in love with you, James Buchanan Barnes. And there you are, treating me like a kid you can never love back. as anything other than your little sister. So ther-!”
It happens in just a few seconds and you don’t feel it until it’s happening, but Bucky strides up to you in just a few steps, gripping your jaw in his big warm hands before tipping your head back gently. 
Your eyes meet and you swear your limbs are live wires, full with charged electricity every time you look into his beautiful stormy irises. There is so much tender care in them. So much pain and hope and beauty all swirling and creating such a divine turmoil that the breath gets knocked straight out of your lungs, almost like you’ve been punched in the gut or something. 
“Buck?”
Then he crashes his lips against yours and it’s...not everything you dreamed of. No, because what you dreamed of could never compare to what Bucky’s lips on yours felt in real life.
Soft unlike anything you could’ve ever imagined, but firm and anchoring all at once, you can’t help it when you suck in a sharp breath through your nose. Kissing him was like feeding your greatest craving and sedating your every heartache momentarily. Kissing him was like having someone charge you with electricity, your fingertips tingled and your cheeks heated up and you’d never felt more alive. 
It takes a moment for your brain to somewhat process what was happening right now. Bucky kissed you. He was kissing you right now. And it’s only when you begin to comprehend what’s happening, that you respond to the kiss, hands gripping his neck and fingers tangling in his soft strands of hair as you kissed back with all the passion and hurt and anger and love you felt towards him. 
He pushes back, deepening the kiss. Everything about it was demanding and soft and somehow you couldn’t help but think that it fits you and him too well. Like it was how it was always meant to happen. In a heat-of-the-moment kind of way that also said so much more than words ever could. But also soft and kind of inconvenient. Unexpected and all-consuming. You and Bucky. 
The kiss is gone almost as soon as it started and before you know it, Bucky pulls back. You’re both panting softly, and you can feel his warm breath caressing your nose and nothing has ever felt so incredible. 
You’re still unable to fully process what had just happened, your heart is still beating erratically in your chest and your lips are tingly with all sorts of emotions you can’t fully make out right now. 
His hands, all warm and rough and big, are still cupping your jaw, as he tenderly traces a finger over your cheekbone and he’s gazing into your eyes, searching. Searching for an answer. 
“Say something, doll. Please,” he begs quietly.
You blink several times before responding in a passing breath. “Why?” 
He sighs, slumping slightly against you. “Because I love you. As more than just a friend.”
And there it was. All you’d ever wanted to hear the past few years. What haunted your sleep, the very heaviness in your heart that only grew with each passing day. And there it was, staring you right in the eyes. 
You instantly push away from him, tears blurring your vision. “Don’t lie to me like that,” you rasp, voice broken with overwhelming emotions. 
Bucky sputters, panic rising in his stormy grey eyes. “Oh my God doll, no! That’s not it at all, I would never-” 
“I heard you the other night. At the party,” you sob, aggressively wiping at your tears as they rolled down your cheeks. “You told Sam, Steve, and Thor that you could never feel something like that for me. And you meant it.” 
He shakes his head, face twisted into a regretful frown. He says nothing.
Your anger and immense hurt at his silence rise within you in uncontrollable waves of emotion. Your lips quiver in preparation for another wrecked sob to escape your lips.
“I understand,” you rasp. “Can you just-“ you sigh, turning away from him to hide the tears the rolled down your cheeks insistingly. “Leave please?”
“No.”
You wipe a fresh set of tears rolling down your face before spinning around to face him, indignantly livid. “You-!”
“I love you.” His eyes are a stormy grey that leaves you breathless and for the second time, you catch wind of that same raw feeling in his eyes as when he’d seen you all dressed up in that balcony. Vulnerable, raw, carnal.
“I’ll repeat that in case you couldn’t hear it. I. Love. You.”
Your breath catches at his words as he leisurely steps closer to you in short, cautious steps. His eyes never leave yours, their intensity blazing through your very being, alighting your nerves and making your heart pound erratically. You’re frozen in place at the certainty with which he says his words. Astounded.
“I am in love with you,” he gulps, his voice breaking with emotion. “So entirely, completely, undoubtedly, fully, stupidly, ludicrously in love with you, Y/f/n Y/l/n,” he laughs a little as he uses your own words against you.
A joy so unlike anything you’ve ever felt blossoms in your chest and you swallow the growing lump in your throat. “A-are you...serious?”
You don’t know if you’ve mumbled anything coherent, seeing as your heart is thumping so erratically in your ears you can’t hear anything else.
He’s close enough to kiss now, his breath warm and inviting as they softly caress your cheeks. He gently grips your hands in his and leans his face closer to yours.
His nose is brushing against yours, his eyelashes flutter and tickle your own eyelids and your breath gets lodged in your throat, lips parted as they anxiously await his own. They never come though, and just when you think he’ll kiss you again, his lips switch directions and press against your cheek instead, kissing away a tear with a touch so tender and caring, you shiver.
You swallow hard, voice raspy and breathless. “Really?”
His metal hand is cool against your flushed skin as he pulls back to look into your eyes again, earnest and kind.
“Doll I am so confused and unsure about so many things.” He chuckles softly, then turns serious. “But you are not one of those things. Never have been, never will be.”
The vigor in his honesty is striking.
He looks you in the eye. “The only reason I force myself to wake up every damn morning is because I know I’ll be able to see your face. It’s because no matter how dark it gets in here,” he points to his head, then grips your hand and slowly brings it to his chest so it rests over his fast-beating heart. “Or here, I know I’ll always get to see your beautiful smile the very next day. The only light at the end of the tunnel. I just- sometimes my head gets so dark and my heart just breaks over and over again without repair and I think I’ll never get out but-”
“Buck,” you whimper in interruption, too pained at the rawness of his hurt and suffering. 
“No, let me finish, please.” His voice cracks but he still smiling at you with such overpouring joy, you don’t know if he’s sad or happy or both.
 “But then I remember I have you. Even if it’s just as a friend. And that was completely fine by me, doll. Because I got to know you. And I mean really know you, I got to see all your sides. The dedicated, hard-working, focused one. The funny, sarcastic, goofy one. The passionate, fiery one. God, you have no idea how much I love it when your eyes light up when you’re pissed or fired up or when you laugh.” His smile widens. “I also got to see the honest, kind, loving caring side of you. You were always there when I fell apart and you were the only thing that got me through it. All of it. You’re loyal and sweet and selfless and I didn’t care that I wouldn’t get to hold you in my arms or kiss you or call you mine if it meant that I wouldn’t have you anymore.” His eyes water and he grips your fingers tighter as if holding you back from running away. 
“I’ve never met a more beautiful human being in my life. You’re the opposite of me. You’re light and hope and kindness and love and I just- I didn’t want to ruin that. You. Us.”
He laughs incredulously. “But I love you. I love you. God, I’ll never get tired of saying that. It feels so good,” he breathes out to himself giddily. 
It takes a while for him to notice that you haven’t said anything in the span of the past few minutes, but when he’s snapped out of his own ecstasy,  he turns to look at you, the smile falling off his face. 
You’re frozen in your spot, tears freely rolling down your cheeks. 
Bucky groans. “Oh God. I’ve completely messed this up, haven’t I.” He begins freaking out. “I-I’m s-so sorry doll. I didn’t mean to scare you into anything. We can just stay friends just please don’t avoid me again. I promise I won’t-”
“Bucky,” you finally speak up, stopping him with a stoic and expressionless face.
He gulps loudly, “yeah?”
A sweet, tearful smile breaks out on your face.  “I love you too, you big dork.” 
He laughs, relieved. 
You smirk. “Kiss me. Now.”
 He quirks a brow but returns your smirk. “Gladly.”
Then you both lean in and just when your lips are about to meet again, a voice comes booming from the intercom in your room. Or well, many of them. 
“FINALLY.”
 ***
Honestly, IDK. I need some fluffy romance in my life so here it is. 
Tumblr media
A Special thanks to:
@wildefire - my Marvel tag (thank you!)
And of course my incredible forevers!
@jessikared97
@lilypalmer1987
@ladyofletters67
@meowsekai
342 notes · View notes
karadin · 5 years
Text
The Steve Rogers Conundrum and the problem of heteronormativity in Endgame
The Time Rules in Avengers Endgame are as follows: If you go back in time, you cannot change your past. You split time into two branches, one continues on as before and a new alternate reality is born.
At the end of Endgame, Steve goes back in time to be with Peggy Carter, it’s problematic to say the least, in terms of Steve’s character as established in all previous films.
First the mechanics of it all:
Many people have asked, if Steve is to return the Stones to their places, how does he manage to get the Space Stone back into the Tesseract, and how does he return the Reality Stone to Ether and back to Asgard?
When Steve goes back in Time to return the Stones he has two advantages, his knowledge of the future and his access to the Ancient One.
If Steve he returns the Time Stone to New York in 2012 first and meets the Ancient One she has the ability to transmute the Stones and open portals in Time and Space for Steve, and when he has completed his tasks, find Steve the perfect place in the Multiverse to go back in time, even to a reality where alternate Steve Rogers died in the Ice.
When we see Steve with Peggy in the last scene a car rolls down a street, the style of their cottage indicates to us it is late 40′s. Steve returned to an earlier time, right after the end of World War 2, Peggy was in the US working for Shield, but had yet to meet and fall in love with anyone else, so Steve in MCU time returns almost 100 years old, (which would be incidentally, his true age) 
Now because Steve has remained in the past, time branches off and this becomes a new universe - and it’s a universe where Steve can do whatever he wants, (he can remain Captain America, he can save Bucky, he can rid Shield of Hydra, because none of these events will affect when Thanos may arrive in the future.)
The idea that Steve lives in our past does not make sense according to the Time Rules set up in the film. The confusion begins when the Hulk says Steve must return to the platform and instead is found sitting at a bench nearby.
Because Steve knows the future, he can encourage the development of Quantum Tech to return to his own time whenever he wants without the platform, (and also have either alternate Howard Stark or Shuri of Wakanda make him a new shield for Sam Wilson to replace the won broken by Thanos)
But as none of this is made clear in the film, fans are angry about some of the implications.
Second, Steve’s Choice between his future and his past:
This solution in the film seems to tie up any loose ends and give Steve a version of what the film concludes is a happy ending, but for me it is an unsatisfactory ending. It was established in past films that Steve and Peggy were at the beginnings of a romance, and the loss of it was bittersweet and poignant, making it different from any other relationship in the MCU. We saw that Peggy went on to live a life that was fulfilled, leading SHIELD and having adventures of her own.
And Steve moved on, made new friends, found his oldest and dearest friend Bucky, his story was about loss, but overcoming it and moving forward, and to have him go back in time is to literally go backward in his character growth, and yes, making him weigh his future against his past and find it lacking. 
Dividing Steve from his future and making it bleak is a choice on the filmmakers part and it begins in Infinity War
Bucky Barnes, who has been Steve’s largest motivator for his entire MCU run isn’t given any screen time in the Infinity War saga in the context of his relationship with Steve with the exception of a hug.
Sam Wilson, Steve’s connection to the future is showcased in Infinity War as an Avenger and friend of Rhodey more than Steve, (Rhodey references Sammy and is the one to go look for him at the end of Infinity War) 
Wanda, who was shown as Steve’s protege in Civil War, isn’t shown as being as close to Steve in Infinity War, having chosen to stay with Vision instead.
Tony is kept apart from Steve the whole of Infinity War, and is once again at odds with Steve when he returns from Space, and goes away for five years.
When we see Steve with Natasha, his last remaining closest friend, both Steve and Natasha are shown as lonely, this places Steve in a compromised position and of all of the people closest to him, he sees Peggy first. 
And it is this that leads Steve to his decision to go backward, which seems to strange to those of use who followed his journey in the MCU. Had he had his family of choice around him, he could not have left them.
The problem of heteronormativity in Endgame - ties in with the treatment of Black Widow in the film, the only female superhero in the MCU for many years. In Endgame it is shown that Clint and Steve are Natasha’s closest friends, perhaps even her only motivation to keep going.
(Despite once having an attachment to Bruce Banner, Bruce does not spend any time with Natasha for five years after the ‘Snap’ when Thanos erased half of the populations of the Universe.) 
As we stated before, Steve and Natasha are set up as miserable and lonely, but this does not draw them closer as you might suppose. 
It seems a matter of course then, that when faced with the Soul Stone sacrifice, Natasha would be the one to die, she’s only a lonely, single woman, measured up against her love for Clint and his biological family. 
This is enforced for me because Natasha receives no accolade in the film, no memorial as a saviour of half the Universe as Tony Stark receives. Her only mourning scene is to literally motivate the remaining male characters. (We were her family, we must go on for her, to paraphrase Steve)
At the end of the film we are shown a string of happy nuclear family endings, scenes of Clint returning to his family, Scott returning to his family, Tony’s family with Happy Hogan neatly slotting in to be a surrogate to Tony’s daughter Morgan, even with Shuri, T’Challa and Ramonda we are looking at a once nuclear family - these are the valued character dynamics.
Steve, who had a chosen family of two men, one of color and two women could have been an example of diversity that the film needs. Most people, even those not engaged in fandom know that fans like to make Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers a romantic pair, -  recently in a China Endgame fan event, fans drowned out Chris Evans mentioning Peggy Carter as a love interest with shouts of Bucky, Bucky, Bucky.
(an implied relationship is never as good as an openly Bi Steve but Disney is terrified of even this)
But Steve has been manipulated in the film into leaving for a young, single Peggy Carter from his now distant past. (The idea that Steve made this choice because Tony Stark Said To Get A Life? laughable.) 
Shoehorning in a scene of a incidental gay character played by Joe Russo is not diversity, and a single scene of female characters does not make up for the fridging of Natasha Romanova.
Now why is the choice for an alternate universe Peggy also frankly stink?
The problem has come clear to me in comments from fans on the ending, that Steve is a soldier (and incidentally not a hero -what?) and that in his retirement, he deserves a reward - and that reward is Peggy.
The domestic scene at the end says to many in the audience that the pair settle down and wrapped up in each other there are no wrongs left to right. And maybe this makes sense for this Steve from the future, (still wildly out of character) but it certainly cuts off all possibilities for this past Peggy Carter  - reducing a once great character to a cipher. 
In the comics, Cap is given the chance to go back to a past with Peggy and he denies it, realizing that his future (and Peggys’ past) is just as valuable. 
Maybe some see Steve going back is being able to have his cake and eat it too, because he is only gone for moments, and is still there for his friends in the future  - but he’s lost decades of life with them, (unless they pop him in the Quantum Machine and de-age him) the result is still a deeper story of love and loss is wiped away for a simple pat ending. 
The mystery of ‘her’
Steve will not tell Sam about ‘her’ or his life in the alternate universe, as he flashes a wedding ring -  maybe Falcon and Winter Soldier will provide new answers.
Alternate ideas
Left up to me, I would not have made Natasha the Soul Stone sacrifice, it would have been Steve - which I thought logical due to the Red Skull being the Stone Keeper. The winning of the Soul Stone is based upon ‘losing that which you love’ but would it always have to be a person, literally? Say that Steve had to choose a life as Captain America, that he agreed after the last battle he would lose the serum and become Skinny Steve again, and then have to hand over the Shield but remain an advisor to Sam and Bucky.  
Or if you must have a ‘happy heteronormative ending’ with Peggy Carter, have Steve sacrifice himself in trade for the Stone and meet with Peggy in the Soul Realm, in either scenario you would remain true to the characters and their past stories, including Natasha.
105 notes · View notes
seyaryminamoto · 5 years
Note
What's your opinion about MCU's version of Thanos as a character and an antagonist, now that both Infinity War and Endgame are released? Good? Bad? Lousy? Great? I'm really curious.
Frankly, I have been rolling my eyes at him since his introduction in Avengers. Thanos has been soooo dangerous and soooo scary for soooo long... but his strategies are utterly stupid since day one. He sends Loki to find the Tesseract, and to do so he gives Loki the only Infinity Stone Thanos had on hand at the moment?
Loki picks up the Tesseract within SECONDS of stepping into Earth, but then spends a whole movie trying to get the Avengers to destroy themselves, not out of genuine strategic need for it, but merely because he held an unresolved grudge against Thor that, apparently, Thanos took advantage of: it seems Thanos set Loki’s frustrations into overdrive and had him destroying Earth... why? At the time, the Avengers had no real reason to pose a sizeable threat to Thanos. What exactly did he gain by sending an ARMY to Loki in New York so they could “destroy the world of humans”? If he’d just track down all the damn stones, as was his alleged plan later, Thanos would’ve had his opportunity to kill them himself with a single finger snap :’) which he still did.
Therefore... what the fuck is the point of Avengers’ entire plot? How does any of it play in Thanos’ favor? I can see why Loki had the motivations to do what he did, I can’t see why Thanos would let him :’D
So, phrasing this as a bad math problem: Thanos had ONE stone, he tried to use it to get TWO stones, the result was ZERO stones. What conclusion can we reach?
Thanos is a dumbass!
 Soooo... this was already a bad start, and he doesn’t get any better.
Because haha, what’s our next chance to see Thanos? Guardians of the Galaxy. And there, he sends Ronan to get ANOTHER Infinity Stone. What happens this time? Ronan, a man with his own agenda and impulses, decides that he’s going to keep the Stone for himself :’D oh WOW, how could Thanos not see that one coming? And then he gets no stone anyhow.
Bad Math Problem #2: Thanos sends Ronan to retrieve ONE stone, the result was ZERO stones. What conclusion can we reach?
Thanos is a dumbass x2!
Then, for no logical reason, he decides to say he’s going to “do it himself” in Ultron, like he had jackshit to do with that movie. I mean, honestly, did he? Because I don’t remember him being involved in it at all. But if he somehow EXPECTED the events of Ultron to result in him acquiring another stone, he failed either way, soooo...
Thanos is a dumbass x3!
I think by then we can jump over to Infinity War, where we see Thanos is so very talented at slaughtering people, as we’ve always heard he is. It begs the question: why did he send Loki and Ronan in earlier movies, when he apparently is so much more effective at destroying worlds himself?
Conclusion this time?
Thanos is LAZY and a dumbass x4!
His motivations in Infinity War are ridiculous and make zero sense, as everyone has said before me. The logic that cutting the population of the universe, PLANTS AND ANIMALS INCLUDED, by half would somehow result in more resources for everyone is beyond idiotic. Because a lot of the resources people rely on for food are, in fact, plants and animals :’) therefore there’s no less poverty now than there was before because said resources were halved too. It’s stupid beyond measure. Instead of CREATING more resources, of handling how they’re distributed, which would be within the realm of possibilities for a man with the Infinity Gauntlet, and a much more logical conclusion to reach if he wants to be understood as some heroic nice guy who wants to fix the universe, he decides to kill everyone. There are so many possible conclusions someone can reach about how to correct the universe’s imbalance, and it feels like he picked the one he did basically because the writers thought it’d make him a sad misunderstood villain.
Therefore...
Thanos is LAZY and a dumbass x5!
Strangely, I found him slightly more respectable in Endgame? And yet that doesn’t mean he’s any less stupid. Going by how affected he was by the snap in Infinity War, the idea of destroying the entire universe and building it anew himself seems fated for failure because he’d probably be too weak after a first snap that wipes out EVERYTHING (which makes it a much bigger snap than the one he did canonically) to do a second one? Anyhow, his revision of his dumbass plan did seem warranted because it was really stupid in the first place. The new plan sounds so much more effective, but I honestly think it would have failed for the reason I mentioned above? Ergo...
Thanos is LAZY and a dumbass x6!
And that’s about it :’)
Honestly, I don’t know why they gave him such pathetic motivations. Was it to make him sound like some sort of tortured hero who had gone down the wrong path? The last thing they achieved was making Thanos a compelling character, though. Had they kept him as a Mad Titan who was in love with Death? His obsession with killing people would have made much more sense. Killing is the only way he can be close to Death, pretty much, so there’s even something grossly poetic about it. And it’s really intimidating, so much more intimidating than “Oh woe is me I’ve seen so much pain in the universe, I’m going to wipe us all out so I can stop seeing it now”, like honestly, take a number, jackass. Everyone has seen pain, in every planet, and not everyone’s solution is to wipe out half the planet indiscriminately to “end the universe’s imbalance”. Even Kira from Death Note had a smarter way of going about fixing the world than wretched Thanos did :’D
Oh, and I’ll never believe he loved Gamora, btw. Had that been real love he would have never killed her just to see his schemes come to fruition, which is the entire point of the damn trap anyhow :’) The Soul Stone was a fraud.
12 notes · View notes
boopboopitydoop · 5 years
Text
Gabriel Agreste is an inconsistent villain who I feel nothing for.
I do not want to see Hawk Moth hamming it up, enjoying every second of tormenting Paris, then Papa Gabe with grim determination to save his wife hugging his son that he will willingly put in danger in the next episode with Nathalie blindly supporting him.
So how will I remix him for ML Remix? Well I'm glad you asked, no one in particular!
I nearly considered just splitting Hawk Moth and Gabriel Agreste into separate characters. Honestly, that would be less work for me, because yes I’d have to rebuild Hawk Moth’s character from the ground up and create an original character for his secret identity, but I’d also not have to rewrite every Hawk Moth moment ever to account for a more realistic progression of his character. Plus if I separate the two, I’d have an easier time giving Marinette a personal stake in the fight, because I could come up with whatever connection I want between her and Hawk Moth. Also leaves Adrien significantly less traumatized by the end of this ordeal.
But you know what? Screw it. If the creators want to have their cake and eat it too, then I guess I will put some actual effort into turning this mess of ideas (as @miraculouscontent calls it) into something coherent. Which means not only will I be adjusting the timeline, but I’ll also be rewriting every Hawk Moth moment ever, and inconveniencing Adrien a lot more while I’m at it.
So where do we start?
We start with Gabriel Agreste, a grieving husband. Desperate for his wife back, he decides to use the butterfly miraculous and essentially hold Paris hostage in order to find the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous, as this book he can barely understand showed him that if he has both of them, he can make a wish that he plans to use to bring Emilie back.
This Hawk Moth we start off with? He’s not enjoying himself. He sees this as a necessary evil to get Emilie back, just as he sees pushing Adrien away. This Hawk Moth doesn’t cackle, he doesn’t monologue, he convinces himself he is an ally to those he akumatizes just as he convinces them.
Gabriel at this point cares about Adrien’s safety. If he had the choice, he’d keep Adrien at home full time and never let him outside of the mansion. Nathalie only manages to convince him to let Adrien go to school by pointing out that the running away makes it easier for them to lose track of Adrien and accidentally put him in danger. He pushes Adrien away because he’s afraid of losing him, afraid of what Adrien will think of him if he ever finds out. He knows what he is doing is bad, he hates himself for it, and even in all his attempts to distance himself he can’t quite bear for Adrien to hate him.
But notice my wording. When I say that this is what we start off with, I mean that this isn’t permanent.
The way I see it, Gabriel is a character who thrives on being able to control his environment. He is a control freak, but under normal circumstances it is a flaw that isn’t damning. He won’t be winning any awards for being great as a person, but he would probably have healthier outlets for these tendencies, like running his company.
But giving someone who thrives on control the ability to control other people...is a very dangerous thing to do. Especially after that someone has lost someone close to them due to something they couldn’t control.
So at the beginning, Hawk Moth is tentative. He isn’t keen on the idea of people dying, and most of his more terrible actions are out of paranoia. Denying Adrien a birthday party? He doesn’t want to risk the possibility of any of Adrien’s classmates finding out about him. Filling up his son’s schedule to the point of exhaustion? He and Nathalie work together to manipulate Adrien’s schedule to keep him away from akumas, and thanks to a certain mayor’s daughter his school is a target. There are some lines this Hawk Moth won’t even cross. He doesn’t try and control Evillustrator, and Puppeteer is moved to later in the timeline because teenagers are bad enough, he is not prepared to cross the akumatizing small children line.
But...he starts to enjoy it. As he takes bigger risks and starts approaching the lines, he begins to crave the sense of control being Hawk Moth gives him. It gets easier, and he starts pushing the boundaries of what he can do. Akuma become more dangerous, lives are more likely to be put on the line, and it’s easier to cross those lines he once had set.
He does have his moments of clarity, moments where he stops and considers turning back. Most of these moments have to do with Adrien, really (AKA, those moments where Adrien’s life is in danger in Season 2 really stick with him). He has moments where he can turn to the light, where he can make the decision to let it go for his son’s sake.
And yet...Hawk Moth is more than just a desperate measure now. He gets a high of the power and control, and so he goes back. Sometimes it takes a month, a week, or just a day or two, but he always turns away from his chances to redeem himself until those chances no longer come his way.
Eventually, the Hawk Moth we have is the one we see in Season 1. He fully enjoys what he does, he evil laughs, he monologues, he akumatizes without restraint. By this point, he is neglecting his civilian life to the point where Nathalie is the one having to maintain it. Adrien (who by this point has gotten character development and has finally realized that this shit isn’t cool) is now much more actively resisting against this treatment, and he and his father have gone from stern orders and forlorn expressions to actual fights.
So what starts his downfall? Well...remember the wish?
Well, the Hawk Moth at the beginning, if he knew that the wish would involve a sacrifice, would sacrifice himself. He loves Emilie, selfish in that he can’t bear to lose her but selfless in the way that he doesn’t care if he has to die in order to save her. He would give himself up for her, no questions asked. He would also hide the fact that a sacrifice is necessary from Nathalie (and I won’t get too into her in this post since I have a different one going into her character in the works).
But endgame Hawk Moth, it’s not so selfless anymore. At this point, he wants to be with Emilie. He feels that he deserves to be together with her. At this point, if he is gone what is even the point of bringing her back? And beyond that, he has plans (remember Season 1 Hawk Moth talking about world domination?). Plans he needs to be alive for.
And this Gabriel Agreste doesn’t like what he can’t control anymore. He doesn’t like the way Adrien is now. To him, he sees Adrien as ungrateful and how dare he not listen to his father? There is so little love between them that, when he learns that the wish involves a sacrifice, he gives into the pervading thought that Adrien would be the perfect sacrifice. Nathalie is too useful after all, much better utilized as a pawn or an akuma like Catalyst, but Adrien has been angry and spiteful and aggressive and Gabriel doesn’t care for it.
(It doesn’t matter if Emilie would rather die than let her son be killed in her place. His perfect romance with Emilie can’t fit the Adrien he sees, so he must remove that Adrien)
But you see, Gabriel makes one mistake when he comes up with this idea.
He monologues like the villain he has become, and someone overhears him.
And overnight, everything goes to shit.
Miraculous Ladybug: Infinity War
10 notes · View notes
eerythingisshaka · 5 years
Text
I made this post on Monday, and just now got around to edit and post
I’m basically going through the whole plot of Endgame and how I felt, I just had to hammer it out.   If you haven’t seen it yet, please come back when you have! First things first, I did not cry!  I feel like I’m in the minority, and I swear I am a devoted MCU fan and love Tony and Cap and them, but I did not cry and I’m so disappointed with myself!  I got more emotional thinking about it in the days leading to the premiere than I did while viewing.  I think it was too entertaining for me to find it sad?  Not like movies I cry at aren’t entertaining but the action and substance was making my nerd heart pitter patter so much, I was over the moon and couldn’t come down.  I will say though, ever since watching Endgame, every past Marvel movie makes me somewhat emotional.  This whole thing is like a high school graduation, like I’m never gonna see my friends together again like this, an era is over!  All I have are memories, aaaaggghhhh!
That being said. the movie grips me from the beginning with the song Dear Mr. Fantasy by Traffic.  Marvel has some pretty good picks for songs to set the tone for their movies, to this day this song kinda pulls at my heart strings because of its message 
 Dear Mr. Fantasy play us a tune
Something to make us all happy
Do anything, take us out of this gloom
So of course, we all felt this way with the ending of Infinity War, having so many of our faves being sacrificed to dust for Thanos’ plan of rectifying what he saw as the decrepit state of the universe.  Walking away from part one with the villain winning was a fresh slap to my face and a year of agony to find out how the heroes pull this off in the end.  Take us out of our gloom Marvel! 
And the characters must feel the same, as the film opens with Clint and his daughter doing some archery in their yard as a very American lunch of mayo and mustard hot dogs are being served.  As his daughter Lilah is putting things away, Clint calls out to her only to see dust and turns again to his family with the same result.  So much for freedom from our gloom, right?  In case you somehow forgot, this little scene gives us a friendly reminder of what we were left with in 2018.  If that’s not enough, Nebula and Tony playing the little hand goal, paper flick game that is just darling to witness.  Nebula plays like a rehabilitated puppy still unsure about being around humans as Tony instructs her like a child on every development of the game.  Her little perk up when he announces her win is so cute as they shake hands, finally sealing her character development from ruthless, blood-thirsty appeaser of a sadistic father, to a more stoic, regretful soft spoken but hoarse matured version of herself.  All the while, Tony is beginning to starve from being malnourished and depleting oxygen.  Nebula sets him in a piloting chair as he drifts off, losing consciousness until the homie we have all assumed would be coming appears as a glow in his irises, Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel.  
Carol flies the ship back to Tony’s compound where Cap, Rhodey, Natasha, and Pepper wait for him to descend.  We get a moment with him and Cap that is sweet as Cap walks him down, Tony tells him he lost Peter Parker, an obviously huge loss for this to be the first thing he mentions.  The warmth is lost quickly though as the next step of Tony’s grief comes afoot: anger and finger pointing.  Tony, on an IV and all, is relentless as he festers in bitterness while lashing out at Cap and company that the fight was lost and even encouraged by Cap because they were together.  This optimism is obviously not enough for Tony, who grows weary of Cap’s positivity, opting that he finish the work alone or that Danvers takes on the task herself before collapsing from exhaustion.
Carol, Thor and the gang have a slight dick measuring contest on kicking Thanos’ ass once and for all before Nebula offers to take them straight to him.  And where is he?  Why on a farm on a planet in the galaxy, nursing his wounds from the snap.   His entire right side is burned to a crisp due to the snap, and at the same time has obliterated the stones much to their dismay.  Thor wastes no time in chopping off Thanos’ head, a little too late but satisfying none the less.  However, in the end, the stones are nowhere to be found, the last person to have them is dead, and no one from the snaps is back yet.  Cue music!
So, the gloom we are supposed to be rescued from, when does that start right?  Not for another five years according to a time lapse card.  Our heroes have no means of figuring out the solution to the snap; Cap forms a support group for survivor’s, Natasha has grown out her blonde hair and is constantly checking in on happenings around the world, and universe since the snap, jumping at even the mention of an earthquake.  Rhodey briefs her on a terrible killing spree of gang members that appear to have a style that is well known to them as Clint Barton’s aka Hawkeye.  Despite Rhodey’s hesitance Natasha insists he keeps an eye on him, inferring that she may track him down eventually.  (Quick side note here, something to be seen as a possible plot flaw:  Hawkeye’s bloodlust and disregard for lives after losing his whole family in the snap isn’t dug into very deeply after this.  Rhodey said it’s so bad he didn’t even wanna find him!  But there wasn’t any in fighting or push back after that between them.  He has one instance of almost interacting with his family on a test run for time travel which is against the rules, but other than that he isn’t killing people recklessly or even triggered to tears or drinking incessantly over his loss.  But more on Thor in a minute). 
If it hadn’t been for that rat running across the panel in Scott Lang’s van to activate his return from the Quantum realm who knows how long, if ever, would they figure out the means of traveling back to get the stones.  I was so glad I watched Antman and Wasp right before seeing Endgame, so I knew the van, Cassie, and a little bit about the Quantum Realm.  I’m actually upset that I didn’t realize the realm could be used for their benefit because I was always betting on the Time Stone being the corrector in all this, but anyway.  Scott returns highly confused as he realizes the state of the world since his entrapment in the realm.  Seeing his baby girl become a young lady was a powerful scene to witness, and had my heart dent a little bit, but I held it together.  Soon after that, Scott makes his way to find Cap and Natasha, explaining how 5 years was really five hours for him, so time is different in the realm which could possibly mean something for them getting the dusted back.  At one point in the movie, I’m blanking on which comes first but for now I’ll dive into this bit, we are reintroduced to Bruce Banner as Hulk…as one person.  I completely forgot that we didn’t see Bruce in trailers, which is for this reason.  Comic book followers would know, but there is a iteration of Bruce Banner becoming Professor Hulk, so he functions as his normal scientist self, while also being a big green being.  Oddly enough, it does not take long for me to grow accustomed to The Bruce Hulk hybrid, he is hilarious and sweet and more confident even then he was as a regular man despite his appearance.  He has fans, people love him and this is a far cry from when we are introduced to him in the original Avengers as Nat tracks him down somewhere in Southeast Asia, a nervous wreck loner who is quick to anger.  I could see this Hulk being fanfic fodder, not my cup of tea, but he was just that damn appealing, I could see it.
But even with Bruce’s brain, time travel isn’t exactly hammered down as an absolute possibility so they reach out to another source on the matter.  Which brings me to my love/hate relationship with Tony.  I ADORE that he finally had a baby with Pepper, Morgan “Cussin Queen” Stark.  Tony is living his best life in the natural air in his log cabin, as off grid as he possibly can be before Black Widow, Cap, and Lang pull up to question the possibilities ahead of them.  The strength of his cold shoulder gave me an insatiable chill down my spine.  Tony is the King of Petty, but rarely passive so I was surprised by that moment of mean girl attitude from him.  But luckily he served up something to drink (I’m thinking it’s iced coffee or chocolate milk.  I’m still confused by what that held.)  Tony basically tells them they are crazy and hoping for nothing, because he’s good where he is.  He has his girls and no stress which is honestly what the Avengers always seem to guarantee for him since joining the group with SHIELD under Nick Fury’s insistence years ago.  I do wish I could remember the theories and scientific laws he said would be fucked up with their plan, just to see if they are real ones but also I love when Tony just spouts his knowledge like it’s IKEA instructions.  He makes it seem so simple until you have to break it down, and up until this point Scott seemed like the smartest one on the team but really Tony could’ve been figured this out if he wasn’t so granola now, which is great and happy for him, but he really did give up very quickly.  Once again, probably good reason, self-care.  But still.
Gotta say, I love a selfish Tony though.  Quick shoutout to Robert Downey Jr. in showing his chops by bringing the emotional fortitude to this Disney movie.  The man has been THROUGH IT and has had enough.  Tony only has so much optimism in him that the cheerleading squad can provide before his is completely done and baby was DONE.
But without Tony’s help they test run moving through the quantum realm only to discover what Tony says later, that time kept moving though Scott instead of him moving through time, making him a baby, and old man, a kid again, and back to an adult.  But with a fancy time GPS Tony doctor’s up on the fly after discovering that the group isn’t crazy about the time travel being an option, they are good to go like it’s day one!  (Another side note to Paul Rudd aka Scott Lang giving us much needed comic relief.  I have never laughed so hard at my precious baby trying to eat a taco in my life. Also, Cap’s yeehaw attire in this scene?  The checkered white shirt with his dark jeans pulled up?  Truly save the horse and ride the cowboy instead man.)  
Now at this point we have to check in on Thor, our sweet pirate angel.  How has he fared?  Him, Valkyrie, and the surviving Asgardians establish their own town  on Earth.  Thor and Rocket go to find him, with a preview from Valkyrie of what Thor’s mental state is by the piles of beer kegs outside.  So, when they enter his home, giving a wave to Korg and Miek playing video games on the couch, Thor tumbles out behind Thor and Rocket reaching for another cold on, camera to his back.  By now we can see his hair is overgrown and greasy, and his midsection has a new pair of love handles we aren’t used to seeing on our svelte, brutish god of thunder.  So when he turns around, audience erupts in the theaters, as do I, to see him now looking like a melted ice cream cone with a beer belly that somehow still has some toned abs on top if you look closely, paired with some man titties to complete all billowing over his pajama pants to complete his depression ensemble.  This was more shocking to me than the Hulk/Banner hybrid reveal.  We hadn’t seen an image of Thor outside of him giving Carol Danvers the Stormbreaker scare test in the previews, so thanks for another surprise.  Despite his crumbling emotional stability at even the mention of Thanos’ name (tip of the hat to Chris Hemsworth for making my heartache with every crack in his voice), I have to get on my soapbox and say Thor’s body is beautiful!  He is a supreme King, deliciously made who can still smash any pair of cheeks to ash and dust with the power Mjolnir in each thrust quicker than any counterfeit gauntlet.  Just watch him later on, you’ll see!  I’d have that belly slapping on top of me in a quantum realm millisecond after he takes a shower and attends therapy.  A lil pudge ain’t killed no part of his power, whew.  Don’t make me shout.
Back to plot, with the promise of beer, Thor the Dude tags along to start the plan of going back to retrieve infinity stones.  After a synopsis of each one and where they were located, the crew drums up the plan to retrieve each stone from the past, bring them back to the future to put into a new gauntlet  and snap the other half of life’s creatures back.  This part of the movie is so stellar because if you have watched past Marvel movies (the first Avengers, Gaurdians of the Galaxy, Captain America First Avenger, and Thor Dark World) you will recognize the scenes that are featured with their past selves going through their past-current scenes.  Natasha and Clint go to Vormir for the Soul stone, which I am surprised Nebula did not warn them that someone would have to die to retrieve it.  What if two characters that didn’t love each other went for the Soul stone, is it over and done?  But luckily, or unluckily, Clint and Natasha are able to get the stone with a sacrifice of Natasha’s life (who honestly sacrificed herself but it counted.  And I need so much more clarity on the specs of the soul stone, it ain’t even funny.  Will we ever see what the realm Gamora and Black Widow are in is like?)  These two characters have been last on my list always so the scene was crazy watching them battle back and forth for a chance at ending their lives but the end result didn’t hit my heart but still great.  I kinda would’ve wished little Gamora was there again to talk to us.  
Then Hulk has to go see Ancient One to retrieve the time stone, which she will not relinquish until Hulk says that Strange gave it up willingly.  On his word alone, she gives it to him, sensing the imminent danger that could come that is worse than the alternate reality she faces for not having the time stone with her.  Then Rhodey and Nebula go to Morag for the Power Stone.  So this is the first sign of overall trouble in their plan because apparently having two Nebula’s mix memory frequencies that reveal the whole entire plan to Thanos.  I thought for sure at some point that Nebula’s eye was gonna have to be dug out to ensure the completion of the mission but it winds up that Nebula and Gamora take her hostage before past Nebula takes current Nebula’s place with the crew going back with their stones, none the wiser.  Not even Rhodey gives her a check in like “why did you not come back with me when I jetted back to the future?  what happened?”  Nothing!  The death of Natasha kind of takes precedent over anything else and leave Nebula to finish off bringing Thanos back with her to wreak havoc.  
Lastly, Cap, Tony, and Scott are in New York circa Avengers number 1, fighting the space aliens and keeping Loki from the tesseract.  And I am not exaggerating when I say this part of movie is possibly the greatest cinematic feature I have ever seen, or will ever see my natural life.  You have Tony, creeping in the shadows to get Antman ready to help retrieve the tesseract, all the while admiring Cap’s ass!  He does it, critiquing that his outfit does nothing for his ass, when we all know nothing holds back them cheeks from making an appearance.  Scott, ever the voice of standom, downplays Tony’s critique and coins his rear end as “America’s Ass”.  I EXPLODED.  Ever since Captain America: the First Avenger, I have pined, no, thirsted, nay, LUSTED for that man in Marvel cinema.  He has the BAWDY to be Cap, and never slacks.  I have also always been a big fan of Tony and Cap having a torrid love affair that Marvel refused to implement but teases anytime they stare deeply into each other’s eyes or argue feistily until they are nose to nose, just get a room you two!  Ten points to Gryffindor for feeding the fans what they want!
So, New York is the only place that doesn’t go smoothly, as Cap retrieves the scepter containing the Mind Stone after a quick “Hail Hydra” to throw off the double agent SHIELD opponents from Winter Soldier.  All this time, Tony and Scott lose the tesseract in a freak incident that causes the case to fall into Loki’s vicinity, who picks up the cube and disappears to God knows where.  And it is never figured out where past Loki goes, or what timeline he creates for himself now that he has the tesseract at his disposal with no one to oppose him.  That is another thing I would love to know, all these alternate realities that have been constructed due to them tinkering with time, what happens?  What damage is done to the Ancient One without time?  What does Loki do with space?  How is Jane and Asgard without the reality stone ravaging her?  (Rocket got it btw as Thor got caught up talking to his mother, which was a very sweet scene and really amplified her character for me to love her more than I already had).  But at least Cap got the scepter until he is met with his past Cap, leading to my most favorite fight scene in the MCU.  Something about those two classic suits running at each other with the cacophony of the shields, and current Cap saying some choice expletives now and getting tired of the bullshit while past Cap still has all that giddy up and pure heart and “I can do this all day” attitude is an exceptional treat to be had.  I love Cap’s development, as much as he has stayed the same, he has changed, grown more into his age even, getting weary with the world but never losing his positive outlook, just shifting his focus gradually.  But to correct the tesseract blunder, Tony and Cap go back to 1970 to get the original tesseract from SHIELD in its infancy.  Both Tony and Cap have a soft moment.  Tony see’s his father who talks to him about his expecting wife (aka baby Tony) and Cap sees Peggy again in her youthful glory, panging our heartstrings.  But in the end, the supplies are collected and they move on.
So after they get the stones, they construct the gauntlet out of Tony’s suit Iron man material and it is decided that Hulk must do the snap since gamma radiation is part of the stones and so is he. It is not a simple easy thing as he writhes in pain and burns under the pressure of power but does the snap anyway and successfully brings back half the world.  This win is shortlived once Thanos bombards the compound and sends Nebula off to retrieve the stones.  This is the start of the longest game of flag football/hot potato/rugby adjacent.  Hawkeye has the gauntlet at first as everyone tries to pull themselves from the rubble (side note:  seeing Rocket so distressed shook me.  He is usually so cool and wily, getting out of so much bullshit that his helplessness when he couldn’t breathe almost sent me over).
So since they retrieved the stones, it’s not like they change their past, just create alternate realities.  Once they return them, things go back to normal again.  So Hulk uses the gauntlet to bring back the rest of the population again, we just don’t see them yet until later.  Past Nebula gets killed by current Nebula after Gamora helps current Nebula out to stop Thanos because as we know from Infinity War, Gamora never wanted Thanos to find them all.  Thor, Cap, and Tony all team up to spar with Thanos who was waiting patiently for the gauntlet to be brought to him.  Much to my dismay, the fight is very even, no side truly overpowers the other.  Thor really wants to put in work, but can’t quite get through until Cap does what I have been waiting for since Ultron: HE PICKS UP MJOLNIR!  (which Thor took back from Asgard in his time travel).  Wheew, I coulda passed out when I saw Cap wielding that thing like it’s his the star spangled banner itself, sending lightning down on Thanos, busting him upside his head and all!  I was spent and feeling aftershocks until Thanos gets the upperhand again and bombards his shield with that weak ass helicopter blade sword thing.  It breaks the shield up!  Which is made of vibranium!  THE STRONGEST METAL IN THE UNIVERSE!  This how I know Russo’s were just grasping at straws; the only thing I can say is since Tony made him that one after the snap, he probably used bootleg vibranium because obviously nobody called Wakanda for input on a damn thing to make this mission happen which is a rant I can say on a completely separate post.  Sure, take T’Challa and Shuri in the snap, it’s not like the whole country isn’t composed of melanated geniuses that could give y’all a lesson on quantum physics that would make your central nervous system dry out.  No, don’t call Wakanda to make vibranium anything for y’all to help in the fight, it’s cool cuz y’all didn’t try and clean up anything after shit hit the fan!  I wanted a 10 minute Wakanda clean up scene: I got DUST.  The underutilization of such a great people while at the same time using them frivilously is a *blink blink* mindfuck.  But I digress again!
Once Cap seems to be against the wall, he tightens his shield band around his arm and says slap me bitch.  But before it continues,  Sam gives him a quick “on your left” signaling the return of everyone, with first none other than our Wakandan royalty: T’Challa, Okoye, and Shuri.  Dr. Strange’s portals open up as populations come to join the fight from Gaurdians and Asgard, Wakanda and other Marvel movies.  The fight scene that begins I can’t wait to own at home becuase I know I have to pause and slow motion to capture everything.  Someone said Howard the Duck is in the fight which I HAVE to see. Can you imagine getting your ass impaled by a cartoon space duck? 
The game of keep the gauntlet from Thanos continues as Spiderman, T’Challa, and others all have a go at running the guantlet away from Thanos.  This is a part that I kind of have to think to remember.  I know that Antman and Wasp had to spark up the quantum realm van and I think the plan was to send the gauntlet into it, but I’m not sure.  Eventually Tony is alerted by Strange that the one in 14 million chance at winning is upon them and Tony goes ham to get the gauntlet from Thanos, who nearly succeeds but Tony yeets them off the glove and onto his suit, proclaiming himself as Iron Man one last time before snapping the bad half of the population into obliteration.  All the bad aliens and Thanos dust away, leaving the original population the watch them float away.  However Tony’s sacrifice is his life as he dies after goodbyes from Peter, Pepper and Rhodey.  
The funeral occurs with everyone there, even the kid from Iron Man 3.  This is a really emotional scene, especially seeing Tony left a last message in case of his demise, ending it with telling Morgan “I Said What I Said” Stark that he loves her 3000.  Once again, I almost got choked up there, but it just wouldn’t happen. One thing that took me out were Wakanda’s outfits at the funeral.  All black everything, but the fit and the make of Okoye and Shuri’s dresses?  With the gold accessories????  I can’t mourn when all that beauty is in my face!
And in the end, Cap goes back in time to send the stones back to where they belong but stays in the past to reunite with Peggy, finally bust her open and returns as an old man to give his shield to Falcon and that is it!
I almost got choked up just now thinking about that last scene but I still didn’t cry.  A tear came down when the end credits showed the actors pictures and their signatures of the original Avengers though.  There will never be a better Cap or Iron Man bruh, taking that to my grave.
 I’ve been in this MCU life for just about the whole length of it; watching these amazing superhero action flicks for the fun of it before recognizing the structure of each film forming towards an ending so grand. “You see where you’re going? Now let’s focus on how you get there.” This is a statement that is about to be my mantra for life! This is a huge project for a studio to put together properly, having all of our superheroes in one place, sewn together with the journey of the infinity stones to take out the big purple meanie Thanos who is hellbent on controlling the universe the easy way (50% of all living creatures annihilated) or the hard way (100% gone, starting from scratch).
But Marvel has given me so much great entertainment to look forward to.  Ever since I graduated high school, it’s been the May or November of each year, what’s Marvel putting out next? And it’s gonna be tough not expecting an Avengers film anymore, but I’ll be here for the new build up of superheroes, supporting Black Panther still of course as well.  I will miss the Cap thirst, wardrobe really did their part in this one with the Black sweater, the grey Henley, the yeehaw outfit previously mentioned and EVERY CAP UNIFORM HE HAS WORN!  I love this fucking fandom.  
And now I just wonder where past Gamora went, because she came to the present and “present” Gamora died at Vormir so we have a Gamora alive now but she went MIA, or did she get snapped back when Tony snapped all the henchmen back?  Thor at the end joins the GOTG  or Asgardians of the Galaxy, so I can’t wait to see how they fair in I assume GOTG 3.  How will Falcon do as the new Cap?  What does Bucky do now??  He was the original ride or die for Cap until he became Winter Soldier, but Cap was very forgiving of him in all that.  Yet, his closure seems open for anything, he got no special stuff in the end so maybe more for him?  How is Spiderman and the whole teenage snap population going back to school when it is five years in the future but they are the same age?  Where did Valkyrie keep her Pegasus this entire time?  When Cap went back to Vormir, what was his reunion with Red Skull like?  And what did Thanos do with the stones before they were destroyed?  They said he used them again and that’s how they found him at the beginning but on what? Answer these questions for me please!  
If you made it this far, I love ya 3000 and I owe you cheeseburgers (oh God TONY!!!)
4 notes · View notes
chicagoindiecritics · 4 years
Text
New from A Reel of One’s Own by Andrea Thompson: Top Films Of 2019
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
By Andrea Thompson
I state that my list wasn’t too late, 2020 came too early. So here are my top 25 movies of 2019.
25. Avengers: Endgame
Tumblr media
Walt Disney Studios
Fan service doesn’t have to be a bad thing. While “Avengers: Endgame” mostly gave fans what they wanted, it was also a fond farewell to an MCU that had been building for over a decade, one that would be greatly altered by the movie’s end. Making good use of its three hour runtime, “Endgame” takes it time wandering through its own universe in a way that’s both heartfelt and entertaining before getting the gang together in an absolutely jaw-dropping, action-packed climax that had the most jaded moviegoers cheering.
24. Knives Out
Tumblr media
Lionsgate
Rian Johnson may have had a complicated year, but “Knives Out” has him on top of his game. Johnson has built a career around toying with audience expectations in the most enjoyable way possible, and he does so yet again in “Knives Out,” giving us a whodunit that seems to reveal who in fact dun it pretty early, only to provide even more layers to peel back. After wealthy patriarch Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) dies in an apparent suicide, gentleman detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is hired to investigate, only to discover some very combative family dynamics, with caregiver and audience surrogate Marta (Ana de Armas) caught in the middle. Anchored by an all-star cast that also includes Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, LaKeith Stanfield, Toni Collette, and Chris Evans, Johnson keeps the mystery and the fun coming from start to finish.
23. Monos
Tumblr media
IMDB
Just when you think the eight isolated teenage soldiers in “Monos” are treating the unnamed war they’re fighting in like a neverending slumber party, tragedy strikes, and they become very aware of what the consequences of failure are, and the life or death stakes they’re involved in. As they descend from their remote base in the mountains to the jungles below, their bond is torn and transformed into something far darker, as the beauty of their natural surroundings likewise becomes less of a contrast and more of a complement to humanity’s brutality. Moisés Arias is a standout as the group’s charismatic leader, who likewise leads his charges (and peers) into their own increasingly insular culture, as the bonds of adolescence enable them to surrender more and more of their humanity.
22. Toy Story 4
Tumblr media
Walt Disney Studios
“Toy Story 4” certainly had no business being good. It was another sequel in a franchise that seemed to wrap everything up neatly in the last film, not only giving Woody (Tom Hanks) and his pals a happy ending, but reassurance that life would go on after their beloved Andy grew up and grew beyond them. So what else was left to stir any kind of conflict interesting enough to prevent one of the most creative and commercially successful film series ever made from devolving into one of the most cynical cash grabs of all time? Thankfully, quite a bit, and it mostly amounts to a case of white male anxiety. Woody had always been sure of his purpose, but when he runs into Bo Peep (Annie Potts), he’s inspired to rethink his life, as his former love has transformed from the demure, delicate toy who stayed behind on adventures to a capable leader who’s embraced life without a child, assists other discarded toys, and plans to see more of the world. It all amounts to a progressive message, that of being who you are right now. Life may change, and your place in it can become frighteningly precarious, but you should never be defined by your past, whether it was scarred by tragedy, or was the source of your happiest moments. Throughout it all, friendships, family, and love can last. To infinity and beyond.
21. Hustlers
Tumblr media
STX Films
“Hustlers” is one of those films that could’ve just been a puritanical cautionary tale about the dangers of girls gone wild. Good thing writer-director Lorene Scafaria saves her anger for the patriarchy rather than the strippers who come up with a plan to turn the tables on their Wall Street clients after the recession hits. Even smarter, Scafaria anchors her story in the friendship between Ramona (Jennifer Lopez in a career-best performance), the originator of the scheme, and Destiny (Constance Wu). Before 2008, they and their co-workers are able to earn more than a good living, but after the financial crisis, their profession becomes less than viable. So they decide to drug wealthy Wall Street men and get them to spend ridiculous amounts of money, which they would then keep for themselves. By giving women who are normally sexualized furniture center stage, Scafaria allows us to share their delight in scamming the scammers, then their fear as their world inevitably unravels, resulting in an insightful, female-centric crime story that mostly unfolds sans judgment.
20. The Last Black Man in San Francisco
Tumblr media
A24
Gentrification has been given the movie treatment before, but “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” doesn’t just show the scope of its horrors, it makes you feel them. In this world, it’s perfectly feasible for a little girl to happily skip down the street while men in hazard suits are cleaning up the water, as long as she resides in a neighborhood the rest of San Francisco is determined to leave behind in its mad rush for profit. Jimmie Fails (co-writer Jimmie Fails, who plays a fictionalized version of himself) has one thing to cling to though: a beautiful house in the heart of the city, which was built by his grandfather after he returned home from WWII, and is now occupied by an older white couple. When the couple departs, Jimmie and his friend Mont (Jonathan Majors) decide to move in as squatters in a desperate attempt to reclaim it. A tribute to a city that provokes love and despair in equal measure, “The Last Black Man” is a devastating indictment of an America that claims to reward hard work, yet often condemns those who are born with the most odds to overcome.
19. Ready Or Not
Tumblr media
In-laws can be tough, but the clan in “Ready or Not” could probably teach the Lannisters a thing or two. Having grown up in foster care, Grace (Samara Weaving) is eager to bond with her new family, so she happily participates in their tradition of choosing a random game to play on her wedding night. But when she draws the card “Hide and Seek,” she discovers that her new relatives believe that if they are unable to find her and kill her before the night is over, they will lose their vast family fortune. In addition to making the honeymoon awkward, Grace must fight to stay alive in an environment where everyone now regards her as disposable, an acceptable sacrifice to keep the money flowing in. As wickedly funny as it is violently entertaining, “Ready or Not” is a surprisingly heartfelt tribute to humanism and the benefits of being an outsider…especially when insiders have murder on their minds.
18. 1917
Tumblr media
IMDB
Sam Mendes has a reputation for intensity, but his harrowing war drama “1917” brings more suspense and terror than most horror movies. During WWI, two young British soldiers are given a seemingly impossible mission of going behind enemy lines to deliver a message. If they make it through, they’ll not only prevent a disastrous attack, but save quite a few lives, including the brother of one of the soldiers. Shot to give the effect of one continuous take, Mendes turns what might have been a gimmick and uses it to capture the horrors of war, and the humanity that often emerges in spite of it, all in a technically masterful work that showcases a filmmaker at the height of his storytelling abilities.
17. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Tumblr media
Sony Pictures
Given that 2018 saw the release of the critically and commercially successful documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” did 2019 really need another film about Fred Rogers? Hold that thought, because “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” makes an enthusiastic case for yes. It’s probably no coincidence that the posters for both films also mention kindness, since Fred Rogers not only advocated it, he seemed to embody it, and not only to the children who were the target audience of his wildly successful show “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” Even if Tom Hanks doesn’t have much of a resemblance to Mr. Rogers, he nevertheless seems to channel him and the values he tirelessly championed to an uncanny degree, enough to make journalist Lloyd Vogel’s (Matthew Rhys) journey from cynic to believer feel fresh rather than tired. Director Marielle Heller also brings the same clear-eyed compassion that made “The Diary of a Teenage Girl” and “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” so heartfelt to this story of a budding friendship between two very different men.
16. Her Smell
Tumblr media
Elisabeth Moss has long since proven she’s a force of nature, more recently on the Hulu series “The Handmaid’s Tale.” So what more does she have to prove with the film “Her Smell?” Quite a lot it turns out. If “The Handmaid’s Tale” is a showcase for Moss’s powers of restrained passion, then “Her Smell” allows her to tear up the screen like a tornado, destroying all the mere mortals unfortunate enough to become swept into her path as the self-destructive punk rocker Becky Something. As Becky’s mood shifts with the rapidity of a deranged pinball, she can’t seem to latch on to anything resembling stability, despite the efforts of her bandmates, collaborators, and ex-husband to steer her towards a healthier direction. Or just anywhere other than the rock bottom she seems determined to hit with full force. If Becky’s downward spiral is difficult to watch, it’s even harder to look away, as Moss infuses her with a charismatic talent that makes the inescapable tragedy feel Shakespearean in scope.
15. Varda By Agnes
Tumblr media
If the documentary “Varda By Agnès” is difficult to define, it’s because the late great filmmaker Agnès Varda herself defies anything resembling easy categorization. Like her other films, the premise of “Varda By Agnès” is deceptively simple, yet soon reveals layers of complexity which unfold throughout, as Varda looks back on her life and career while articulating her style of filmmaking. However, the doc is far more than a retrospective, and far less predictable, at one moment reminiscent of a casual chat with an old friend, the next an imaginative journey wherein a great artist instructs devoted cinephiles and neophytes alike on how she not only viewed, but interpreted the world. It’s a fitting end to a decades-long career and life, both of which 90-year-old Varda defined on her own terms to the end.
14. The Farewell
Tumblr media
IMDB
A movie with a character who happens to be a terminally ill grandmother is a tough sell for a comedy. But the matriarch who receives a fatal cancer diagnosis isn’t just a side character in “The Farewell,” she’s the central plot point. After struggling New Yorker Billi’s (Awkwafina) beloved Nai Nai (Shuzhen Zhao) is diagnosed, her family opt to keep her illness a secret and decide to throw a fake wedding to provide an excuse for them all to gather in China and celebrate Nai Nai one last time. And it’s…pretty funny, with not just the expected dark humor, but a wide spectrum of hilarity abounding alongside the touching moments of grief. Based in part on writer-director Lulu Wang’s own experiences, “The Farewell” is apt to make you laugh and cry not just in equal measure, but simultaneously.
13. Little Woods
Tumblr media
IMDB
You can never have too much of Tessa Thompson, and “Little Woods” allows her to fully immerse herself into a role and world where a single wrong step could tear through a life with the force of a tornado. And she downright mesmerizes as Ollie, who finds herself in tight circumstances with a mere eight days left on her probation and the hope of a new life. Or rather, her somewhat estranged sister Deb (Lily James) does after their mother dies, and Deb and her son find themselves on the verge of homelessness and destitution. To help her family, Ollie decides to reenter the world of prescription drug smuggling, a dangerous but profitable business in their bleak rural North Dakota town. Remarkably, this is director Nia DaCosta’s feature debut, and the fact that she gives us a brilliantly realized modern Western with a feminist twist, where a drug run to Canada also doubles as an attempt to receive a safe and low-cost abortion, is hopefully indicative of much more to come. Thankfully, there are already hopeful signs of just that.
12. Dolemite is my Name
Tumblr media
IMDB
Just when you think Eddie Murphy might be teetering on the edge of irrelevance, he reminds you why he’s a pop culture phenomenon by tearing up the screen as Blaxploitation legend Rudy Ray Moore, who became famous in the 70s for his portrayal of alter ego Dolemite in his film and stand-up career. Even if we’re aware of how this is going to end, with Moore investing – and risking – everything he’s built to make a film based on his Dolemite character, Murphy is astounding, radiating joy as he brings his larger-than-life energy and charisma to Moore, who was similarly magnetic. And it’s not just Moore, but the people he’s gathered around him who succeed as well, many of whom were just as underused by the mainstream entertainment industry. As they all revel in building and profiting off a film made on their own terms, it’s the kind of tender, inspirational tribute that earns every bit of its charm and intensity.
11. Queen & Slim
Tumblr media
Universal Pictures
“Queen & Slim” kicks off with its title characters on a date that is only remarkable for its lack of spark, but things get heated in the worst way after a police offer pulls them over for a minor issue, and things escalate, with Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) getting shot and Slim (Daniel Kaluuya) shooting the officer in self defense. The two then go on the run together, with their bond and their relationship blossoming as they drive south through a lush vision of Black Americana. That they both come off as deeply human while remaining symbolic of the tragic human cost of racism seems due in large part to the near symbiotic creative melding of director Melina Matsoukas, who also directed Beyonce’s “Lemonade,” and writer Lena Waithe, the creator of the series “The Chi” and who also wrote the acclaimed “Master of None” episode “Thanksgiving.” Their story is tragic, but it is also full of beauty and humor as Queen and Slim dare to hope for something better, even as they know the odds against such a thing are overwhelmingly stacked against them.
10. Fast Color
Tumblr media
Lionsgate
It’s said that not all heroes wear capes, and certainly none of the women with superhuman abilities do in “Fast Color.” This criminally underseen gem has many of the beats, but almost none of the familiar tropes of typical superhero fare. Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays a woman named Ruth, a fugitive on the run from authorities attempting to harness her abilities, and most critically, from herself, since those abilities have become a destructive force she’s unable to control. In this bleak dystopian future which is rapidly running low on resources, the key to Ruth’s future may just lie in the home she fled years ago, where her estranged mother (Lorraine Toussaint) and daughter (Saniyya Sidney) embody a past she tried to escape, and a more hopeful future they may be able to bring to fruition.
9. The Souvenir
Tumblr media
IMDB
Joanna Hogg’s semi-autographical film “The Souvenir” is like a deceptively calm pond which conceals a raging torrent just beneath the surface. Honor Swinton Byrne, the woman responsible for the storm that’s eventually unleashed, may still be constantly referred to as Tilda Swinton’s daughter, but this film suggests that won’t be the case for long. Her performance as Julie, a young film student in the 80s whose dreams are nearly derailed by her involvement with an older man who is also a heroin addict, is the kind of on-screen arrival that the term breakout role was made for. With part two arriving next year, it’s hard to imagine how Hogg or Byrne will match the kind of urgency they brought to this film, but this creative pairing – which feels like a match made in cinematic heaven – could feasibly pull it off.
8. One Child Nation
Tumblr media
One Child Nation
Director Nanfu Wang grew up in a time when China’s infamous one-child policy was at its height, with every facet of society extolling the virtues of having a smaller family…and the consequences of disobedience. After Wang had a son, she decided to investigate the policy she’d never given much thought to and its impact. When she uncovered was a complex and horrific hidden history of forced abortions, child abandonment, and infants who were literally torn from their arms of their families and given to American couples for adoption, who were tragically unaware that they were abetting kidnapping. Wang fearlessly confronts her own complicity and that of her family and community as she delves into the past, and how China is attempting to erase it from its future.
7. Uncut Gems
Tumblr media
A24
If we’re our own worst enemies, then Adam Sandler’s New York City jeweler Howard Ratner will never have a worse one. A gambling addict who’s always in search of that next big score, his need for his drug of choice has wreaked havoc on his personal and professional life. He’s managed to get his hands on the titular gem that may finally change his luck…if he can somehow hold off on his on self-sabotaging impulses. Anchored by not only a career-best performance by Sandler, but a breakout one by Julia Fox as Howard’s mistress, the Safdie brothers immerse us into Howard’s world, then his mindset as he unravels, all the while clinging to the belief in that one big break that could still change everything.
6. Bedlam
Tumblr media
Sundance Institute
In exploring the history of mental illness in America, director Kenneth Paul Rosenberg explores his own family, and how they reacted to his sister’s mental health struggles, then expands his scope into the personal and political ramifications of how we decide to treat a hidden social crisis of our time, one that is steadily worsening. As he travels to jails, Ers, and homeless camps, Rosenberg grounds his documentary with subjects who permit him a staggering amount of access to the highs and lows of their journeys to stability, and more often, how ill-equipped the system is to assist them. It will leave you emotionally gutted, but also with a much-needed greater understanding of a large population who are in desperate need of both compassion and assistance.
5. Luce
Tumblr media
IMDB
No one escapes unscathed in “Luce,” including us, as director Julius Onah slowly but surely tightens his grip on our collective throats, forcing us to realize how even the most privileged among us are caught up in a system that ultimately demeans us all, with little doubt as to just who bears the brunt of the consequences. The titular Luce (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) first seems to have it all and more. Adopted as a child from war-torn African county by suburban white couple Amy (Naomi Watts) and Peter (Tim Roth), Luce is a star athlete, a top student, and popular with students and teachers alike. It’s only when his teacher Harriet (Octavia Spencer) alerts his parents to a potentially disturbing essay by Luce that the cracks in the facade start to show, and Amy realizes just how little she may know the son she’s loved and raised, and perhaps also tokenized. Harrison’s masterful performance is equal parts chilling and heartbreaking as a young man who may be capable of great and terrible things. Just what will Luce become? The film has no answer.
4. Little Women
Tumblr media
Sony Pictures
Greta Gerwig didn’t just write and direct Louisa May Alcott’s beloved 1868 novel, she brought it to life, with each of the four March sisters getting their due. Yes, even Amy. One of the most brilliant decisions Gerwig makes is to bring the book to the big screen in a nonlinear fashion, juxtaposing scenes from the sisters’ idyllic childhood with their darker adulthood. While the Civil War rages, depriving them of their father, the March family becomes a matriarchal worldutopia, wherein Meg (Emma Watson), Jo (Saoirse Ronan), Beth (Eliza Scanlen), and Amy (Florence Pugh) are free to explore their hopes and ambitions, guided by their beloved Marmee (Laura Dern), and befriended by their wealthy neighbor Laurie (Timothée Chalamet). As each sister struggles to find her way, Gerwig takes care to ensure that their lives not only feel familiar, but relevant as each wrestles with how to balance their dreams with the narrow expectations imposed on them.
3. Atlantics
Tumblr media
IMDB
Mati Diop made history in more ways than one with her feature debut “Atlantics.” She was the first black woman to have a film in the main competition at Cannes, where “Atlantics” won the Grand Prix. The film more than lives up to the hype, with a touching love story that is also part supernatural fable and devastating indictment of modern exploitation and rampant poverty. Ada (Mama Bineta Sane) lives in a Senegalese suburb, and is promised to a wealthy man. But she is in love with Souleiman (Traore), a construction worker on a futuristic tower which is due to open soon. Souleiman and his co-workers haven’t been paid for their labor in months, so they decide to take their chances and depart by sea in search of something better. As Ada waits for news of him as she prepares to marry, she gradually learns that the spirits of Souleiman and the other young men are possessing the bodies of the living and demanding justice. As Ada slowly comes to accept the truth and take control of her own life and body (she’s forced to take a virginity test), Diop infuses her story with a beauty that never belies its sense of urgency for compassion in a world that can often seem short on it.
2. Parasite
Tumblr media
IMDB
The word parasite conjures up images of a creature which takes from a victimized host without a thought of giving or the consequences thereof, but as Bong Joon-ho’s latest slice of brilliance unfolds, it’s unclear just whom is feeding on whom. But in the vicious capitalistic times we’ve arrived in, perhaps everyone is feeding on everyone, whether they know it or not. In the story of the impoverished Kim family, who manage to scam their way into various positions of employment with the wealthy Park family, Bong Joon-ho serves up a scathing indictment of the inequality which twists haves and have-nots alike. As one jaw-dropping development after another threatens to deprive the Kims of their newfound prosperity, both families suffer the horrific consequences. And even if you are able to free yourself from the dark obsession inherent in wanting a good life which remains tantalizingly out of reach, the vicious cycle, one borne out of a need that will never be quenched, continues.
1. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Tumblr media
IMDB
If Céline Sciamma had just wrote and directed a romance between two women who find the kind of love that leaves the screen burning from their mutual passion, “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” would still have been one of the best films of the year. But Sciamma does so much more, making the case for an entire history that has mostly been unacknowledged by the art world. Not just of the female artists who managed to create in spite of the obstacles, but the lives of women in general, who are often not considered worthwhile subjects. (Times have sure changed, huh?) “Portrait” may take place in 18th century France, but its insights into the dynamics between artist and muse, how art is created, and how those who are silenced manage to find a voice, feels very much needed in our present moment.
from A Reel Of One’s Own https://ift.tt/2RcXbMK via IFTTT
from WordPress https://ift.tt/35SBg2A via IFTTT
1 note · View note
firestorm26621 · 4 years
Text
Top 10 of 2019
Tumblr media
Disclaimer: The following are not what I consider to be the “best” movies of the year, at least not in the objective sense of the word. I’m not even entirely sure one can judge “best” in an objective manner, or by what criteria that could be measured.  Competence in composition and construction, acting, design, music; these are all only parts of what makes a film connect with an audience, and some truly great films have few of these factors in any great quantity, while there are many that are practically perfect films by these gauges which had very little impact on me personally.
So, setting all that aside, what follows are my top 10 films of 2017 only in the sense that they are films I personally enjoyed the most, be that by conjuring the biggest emotional reaction, making the biggest intellectual impact, or simply inspiring the greatest sense of wonderment and appreciative awe in me.  These sorts of things are not easily measurable and certainly aren’t objective, but I know what I like, and it’s these.
#10 – A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Tumblr media
I loved 2018′s “Won’t You Be My Neighbor”, which was a heartfelt documentary that lovingly explored who Fred Rogers was as a man and what drove him on his mission of kindness.  So much so, that when a live-action Mr. Rogers film was announced I was skeptical, at best; it had already been done before after all.  It was a surprise then, that this film takes an entirely different view of the topic altogether.  This is not a film about Mr. Rogers the man; while Hanks gives an amazing performance, imbuing him with tremendous empathy but with a hint of slightly mysterious withholding, the film makes it clear that we’re not here to re-learn about Mr. Rogers, but instead to explore what it looks like when his teachings and philosophies are applied to a cynical man in a cynical world.  The main character, played with understated angst by Matthew Rhys, has been severely jaded by the pain and tragedy in his own life, so much so that he has cut off his empathy in an effort to avoid more of it.  But upon beginning to interview Mr. Rogers for an article, the film sets him on a powerfully emotional journey as he struggles, fights, and eventually reconciles with the emotional honesty and kindness that Mr. Rogers confronts him with.  It’s not subtle about its themes or its message, but it delivers them like Rogers would have, with emotional insight, openness, and compassion.
Tumblr media
#9 – Hustlers
Tumblr media
This one reminded me quite a bit of 2017′s “I, Tonya”, another film that could technically be classified as a “crime drama” but that falls on the edge of that category, full of clever, biting dialogue, fallible characters, and an amusing Coen brothers-esque tone.  This one is a little different from the others in this sub-genre though; by being entirely female-led but also by being incredibly stylized in a way akin to a Guy Ritchie movie of old.  But then, the way the camera moves is distinct and purposeful, almost like a Scorsese movie; this film definitely has a bit of Goodfellas in it.  So clearly, the film is taking influences from other films in the crime family, but the way it blends those influences into a neon-soaked ride is what makes it so interesting.   And amidst all those influences, Jennifer Lopez is giving the performance of her career as a stripper matriarch who commands every room she’s in and who’s every outfit and stance could be a character poster.  The film uses her maternal powerhouse performance to focus the crime story more on the closeness of the leads friendship than any other of these types of films.  The end result of all this is a film that tells a very familiar crime story in an incredibly unique, colorful, delightful way.
Tumblr media
#8 – Parasite
Tumblr media
Parasite is a very odd film.  It starts as what is ostensibly a dark comedy following a poor family living in the basement level of an apartment building who find themselves defrauding a rich family in order to gain access to their opulent home.  While it’s following this thread it’s pretty hilarious, with the con-man schemes to get them more and more ingrained in the household becoming increasingly absurd, but at the same time, they become increasingly grim as well.  And as you’re watching this comedy play out, a sense of foreboding begins to creep into the proceedings.  And ever so slowly, the film begins to morph into a bizarre, dark, tension-filled thriller about the lethal gap between the rich and the poor, and the lengths to which people will go to close it or to maintain their place at the top of it.  The film boasts a large ensemble cast, and they are all so good that none truly stand out above the others, making the film feel like a large-scale, zoomed out picture of how different personalities handle the class structure they are in.  And when the film decides it’s ready to pull the trigger on the tension it has been ratcheting up for the entire run time, the explosion of cathartic expulsion and tragic consequences hit like a bullet, leaving you both astounded and heart-broken.
Tumblr media
#7 – Little Women
Tumblr media
Ladybird was one of my favorite films of 2017, and upon hearing that its director was helming an adaptation of this classic novel, it felt like a perfect fit.  Greta Gerwig has a real knack for capturing authentic familial relationships; slyly examining both the complicated nature of the love of family and the dichotomy of the closeness and emotional distance that can somehow exist simultaneously within those relationships.  This film continues that trend, being a charming look at strong personalities butting up against each other, growing closer, and growing apart.  It’s helped by excellent performances across the board; all the girls are bringing real emotional weight and vulnerability to their characters, and there are a few standout moments from Saoirse Ronan that are absolutely heartbreaking.  Of course, here is where I have to admit my dimness; I walked out of the film really disliking the ending, thinking it far too saccharine for the story that preceded it, and as I began to record my thoughts on the drive home, as I talked about that point, the genius of that ending dawned on me abruptly, and suddenly the themes came into sharper focus and the film took on new levels of depth.  The remixing of the story, and the cross-cutting between time periods, suddenly had much more meaning and power.  And with that, the film elevated itself above other period pieces, other adaptations of the famous novel, and into a powerfully affecting study of the evolution of a family.
Tumblr media
#6 – Doctor Sleep
Tumblr media
This one is going to be my dark horse pick, I know it.  I haven’t seen it on any other lists or even heard much about it after its release, but for me, it was one of the most imaginative and well-executed fantasy stories of the year.  The film is a chronicle of the life of Danny Torrance, the young boy from The Shining, picking up right after the events of that story and walking through the rest of his life; from learning to control his power and banish ghosts to lock-boxes in his mind, to losing himself to his visions and becoming an alcoholic, to cleaning himself up after finding a moral use for his abilities, to protecting a psychic girl from a pack of immortal energy vampires.  If that sounds like a lot, it is; the film is long and it covers a lot of ground, but it moves at a clip without ever feeling like it’s rushing itself.  The world expands upon the foundation of The Shining, really digging into this universe of super-powered psychics with a variety of abilities and the dangerous monsters that surround them.  It plays with its psychic elements in a way that is both imaginative and yet grounded; it isn’t afraid to get trippy but it’s all understated and tangible, never letting us forget that these are real people in real danger.  To that end, it also doesn’t shy away from its horror roots; the film isn’t scary in any real way, but it is often unsettling, not shying away from the horrific nature of its story.  Ultimately, it manages to be both a worthy adaptation of Stephen King's novel and a worthy followup to its film predecessor, which is a feat in and of itself.
Tumblr media
#5 – Avengers: Endgame
Tumblr media
Being the culmination of more than a decades worth of films was never going to be easy, and being the second part of that climactic Infinity War story that was so exciting last year set the bar extremely high.  And yet, Endgame lived up to everything that came before, as a celebration of its earned history and as a powerful cathartic release to years worth of character development.  The film pretty clearly divides itself into three distinct acts.  The first act that works as an emotional anchor, laying low on the action but allowing its characters to really feel the events of the universe and also allowing its actors to really stretch their muscles.  The second is what no one saw coming; turning into something of a heist movie as it tours the whole history of the MCU.  Then, of course, there is the third act climax that pumps its adrenaline and gives the fans all the service they could want while also putting a perfect end-cap on the arcs of its two main characters.  As with many of the MCU films, it's sheer existence is a feat on its own, but as the final point on the massive web of stories the MCU has given us, Endgame was a satisfying and powerful success.
Tumblr media
#4 – The Farewell
Tumblr media
This film was probably the most educational experience of the year for me.  The dynamics of a Chinese family aren’t something I have a ton of experience with, but The Farewell cast such an endearing, focused, insightful light on this particular family that it’s hard not to feel like you’re being let in on a secret while you’re watching, as if you’re being invited to participate in the most vulnerable moments of a family during its most trying times.  I don’t think any film has made me feel like part of a family on a screen as much as The Farewell did; it explores a family coming together upon learning that its elderly matriarch has been diagnosed with cancer and that the majority of the family has decided not to tell her about it.  The idea sounds a little out-there to Western ears, including mine, and including the main character, played by Awkwafina proving she can translate her awkward comedy skills into awkward family drama pretty damn effectively.   And so the film attempts to reconcile these disparate cultural concepts, exploring in-depth not just what such a lie constitutes, but what about a particular culture would lead to that being thought the kindest option.  The film never paints any villains or portrays any of its differing viewpoints as right or wrong, instead it’s more interested in the spaces between them; how a family with such a wide gamut of views can maintain itself, and the tensions produced from such cultural & geographic distances.  And in the end, you feel for each of these family members, all trying to do their best in their own way, to maintain the bonds of a family.
Tumblr media
#3 – Ford v Ferrari
Tumblr media
Ford v Ferrari is, obviously, a racing movie, and racing movies are fun.  But the best racing movies have a power, an energizing, blood-raising quality that is rarely replicated elsewhere.  And Ford v Ferrari is the best racing movie in at least a decade.  The racing is phenomenal, with high-octane stunts and cinematography that maintain a grounded realism; to my eye, despite the glut of dangerous maneuvers, there was not a single shot in the movie that did not appear to have been achieved with a physical camera.  Any CG involved was woven in so smoothly that you never think to consider if what you're seeing isn’t real.  Add to that a pumping score timed to the motors and the fantastic reaction shots Christian Bale is giving during them, and you have some of the best racing sequences put to film in a very, very long time.  The rest of the movie is pretty great too.  The story of a racing team contending with inferior technology and corporate bureaucracy is told in a purposeful yet understated way, without a lot of stylistic embellishments in how it was shot.  The editing and pacing are also crafted in a skilled manner, with the film having a propulsive energy that carries you along, without anything being rushed or overstaying it’s welcome.  And then there is the actual best part of this film; the career highlight performances of both Matt Damon and Christian Bale.  Damon makes being utterly charming look completely effortless, playing a character trying to walk a fine line between being a “car guy” and a “company man”.  Bale, meanwhile, is giving one of the best performances of his career as Ken Miles, a man without any understanding of the word “tact”, while also somehow maintaining a lovable teddy-bear quality.  He’s a dedicated family man with a childlike joy of driving who is completely loyal to his friends, and who happens to have zero social refinements and no interest in playing any political games, ever.  The film uses these two characters to their fullest, and ultimately the film has a ton of heart and real emotional weight born out of us connecting to these men and really wanting them to succeed.
Tumblr media
#2 – 1917 
Tumblr media
1917 is absolutely amazing as a technical piece of work.  I have no idea how they accomplished what they did in this film, with it presented as two continuous shots, through barren wastelands, underground bunkers, verdant fields, truck convoys, blasted towns, raging rivers, and one surreal, mesmerizing sequence progressing through a city on fire in the middle of the night that is so visually stunning it has been burned into my brain forever.  The camera pans, dips, and circles around them, making it feel as though you yourself are a third member of this team, following along with them.  If you were to pay close attention, you could likely spot the hidden cuts and tricks they used, but the film is drawing you along on such an engaging journey through this war that you don’t.  And it’s not just a technical marvel for its own sake; it serves the story of two men in a race against time, with less than a day to make a journey to save many lives, and you can physically feel the time ticking away as you follow along with them on their trek.  The film presents its themes, those of the perseverance required to save lives in the midst of so much death, in a way that you cannot tear your eyes from and won’t soon forget.
Tumblr media
#1 – Jojo Rabbit
Tumblr media
Jojo Rabbit accomplishes things I never thought possible.  It’s a comedy through-and-through, which would normally mean there is little chance of it landing at the top of my favorite films of the year.  But this film does something astounding with its comedy; it uses it as a tool, deftly weaving it’s absurd humor amidst its incredibly heavy themes, exploring ideas of hate as identity, the pressures of culturally accepted intolerance, and the inherent nature of kindness.  All while an imaginary Hitler eats unicorn meat.  It’s wild.  Part of the way the film accomplishes this is through its fantastic lead.  Jojo himself is a 10-year-old on the cusp of having his naive views of the world around him being either codified into his beliefs or broken by the realities of his situation.  Which one happens is not only the central conflict of the film but also the primary thematic device.  By showing us the grimmest of situations through the eyes of a child who hasn’t fully grasped their weight, the film is able to explore serious ideas in the silliest possible ways, without ever diminishing their meaningfulness.  The film can be incredibly touching, poignant, agonizing, and joyous in a span of minutes, and they all land with equal force.  It’s an amazing thing to behold, and it’s one of the best films of the decade.
Tumblr media
Runners-Up:
The Last Black Man in San Francisco -  It uses the backdrop of gentrification to tell an impacting, occasionally comic, occasionally surreal story of trying to latch onto legacy and purpose through history that uses its painterly aesthetic and unique tone to great effect.
I Am Mother -  It takes an initially simple science fiction premise then explores the hell out of it, weaving in coming of age ideas about autonomy and developing morality, and putting it into a tense thriller package full of manipulation and wonderful acting.
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World -  The animation is just as impressive and awe-inspiring, and this entry offers a far more interesting villain, some great action sequences, and a conclusion to the trilogy that is poignant, powerful, and rather beautiful. 
0 notes
ges-sa · 5 years
Photo
Tumblr media
New Post has been published on https://ges-sa.com/avengers-endgame-review/
Avengers: Endgame Review
What an incredible run it has been movie fans. 11 Years, 22 films, dozens of heroes and 47 hours of combined runtime (not counting the Marvel One-Shot short story extras attached on the home video releases years ago, or series like 2 seasons of Agent Carter or 5 seasons of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. among others) from 2008 until present. Needless to say, anticipation for this movie is as high as any movie I’ve ever experienced, ranking up there with ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith’ although I’m sure there are one or two other movies throughout my lifetime that I’m forgetting. ‘Avengers: Endgame’ has the immense pressure of providing a satisfying conclusion, not only to last year’s mammoth ‘Avengers: Infinity War,’ but also to provide a satisfying measure of closure to all the characters and films that have preceded it dating back to 2008’s ‘Iron Man’ and changed the landscape of the Hollywood blockbuster and the industry’s mentality toward film franchises along the way.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME..Thor (Chris Hemsworth)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2019
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME..Hawkeye/Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2019
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME..Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2019
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME..L to R: Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Nebula (Karen Gillan)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2019
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME..L to R: Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), and War Machine/James Rhodes (Don Cheadle)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2019
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME..Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2019
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME..Thor (Chris Hemsworth)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2019
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME..Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2019
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2019
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME..Thanos’ armor..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2019
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME..Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2019
Considering all the characters and ground this film has to cover, the sheer fact that it executes near flawlessly is impressive in of itself, but the degree to which it succeeds, provides lots of character moments, character building moments, throwing in plenty of east eggs and fan service, weaving the narrative and by the end of runtime, delivers plenty of action and spectacle in spades and hits just about all the right beats when it’s supposed to is nothing short incredible. Considering at least over 90% of this movie is a spoiler, attempting to review ‘Avengers: Endgame’ without any spoilers is a tough task indeed.
For a brief synopsis, the grave course of events set in motion by (the wonderfully villainous) Thanos that wiped out half the universe and fractured the Avengers ranks compels the remaining Avengers to take one final stand. Directed once again by the dynamic duo of Joe and Anthony Russo, our remaining Avengers our brought to their lowest we’ve yet experienced as this film picks up with the fallout of the universe spanning Decimation from ‘Avengers: Infinity: War.’ And ample time is given to exploring our main characters and the world they’re left in, which is where many of the character building moments; dialogues and interactions, takes place. Apart from one moment early on which felt a little shoehorned in and seemingly happening out of nowhere, everything flows very naturally as the characters progress from their dire circumstances and personal struggles through their journeys throughout the course of the movie. A small criticism which is technically explained elsewhere and by the end has all but faded from memory like the victims of the Decimation snap in the previous instalment. Much credit in this regard has to go to the writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (unsung heroes in their own right for their work on ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ and many MCU films as well as another loved series films over the last fifteen years) for weaving a striking tale that tests our heroes as never before.
A lot of credit not only has to go to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige for envisioning this grand endgame so-to-speak and maintaining the vision through execution over so many years and so many movies with so many different characters, industry talent and moving parts, but also to the Russo Brothers for crafting and doing their part to execute on that vision and bring it to life in it’s completed form on the big screen. Their work on their past films has been regarded as some of, if not the, best among all the movies in the MCU franchise, and ‘Avengers: Endgame’ looks to be no different. At a robust 3 hours, not once did I feel disengaged from the event unfolding on screen and the time seemed to fly by. The story did not feel rushed or short-changed in any way and is as long as long as the story required in completing the narrative, so the runtime seems spot on. Visually, the movie is on par with ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ and every bit of the 350 – 400 million dollar budget shows on screen in a visual treat. The vibrant colour palette and lighting of the last several MCU movies is present again and, even scenes and locations at their darkest still have an appealing visual aesthetic. All locations in the movie are visually distinctive enough that long time fans will require no introduction and others will easily be able to tell locations apart as they cut between them scene to scene. Sets look fantastic and the big action set pieces are something to behold. No matter how serious things get, there is also the right ratio of comedy thrown into the mix to balance things out and like the story, comes across naturally and doesn’t feel as heavy handed as past MCU entries.
Another very apparent, but perhaps unsung, hero of this movie is composer Alan Silvestri who composes as sweeping a score as he did in ‘Avengers’ and ‘Avengers: Infinity War.’ The movie is elevated through his score, whether during the quieter and character building scenes where his score quietly pushes on in the background (and takes cues from past composer character themes) or the louder and boisterous parts where the score blends into the forefront and belts out the now familiar Avengers theme. The score helps do its job in complimenting the story unfolding on screen and many times and this is one I’m looking forward to going back and listening to many times over.  
The original set of Avengers get plenty of shine in this movie, and considering this is a closing chapter of sorts, it is only fitting. The cast truly shine in ‘Avengers: Endgame’ as they did in ‘Infinity War’ (no surprise as both movies were filmed back-to-back) and bring everything they have to the roles. Robert Downey Jr. shines as always as Tony Stark/Iron Man (to the surprise of nobody in 2019) and has become the character so much that he they may as well have just stuck a camera in front of him randomly and started filming, he pulls it off so effortlessly by now. Chris Evans has embodies the role of Steve Rogers/Captain America does his fair share of heaving lifting acting here. Perhaps the man himself should take some cues from the character of Steve Rogers as he looks to find his role in the country away from the screen, but on screen he justifies his casting ten times over and regardless of whatever he does next he will forever be associated with this role and this character. Thor has enjoyed quite the resurgence and evolution since ‘Thor:  Ragnarok’ which continues into this movie. The other Chris, Hemsworth, also has come to embody this character looks like he’s having as a great time in front of the camera as he has been on press junkets and premiers. Mark Ruffalo gets to show off some new layers to the characters of Bruce Banner and the Hulk and get some good moments. Perhaps the greatest beneficiaries of this movie are the characters of Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). Both get more personal moments in this movie than in past films and get lots of opportunity to shine and get their moments. After being left out of ‘Infinity War’ Jeremy Renner brings his “A” game to Barton and is perhaps one of the one the surprise standouts of the movie. Everyone, big or small, role large or supporting, hero or villain does their part to create an event film that will stand for years to come.
I highly recommend this film and cannot praise it enough. For casual movie going audiences this is one you can enjoy as a family outing or a date-night over some popcorn, coldrinks and other threats and be very entertained. For superhero fans or those who have followed the entire MCU until this point (or at least most of it) you be treated to a movie with lots of nods, call-backs, and moments that will provide the epic conclusion you were expecting and then some. By the time you leave the cinema you will have gone through a roller-coaster of emotions and will most certainly want to go back for more to experience it again and look for all the clues and extra details that might have missed the first time. ‘Avengers: Endgame’ (and possibly even when combined with part 1 in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’) is a superhero blockbuster the likes of which we have not yet seen before and could likely never see again (although I hope that is not the case.) This film is to blockbuster film making today what Ten Commandants was to film in 1956, it is that epic in size, ambition and scope and will mean so many different things to so many different people.
youtube
And while this is a conclusion to all that has come before, it is by no means the end. Last year I described ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ as an event comic on the big screen and ‘Avengers: Endgame’ is no different, possibly more so. And if these films are the big event crossover at the end of Phase 3, the upcoming film in July (I won’t name it here for spoilers sake but we all know which one it is right?) will be like the post-event epilogue concluding Phase 3 before the start of Phase 4 and whatever comes next. The MCU will continue on different and supposedly more experimental than before with characters we’ve seen before, characters obscure and brand new as well as characters we’ve seen elsewhere getting a new chance and a brand new coat of paint; both on film and on Disney+ streaming. Twenty-two chapters later, the volume 1 omnibus concludes. Bring on Volume 2 and to the future we wait, anticipate…and MARVEL.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
0 notes