A new piece from ScreenRant argues that the major deaths in Avengers: Endgame are united by one common element, and that the film’s various fatalities hold a very different significance from the losses we previously saw in 2018’s Infinity War.
As you’ll likely recall, Avengers: Infinity War had undoubtedly the highest body count of any MCU movie to date, and also served as the bleakest chapter in Marvel’s decade-spanning Infinity Saga. In particular, the many deaths witnessed in the film’s closing minutes ended the movie on an unusually grim note, and presented a problem that Earth’s Mightiest Heroes would eventually have to solve in their next outing.
In Endgame, on the other hand, each of the main deaths serves a key purpose. Just take Black Widow, who willingly sacrifices herself so that Hawkeye can acquire the Soul Stone. Later, we have Tony Stark, who also knowingly ends his own life when he uses the Infinity Gauntlet to dispel Thanos and his forces. Where the deaths in Infinity War were tragic and ugly, these two losses feel noble, selfless and necessary, though still bittersweet.
Even the villain deaths arguably have a similar feeling of necessity or acceptance to them.
Nebula, for instance, makes the decision to kill her past self in order to save the Gamora of 2014. The main timeline version of Thanos, meanwhile, puts up little resistance before he’s decapitated, as though the Mad Titan feels ready to accept his fate now that his mission is complete. And after Tony snaps his fingers at the movie’s climax, the second Thanos quickly stops fighting and sits down as he silently waits for his inevitable demise.
Overall, it’s an observation that fits in nicely with the relatively optimistic mood of Avengers: Endgame, suggesting that while not every MCU death is as reversible as the Infinity War snap, some sacrifices are more worthwhile than others.
