It was only a matter of time before ‘Avengers: Endgame’ was called ‘lazy,’ and here we are

Avengers: Endgame released a little over four years ago, mostly to widespread acclaim. Many Marvel fans felt that directors Anthony and Joe Russo, as well as writers Christopher Marcus and Stephen McFeely, had done the impossible by giving the original Avengers squad a chance to shine and tying off the entire decade-plus Marvel experiment with aplomb. Now, perhaps inevitably, the film’s reputation is being called into question.

Reddit user santochavo, for one, has a bone to pick with the much-lauded finale. Spoilers for Avengers: Endgame below:

Such a list of complaints inherently invites debate. So, what the heck, we’ll bite:

For starters, very few people were running around four years ago calling Endgame a perfect film. Immediate complaints were that not enough time is spent mourning Natasha’s death, some people don’t like Smart Hulk, and most fans agreed the final battle is treated more as an opportunity for fan service than for tension.

Yet, Endgame doesn’t exist in a vacuum. If people don’t want to consider it the 22nd film in a franchise, they should at least consider it the fourth Avengers film and the second of a two-part finale for the Infinity Saga. This is not a standalone experience by any stretch of the imagination, so things like Natasha not being mourned enough and Hulk not snapping Thanos’ neck may feel like missed opportunities, but they’re tolerable because we know the filmmakers are balancing so many moving parts.

As for santochavo’s specific criticisms: “Thor being the punching bag” isn’t so much lazy as perhaps too far into body-shaming territory; Scott escaping from the Quantum Realm because of a rat is definitely lazy, but people thought that years ago. “Carol saving Tony and Nebula” still feels like a great way for her to enter the story, given her insane power set and interstellar responsibilities. The Redditor admits to basking in the afterglow of James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, which they claim “treats its characters perfect[ly] with lasting consequences.” That may be, but what would you call the story paths of Natasha, Steve, and Tony in Endgame if not “lasting consequences”?

Some Reddit users are offering their own rebuttals, noting that Smart Hulk perfectly complements Bruce’s arc of embracing his dual identity. His character wasn’t struggling with a revenge arc, so offing Thanos wouldn’t have served his journey at all. Others say Scott escaping because of a rat leans into the randomness that drives the molecular theories of the Ant-Man films. Another comment noted that just because a story plays out mostly the way fans expect does not necessarily constitute bad writing, using the Breaking Bad finale as an example.

What’s most shocking is that, after a slew of underwhelming Marvel films, someone would go all the way back to Endgame to pick a fight. Apparently, it’s gotten so easy to complain about the likes of Eternals and Quantumania that we’re now creating a narrative where things were falling apart at Marvel even pre-pandemic.

Questioning a popular movie’s reputation is the right of every film fan — just make sure you’re doing it in good faith and not because James Gunn made you cry.