Like your middle-aged relative trying to name-drop things you like in order to appear cool and relevant, ESPN decided to use Avengers: Endgame as a reference point for a recent tweet to mark two years since the former highest-grossing movie of all-time was released, and fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe were quick to call them out for the faux pas.
Based on the image alone, a lot of work was put into the seemingly innocuous post from a graphic design perspective at least, but apparently nobody bothered to check if the facts were on point. As most people would surely know by now given that Infinity War and Endgame combined to earn almost $5 billion at the box office, it was the former that saw the Avengers reduced to dust, with the latter focusing on restoring the balance after Thanos had erased half of all life with one click of his fingers.
Unsurprisingly, MCU enthusiasts weren’t going to let such a blatant disregard for the storyline behind two of the most lucrative blockbusters in the history of cinema go unanswered, and you can check out some of the reactions below.
Two years ago, Avengers: Endgame was released in theaters.
Thanos called Endgame 🎬
(via @plasticaction_) pic.twitter.com/LAwP6igD26
— ESPN (@espn) April 26, 2021
Thanos died TWICE in Endgame.
Someone’s getting fired @espn, lol pic.twitter.com/6XhrLr8Kqq
— Jimmy Folino #WhoDey 🐅- BLM, StopAsianHate 🏳️🌈 (@MrNiceGuy513) April 26, 2021
— Anthony F. Irwin (@AnthonyIrwinLA) April 26, 2021
I believe you are mistaken. Thanos won and snapped away half of the universe during Infinity War, not Endgame. Today is not the anniversary of Infinity War. Additionally, Thanos lost at the end of Endgame and died. Therefore, he could not have called Endgame. pic.twitter.com/MHY8Ad1sNt
— Steve Braband (@stevebraband) April 26, 2021
https://twitter.com/JcGotNext/status/1386749945680744450?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1386749945680744450%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fmarvel%2Fnews%2Fespn-confused-infinity-war-endgame-fans-upset%2F
Thanos literally gets killed in Endgame. Worst account on Twitter and the bar is extremely low smh
— John Clemens (@JClemens13) April 26, 2021
Apparently ESPN has never seen Endgame
— Zachary East 🇺🇸🔔 (@ZacharyEast12) April 26, 2021
This isn’t even the right movie for when they got snapped please stop
— RJ (@doran_rj) April 26, 2021
https://twitter.com/509Kingofkings/status/1386756837819621376
— where am i how do i get home (@LukeBromilow_) April 26, 2021
Thanos literally gets killed in Endgame. Worst account on Twitter and the bar is extremely low smh
— John Clemens (@JClemens13) April 26, 2021
Spare a poor thought for the guy in ESPN’s marketing department who did a great job on mocking up the image in question, only to see it roasted to within an inch of its life when it was posted online. Getting such major details wrong about a big name franchise is a dangerous game in the world of social media these days, and you can guarantee the Disney-owned channel is going to consult Wikipedia at the very least before making any references to either Avengers: Infinity War or Endgame again.
