Five years after the release of Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame, it’s hard to deny that even the most successful movie in the MCU wasn’t without its own problems. Avengers: Endgame premiered in April 2019 as the penultimate project of the MCU’s Infinity Saga, but is regarded as the true ending of the Saga. Endgame wrapped up the last eleven years of stories in a dramatic, emotional, and intense adventure for the surviving Avengers. However, this doesn’t mean it didn’t include its own awkward moments, introduce strange character choices, and have a problematic impact on the MCU going forward.

Directing duo the Russo brothers did a fantastic job at bringing the arc of the original Avengers team to a close in Avengers: Endgame, deserving the movie’s whopping $2.799 billion total at the global box office. As Marvel Studios’ highest-grossing movie and, for a time, the highest-grossing movie of all time, Avengers: Endgame is considered by many to be the peak of the MCU. Despite its enormous success and cathartic storyline, there are several harsh realities that viewers must come to terms with when rewatching Avengers: Endgame five years after its initial release.

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There Are A LOT Of Plot Holes In Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame Didn’t Pay Enough Attention To Continuity & Common Sense

In a project as massive as Avengers: Endgame, it’s no wonder that some continuity errors weren’t caught by Marvel Studios. This created a huge number of plot holes in the movie, some of which are pretty hard to ignore. Most of these were confined to Avengers: Endgame’s epic final battle between Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and the Mad Titan, Thanos, including the destruction and rebuilding of Captain America’s shield, the appearance of two Ant-Men on the battlefield, and the fact that Pepper Potts knew how to pilot the Rescue suit without having any prior practice.

It didn’t make sense that Doctor Strange and the Masters of the Mystic Arts could create portals for everyone to join Endgame’s final fight, when there’d been no sign of this being an option during Avengers: Infinity War. The Ancient One’s discussion of the Infinity Stones with Bruce Banner was also confusing, particularly given the fact that the Infinity Stones were removed from the MCU’s main timeline, and nothing catastrophic has yet happened as a consequence. These plot holes didn’t necessarily detract from Endgame’s storyline, but they still created some annoying moments.

9

Black Widow Died Before Her First MCU Solo Movie

Natasha Romanoff’s Black Widow Received Her First Solo Movie In 2021

Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff was one of the MCU’s original heroes, introduced way back in 2010’s Iron Man 2. Despite this, she was sidelined repeatedly throughout the Infinity Saga, and the biggest tragedy of this was delivered in Avengers: Endgame. During the Time Heist, Romanoff’s Black Widow sacrificed herself to allow Clint Barton to acquire the Soul Stone. This removed a powerful female hero from the MCU before she had received the focus she deserved.

Johansson did reprise the role in her first MCU solo film, but this was only released after Avengers: Endgame. It’s disputed whether 2021’s Black Widow gave Romanoff the true send-off she was owed, as it became more of a team-up movie with her surrogate family, rather than an investigation into who she actually was as a character and superhero. It seems Black Widow’s journey in the MCU is over, once and for all, meaning Avengers: Endgame marked her bitter end after several prominent insults.

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Every Multiverse Saga Project Has Been Compared To Endgame’s Huge Success

Avengers: Endgame Is The MCU’s Most Successful Movie Ever

Avengers: Endgame set a new and incredibly high standard for the MCU, as the magnitude, production value, and character progression of the Phase 3 movie was immense. In the short term, this was brilliant, but subsequent Marvel Studios projects may have suffered from Endgame’s huge success. Some viewers compared every new project being delivered in Phase 4 to Endgame, meaning it seemed as though the quality and impact of these stories was less than, which had a detrimental impact on their performance.

Marvel Studios’ movies and TV shows that have been released since Avengers: Endgame have been some of the MCU’s most divisive and polarizing installments. Movies such as Eternals, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, The Marvels and several other MCU projects have suffered under the weight of audience expectations following Endgame. However, it seems the MCU may be building up to something as spectacular as Endgame once again, so hopes are beginning to rise.

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Avengers: Endgame Made A Joke Of Thor’s Depression

Thor’s Mental Health Struggles Weren’t Handled Correctly In Avengers: Endgame

One of the most poignant and important storylines in Avengers: Endgame was the exploration of Thor’s troubled mental state. Thor failed to eliminate Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, meaning he blamed himself for the eradication of half the universe’s population. This culminated in Thor experiencing huge grief and depression, leading to his alcoholism and weight gain. Unfortunately, instead of taking a more serious approach with this powerful storyline, Endgame made Thor into a parody character, which was disappointing.

Endgame did include several moments of importance for Thor’s mental health journey, most notably when he realizes he is still worthy when he acquires Mjolnir from Asgard during the Time Heist. However, in the five years since Endgame, Marvel Studios has completely ignored this era of Thor’s story, as 2022’s Thor: Love and Thunder reverted Thor to his muscular build, and seemed to remove any semblance of his depression whatsoever. It would have been great to see Thor changed by his experiences in Infinity War and Endgame, but this didn’t really occur.

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Recent Villains Have Found It Hard To Fill Thanos’ Shoes

Thanos Is The MCU’s Most Captivating Villain

After being set up with brief appearances in a number of previous MCU projects, Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame featured the culmination of Thanos’ universe-threatening plans. The Mad Titan was a significant and terrifying threat throughout the Infinity Saga, and was only defeated in Endgame thanks to the sacrifice of several prominent heroes. In the years since, Marvel Studios has made attempts to introduce the next primary antagonist of the MCU, but Thanos left big shoes to fill, which has made this process difficult.

Jonathan Majors’ debuted as Kang the Conqueror and his villainous variants in the Multiverse Saga, but his recent controversies have shed doubt on the future of the multiversal villain in the MCU. There were also criticisms that Marvel Studios rushed into introducing Kang, as the first variant, He Who Remains, had a prominent role in 2021’s Loki season 1, whereas Thanos only had small appearances before Infinity War. Other villains may have debuted who could match Thanos, but it’s unclear exactly what Marvel Studios’ upcoming plans are.

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Marvel Tried Too Hard To Set Up A Female Superhero Team

Avengers: Endgame’s A-Force Tease Was Awkward

One of the most awkward moments in Avengers: Endgame’s final battle was the teased formation of a live-action A-Force team. While it was great to see the formidable female heroes of the MCU band together to help Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel, this moment made very little sense in the narrative, and, unfortunately, came across as not much more than pandering to fans who had criticized Marvel Studios for not focusing on its women. It would be wonderful to see an all-female superhero team in the MCU, but only if there is actually an explanation.

Marvel Comics’ A-Force team first formed during 2015’s Secret Wars event, so it would perhaps make more sense for the team to form in the MCU’s Avengers: Secret Wars. Having a few female heroes stride across the battlefield to help Captain Marvel, who likely didn’t actually need their help, had very little impact, and it’s a shame that Marvel Studios hasn’t tried to redeem itself from this moment. There is still the possibility for this to happen in the MCU’s future, however.

4

Bruce Banner’s Smart Hulk Transformation Was A Controversial Choice

Bruce Banner Merged His Human & Hulk Personas During The Five-Year-Long Blip

Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner, a.k.a. the Hulk, is one of the MCU’s most-transformed characters, as he has gone from mindless monster in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk to the so-called Smart Hulk in more recent stories. This evolution has been a gradual process, all except for one jump in Avengers: Endgame, which saw Banner suddenly reintroduced as Smart Hulk with very little explanation. This was a hugely controversial change for the character, that many have criticized for “nerfing” the Hulk, weakening to better fit the story.

Bruce Banner merged his human and Hulk personas during the five-year-long Blip with the help of Tony Stark, but this process has only been mentioned, and not actually seen on-screen. This made the debut of the Smart Hulk in Avengers: Endgame very jarring, and has spurred hopes that the original, savage version of the Hulk will return in the MCU’s future. The Smart Hulk has given Ruffalo more opportunity to showcase his acting range as the Hulk, but it was perhaps more interesting to watch him battle with the duality of his character, rather than being as one.

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The Status Of The Avengers Has Been Uncertain Since Endgame

There Hasn’t Been An Avengers Movie Since Avengers: Endgame

Currently, rewatching the Infinity Saga’s Avengers movies, including Endgame, is the only opportunity to catch up with the MCU’s Avengers team, as Marvel Studios has left the status of the superhero group unclear in the Multiverse Saga. Endgame is the last place the Avengers appeared as a cohesive team, as Marvel Studios has foregone the typical Phase-ending Avengers projects in favor of having two Avengers events conclude the entire Multiverse Saga. This is a strange choice, given that Avengers movies have been some of the most profitable and popular installments in the MCU.

By the time Avengers 5 releases, assuming there haven’t been any more major delays, it will have been seven years since Avengers: Endgame. This is a huge amount of time to wait between Avengers projects, when Avengers: Age of Ultron released three years after The Avengers, and Infinity War three years after Age of Ultron. The Avengers are presumably inactive in the MCU’s current timeline, which opens the Earth up to all kinds of dangers, but hasn’t really been addressed at all.

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Marvel Has Been Without Some Of Its Biggest Heroes Since Endgame

Endgame Removed Iron Man, Captain America & Black Widow From The MCU

As well as avoiding producing any Avengers movies for Phases 4 and 5, Marvel Studios has also failed to appropriately set up replacements for some of the MCU’s biggest heroes who were lost during Avengers: Endgame. Endgame marked the end of the road for Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark, Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers, and Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff, and the removal of these prominent heroes has left a huge void in the MCU. Iron Man and Captain America led the Infinity Saga, but the Multiverse Saga has been at a loss.

A number of possible replacements have been introduced, but Marvel Studios hasn’t given them enough focus to accurately call them the MCU’s new “big heroes”. Downey Jr., Evans, and Johansson were huge draws for the MCU, but without them, the franchise seems to be floundering a little. There has been speculation regarding Tony Stark and Steve Rogers’ returns to the MCU, but no confirmation, so Marvel Studios needs to fill the gap left by Endgame’s emotional deaths soon.

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Avengers: Endgame’s Storyline Still Feels Unfinished

Several Of Endgame’s Loose Ends Haven’t Been Addressed

While Avengers: Endgame did a solid job of wrapping up several long-running storylines from the Infinity Saga, the movie actually created many of its own loose ends that still haven’t been addressed. These most prominently focus on Steve Rogers, as his journey to return the Infinity Stones to their respective timelines still hasn’t been explored. On top of this, Rogers’ return as an old man at the end of Endgame hasn’t been explained, and his happy ending with Peggy Carter provides the opportunity for his story to continue.

The introduction of Morgan Stark in Avengers: Endgame may have also debuted the perfect legacy character for Tony Stark, but she hasn’t yet returned to the MCU. Ty Simpkins’ Harley Keener also returned in Endgame, following his debut in Iron Man 3, but this was seemingly for no reason. The five-year-long Blip has barely been touched on by Marvel Studios, despite calls for this period to be explored. Due to this, there are huge gaps in the MCU timeline, meaning Avengers: Endgame may raise more questions than it answers.