End Of Avengers. Whats The Next Game For Us?

Now that it has almost been days since Avengers Endgame released, I can fairly assume that many people have seen it. So, those many can read this. Because this contains spoilers.

Sorry, not sorry.

It is finally here! The moment we were waiting for since half of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was snapped out of existence in Infinity War. Hyped up even before the release of IW, Avengers: Endgame is the conclusion to everything that was building up in the MCU, now dubbed as “The Infinity Saga”.

Avengers Endgame is a movie that many loved. It’s a euphoria that has captivated the entire nation. Loving the movie was not bound by being comic book reader or not, MCU lover or not, this believer or that believer. It’s all of us and none of us.

We love superheroes, because we would love to be superheroes. We feel the most connected to them when we see their humanity and vulnerability behind the made-up name. They see us and we see us in them.

It’s no surprise anymore that we are captivated, mesmerize by this spectacle. Legitimized by rushing to the theatres, early morning to see the ensemble (when we wouldn’t even wake-up before our exams to revise!) But more than that, I feel the euphoria was to heal our wounds since Infinity War.

And, the time travel setup was just clever storytelling. Taking back fans to those (now) iconic moments and scenes where we’ve all cheered and hooted. To bring back all those memories, was a treat in itself.

Apart from the fact that the infinity war scene was a masterpiece, you can’t stop cheering at the top of your voice. You can’t almost hear when Captain America screams, “Avengers Assemble”.

Yes “Endgame” is the ultimate fan-service follow-up, so densely packed with pay-offs to relationships established in the previous films that it all but demands that audiences put in the homework of watching (or rewatching) a dozen earlier movies to appreciate the sense of closure it offers the series’ most popular characters.

The movie was for the fans. Made by the fans. It’s the ultimate fan service and yes it was served very well. It’s emotional catharsis at the end of it.

The final takeaway from this decade-long journey is that heroism isn’t defined by bravery or super-abilities, but by what one gives up for the greater good. “Endgame” isn’t exactly a do-over, but it builds to an infinitely more satisfying conclusion.

We are living in great content times for sure, but this is cinematic achievement. I’d go as far as to say that this our Star Wars.. We’ll grow up to tell our kids and their friends that we lived through these ten years and that particular day when everything came together. The endgame day.

We lived and loved all the characters and when it was time for them to leave, we bid them farewell with a tear in our eyes but happy, contented ones.

We hoped the creators would give us something in the end, post the credits, a glimpse of the future, but nah. And they were absolutely right in their part to not. Part of the journey is the end and this is that end.

This doesn’t mean there isn’t any reason to stick around though, as after the credits when the Marvel logo appears, you can hear something which sounds like metal works. It’s Tony Stark working on his Iron Man suit, it’s a callback to the start. We are the beginning folks. A new saga awaits. New heroes will rise. New characters will be loved.

We don’t know yet what the next phase is. All we can do is speculate. Is it that the X-Men are going to be incorporated in the MCU or that we’ll have a new rendition of the Fantastic Four? All rumours are in the air, but sure as hell they are exciting and worth waiting for.

Still, in typical Marvel fashion, we can’t be sure what happens next. Given recent studio mergers, a lot could change in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We could see X-Men fighting the Avengers or Fantastic Four villains invading upcoming Marvel movies

SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME (2019)

Producer Amy Pascal revealed in an interview with Fandom that Spider-Man: Far From Home "will start a few minutes after Avengers 4 wraps as a story". Tom Holland will return as Peter Parker, while Jake Gyllenhaal has been roped in to play the villain Mysterio. It'll be part of Infinity Saga and will take place before Infinity War had kicked off.

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BLACK PANTHER 2 (2021)

Black Panther director Ryan Coogler will helm the sequel as well.

Coogler told IndieWire in an interview, "When it comes to making a sequel, I've never done it before, a sequel to something that I've directed myself. So I think there's gonna be a lot of pressure there, but what we're going to try to do is just focus on the work, like we always do. Really try to go step by step and try to quiet everything else around us, really focus on trying to make something that has some type of meaning."

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DOCTOR STRANGE 2 (MAY 2021)

According to reports, writer-director Scott Derrickson will return in the Doctor Strange sequel, which will feature Benedict Cumberbatch in the eponymous role. It is being said that Doctor Strange 2 will release in May 2021, though there is no official confirmation from Marvel.

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ASGARDIANS/GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 (2021)

After being fired over tweets from over a decade ago in which he joked about subjects like pedophilia and rape, James Gunn was rehired as director of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3. However, fans will have to wait for it, as the filmmaker was roped in to write and direct the next installment of Suicide Squad for DC Comics in the interim and will have his hands full till 2021.

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BLACK WIDOW

Fans have been eagerly waiting for Scarlett Johnasson to appear in a standalone Black Widow film ever since she made her debut in Iron Man 2 in 2010. Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow's solo outing is reportedly a prequel and is set before the events of the first Avengers film.

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SHANG-CHI

Marvel is planning to bring alive its master of Kung-Fu on celluloid in Shang-Chi. The first of the Marvel Studios films to feature an Asian actor in the lead role, Shang-Chi will be directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and written by Dave Callaham.

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THE ETERNALS

Eternals, which revolves around the celestial beings created by Jack Kirby, will be directed by Chloe Zhao. Marvel boss Kevin Feige revealed in an interview, "Eternals are one group, but we like the idea of introducing an ensemble, doing an ensemble movie from the start, as opposed to building up as we did with the first Avengers. More like Guardians, not tonally, but in terms of introducing a new group of people."

Rumours are doing the rounds that Angelina Jolie has been cast as Sersi. Kumail Nanjiani has also reportedly been signed on for the project.

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MS MARVEL

Kamala Khan aka Ms Marvel is all set to make an entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In an interview with BBC, Feige said, "Ms Marvel, which is another character in the comic books the Muslim hero who was inspired by Captain Marvel is definitely, sort of in the works. We have plans for that once we've introduced Captain Marvel to the world."

Too excited for the next phase! Aren't you too?

(Photo source: Pinterest.com)