End Game Hangover (warning…spoilers!!)
WARNING: MEGA SPOILERS AHEAD!!!! This post is only meant for those who have seen End Game and are now in that strange, quantum realm state, if you will, where time has no relevance and you’re not exactly sure what to do with your life.
Or, reversely, it could be for those who don’t care about spoilers because they don’t really get the whole Avengers thing and why everyone is freaking out.
Let me try to explain. Superhero movies, unlike most other genres of movies, do so much more than entertain us.
First, they give us HOPE. Who doesn’t want to believe in a world where good always defeats evil (okay, except in Infinity War…), where heroes are people we can actually look up to, and where all the evil in the world is only shown through a PG-13 point of view. This is a world that offers us a ray of light in our dark world.
Second, Superhero movies INSPIRE us to be better people. These heroes have flaws, yes, but that just makes them realistic. They have so many virtuous qualities, too, and their selfless, heroic acts give us the feeling that maybe we can be real-life heroes as well.
Third, Superhero movies help us make lasting MEMORIES with our families. There aren’t very many long movie sagas that you can share and enjoy with your children. Although I’m sure there are more, only the MCU, Star Wars, Star Trek, and X-Men come to mind. And because they give us hope, inspire us, and entertain us, sharing these cinematic moments with our families makes the experience even more impactful and memorable.
Because of all of this, when that journey comes to an end, it’s almost as if our hope, inspiration, and memories are now dead, and we are left to mourn them along with the characters who died.
(***SPOILERS***) Honestly, it would have been bad enough to see some of our favorite characters die, even if it was done very well and was necessary. But the fact that we’re, in effect, also saying goodbye to other characters we may not see again makes it even more difficult. Or if we do see them again in future movies, it won’t be the same. This particular 22-movie journey is over, as was evidenced by the lack of a teaser after the credits of End Game. There was such finality to it, along with Pepper’s poignant line at the end, “You can rest now,” that it left many of us feeling like we were mourning after a real funeral. And the next day even, I know some of us felt that very real hollow and numb feeling of grief.
For me, personally, Tony Stark/Iron Man was my absolute favorite of the Marvel Avengers. One of my favorite movie characters ever, actually. He was extremely intelligent, hilarious, sarcastic, fun, relatable, realistic, and heroic. And…he kind of reminded me of my husband, lol, who actually made an Iron Man costume one year for Halloween and sort of looks like Tony Stark. 🙂
But my personal connection aside, we all have journeyed with Iron Man through 11 years and 9 movies seen countless times each. Tony Stark started the whole MCU and has just become a part of life for so many of us. We know he’s not real but HIS CHARACTER BECAME A VERY REAL PART OF THE IMAGINARY PART OF OUR LIVES. Tony Stark/Iron Man was a representation of American hope and heroism. And now he’s gone. As his journey ends, so does ours.
So, for those who don’t understand, just know that we’re not just mourning a character. We are mourning a part of our lives that will never be the same.
Dusty Crabtree 