Why Avengers: Endgame Became The Biggest Movie of All Time

Author:
Samuel R. Murrian
Jul 22, 2019

Over the weekend, Disney/Marvel's Avengers: Endgame crossed the $2.78 billion mark at the worldwide box office, and passed James Cameron's Avatar as the highest-grossing film in history.

Though it should be noted this ranking don't take inflation into account (and it's all but unfathomable to cross all-time box-office champ Gone With the Wind's record adjusted gross), Endgame's success is a major milestone in Hollywood history, no matter who's doing the math!

Avengers: Endgame is as popular as it is for good reason; critics are super-pleased (the 94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes is remarkable), and fans have been flat-out gaga. We've assembled a list of reasons for the widespread acclaim and enthusiasm.

Here are five reasons Avengers: Endgame became the highest-grossing movie of all time. Heavy spoilers ahead.

1. Avengers: Endgame is the ultimate payoff.

Seriously, though. Next to the word "payoff" in the dictionary, there should be a thumbnail of the Avengers: Endgame poster. The culmination of 22 movies released over 11 years, Endgame is a testament to the value of planning ahead and staying organized.

Directed by brothers Anthony Russo and Joe Russo with a screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, Endgame picks up where last year's Infinity War ended: Cosmic supervillain Thanos (Josh Brolin) obtained the Infinity Gauntlet and snapped half of all life out of existence. In the series closer, it's up to the surviving Avengers to travel back in time (thanks to scientific inspiration provided by Paul Rudd's Ant-Man) to bring back the fallen.

Marvel diehards have dedicated so much time and energy to this series, and Endgame rewards their investment. Oh, does it ever pay off. In the third-act showdown against Thanos' army, we see all our heroes from the previous films, dozens and dozens of A-List movie stars with distinct personalities we've fallen for, assembling for the final fight for the fate of the Earth. It's a battle cry over a decade in the making, and it is so thrilling it will raise your pulse.

Contrast Endgame with 2017's Justice League, an infamous example of a cart before a horse. The rushed, conflicted and endlessly re-edited Justice League was intended to be the triumphant assemblage of DC's finest—only none of them save for Wonder Woman had been properly developed in previous films. It turned out to be a Franken-movie. So many other franchises and would-be franchises have attempted to copy Marvel's success, but none have come close to it because they didn't do the work and prep like Marvel has.

2. This series never lost its sense of fun.

Even though the final two Avengers blockbusters delve into darker territory—like the end of the world, and other stuff like that—the filmmakers balance tone with grace, and never lose track of the fact that this is a grand entertainment; these things are supposed to be fun. Endgame is often hilarious, too—and a lot of this has to do with the abilities and timing of its million-watt cast.

Marvel and president Kevin Feige have carefully hired the right creative people to direct these 22 pictures, choosing filmmakers with personality, style and unique voices. From the more serious entries like Infinity War and spy thriller Captain America:The Winter Soldier to the inspiredly goofy Thor: Ragnarok, buoyant good humor has always been a must.

In Endgame, some of the funniest bits come courtesy Bradley Cooper's fundamentally irreverent Rocket Raccoon, and Chris Hemsworth's Thor, who's deteriorated from the God of Thunder into a schlubby drunk with a gut.

Lesser superhero movies, even the lesser of the recent Star Warspictures, have tacked on humor and whimsy because that's been such a central part of Marvel's success. But you can't force a sense of fun. You just can't. That's something that comes from within.

3. This movie has a smart, clever screenplay, and a dramatically effective three-act structure.

The bottom line is that this is intelligent, careful and thoughtful storytelling. The post-apocalyptic setting makes this feel even more like genuine sci-fi than the previous films, and Endgame stands on its own while serving the 22-film "Infinity Saga" proper. There are surprises around every corner (like when the movie's Big Bad gets his head chopped off in the first 20 minutes), and the picture is cleanly divided into three acts for maximum dramatic impact.

Endgame isn't perfect: there are a few lapses here and there, and for all the hype surrounding the character and her standalone movie, Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) feels somewhat shoehorned in. But mostly this thing works like gangbusters, and it can't be repeated enough that nothing on this scale has ever even been attempted in movie history.

4. Avengers: Endgame features flawless performances...DOZENS of them.

Endgame runs over three hours long, and to say it "doesn't drag" is an understatement. It will entertain you into submission. In addition to pacing the film just right, the writers have given all the characters a chance to shine and give nuanced, memorable performances.

Endgame features somewhere between 30 and 40 main characters billed as stars (again...unprecedented!), and so many of them grab you. The physicality and presence of Zoe Saldana as deadly-yet-moral Gamora is, as always, a thing of wonder. Thanks to the time-travel element, Karen Gillan as her sister Nebula has not one, but two, of the movie's most emotional character arcs. Jeremy Renner is gripping as a world-weary Hawkeye who's lost everything. And of course, Robert Downey Jr. gives Tony Stark a fully rounded, lump-in-the-throat farewell. This is just naming a few of the performances that stand out the most.

The Avengers: Endgame — Chris Evans in 'Avengers: Endgame'
Disney/Marvel

5. Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/ Captain America

Perhaps MVP of Endgame is Chris Evans' Captain America. In the hands of an actor with less charm and chops, unyieldingly idealistic and optimistic Steve would have been Howdy Doody, but Evans has found layers, depth—and given us a deeply sympathetic, good-natured superhero in every sense of the word, worthy of comparison to GalGadot's iconic Wonder Woman. Evans has always been aces in this role, and he's gotten better with each appearance.

It's also very much worth noting that he's gotten even more devastatingly handsome. The blue-eyed, square-jawed and impossibly sculpted actor's mere physical appearance is as dazzling as the picture's state-of-the-art visual effects. The movie knows this, and one of the funniest running gags ("That's America's @--!") is about Evans' body.

On a serious note, the full blow of Evans' contribution to the Avengers saga really hits you in Endgame's surprising, breathtaking final moments—when Captain America gives up the superhero life to go back in time for the low-key happy ending he deserves: a full married life with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell).

This is when the "Endgame" of the title appears to take on new meaning. The final shot of this multi-billion-dollar, 22-film franchise is a quiet one; it sees Rogers slow-dancing cheek-to-cheek with the lady love he traveled across time for. It's an unexpected punctuation mark, but it's quite moving, and now we can't imagine the series ending any other way. The widely loved, character-rich MCU pictures have always stressed that neither the destination nor the journey are as important as the connections we make along the way. As this is already the most lucrative film series ever, clearly that message has struck a chord with millions.

Even before the most recent box-office record, this landmark series had already left a permanent mark on movies as a business, and movies as an art form.

From Disney and Marvel, 'Avengers: Endgame' is still playing nationwide.

Have you seen the movie? Do you think it deserves to dethrone 'Avatar' and become the highest-grossing movie of all time? Let us know in the comments!