Rewatching ‘Avengers: Endgame’ in theaters makes one thing surprisingly obvious: Marvel’s biggest advantage in 2019 wasn’t simply having dozens of superheroes on screen. It was the history behind them.
That might make ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ a whole new ball game.
‘Endgame’ Had Years Of Emotional Baggage
‘Doomsday‘ is huge, featuring MCU heroes, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and Doctor Doom at the heart of the battle. On paper, it’s even bigger than ‘Endgame’. However, bigger doesn’t always mean better. In Endgame, the original Avengers were no longer just familiar faces.
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Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Thor, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, and Bruce Banner had been friends for years and had complicated relationships. Even when the team was split apart, audiences knew what those characters meant to one another.
Tony and Steve had been feuding for years. Thor lost loved ones. Natasha and Clint had an extraordinary relationship. Those details meant that when the final battle arrived, the emotional stakes were already there. ‘Endgame’ didn’t need much time to explain why these characters cared about saving the universe. We already knew.
‘Doomsday’ Has To Build Its Connections Fast
Sam Wilson’s Captain America has just started to carve out a niche for himself within the larger superhero community of the MCU. Yelena Belova’s New Avengers are still a fairly recent team. The Fantastic Four and X-Men also introduce characters from totally different parts of the Marvel universe in the same story.
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Then there are Steve Rogers, Thor, and the returning characters whose relationships with the newer heroes will need to matter. That poses an interesting dilemma for the film. Emotional history can’t be made out of explosions and cameos, but Doomsday can certainly be a great crossover.
It took Marvel over a decade to prepare for ‘Endgame’. Now it’s up to it to get viewers to care about a whole new group of heroes in a much shorter amount of time. And honestly, that’s probably the real battle ‘Doomsday’ needs to win.
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