We’re back with more thrilling content in the “Why are you still telling us things about Avengers: Endgame?” saga! Since the dawning of internet discourse about the film, the screenwriters (Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely) and the directors (Joe and Anthony Russo) have been in a heated battle over who can offer the most completely unnecessary after-the fact information about the movie that makes J.K. Rowling seem quaint. If it isn’t contradicting opinions on Steve Rogers and his time travel, then it’s nonsense about characters that died and information about them that we didn’t see in the movie.
I thought, in August of 2019, that this information train had finally come to an end. Then, the digital release arrived, and now we’re all back to where we started. On the Director’s Commentary for Avengers: Endgame, Christopher Markus had this to say about the opening battle between the remaining Avengers (minus a bed-ridden Tony Stark) and Thanos:
“They only accomplish what Thanos lets them accomplish. He has finished his job and lets them kill him.”
Excuse my French, but bitch, enough already. Look, I’ve always been on Team I Loved Avengers: Endgame, but the more Markus and McFeely or the Russo brothers talk about it, the angrier I find myself, mainly because of things like this. Why does Thanos have to let them kill him? First of all, movies are made for our interpretations. We don’t need everything spelled out for us. Second, Thanos was making soup. You think he was just like, “Well, you know what? Time to die”?
The thing is, yes, you could have interpreted the scene that way. That’s well within your right, but I don’t need the writers or directors telling me that that is how it is, especially when part of the joy of watching the Marvel Cinematic Universe has always been inferring the cause behind the actions of these characters.
It almost feels like they want to justify every choice they made and, in doing so, they’re taking away the freedom the audience has of exploring anything in the movie in a different way than they may have intended. If Markus and McFeely or even the Russo brothers have a problem with that, they maybe need to realize that that is going to happen no matter what movie you’re making. It’s the joy of cinema, and I feel like it is constantly being taken away from me with Avengers: Endgame. Let me pretend for one moment in peace, PLEASE!
Do I think that Thanos went down a little too easily? Sure, but I don’t think he actively let the Avengers kill him, and that’s my view of that scene and I’m entitled to it, even if Christopher Markus is out here saying that isn’t the case. I hope that this is the end of information we don’t need, but every time I’ve thought that since April 26th, I’ve been let down, so … fingers crossed?
(via ComicBookMovie.com, image: Marvel Entertainment)
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