Been thinking about this film, and it struck me how much they've avoided the superhero movie fight trope for most of the film. Majority of the film was spent on characters rather than action.
I guess the writers knew that the audience knew that the heroes would save the day here, so they decided to focus on the characters instead and raised the tension through that.
Take the first act for example. Excluding the execution of Thanos in the beginning (this plays as a closing for IW more than a beginning for EG), the arc focuses almost entirely on each character's state of mind:
- Steve shows self-doubt over his failure in IW (made worse by Tony's confrontation with him at the beginning). He's grappling with the idea of moving on or if the fight needed to still be fought. But he just can't let go.
- Nat is desperately trying to keep her "family" (the Avengers) together by playing quaterback for the team.
- Barton simply lost himself after losing his family.
- Thor is inconsolable over his failure to stop Thanos and just falls into despair.
- Banner thinks he failed the team so he goes on to embrace the Hulk's psyche into his own.
- Stark is living a content life with his family.
The main conflict here is getting the entire team back together despite their differences. The conflict here is mostly internal or between the protagonists (Stark vs Cap).
Act two (the time heist) does not even focus on getting the gems. In fact, most of the gems were simple to acquire. The acquisition of the Reality stone even happens off-screen! instead, the act focuses on the continued arc of the main 6:
- Steve finds the will to fight back for what was lost and mends his friendship with Stark.
- Nat erases the red in her ledger by sacrificing herself to acquire the soul stone.
- Barton gets saved by Nat, gets a chance to gain his family back.
- Thor gets to the home he lost (Asgard) and meet the mother he lost. She then makes him realize that his failure doesn't make him a lesser person and this starts building back his confidence. His worthiness is emphasized by getting back Mjolnir
- Banner gets slapped out of Hulk.
- Stark gets to speak to his father, closing a long-running arc while also giving him a better grasp of what it is to be a father. He also mends his friendship with Steve.
Act 3 (the snap and final battle) gives what I think is Banner/Hulk's closure. For the longest time, Banner has regarded the Hulk as an agent of destruction and fear. Through the snap, he made the Hulk an instrument of creation and hope.
The fight is also symbolic for the remaining 5 core members I think. Thanos is pretty much the anti-thesis of the Avengers (this is why he is a great villain in the same way the Joker was in TDK). The Avengers do not trade lives, Thanos wants to kill everyone to save everyone. Thanos even reflects the individual core Avengers:
- Steve's resolve, but not his heart.
- Barton's family (in the Black Order), but without his familial ties.
- Thor's confidence but none of his sense of responsibility towards the people.
- Hulk's strenght, but none of Banner's focus to do good.
- Stark's intelligence and logic-based mentality, but none of his kindness.
I think the focus on characters has really elevated this film in the superhero genre. There's still a lot to unpack from the movie I think.
We already know from The Dark World that he has a mean Cap impersonation. If that actually turned out to be true (I know, it's not), that would be the ultimate fake out. Talk about mind fraks.
