#Rhodey has the emotional intelligence to level all of them out
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Maybe it is just me,
add if you like
But, Bucky and Steve are inherently pretty damn decent in math, especially geometry and trigonometry, physics. Because they have to calculate quickly how the bullet or shield will go. Same with Clint.
They are genuinely smart in what they do. I think that is neat
Also, plus
Tony frothing at Bucky and Steve (Clint as well if you ship them) at the sheer fast math these assholes do.
Like, I love this thought, so I will continue to validate myself that Bucky Fucking Barnes is a genius in his own damn right. Steve is an art genius and fucking skilled in throwing his giant weaponized frisbee. Fight me.
#bucky barnes#tony stark#winteriron#steve rogers#clint barton#boys being smart#Bucly and Clint having a trick shot competition#Honestly the team is stupid smart when you think about it#Rhodey has the emotional intelligence to level all of them out#For real#headcanons#sharing my thoughts#stony
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I was wondering if I'm the only one who gets irritated when certain articles or movie reviewers on YT refer to Tony and Peter's relationship as one of "mentor and mentee"? While this is true, I feel like addressing them as mentor & mentee makes their relationship solely professional. Like, all Tony cares about is Spiderman and training him to be a better superhero. I get really angry when people interpret things like that and eliminate the personal connection between them. (1)
(2) Some also interpret Happy's words in FFH "Tony wouldn't have done what he did if he didn't know that you're going to be here after he was gone" as if Tony wanted to make sure that Spiderman was alive, so there will be someone to keep the world safe and continue his legacy as a superhero. Again, there is truth in this but I doubt Tony cared about Spiderman when he invented time travel. To me, he wanted to bring back Peter and for no other reason but because he loved him as a son.
(3) Could you please elaborate on this and point out why Tony and Peter shared more of a father/son relationship rather than purely teacher/student one. I love that in a recent post you talked about how Peter's goodbye to Tony was not the typical mentee goodbye. I'd love to hear more of your thoughts on this because to me, Peter was clearly saying goodbye to a father figure. He was almost begging him to hold on, to not leave them, etc. Thank you in advance!
Hi!
I know what you mean, I hate it when they do that too.
Before this, we need to see the difference between the three concepts Peter means to Tony:
1. Mentee: is a person who is being mentored.
(’What we discussed. Keep your distance. Web 'em up.’)
(’Stay close to the ground. Build up your game helping little people, like that lady that bought you the churro.’)
(’Don’t do anything I would do, and definitely don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. There’s a... There’s a little grey area in there, and that’s where you operate.’)
Haha, even at this stage Tony congratulated Peter like three times the same day lmao
Peter Parker: Hey, everyone.Tony Stark: . . . Good job.
Tony Stark: Nice job, kid.Peter Parker: Thanks.
Peter Parker: What?Tony Stark: You did a good job. Stay down.
Tony Stark: I wanted to tell you what an incredible job your nephew did this weekend at the Stark internship retreat. Everyone was impressed.
The pattern of telling Peter that he did a great job constantly is something Tony wanted from his father and from there, you can tell he’s already entering the parental territory even if he was just the mentor at that time.
Protegé: is a person guided and protected by a more prominent person, their relationship is mutual.
(’I did listen, kid. Who do you think called the FBI, huh? Do you know that I was the only one who believed in you?’)
(’it’s never too early to start thinking about college. I got some pull at MIT.’)
(’You know what? He actually made a really mature choice. It just surprised the heck out of us.’)
Son-figure/Pseudo-son: one who can identify on a deeply psychological level and who generates emotions generally felt towards one's father. A person who looks up to someone older and treats them like a father.
(’What if somebody had died tonight? Different story, right? ‘Cause that’s on you. And if you died, I feel like that’s on me.’)
(’I wanted you to be better.’ ‘Pete, you gotta let go. I'm gonna catch you.’)
(’My dad never really gave me a lot of support... And I’m just trying to break the cycle of shame.’)
(’But it was such a long way down and I just thought about you on the way...’)
Peter Parker: Hey, man. What's up, Mr. Stark?Tony Stark: Kid, where'd you come from?Peter Parker: Field trip to MoMA.
Peter is all of the above. He went through those with Tony and their relationship developed into father-son territory.
For me, it’s easy to tell that they have a father-son relationship by just looking at the same scene you mentioned; Tony’s death.
Think about it, Pepper has been in Tony’s life for around 10 years and Rhodey has been in his life since he was 15 and the fact that Peter is within the circle of people to say goodbye to him personally means a lot. The directors picked Peter, Pepper, and Rhodey to create an emotional goodbye to Tony, with the people who are closest to him. Peter is one of them, I don’t think a simple mentee would get that privilege. If Peter was just the mentee in Tony’s life he would’ve gotten this type of goodbye:
Far away and keeping distance. But Peter got the close contact, Rhodey even gave Peter time with Tony and Pepper even helped Peter up. That looks like a family dynamic.
I don’t if you read my comparison between Harley and Peter but if Peter was playing only the mentee part he would’ve been in Harley’s position. Tony and Harley probably kept contact through text messages and emails. He was invited to the funeral and stood very far away from Tony’s inner circle. Harley could’ve easily gotten an internship just like Peter since the kid is also smart and Tony could’ve said something about him in the movies but not once was this kid mentioned. This is because Harley is more like a ‘part-of-the-legacy’ kid of the generation that Tony appreciates than a pseudo-son.
A simple mentee wouldn’t get the treatment Peter got:
I think some people really think EDITH is just a normal A.I. or some pair of technological glasses lol no. EDITH can and is:
Tony’s security and defense system.
Tony’s most powerful artificial tactical intelligence.
Gives access to Stark Industries' global satellite network. The entire Stark global security network.
Stark Industries’ arsenal of missiles and drones.
Back door to all major telecommunication networks.
Capable of hacking into nearly any computerized device.
Is programmed to have Peter Parker as the only authorized user.
Stark Industries' weaponry.
Is the user interface to the entire Stark Industries network.
Tony basically gave him his legacy and his company there. A mentee wouldn’t get that responsibility. Why not give the glasses to Rhodey; an officer with the United States Air Force and liaison between the military in the Department of Acquisitions and Stark Industries; an actual aerospace engineer and Tony’s best friend? Why not leave that to Pepper; the CEO of his company and wife? Or Happy, his head of security and one of his best friends? In terms of the company, Peter now has almost the same power as Pepper. Almost.
He gave that to Peter because he trusted him and loved him as a son, someone worthy of carrying his legacy.
Many wanted Tony to leave Peter money or something fancy, but the truth is, what’s really more important and personal than a man’s entire legacy and trust? Nothing. Not even money. Also, who’s to say he didn’t leave money too? We’ll find out in the next movie, who knows, maybe he left something else too.
Let’s also remember EDITH wasn’t just a pair of glasses before, she was just like JARVIS or FRIDAY but Tony decided to upload her system in the glasses.
More proof of this is Peter being able to call Happy and ask him to go to an entirely different continent to pick him up in a private jet where Happy not only helps Peter with his injuries and lets Peter use Tony’s technology like nobody’s business but also assures him that Tony did everything he did in Endgame for him. This is not the treatment a mentee gets.
Even in Ant-Man, Hank Pym gave his protegé Darren great power in their relationship because and I quote: ‘I thought I saw something in him, a son I never had perhaps.’
Even if their stories are different, Pym mentions he saw a lot of himself
Darren Cross:All those years ago, you picked me. What did you see in me?
Hank Pym:I saw myself.
Darren Cross:Then why did you push me away?
Hank Pym:Because I saw too much of myself.
Some mentees and protegés are meant to evolve into something more and this is what happened with Tony and Peter. I don’t think they thought their relationship would get to the point it got but it did.
Directors, producers, actors, and actresses have said it before and the only ones who can’t accept the fact are either tony antis, comic book super fans or fans of the first spiderman movies. Other people can clearly see their relationship for what it is.
There’s one thing I really hated before FFH came out, actually even before Endgame came out; many were already replacing Tony as Peter’s father figure and were guessing who was going to be the next one in line. They were nominating Doctor Strange, Happy or Fury as if being a father figure is something superficial and exchangeable. And you want to know why they were already replacing him? Nope, it’s not because Tony was going to die, at that time nobody knew that, it’s because it was stated before that RDJ was not going to participate in FFH. That’s the only reason. I get it, Peter had two father figures and he lost his biological dad but that doesn’t mean Peter sees every single male out there as a father figure, sure he can get attached because he’s a kid but he doesn’t love them the way he loved/loves Ben and Tony.
Thnx!♥
I also know I have other asks in my inbox and I promise I’ll get to them as soon as possible.
#tony stark#peter parker#irondad#spiderson#endgame#far from home#tom holland#robert downey jr#marvel#mcu
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absolute top favourite tony h/c fic recs?
Thank you for the ask and sorry for taking so long to answer! I have a recommendation section here on my blog, but I extended it a bit and posted it below:
Cat’s Tony hurt/comfort fic recs
Long works
If you’re up for a dark, violent, and incredibly touching and well written novel in which Tony and Peter are broken and put back together countless times, go for How to repair a broken heart by InfluentialPineapple. In my opinion, it’s one of the best pieces of literature ever written anywhere, even outside of the fanfic-realm. It describes a journey on which Tony and Peter slowly grow together, and although it´s terribly sad and extremely whumpy, you can see the love the author has for their characters in every single line. Injury, illness, violence, torture, anxiety, PTSD, this one´s got everything, so please heed the TWs.
Dark Memories by @trammelsb: This story is centered around child (sexual) abuse. But it is so much more than Tony suffering through flashbacks and panic attacks (although there is a great deal of that) and being comforted by his team members, especially Bruce, his partner. It is about Tony going through a great deal of character development, learning that he is not to blame for what has happened. The author doesn´t shy away from all the heavy topics, but she also never ceases to treat the characters with respect, In the end, it seems to be a story about not giving up, and despite all the pain it causes when you read it, the feeling that stays is that it´s worth to keep fighting.
Arc Tremors by @rose-on-the-mountain: 44 epic chapters of Whump and the kind of fluff that is not fluffy at all, rather makes your heart overflow with emotions. It´s Avenger-family centric, including Pepper and Rhodey and wonderful robot characters, themed around an illness that forces Tony to go through a difficult heart procedure. Everyone’s shadows and traumas get their due, and it balances darkness and light admirably well.
One Hell of a Show by MillyVeil: Clint and Tony get kidnapped and tortured. Heavily. This is one of the physically most brutal whump-fics I know - Milly is like the Tarantino of fan-fiction - but god, it´s well done. TWs for detailed descriptions of rape and violence.
Resistance by thegraytigress: Tony and Steve are captured by the Kree and held in a concentration camp-like environment for months. This is a slow-built, well thought-through love story with a lot of pain and a deep exploration of Tony´s and Steve´s characters as well as their emerging relationship. It has one of the best and most realistic aftermaths to traumatic experiences that I´ve ever read. It’s basically a book worth of heavy, heavy, heavy physical and emotional whump. Please mind the TWs.
She’s my Ride Home by OfMonstersAndMe: The most beautiful recount of how Nebula’s and Tony’s friendship develops in the 23 days they spent in space. Lots of great hurt/comfort scenes and spot-on characterisation.
450 Feet Under by Veldeia: Tony is trapped in a cave with no way out. The Avengers are on the way to get him, but when he gets seriously injured, the rescue mission becomes a race against time. 15 chapters of absolutely satisfying whump, snark, and feels. Background Stony. Simply brilliant!
Short(er) Works
Basically all Tony fics by @builder051. I especially like this Pepperony Christmas fic and this Nat & Tony cave anxiety fic.
Strong Enough by Ranni: Steve, Tony, and Clint are held prisoner, but the real danger begins when their captors abandon the prison to let them die in their cells. Injuries, torture, pneunomia, great dialogues. Platonic relationships between the three men, really touching, but not cheesy. Ranni is one of my favourite writers, and all her other stories are equally intruiging. Monsters and Beloved Companion also have a lot of Tony Whump.
Five Times Bruce is Not That Kind of Doctor™ + One Time He’s Perfect For the Job by @whumphoarder and @awesomesockes. The most amazing mix of humour and whump you’ll ever find. I love all their fics, so some more of my Tony Whump faves are The After Party and Desperate Times.
@taylortut writes beautiful and touching fics in which Tony gets whumped around other Avengers. Mostly h/c with illness or injury (and some adorable daily-life drabbles).The stories are generally light-hearted, but not at all superficial. I still can´t decide which one is my favorite because I love all of them, so I´m putting up the general link to Taylor´s Blog. Find her here on A03.
The Minor Fall, the Major Lift by sahiya: This one is about Bruce coming back to the compound after Civil War, trying to pick up Tony´s broken pieces. It has the best characterization of Tony, Bruce and Rhodes I´ve seen in a while now. Everything about this fic seems fragile, the characters, the conversations, the shaky comfort they manage to build. It´s slow-paced, and it´s not a fix-it-all, and this is what makes it so good. Sahiya is one of the best writers out there and her series “Me through Him to You” is printworthy.
Bruce and Goose´s Truce by @twentyghosts: After Infinity War, Tony is saved from space. Bruce medically examines him while being heavily flirted at, then they bathe together, and Tony cries, and Bruce holds him tight. Everyone is more than a little broken, but it´s okay, because they have each other back. More Tony Whump in Cold, Comfort and Unmasked.
nimentia by TinyFuryCloud: Tony and Steve have been married for more than 20 years when Tony is diagnosed with Alzheimer´s disease. This story is so terribly well done. The whole process of Tony slowly disintegrating, slowly getting lost, but somehow, somewhere, still being Tony, is recounted in precise detail with just the right mixture of matter-of-fact descriptions and emotions. Also, A+ characterisation of everyone who is and was part of Tony´s life, including Peter and Jarvis.
Hubris by @writingromanoff: Tony gets kidnapped and tortured by Justin Hammer. Tortured, as in forced to walk for days and days in the desert without a drop of water, and that´s just the beginning. When Steve finally shows up, Tony doesn´t even know whether he´s real anymore. I still can´t decide whether the whump or the whump´s aftermath is better in this one, both are very well described. Heed the TWs (torture and humiliation, obviously, as well as ED behaviour and others). By the same author: somno, the best concussion fic in the universe, and Blue Lips, Blue Veins, which is on some other level of genius alltogether.
Just a rather very intelligent system by @darkestsight: Seven instances of Jarvis taking control over the suit and saving Tony´s ass without anyone noticing. Not all of them are sickfics. Chapter 3 is my personal favorite and contains a physically and emotionally beaten-down and extremely tired Tony; chapter 5 has him dealing with PTSD and chapters 6 and 7 involve him getting injured. I liked the idea of it and enjoyed the interactions between Tony and Jarvis.
Pressure Point by ratherastory: Another migraine fic, with a very precise description of the pain Tony´s in and a nice amount of Starkasm. Steve as caretaker. Can be read as Stony, but doesn’ t have to. Pain and vomiting.
Home by @saber-wing: All Tony wanted was a cup of coffee. But then Thor’s Asgardian monster pet decides to try and eat Tony’s leg for breakfast. Excellent whump, Avengers family feels and a lot of humour. The author has many more amazing whump fics!
I Can´t Exactly Hold Your Hair Back by SirSapling: This is based on the comics and not the movies. It features Tony with cancer and Steve taking care of him on one of his bad days. I like this one for its slow whump build-up. Stony. Tags for migraine, vomiting, mentions of cancer.
Bust a gut, Tones by @whimsicalethnographies: Tony has appendicitis and Peter is the only one who realises it. Perfectly balances between humour and seriousness.
Fool’s Luck by @msermesth: Steve arrives on his doorstep exactly three hours and twenty-seven minutes after Tony finishes the last word of his eulogy. LOTS of pain. TW alcohol abuse, angst and suicidal thoughts. This is short, but extremely well done.
don’t let the blue skies fade by @blancheludis: This starts as a mission-gone-wrong fic with a perfect whump setting (of course Tony has to hide his injuries from everyone) and character depth that focuses on team dynamics and the evolving relationship between Tony and Steve.
Side Effects by discipulapauper: Steve and Tony are stuck in the desert, and Tony discovers that the serum causes unexpected complications when Steve doesn´t get food and water for a long time…Nice whump scenes, good characterization and mostly non-cheesy, non-stony dialogue. Featuring heat stroke symptoms and hallucinations.
Presenteeism by Veldeia: Tony thinks it is a good idea to send an empty suit along with the team on a mission while riding out his hangover alone somewhere in the middle of Russian nowhere. Too bad his hangover turns out to be something worse…
Mohini´s prompt fill for Nov(emeto)ber 5 by @mohini-musing: Tony is sick and Bucky doesn´t really know how to handle it. A short but greatly written fic with emeto and fever, no WinterIron.
My own fics : 40+ stories of physically and/or emotionally hurt or sick Tony
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Thanks for answering!! I loooove Peter and John and Emori and well most characters on your list really! While we're at it, which characters are your least favorite in MCU/the100? And which characters do you think are overrated or underrated?
Hey, awesome! And no problem! I love talking about the characters I like. You can come talk to me about them anytime! Or even characters you like that I don’t pay enough attention to.
Okay, this was a GREAT question, and I basically wrote you a novel in response.
The 100 – Clarke Griffin (if that wasn’t already obvious)
I used to love Clarke Griffin, but at this point, I just get annoyed whenever she comes on my screen. Clarke was a much stronger character in s2, when the writing committed to portraying her as flawed and morally grey and kind of ruthless in a way that was necessarily but also kind of concerning.
Now it seems like they always want to remind me she’s The Most Important – she’s almost become a version of the Chosen One trope in a narrative where that really shouldn’t be a thing – and a hero and just, like, suuuper pretty (the staircase scene was ridiculous). They’ve made her The Popular, Pretty Girl trope and I hate it. They might tell me in dialogue over and over again that there are no bad guys, but even when Clarke does bad, selfish things, they refuse to commit to it. She doesn’t face consequences and the writing is too concerned with making us side with her than actually calling her out. Even this season while other characters have been listing why they’re angry with her, everything is framed in a way to make us sympathize with her.
Letting a character do flawed things but trying to sway the viewer to ignore those flaws and loudly tell me that they’re still a good person rather than showing it is the easiest way to get me to not like a character. They’ve written Clarke as incredibly selfish, arrogant, and unwilling to listen to anyone else, unwilling to truly apologize or learn from her mistakes – but they just won’t admit to it or let her grow. OR commit to an actual downward spiral arc. Either would be accepted.
Plus, she’s just boring now. Everything comes too easily for her – people she’s hurt forgive her too easily, and the nightblood is basically a superpower at this point. The writing of her is just lazy and it’s not compelling.
MCU – Steve Rogers
I also used to like Steve. Whedon’s characterization was always off (and I think AoU really contributed to the problems in his overall arc), but I liked him a lot in Cap 1 and Winter Soldier is still one of my favorite MCU movies and the best handling of his character overall.
I need to rewatch the MCU before I really dive into just what went wrong with Steve’s character, but I just never really found him as compelling a character past WS and I was mad at him more than I liked or sided with him. Even with Endgame, I was just indifferent to how his story ended.
I think he suffers from a lot of the same problems as the writing for Clarke does. Steve has flaws and that’s great – it makes him interesting and human – but even while the narrative shows you his flaws, it tries to push you to ultimately ignore them because he’s a hero and we’re supposed to side with him because they already established he’s a good man. The problem is that Steve’s flaws ultimately get shown a lot more than his heroic, moral side as the movies go on. And despite not showing us that heroic side, they keep loudly telling us over and over again that Steve still is a selfless hero who will lay down on the wire – something he actually hasn’t shown he will do (for anyone but Bucky, maybe) for several movies now. In fact, he’s the only one in Endgame who really doesn’t do “whatever it takes” or have to sacrifice ANYTHING.
What @gamorazenwhoberis says in this post really explains it better than I am right now.
In short, starting with AoU (the root of so many characterization issues in the MCU), the writing starts telling us that Steve’s a selfless hero and a shining example of a good man while only really showing us his flawed behavior. It’s hard to keep buying that Steve is the “lay down on the wire” type when he doesn’t do anything to prove it. I also really struggle to side with him in later movies because I find him, in the wise words of Rhodey, “dangerously arrogant.” Steve’s intentions are always good, but he never believes he can be wrong, and that’s a problem. And again, that could be a really interesting character flaw if portrayed as a flaw – but I think too often the narrative ultimately expects us to side with him because…I don’t know, he’s Captain America, you know?
It’s not necessarily Steve’s fault, because I think he IS meant to be portrayed as an ultimately heroic man who wants to help people but still has realistic human flaws – it’s the writing’s fault, because they way they end up framing it makes it look like Steve is all talk when it comes to heroic sacrifices but, unlike his fellow Avengers, unwilling to sacrifice or compromise.
Also, I’ll be honest - I relate so much with Tony and project so much onto him that a lot of his actions in Civil War felt like a personal betrayal and I had a hard time liking him again after that movie. I still like him just fine in the first few films and I actually did enjoy a lot of scenes in Endgame, but a lot of his actions bother me and never feel like they’re actually addressed in a way that calls him out and the writing of him REALLY bothers. And when I’m not mad it him in later movies, I’m mostly indifferent. I do love him in other universes though.
Underrated
1. JAMES RHODEY RHODES DOES NOT GET ENOUGH APPRECIATION!!! He’s fantastic and I love him and I really wish he was given a bit more room to shine in IW/Endgame, even though I get they’re juggling too many characters. They just handled him SO WELL in Civil War that I wanted to see more writing that showed how much conviction and sense of duty he had. Also the brief moment where he talked about being paralyzed and how they have to “work with what they’ve got” was so good, I wanted so much more of it.
2. Maria Hill! The writing has really wronged her. I didn’t like her writing in Age of Ultron at all (she’s not a secretary, Whedon), and she’s been such an afterthought in the MCU since then. I’m so excited to see her come back in FFH, because I think there’s still so much cool stuff they could do with her. I’d actually love them to write her with a bit more 616 characterization, because in comics she’s kind of both The Worst and The Best all at once. She’s just MEAN. But she also helps run a massive intelligence agency with an iron fist and has a strong sense of duty and right and wrong and she’s more than a little terrifying. She’s just great. I’m glad to see her back. I love that she’s still been doing her part to help protect the world even with SHIELD gone.
3. NEBULA!!! She has such a good arc and she was wonderful in Endgame and this whole fandom sleeps on her and it’s unacceptable.
Overrated
1. Wanda Maximoff. :/ I really, really WANT to like MCU Wanda, and Elizabeth Olson does an amazing job with what she’s given, but her character bothers me a lot. I like the concept of her arc going from villain to hero. She’s really similar to Nebula in that way – her turn to villainy was born from trauma, but over time she learned to repurpose that trauma into a way to help other people.
The problem is that….it just kind of doesn’t work for me. Part of it is that she also suffers from the Clarke Griffin Problem – aka, she’s flawed and she makes mistakes and the dialogue tells me this, but she either avoids consequences or she fails to apologize for them. In theory, I like her arc about mistakes and atonement and doing better (which is exactly why I love Tony and Natasha and Nebula), but the writing of it doesn’t work for me. And her relationship with Vision is just so boring it’s hard to be invested. I think they did such a disservice to her by killing off her most interesting relationship, even though I know it was for legal reasons. (I do like her relationship with Clint, though.)
2. Carol Danvers. :( Again, I WANT to like her so badly. I love comics Carol so much. I bought a Captain Marvel shirt for the premiere. I have a Captain Marvel coffee mug. I’ve been looking forward to her movie for YEARS.
But I just find MCU Carol incredibly bland. There isn’t much depth to her even after her own solo movie, and I think Captain Marvel did a terrible job of developing her – especially in comparison to how well other MCU heroes have been developed in their own solo films. She has a lot of surface-level qualities that are fun – like being headstrong and snarky and a badass (I AM delighted that there’s no question she is the strongest hero) – but there just isn’t much emotional depth to flesh her out. I still feel like all I really know about her are basic facts and not anything about what she believes in or feels, and I feel like I was more emotionally connected with Maria in one scene than I ever was with Carol. I’m really hoping her next movie fixes that problem for me because I want to love her.
Thanks for asking!! I’m not kidding. You can always come yell at me about fictional characters. :)
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Chapter Sixteen
https://archiveofourown.org/works/18560182/chapters/45401884
Someone to Care
Chapter Fifteen
Happy Wednesday! It has been raining on and off the whole day here. Hope the weather is nice wherever you are!
Pepper sat at her desk shuffling through the papers scattered around her. She was organizing for a meeting that she had at the end of the week. This was a big one. Well, if she was being honest with herself and normally she tried to be it felt like every meeting was a big one since Tony appointed her in charge. Despite the respect the board showed her, let’s face it she was a wildly better boss than her predecessor, she still felt like she had to live up to his name; to keep getting exponentially better. And although the work was a passion of hers, it was difficult to constantly try to prove she was worthy, even if it was just to herself. Her phone rang interrupting her thoughts. She played with a paperclip in one hand as Selena relayed to her what the guy at the front desk had just called up to her. “Hi boss. Rob just called me to say that a girl just tried to swipe in. I wasn’t sure whether to just call security but Rob said that she scanned an approved identification card.”
“No you did the right thing in telling me. What was her name?” Pepper asked, her voice lacking the usual firm quality it held. Afraid she already knew the answer.
“It was a Miss Peyton Parker. Rob said she was just sitting in the front lobby. Should I have someone collect her?”
“I can do it. Thank you Selena.” Turning off her monitor she left her office. “Friday was Peyton supposed to be coming today?”
“Yes but not until five p.m.” Pepper tapped her manicured nail on the railing of the elevator as it went down wondering what the girl was doing here so early. It would be pleasant to see her again. Even since their meeting Pepper’s interest had been peeked and her thoughts kept circling back to her. The overall effects of her large eyes and innocent expression were so endearing. She hadn’t seen Tony so invested in something and in someone for a long time.
Pepper knew Tony better than anyone else. She knew that his confident exterior was many times just a ruse, a tool to get through an uncomfortable situation. Holding eye contact was difficult for him and as a way to distract from that he would talk loud and quick, mesmerizing people with his intelligence and wit. While he could command a crowd like no other he was uncomfortable in them. Always he strived to live up to the expectations his father had set for him, to step out from the shadows and be accepted for who he was. She knew all this like she knew the face that looked at her in the mirror. So when she stepped into the lab she had to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. It was like she was seeing a revived Tony. The lines on his forehead weren’t as dark and commanding of attention. His eyes were wide and sparkling with new plans and interest, no longer held down by the bruise like circles underneath. Even the contours in his beard seemed straighter, more kept.
It was almost hilarious the way the two mirrored each other. As all three of them talked Pepper could see the way Peyton kept an peeking over to Tony, noting how he was standing. Slowly, as if testing out the new pose she would move her body to match his stance. Looking more confident when she was sure no one was watching to try out the unfamiliar posture. And Tony was by no means oblivious to it. His smile when he caught her staring at him warmed Pepper’s heart and he was perceptive to the girl’s needs. The lab, which was always cold, held no exception that day and Peyton had tightened her sweater around her torso. Tony had noticed and without making a huge deal went over to turn up the heat, not breaking up the conversation. At one point an awkward silence meet the trio, the youngest of them assumed it was her fault and began to turn into herself looking between the two adults. Tony had distracted her with some far-fetched story about something and they continued on like nothing had happened.
The illuminated numbers continued to decrease and her muscles tightened ready to defend themselves from something unknown. Hopefully Peyton was just here early getting some homework done but she couldn’t help but worry. The large ledger appeared in her thoughts. Pepper could invite the girl to her office or an empty room if she preferred to be alone while she waited for Tony. The timing couldn’t be better. It would be a way to check in on her, make sure she wasn’t overwhelmed with everything going on. It was easy to hold onto secrets. To use them to cloak you away and Pepper didn’t want to disrobe any Peyton had wrapped around her shoulders. Maybe Pepper could be there for her; be a confidant of some sorts.
The tower was empty that night a week or so ago. The floor silent as mist and rain descended on the city outside. She sat in the dark thinking about the day, trying not to let the worry overwhelm her. His shadow was the first to enter the room stretching thin across the floor stopping just before where her feet were resting. Next came the rest of him, demons and all. His face was obscured by the backlight and she spied him placing his hands on the counter stretching his back. The cracks resounded around the space, hanging in the air. Without looking up he greeted her, “Pepper.” His voice rung dry and hoarse reminding her of many times in the past he would wake up hung-over, voice aching from the abuse. She caught his eyes and noticed a glassy quality caged in by the raw redness encircling them. His clothes rumpled even further as he walked toward her. “This actually isn’t the best time, Pep. As much as I enjoy your beautiful presence in my not so humble abode.”
Pepper was aware of everything that was happening and her breath went off kilter when she thought about Tony rushing off to fight those people. To fight their friends. Whenever things got crazy Pepper needed to plan and make sure everything was organized. The whole thing had been ridiculous and knew that if she had been there she would have straightened everything out in a matter of minutes. At least that’s what she liked to tell herself but it was moot because she hadn’t been there and she couldn’t fix this. No, this was something only her Tony could do.
She understood he was exhausted and couldn’t possibly understand everything that had happened but she needed to know, selfishly, so she could sleep better. She had to make sure everyone was okay. To make sure he was going to be okay. Being practical Pepper also needed to confirm about the damage to the buildings and any civilians. She knew protocol had him call ahead to make sure the area was evacuated but there could have been stragglers. It was important to assess if there needed to be a charity started or how much clean up was needed. They had worked on that together, the aftermath protocol. After seeing the damage left in the wake of these fights they made sure that the buildings had enough funds to repair themselves and make sure to try and look after the people. This whole thing left her feeling carved out. Although she knew now he could never give up on being Iron Man, that it was apart of him, it didn’t make it any easier to see his back walk out the door, uncertain if he would come back. Her and Tony weren’t together in the traditional sense but that was just because she felt like she wasn’t good for him in that time. She was just enabling his bad decisions in the past but she still loved him with all her heart. He just had to focus on himself for a while and not her. Being Iron Man was apart of that no matter how scared she was for him.
Tony walked across the room to her, his body overlapping his shadow on the floor the closer he came. He stopped half way and glanced to the side. Pepper’s gaze didn’t leave his face but she knew he was looking at the various shaped bottles stacked on the counter, all inconsistent levels of fullness. Tony sighed, continued to her, and melted into the couch. She asked him again to fill her in on everything after a moment of quiet. Then in a voice null of emotion he began recounting the proceedings of the weekend not stopping to draw breath. “… then I wasn’t there to stop her and she just flew across the air. I swear I could feel the breath leave my body.”
“Who, Tony?” So far she knew all the players in the game but was unfamiliar with this one.
“Spidergirl. Pep, I was helpless and I just had to leave her with Happy. You know what he is like and she is just so damn young.” He grabbed her hand tightly as he continued on and on. His voice was shaking now and when he told Pepper what happened to Rhodey they both wept. Their friend of many years was dear to them both and Pepper could see the guilt in Tony’s eyes as he spoke of what their friend had gone through. How they were in Germany longer than expected so Rhodey could have surgeries and how Tony was there by his side the whole way. “I’m so sorry I didn’t call you. I just couldn’t bring myself to speak it out loud.”
Tony had already figured out how to help him but Pepper needed to see him for herself. Worn out from reciting everything Pepper brought him over to his room. She tucked him in and watched his chest rise and fall, already asleep. A glass of water and a note to call her rested on the nightstand as she left the room; she turned off the light behind her. In the darkness Pepper couldn’t discern the man from the shadows that followed him constantly.
“Friday, can you notify me when Tony is awake? I’m going to check on Rhodey.” She stepped into the elevator and remembered something from before. “Could you also send me any files on Spidergirl, please?”
“Sent now Boss.” She smiled to herself and went down to see her old friend. He looked small sleeping on the bed but when she took his hand in hers and squeezed she was reminded of his great strength. Pepper knew he would come out on top of this. He was too stubborn not to.
Rob had informed Selena that the girl was sitting there looking pale, which held no concrete information and seemed not serious enough to call up to her office. The elevators opened and she stepped out, immediately spotting the girl who was slouched forward on one of the couches. She rested on the edge of the cushions like she was afraid to sit fully on it, which was ridiculous because they were comfortable. Pepper had picked them out herself. The girl’s face was turned away from her so all she could see was her hair. The curls, which when Pepper had seen her before had tighter ringlets were now frayed and pointing every direction. The girl’s hands were clenched at her sides, settled on the couch. Pepper’s heels clicked on the tile as she smoothed down the front of her white dress. Peyton didn’t glance up as Pepper approached her so she sat down.
“Hey Peyton. Are you okay?” She waited for a moment and when no reply came continued on. “It’s Pepper. Pepper Potts. Not sure if you remember me but we ran into each other on the elevator.” The sounds of people walking around them filled in the silence when still she didn’t speak. The girl looked over at her and smiled in a way that her lips wobbled in an attempt at turning upward before falling back down. That expression made Pepper’s hand itch to reach out and smooth across her cheeks.
“Of course I remember you Miss Potts. I, uh, hope it’s okay that I’m here early. I mean I didn’t tell Mr. Stark that I was coming but I had extra time and I didn’t want to go all the way home so I thought I would just hang out. There’s extra homework I can do down here. I won’t be in anyone’s way but I totally understand if this is for like business personal only or something.” Her words drifted off towards the end and she looked toward Pepper face on.
“Oh, sweetie.” She raised her hand in reaction to the sight before her and to get a better look when Peyton flinched back. Her hand hung in the air, violent intention seeping into an otherwise innocuous gesture. Peyton faced away from her muttering an apology. Stunned Pepper sat there for a second, trying to think of how best to go about the situation. “Will you tell me what happened?” The girl continued to sit there, torso contorted away from Pepper. The girl’s back was rising and falling rapidly. “Is there anyone you want me to call? Anything at all and I will do it. No questions asked.” After a minute of silence she turned toward Pepper again and shook her head.
The girl’s cheek was a mess. Plain and simple. It looked as though someone had painted black and purple over it. Her lip had dried blood smeared over it, which emphasized the puffy and swollen parts of her cheek. This was more than just pale. Pepper tentatively put a hand her shoulder trying not to notice the slight flinch. “Let’s go get someone to check that out okay?” She guided Peyton up and together they started the trek to the Medbay. Pepper kept talking not comfortable with just the music playing. “… and Tony isn’t actually in at the moment but he was supposed to be back in soon. I had a meeting with him this morning. Well, he was over an hour late so he missed the meeting but he got briefed on what he missed. Ah, here we are.”
The glass doors slide open and the white doctor’s jacket was visible from behind the desk. Dr. Casab was still there for the day, which Pepper was grateful for, and was rummaging around in a filling cabinet trying to find some paperwork. She glanced up and saw the two of them standing there, zeroing in on the state of Peyton’s face.
“Peyton, I thought I told you I didn’t want to see you again for another month, at least!” Claudia spoke with obvious sarcasm and a smile but it was lost on Peyton who stepped back into Pepper’s arm around her shoulder. The girl’s head turned downward to avoid eye contact as Claudia and Pepper gave each other a look.
“Would you mind looking at Peyton over and anything else that’s bothering her?” Her friend went right into doctor mode and ushered her into the room leaving Pepper in the waiting room for the moment. Sitting down she dialed Tony’s number. He picked up on the second tone.
“Buon pomeriggio, bellissima angelo. I am so lucky you finally descended from the heavens to join me on earth?” He laughed at his own joke, which never failed to make her smile.
“Hello Anthony.” Her voice full of mirth turned serious. “I have Peyton here with me.”
“What is it Pep? She must be early. Just put her on my floor and tell her not to break anything. She breaks it she buys it.”
“No. It’s, she’s hurt Tony. I’m sure it looks worse than it is. But she’s pretty shaken up.” He remained silent for a second and she thought he hadn’t heard her. “Tony? I can handle it here. Just come whenever you’re free but I just wanted to tell …”
“No, I’m on my way right now. I’ll be there in twenty minutes. Actually make that fifteen if I have my way.” The line went dead before she could respond. The image of Peyton’s bruised face swam around in her mind. The feeling of her flinching from Pepper made her hand tingle. What had happened?
The file and all that it held seemed inexplicably connected to this incident. Pepper was sitting in the waiting room. Her thoughts focused on what had happened to Peyton. Surely it had something to do with what was in that folder. What Pepper had read all about. It had been massive and took her a whole night to get through. The bulk weighed not just physically on her, as it had been much to comprehend. The same child that muttered apology after apology, who could barely say something without rewording her sentence was a hero. She guessed she really shouldn’t be surprised, it seemed like everyone in her life turned out to be either a hero or some super villain but this one had thrown her for a loop.
Having read the file she had an uncomfortable amount of information on one, Peyton Parker. It had contained her grades and notes from teachers to the guardians of the bright girl. It had the dates of her parent’s deaths and the exact day Peyton had went to live with her aunt and uncle. There were intimate details of the tragic death of her uncle. Pepper knew that the girl had been there when he died, had witnessed it. The file even had transcripts from therapy sessions afterward but that had felt like such an invasion of privacy and she skipped those. She wasn’t even sure if Tony knew everything that she had found.
Her heart broke for the girl thinking about it. She had sat back in her chair, staring at the paintings on her wall. With all her heart she wanted to be angry with Tony, to go find him and yell her lungs out at him for recruiting this young person to take with him to Germany. Then she remembered the way he had cried, his shoulders shaking slightly as she held him in her arms. The girl obviously adored Tony and from the file it was evident she had been in a bit of a slump. She had quit band and never tried out for tennis even though she signed up. While her grades didn’t dip the teachers commented on a lack of enthusiasm. Maybe this relationship between the two would help each in their own way. Pepper prayed that it would.
She looked up to hurried footsteps echoing down the hallways before Tony strode toward her. His face pinched with worry as he rubbed his left elbow. “Hey Pep. I came as soon as I could. Where’s the kid? Is she okay?” She placed a hand on his elbow to stop him from going directly into the room. “What happened?”
“Claudia is with her now, Tony. I wasn’t sure what to do and she wouldn’t tell either of us what happened. But it looks like someone hit her on the face. Not to mention she’s been skittish since I found her in the lobby. Just be gentle with her, okay?” His eyes wandered from the room the kid was in to her at the question. His eyes narrowed in determination.
“Of course Pepper. Thank you for getting me.” He leaned forward and placed a kiss on her cheek before hurrying into the room. Pepper stood there, staring at the room for a second before moving closer to the doorway, not wanting to leave yet. She had to make sure Peyton was going to be okay. Both her physical and mental self. She watched as Tony entered the room, loudly announcing his presence while getting the rundown from the doctor. He cracked a joke with her before she left the room. Claudia gave Pepper a small smile before joining her on the wall. The two women stared at the man they had known for more years either of them would like to admit.
Peering into the room through the window blind slates Pepper could just make out the strained lines on Peyton’s face and could just see the ridged set of the girl’s spine as she sat on the examination bench. Tony was trying to make light of being in the hospital room, his mouth gaping as he looked around. Something he said must have triggered the girl because her eyes welled up with tears before she grabbed onto to Tony, giving him the tightest embrace. Her hands bunched in the fabric of Tony’s shirt causing pleats to form on his back. Pepper could see the girls shoulders shaking as Tony ran his hands up and down her back. How this brave girl could go from taking down Ant-Man shocker her. She could imagine him whispering comforts to the girl and hoped he would know what to say.
“That girl loves him so much,” Claudia said. “And somehow I think that she has wormed her way into his heart as well.” They smiled, slightly bittersweet at the image of those two broken people in the other room.
“Claudia. I was wondering how did you know Peyton’s name before I introduced her?” Her friend gave a response skirting around the question and in doing so peaked Pepper’s curiosity. So Claudia did know who Peyton was. That didn’t bode well.
“Anyway Pepper. I love that white dress. I’ve been so busy lately, we need to have a girl’s night out okay?” Pepper nodded and Claudia left. Her back was pressed uncomfortably against the wall as she watched Tony talk to the girl.
Pepper was first introduced to the shy and under confident teenager before she had even met her in real life. Tony had gone on and on about how smart she was and Pepper was impressed when he had shown her some of the notes she had taken but she worried. At first she was worried that Tony would become bored with the girl who obviously idolized him. She had kept tabs on them and had watched as Tony changed before her eyes. Changed was a harsh word. The characteristics he was displaying he always had. He was still the same man she loved but in getting to know the kid he had grown into the man she always knew he was. In the end it didn’t matter that he was Iron Man and she was Spidergirl. They shared something outside of that; it was obvious to Pepper looking at them. She turned around and left the floor, confident that Peyton would be okay. Yes, somehow these two had found each other in the whole world and Pepper was glad for it. Glad that Peyton had a mentor to guide her through all the impossible things she might face and glad that they had both found someone to care.
Thank you!
Chapter Seventeen
#fanfiction#marvel fanfiction#irondad#pepper potts#spiderson#female peter parker#peter is female#mcu#marvel#writing#spiderman#AO3#ao3 fanfic#someone to care#eliza writes
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Avengers Endgame: A (Late, Incredibly Long) Spoilertastic Review
Well, it’s done.
I did it. We did it. We all watched the original lineup of Avengers’ stories come to its end.
So what did I think?
It was phenomenal. A worthy ending to a more than worthy series of films and stories.
There are just so many things to go over and so many points to hit that I have to warn you this review is likely going to be just as long as Endgame’s running time, so strap in.
Overall Grade: A-
Naturally, spoilers below.
I’m taking a note from a friend of mine and have decided that due to the film’s epic length and its history, the best way to tackle my reactions is first per character, and then I can evaluate things like plot and story and action. Just a heads’ up. So here we go.
Tony
Christ. I…wow, where do I even start?
There’s just so much to talk about with this movie and the arc that Tony Stark has been fulfilling since his first film. I almost don’t know how I can even put into words what I feel for this character. Tony came to us as this swaggering, arrogant diva, and yet the first Iron Man breaks him down to his core character. Tony Stark is a man with everything and nothing. He has the looks, the intelligence, and the resources to have everything a person could want, and yet he has no family and no deep connections with others aside from Rhodey and Pepper when it all starts. The core of the MCU was very cleverly built around the theme of Tony’s heart, and that’s perhaps why so many of us are devastated to know his fate. We all saw it coming. There was sadly no other way Tony’s story would pan out if we wanted to stick to his full arc. Tony could not rest until he knew the universe would be safe, and he made sure it would be before he left us. His legacy is incredible. It’s so…hell, to use a bad pun, heartwarming.
I guess the best thing to do in order for me to not just recap every amazing thing he’s done since Iron Man is to recap moments in Endgame for Tony that leapt out at me as exceptional:
-The intro with Tony playing paper football with Nebula. Stab me in the heart. That was so cute. It’s so very like Tony to try and keep her strong and keep her spirits up when they were literally staring death in the face. It was unexpectedly adorable, and even without us having seen the days they spent together, you could tell that Tony treated her in a mature-ish fashion and that’s why Nebula appeared to be affectionate, or at the very least, respectful towards him when she is usually very distant. You could tell they totally depended on each other and it was an important partnership. I was very, very touched when she scooped him up and put him in the seat when they were approaching their final day together. It’s such a powerful thing to see how far Tony has come, through the lens of Nebula showing such compassion for him even in such a short amount of time. I love how the Russos are so good at conveying thoughts and emotions and story without saying it outright. It’s an amazing skill in filmmaking.
-Tony’s arrival back to earth, and his confrontation with the Avengers. Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow. My fucking feelings, y’all. Christ. I mean, the Russos already know how to gut-punch you and then kick you when you’re down, but Tony’s complete and utter break down still hurts like a mother. It’s just so raw and emotional, and it should be that way after a loss on this kind of scale. What really tipped me over into choking down frustrated tears was that Tony just looks at Cap desperately when he stumbles off that ship and says in this broken voice, “I lost the kid.” He can’t even bear to say Peter Parker’s name. The shame and loss and guilt is too much for him to say his little Spider Son’s name. Oh, fuck you, Russo brothers.
And then the team being in utter shambles over losing to Thanos, all of them just barely holding it together, and then Tony just shatters. He’s home and he’s with family, but he can’t get over this kind of failure. What really tears it is him going after Steve so viciously, and it’s so complex. He’s angry at himself, and he chooses to direct that anger at Cap because we all know Tony took it as a personal loss, as all of them did, that he couldn’t stop Thanos even though he literally gave it everything. He gave every last bit, every last drop, of effort, and he couldn’t stop Thanos. It just hurts. And the resentment that was already between Cap and Tony after Civil War is still clearly there, so the entire scene is just like being dragged naked over broken glass. RDJ and Evans’ acting here is some of the best of the entire series in this scene. It sets the stage and reminds us of the stakes amazingly well.
-Tony’s post Snap life, and his interactions with his family. All of us Tony stans called it that Tony would be a phenomenal father. He’s already shown us that he can be the right amount of strict and caring, and everything with Morgan is exactly what I dreamt it would be. I could rewatch the scenes with Tony and Morgan a thousand times. People can shit on Tony all they want and I will never listen to them, because it’s so apparent how much and how deeply he cares in scenes like this. Where he confronts Pepper after he figures out the time heist equation. Years ago, Tony may have lied to her or made a decision without consulting her, but Tony has grown as a person and he approaches his wife with one of the most important things he will ever do in his life and he asks for her opinion before he does anything. It’s such a good comparison to how he used to be. Tony’s heart is so huge in this whole sequence. It’s such a good representation of his internal battle between doing what is right for everyone and doing what is right for him.
-Tony and Cap’s reconciliation. Oh, my heart. I love how Tony approaches it in such a Tony sort of way, forgiving Cap and agreeing to move past their resentment for what happened in Civil War. I like that it was done in a brisk sort of way, and that a lot of the power in the scene comes from RDJ and Evans’ facial expressions. Really, these two act off of each other so well that part of why we’re all crying so hard about this movie is the horrible knowledge that we don’t get to see them act opposite each other in this context. I pray they stay friends in real life, and I would love to see them reunited on screen someday. It’s such a great relationship and it’s at the core of why this is such a great film series.
-The New York heist. Oh God. I can’t wait for them to tell us if the comment about Cap’s ass was in the script or if it was an improvised line by RDJ or Paul Rudd. It is by far one of the funniest things ever to happen in the MCU. Dear God, I was howling. The best part is that during the premiere we were all laughing so hard that I missed Cap’s initial reply, which was, “No one’s asking you to look, Tony.” Christ, I can’t deal. I know it’s straight up Stony pandering but I don’t give a fuck, it was hilarious. And it’s a very meta joke since Chris Evans’ gorgeous, flawless body is a meme thanks to his Dorito proportions (if you haven’t seen that yet, oh god, please look it up) and the fact that he has an absolutely phenomenal ass, especially for a white guy from Boston. Anyway, Tony and Scott’s whole interaction was perfect, and I loved how the scene went and how it led into the next one.
-The army base heist. Tony running into his father was such a good twist. I absolutely did not see that coming, but it was a really welcome conversation to give Tony closure. He’s felt so guilty for how he left things with them, and it was so touching to see him get a second chance at it, even if Howard was none the wiser. I really hadn’t expected anything like that, but it worked well with Tony’s arc and I thought it was very sweet.
-Tony’s reaction to seeing his baby boy, his little Spider Son, running up to him. My God. This was everything. I am a hardcore supporter of the Iron Dad and Spider Son dynamic, and this was the reunion I so sorely needed after the sick, demented, painful scene that was the final moments in Infinity War. Like the rest of you, the level of trauma that hit me when Peter Parker died is just…hell, infinite. The pain was just infinite. I both love and hate Tom Holland and RDJ for doing that shit to us. I did not know I could cry that hard about a fictional character, but I openly wept to the point of sobbing when Peter Parker died in IW, and to see him back in this scene was so wonderful. In my second viewing, the audience actually clapped when Peter swung through the portal, and that was quite sweet for me to experience. But back to the point: once again, I have to simply compliment RDJ’s acting. This is why we love him so much. It’s not even about the big, loud moments. His acting is so precise that the flurry of emotional expressions that Tony went through when his tiny son helped him up and started excitedly babbling to him about being dead, of all things, and then Tony just doesn’t even interrupt him, he just walks forward and pulls that little boy into his arms and holds him tightly in a hug and it’s just…wow. This is some spectacular acting on both their parts, and it heals a really wounded part of my heart, even though the next scene I talk about just breaks it all over again. Plus, at the time I wrote this review, the Spider-Man: Far From Home full trailer just dropped and (SPOILER ALERT) the opening scene is Peter Parker and Happy mourning Tony and I just feel like someone hammered a stake into my chest. This scene is so fantastic. It’s just another reminder of how damn much Tony Stark cares about the people around him and that he has an actual family now, and that’s why the next scene is possibly the saddest one of all.
-Tony’s death. Like Loki’s untimely demise, I knew this was coming from years and years of being a writer. Based on the track for his character arc and because RDJ announced this is his final official performance as the character, I knew Tony was going to die. There was no way around it. His determination to save everyone and correct the wrong done to the universe by Thanos would drive him past his limits and cause him to sacrifice it all. It’s just…man. I wish it had ended differently for him. Anyone who follows me on Tumblr knows that I tag all Iron Man posts with “we stan Tony Stark in this house” and that is how I feel. While Tony is not my favorite Avenger, I will stand up for him all day, err day. Tony Stark is the epitome of the human spirit, and in a different way than Cap, if you ask me. Tony is all of the dark and seedy parts, but also the defiance and the self-deprecation and the obsession and the power of the human spirit. He has so many vices and yet so many virtues. He cares to a fault. He blames himself to a fault. He has come so far after that brutal conversation in Avengers when Cap accuses him of not being the man to lay down on the razor wire and let the other guy crawl over you. He made the ultimate sacrifice play. As much as I reject the idea, we all knew it had to be him. It had to be. Because at the end of the day, Tony’s need to make his family safe was more precious to him than his own life. He gave up a future with his loved ones to make sure Thanos could never hurt them again. And all of it was capped off with a line that will probably haunt me forever, of Pepper’s soft, forgiving goodbye, “You can rest.”
-Tony’s farewell message to his family. Want to know something crazy? I cried so hard at the premiere. So hard. I was almost dry heaving with how hard I cried at Tony’s funeral. But then I had a week of time and I saw it again this past Sunday. I was choked up during his death but I didn’t shed actual tears this time until “I love you 3000.” Somehow, it didn’t hit me until the second time how they filmed Tony’s goodbye to us. They shot it in such a way that as he leans down to turn off the recording, he’s actually looking at us. Not directly into the camera, but so close to it that it finally hit me that this was RDJ’s goodbye and thank you to the fans. It was so touching and sincere that I finally broke down and actually cried again. What truly hurts is knowing that his loved ones have to be without him, and even though his sacrifice means everything, he is going to leave behind such a void. Even with his problems and his flaws, Tony was a damn good man and he was the right choice to begin this epic series. I can’t express how much I am going to miss him and how much I am going to miss RDJ in this shared universe. He’s so charismatic and wonderful and complex. It was not only a comeback for Tony Stark, but a comeback for a very troubled man, and it’s come full circle that Tony had a loving family just as RDJ has a loving family after his checkered past. To be honest, I’m likely going to do as I did for Loki and have a cutoff point in my brain for the MCU, where I don’t accept what happened because it’s too painful. I just pretend that nothing happened after that hug with Peter Parker and they all won the day and no one died. That’s just how it’s gotta be for me to survive a post Endgame world.
Thank you, Tony. You gave everything. I love you now and always.
Thor
-Thor executing Thanos. Standing. Fucking. Ovation. Right, so, I know that Thor probably should not have outright killed Thanos before they had more information, but at the same time, there was nothing more to get out of that son of a bitch and I clapped when Thor swung Stormbreaker and lopped that mo’fo’s head clean off, and I flipped off Thanos’ corpse with both fingers. Good boy. He told you he’d kill you, and he killed you, you sorry bastard. A+++
-Thor’s depression and weight gain. Alright. *rolls up sleeves* Time to make some enemies. I think Fat!Thor is a great idea, but the execution could have been done better. I recognize writing tricks when I see them, and Fat!Thor seems to be two ideas in one, and one of them is what is bothering the semi-reasonable part of the fandom. What I’ll do is explain my take on both parts of the overall idea.
(1) Thor’s depression at his failure (at the time) to reverse the Snap and save everyone is 100% accurate, in character, and is damn good writing. Thor has never actually full-on failed at anything in his life. The closest he has come is between being cast out in the first Thor movie for being irrational and cruel, and in Ragnarok where he had to let Surtur destroy Asgard in order to save his people. Even then, Thor lost battles, not the overall war. Therefore, Thor does not understand how to process failure. Yes, he also failed to save his mother, but at the same time, it’s not a failure on this level. He lost Frigga, Loki, the Warriors Three, and Heimdall, but this was literally trillions of lives that he feels were weighed on his shoulders, and his shoulders alone, even though as Rocket pointed out, losing the war was the fault of a LOT of people, not just Thor (and not Starlord either, you bunch of whiny hypocrites in the fandom, ugh). So becoming an alcoholic and giving up on his life as a hero is definitely how Thor would handle things. Think about it. He no longer has any guidance from his family, or his best friend, since they died. All he has is his Avengers family and Valkyrie. I’m sure the Avengers tried to talk him out of it to no avail, and that’s a really sad thing to know, that they couldn’t get him out of his depression spiral, so they let him wallow in it. As for Valkyrie, she’s still just barely recovered from her own trauma, and I am sure she probably tried to snap him out of it too, but he was too stubborn to listen. What I like about this point for his character is that Thor is right—he has always been expected to be “worthy” and to be the savior. Thor is the big gun on the team alongside the Hulk. He has always been the bravest, the noblest, and the most powerful person on the team, and he is expected as a king to win the day every time. But he lost. And he can’t reconcile it since he has always triumphed in the end. So it’s very understandable for him to lose control and just want to have nothing to do with the hero business, because if you fail once, you can fail again, and he couldn’t bear the thought of failing again, not after it cost him literally everything.
(2) Fat!Thor was an easy source of cheap laughs to keep the mood from getting too dark considering the subject matter handled in this movie. I am of two minds about this issue. On the one hand, I can see why certain people feel that this is fat shaming. It is. But the problem stems from the fact that the fat shaming is still a large part of American culture, and people have not broken the bad habit yet, and so it gets shifted into the easy laughs category. The easy laughs are for the Average Joe viewer. It’s for people who aren’t as conscious of how it sounds to mock him for his weight gain who are just used to “ha ha, fat person jokes.” Some fans felt uncomfortable that he was the butt of a few jokes because a lot of us who suffer from depression know that this is in fact a side effect. When you’re depressed, it’s easy to stress eat and overeat, and you lean heavily towards comfort foods that cause you to gain weight, and your depression makes you tired, so you also don’t exercise and that’s how you can end up overweight. On the other hand, while I agree with these folks about not liking the fat jokes, I also think it was necessary to show a character we all admire falling into the same pitfalls that we as mere Midgardians deal with on a daily basis. I don’t like the jokes, but I do like Fat!Thor’s inclusion in this story because people need to realize what depression does to a person. It shouldn’t have been handled this way, but from a strictly observer perspective, I understand why they went for the low hanging fruit. People needed to laugh since Endgame has very, very dark elements to it. I would have preferred they approach his weight gain in a more dignified fashion, but not every part of this movie was written for me and I sadly have to accept it. That’s my feelings on it.
-Thor’s encounter with Frigga on Asgard. I. FREAKING. LOVE. THIS. I did not see it coming, and I love it with every fiber of my being. This is such a heartwarming scene. I want to rewatch it a thousand times. I love Frigga immediately knowing what’s up (she’s not stupid and of course she noticed and it’s everything to me) and I love that she can clearly see how distraught her beautiful son has become. I love Thor having a panic attack, because that’s extremely realistic after he’s gone so long not having done any hero work, per se, and having to face his previous failed relationship with Jane, and with facing the day his mother died again. It’s really compelling writing. Frigga’s gentle reassurance is exactly what he needed, and it’s exactly what we needed to see him go through. He had to let go of the expectations piled upon him and accept himself for who he is, not who he needs to be as a warrior king and an Avenger. While I do wish they had gone on to show us a little more of who he considers himself to be instead of who he is supposed to be, I am really excited to hear Chris Hemsworth is one of the Avengers who has chosen to stay past the end of Phase Three. He’s young and funny and vibrant and I think Thor is his best role of his career anyhow (no offense meant, Hems, if you ever read this, you handsome golden retriever, you). I think exploring Thor’s personal goals and future will be very interesting.
-Thor’s reaction to Natasha’s death. This is a very small moment, but I actually like it a lot. I like that Thor’s optimism here is a form of denial. I like it because there are certain Avengers who despite the 11 year saga have not interacted with each other much, and Thor and Nat are probably my leading example. When it hit him that they couldn’t use the time stone to bring her back, the loss and devastation on his face almost made up for the fact that Thor and Nat have almost no lines with each other in the film series. I like it because it hurts and because it shows that she does matter to him, even though they don’t interact. It’s a nice detail to include since I was often a little sad I never got to see these two have dialogues. I personally have even written a bit of fanfiction about what their relationship could have been like, and I think it could have been sort of brother-sisterly. It’s a shame we won’t get to see it, but I like that it is given attention here at last.
-Thor wanting to undo the Snap. Yes. This is a very good character beat for him. Again, I agree it’s annoying he ends up getting another fat joke thrown at him (nice work, Rhodey, sheesh, it’s not like the poor guy was traumatized or anything), I like that Tony talks him down. I like that Tony doesn’t think he can’t do it, he’s worried that Thor is in so much pain that he shouldn’t try to make such a rash decision that could cost him his life. Tony seemed dismissive, but I think he was trying to protect his friend more than anything else. I think Tony also knew that it would be rough if Thor either died or became permanently crippled by undoing the Snap. Being able to fight is extremely important to Thor, even with his depression, because Thor is essentially a space Viking. It shows that Tony is aware that Thor’s not just bumbling around as a chubby drunk, but he’s legitimately in pain and he needs to take things slower.
-Thor giving Valkyrie the throne. First off, I need to sling salt at the freaking part of the Thorkyrie fandom that is somehow complaining about this scene. Are you kidding me? What movie did you watch? This is the ultimate freaking Thorkyrie scene, you bunch of whiny nincompoops! Thor literally gave Valkyrie the throne because she is so smart, powerful, and kind that he trusted her to take care of the people he loves with all his heart. The amount of trust and respect that is in this scene makes me want to just squeal for hours. I can’t handle how affectionate and reverent Thor is as he gives Valkyrie the throne. I love the long gaze they share. I love the handshake. I love that Val asks when she’ll see him again. I love that Thor has faith in her and how she will lead his people. Anyone bitching that this is an anti-Thorkyrie scene did not see the same movie we did, and you can all piss off. I love this scene to my core. I love seeing Valkyrie being assured to be a relevant part of Thor’s story and that it likely means Tessa Thompson is going to join us again for either Thor 4 or Guardians of the Galaxy 3. I am a giant freaking fan of her character and I can’t scream “SIGN ME THE FUCK UP” loud enough for her to be in future films with him, and with the MCU in general. I hope she signed a three movie deal or more. That would be amazing. But anyway, my point is, this scene is fantastic and I will be rewinding it a lot when this movie gets to DVD. Nothing makes me happier than Thor shooting heart-eyes at Val, and he was shooting them so hard in this scene that he even took his sunglasses off. God bless this scene.
-Asgardians of the Galaxy. I DON’T KNOW WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN WITH THIS BUT I LOVE IT WITH MY ENTIRE FUCKING SOUL YOU GUYS. Everything about Thor hanging out with the Guardians makes me so incredibly happy. I can’t wait for shenanigans. I would assume the plot of the next one is finding Gamora and bringing her home and re-teaching her about her family and falling in love with Quill again, but who knows what wackiness awaits us? I can’t deal with Thor being a little shit to Quill. I could see his Hemsworth peeking through, and I am here for it. Half the reason we all love Thor as much as we do is that Taika was one of the first people to suggest letting Hems be more like himself, and Chris Hemsworth is basically a giant, hilarious puppy, and it really made Thor more fun and likable. Don’t get me wrong—I loved my noble prince, but he was still a big golden retriever even when he was more Shakespearean and all they truly did was dial it up to be a bigger part of his personality.
Really, I like what Thor went through in Endgame and how it connects with lots of elements in previous movies. While parts could have been done better, I thought it was fantastic and it shook things up in a way that should be quite intriguing for his future appearances. Of everyone, Thor is the character I am most excited to learn about continuing to be in the MCU.
Natasha
-Natasha taking a leadership role in the Post Snap years, and her conversation with Steve. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a die-hard Captasha shipper, but more than that, I think the friendship and love (platonic or otherwise) between Nat and Steve is by far one of the best relationships in the Avengers saga. I love how it began, how it developed, and where it is when we watch this scene of them together. I love how soft and gentle Steve is with her, and yet he teases her in this subtle way that’s almost like a verbal hug. Steve is just so compassionate and conscious of her emotional needs, the same as how she has been with him. I think this is such a precious relationship and it’s vital to both of them that they have someone to confide in when times are hard. It’s possibly even more beautiful because they aren’t canonically together as a couple; they’re just two friends who have bonded and been partners ever since The Winter Soldier, and they without a doubt love each other. (Side note: and I am not alone in this because Chris Evans even ships it, and that makes me so very pleased.) I gobble up all Captasha scenes, honestly, because it’s so well written and it’s come a long way from the first time they met in Avengers. But to get a little more in depth, Nat’s brief breakdown about Clint is really something else. Seeing her struggle with the idea that the man she loves (again, platonically) has become a monster, and struggling with the idea that she should move on but she can’t because she’s lost her family, is really damn hard to watch, but it’s necessary. It’s a really good reflection of the level of loss and trauma and pain our poor Avengers have had to deal with since the Snap. It’s an excellent scene.
-Nat going after Clint to bring him home once they figure out that the time heist is at least possible. Ow. This is another scene that is a big kick in the nuts. “Don’t. Don’t give me hope.” “I’m sorry I couldn’t give it to you sooner.” Bury me, this is such a good, quiet little scene for her. I really like their friendship and their bond. When Nat mentions family in the previous scene, this is what she’s talking about, and I love how Endgame might be the first film to openly acknowledge that the Avengers are family to each other. And what I like is that this series has earned that. Nothing makes me angrier than when people drop the F-bomb where it is NOT deserved. (*side eyes Suicide Squad and Deadpool 2*) The Avengers have fought and bled for each other, have supported each other, and have loved each other through hell and back, and they ARE a family. Bringing Clint home was a big deal to her, facing her fears of what he’s become, but seeing that he is still somewhat the man she knows and loves because he does return to the fold in the end.
-Natasha’s death. Hoo boy. Okay, so like Tony and Loki, I might just stick this in my Denial category. I was hit with a huge wave of “oh no, please no” when I found out Clint and Nat would be the ones going to retrieve the Soul Stone, because of course it had to be them. However, it was thematically the right choice for it to be Clint and Nat, since I personally think the only other combination it could have been was Steve and Tony or Steve and Nat in terms of “give up that which you love” that the Red Skull illuminated is the price for the stone. I think all the team members genuinely care for each other, but if I wanted to use the word love, yes, I’d say it comes down to members of the team who truly love one another, it’s Tony and Steve, Clint and Nat, and Nat and Steve. So I am in a very weird place about Nat’s death in this movie.
First off, I love how it was handled because it couldn’t have gone any other way. Of course both of them wanted to jump on this grenade for each other. Of course they both think they are the unworthy one who should die for the other person they love. Of course they fought over it.
Here's the thing, though: from a writing standpoint, it did need to be Natasha.
And before we go further, let’s address the elephant in the room fandom-wise: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, YOU MORONS, THIS IS NOT THE ‘STUFFED IN THE FRIDGE’ TROPE. God, I hate you sometimes, MCU fandom. I knew as soon as she sacrificed herself that all the fake feminists would run into the streets and climb onto their soapboxes and try to call the Fridge trope. Shut up. It’s not a Fridge.
For those not familiar with the trope, Stuffed in the Fridge is when a typically female character is unceremoniously killed off for usually one of two reasons (1) to cause a male character to angst (2) to further or advance a male agenda somehow.
Natasha’s sacrifice is neither of these things.
First off, it was her choice. Clint made it completely clear that he loves her and he did not want her to die for him. One of the primary problems with the Fridge trope is it robs the woman of her choice, and Nat is the one who decided that she would be the one to die for the Soul Stone. Calling this a Fridge is a blatant, insulting erasure of her motivation as a character.
Second off, Nat’s death is a sacrifice that wins a war. It’s not pointless, and it’s not just for angst, and it’s not just for a male character to get ahead in the story. She literally saves trillions of lives by trading her soul for the stone. Trillions. Yes, the team is devastated, but her death is not simply there to make you shed tears and nothing else. She saved them all. So don’t you dare try to pin this dumb trope on her, because it’s not accurate or correct.
Third off, this completes Natasha’s character arc. We’re introduced to the beginning of her arc in the iconic scene of The Avengers where she tricks Loki into revealing his scheme, but it turns out that while she does succeed, we find out what motivates her, and that Loki’s cruelty did affect her in the end. Clint was sent to kill her, but he shows compassion and instead recruits her. Clint gives her a second chance. And Nat, in sacrificing herself for the Soul Stone, gives Clint a second chance. It’s come full circle. One of my all-time favorite lines in this entire film series is hers, “I got red in my ledger; I’d like to wipe it out.” That. Is. A. Fucking. Great. Line. And this is the pay off and the completion of Nat’s character arc. She’s done horrible things and they have been chains on her soul and she felt that she needed to repay her debt in this way, and in a way that would save so many innocent lives. I will not have these people running around discounting that and acting like she is some victim. Natasha Romanov is not a fucking victim. Natasha Romanov died a hero. She is one of my favorite Avengers and I cried so hard at her loss, but I acknowledge that she did a brave, selfless thing for everyone she loved, and she will be remembered for that always.
Now. That being said…if you want to complain about a female character dying in a majority male story, yes, go right ahead. That is a legitimate complaint. It sucks that Nat died when most of the team is male. I will heartily concur with this criticism and offer no counterargument. It sucks. Period. I hate that she dies in the first act because I really love her fighting style and I wanted to see her kick more ass in the final battle because she’s amazing to watch. So yes, that’s a point I do take off from this movie.
In the end, I’m sort of straddling the fence for losing Nat, as I am with Tony, but I think a lot of people feel the same way. It is great writing, but the loss is so painful that I might not accept it totally.
Thank you for your bravery, Nat. Seriously, you’re one of my favorite female leads and you’ll be sorely missed. I can only hope the Black Widow movie helps me deal with the pain of losing you.
Steve
-Steve quietly taking all of Tony’s trauma-fueled ranting. This is so important. Chris Evans is so fantastic at acting in general, but all of his expressions as Tony lays into him are so underrated, man. He knows that Tony has reached a breaking point, and so he offers no vitriol in return. It’s a huge contrast to the scene in Civil War where the two of them argue. Steve is by no means a timid man. He recognizes that Tony is in such pain, as are all of them, and he just takes that rage because he knows it’s just how Tony chose to process everything because he can’t come to terms with it. We know he blames himself for being unable to stop Thanos, same as all of them do, and it’s such a testament to what a good man Steve is that he doesn’t fire back at Tony, and he is deeply concerned for him instead. Especially when Tony throws it back in his face that they’d lose together, and that’s what hurts the most during this scene. Tony was alone when he lost. Nebula was the only survivor, and she was a complete stranger to him until they repaired the Milano and tried to get back to civilization. I think Tony would still be angry and traumatized, but he’s always been able to look to his team members for ideas or comfort or just companionship in hard times. He nearly died, and that left a mark on him that ran so deep he just couldn’t stop spitting vitriol at possibly one of his closest friends, and it’s also important that they hadn’t spoken since the end of Civil War, so all of that anger and resentment is also tangled up inside them both. What a scene, man. What a scene.
-Steve mentoring people in the Post Snap years. This has a couple of really great things as a scene, honestly. First off, I love that even with Steve being heartbroken and refusing to move on, he still knows it is important to help others. Second off, I love that it’s almost implied that this is in honor of Sam Wilson, who did the same thing for soldiers who returned home from war struggling with PTSD. I really, really love Steve Rogers with all my heart for this scene. Even though he’s broken down and just as devastated as everyone else, he is still out there trying to help others. That is who he is at his core. Steve is the man who cannot stand by and let other people suffer. He won’t do it. It doesn’t matter what it costs him. He will defend and protect and nurture, always. By God, I love that about him.
-Steve’s quiet reconciliation with Tony. We discussed this above, but I love that Steve says so few words here and lets Tony do all the talking. There’s an almost silent “I’m sorry and I love you and I want you to be happy” in this scene together. Tony bringing back the shield just…my feelings…oh God, my feelings.
-Steve’s miniature speech before they head into the Quantum Realm. I love that even Rocket is impressed.
-Steve’s reaction to Nat’s death. Fuck. Me. Up. This hurt so badly. I can’t. I can’t with how Steve looks at Clint and Clint just looks back at him, and you can almost hear him telepathically saying, “Steve, we lost her.” Like I said before, Steve and Clint without a doubt love Natasha. Yes, Bruce does to some degree, but it’s not the same (sorry, y’all, I think BruceNat was trash and I will never accept it because it was forced and awkward and made no sense to me) as the deep vein of friendship and love she had with both men. It killed me when they were out on the dock and Steve was openly crying for her. We saw Steve crying in the trailer but we didn’t know this was the context. Oh, this hurts me. Steve loved her with all his heart. She was his best friend, same as Sam and Bucky were, and to lose her with no chance of ever getting her back is a terrible, terrible loss. Boy, this scene was rough to endure. I can only imagine how he must have felt having to let her go after he’s lost so many people he loved. Poor Steve.
-The entire New York heist. Oh God. I’m just in heaven over how Steve handled things, everything from the intentional recreation of the iconic elevator scene in The Winter Soldier to the insidious “Hail Hydra” (*makes strangulation hands in the direction of the Russo brothers because they KNOW most of the fandom hates Hydra Cap from the comics and so of course they put that in there just to screw with us*) to the smug smirk on Cap’s face as he walked away with scepter to Cap laying the beatdown on himself to Cap acknowledging his sweet, sweet, round, perfectly firm ass. (Seriously, Chris Evans, if you ever read this, marry me, we already met and hugged each other, we could make this work.) Yes. Special props to Cap vs. Cap’s interactions. It was just…everything.
-Steve wielding Mjolnir. Jesus. Fucking. Christ. So everyone’s already raved about this scene, but I don’t care, I have to rave about it too. Good gravy. Good God. This scene is everything. Honestly, it is easily one of the greatest things ever conceived not only by the MCU, but in action movies period. This can stand toe to toe with some of the best beatdowns in all of cinema. It’s just…where do you even start with how good this fucking scene is?! I mean, every second of it is just glorious. Whether it was the Russos or Evans or the script writers, whoever I need to thank, THANK YOU. Thank you for gift wrapping this total surprise. Every one of us was wounded that Cap didn’t easily lift Mjolnir in Age of Ultron, but at the same time, I loved the humor of that scene when Mjolnir did actually start to move and Thor totally panicked for a second. It was funny as hell. But for the Russos to fulfill our fantasy in a way that was not only a surprise, but just an absolute joy to watch, I can’t even express my fangirl tears. This scene is better than sex and chocolate and cocaine. It’s flawless. Everything about it is flawless, from Steve summoning the goddamn lightning to Thor’s gleeful “I KNEW IT!” I wish I could frame this scene on my wall in .gif form, and I apologize in advance to all my Tumblr followers, because the second this scene is giffed after the DVD release, I am going to reblog it three billion times. I will never stop reblogging it. This is the height of MCU perfection and it deserves to be known as such.
-Steve facing off with Thanos in his last stand, and actually holding his own. Dude. Steve Rogers is a human man, and he withstood Thanos. I just…I can’t with how awesome it is. He lost in the end, but he beat the shit out of Thanos for a good bit and I just have to give him all the props for that. He did the impossible and survived him. That’s amazing.
-Steve strapping on his broken shield and staring down Thanos and his army. This is peak Steve Rogers right here. “Yeah, you have thousands of soldiers. Yeah, you sheared my shield in half. Yeah, you beat me and my comrades. And I don’t give a single solitary fuck.” This is also an amazing echo to the moment in Infinity War where poor Wanda had to kill Vision, and Cap stood up to Thanos with his goddamn bare hands. Steve standing up after getting the shit kicked out of him is what he is all about. He doesn’t care that he is outnumbered. He doesn’t care that he is outgunned. He is Steve motherfucking Rogers and he is going to stand against evil period. This is top tier stuff, man.
-“Avengers Assemble.” Like everyone else, I jizzed in my pants. Full on. We all had a hunch that they would save it until the final Avengers film with the final appearances of the original team, and it was everything we dreamt it would be.
-Steve catching Stormbreaker as well and then trading it with Thor mid-battle. A tiny but hilariously awesome scene. I’m so glad they included it, and it was another little nod to Steve and Thor always having a small adorable friendship moment in each Avengers movie. Thanks for that, truly.
-Steve passing the mantle over to Sam Wilson. Holy shit. So a lot of us were relatively sure with Chris Evans confirming this as his last full appearance as Captain America that the mantle would go to either Bucky or Sam. My money was on Sam, simply for him still being new blood having entered at Phase 2 in the MCU, and because Sam is a lot more of a dynamic main lead that I think the MCU needs in the role. Anthony Mackie, as any hardcore MCU fans know, is a bundle of fun behind the scenes. He’s really hilarious and charismatic, and I think he’ll bring a lot to the role of the new Captain America. It’s such a touching scene as Steve hands him the shield. I really, really get choked up about how it was handled with such respect and trust and honest to God friendship. “How does it feel?” “Like it’s someone else’s.” “It isn’t.” Wow. What a beautiful scene. I’m a little misty as I type it out. And I do like that there was just this little nod from Bucky, who has been antagonistic to him pretty much all the time but here, he shows his support and it’s kind of just known that he will back Sam up no matter what. I cannot express how much I love this idea and its execution. It was perfect. (By the way, please look up the way Anthony Mackie found out about this before filming. It’s too cute.)
-Steve’s ending. Oh my God. Of possibly everyone on the team who I wanted to have a happy ending, I wanted Steve’s the hardest, even though I love Tony to death and beyond. Thank you, Russo brothers. Thank you for letting this man have his second chance at a life, and that he got to spend it with Peggy. I was already crying from the funeral, but the fact that they decided to end the saga with possibly the sweetest imagery in the MCU is just overwhelming. I loved their little slow dance. I love the tears of joy on Peggy’s cheeks. I love the softness in Steve’s expression as he dances with his lady love. I love the song choice. I love how he just looks down at her and she looks up at him and they kiss to close everything out and say goodbye to us all. What a scene. What an ending. I love it more than anything.
Thank you, Steve. Thank you for being our ray of light and sunshine and guidance all these years.
Nebula
I really did not expect to see an arc for Nebula, but I am delighted that we got it. This was very, very interesting considering what a sadistic murderess Nebula was in the previous films, so fueled by rage, and yet here we see that she is still powerful and effective and yet vulnerable. I enjoyed seeing her growth and getting some amount of closure with Thanos’ demise and saving Gamora as well as the rest of the universe.
Bruce
So here’s the thing: Bruce is probably my least favorite Avenger, next to Clint, but that’s not because anything is wrong with either character—I just find their personalities and abilities the least interesting. Therefore, I’ve heard complaints about Hulk not kicking ass in Infinity War and Endgame, and while they are valid points…I don’t care. I guess the thing is that Hulk has kicked ass in all his previous appearances, and I think it was nice of them to get back to the fact that Bruce is indeed a scientist and there is more to him than just crushing things. He is a very conscience driven character, and I was totally fine with him as a supporting member of the team, and of his brave decision to Un-Snap everyone back to life. I especially liked his sympathetic approach to bring Thor back home. “You helped me.” I fully admit that made my lip quiver, honestly, since Thor was obviously so traumatized and was in a lot of pain, and Bruce was gentle with him. That, to me, is just as important as all the bashing he could have done. Same with his impassioned plea with the Ancient One. Sorry that he didn’t kick ass in these last two movies, but honestly, I felt things were balanced and that it’s important to show he is more than the Hulk.
Clint
As mentioned above, Clint is my least favorite Avenger, but again, not because there is anything wrong with him or that he is written poorly—the others just outweigh him in what I like about them. I have to say opening the film with Clint losing his entire family with no knowledge of what was going on was almost as gut-stabbing as how Infinity War began and ended. It was somehow even more cruel since Clint would not have known what was going on until he called the Avengers. And yes, someone’s pointed out to me that it’s crazy he didn’t know about the war, but I have a headcanon that he just cut everyone off once he decided to retire, and he wouldn’t answer when they called so he wouldn’t be dragged into more shenanigans. I highly doubt the whole team just flat-out didn’t tell him what was going on. There’s a good chance Clint decided not to hear from the team again after Cap busted them out since he risked everything and almost got jailed for life after his decision.
All that being said, I did feel Clint’s loss very hard after Nat sacrificed herself. It was extremely well done on Jeremy Renner’s part and there was never a doubt that he loved her. Their bond has always been very cute and I never shipped them, so I wasn’t disappointed by the reveal of his secret family. I thought it was a nice touch and a surprising turn in the story. I’m glad he got to go home to his family in the end, and I especially liked the touching moment he shared with Wanda after Tony’s funeral.
Loki
Holy shit, y’all.
I did not expect this, and I love it more than anything in the world.
Right, so, I am sadly a fan of Loki’s ever since The Dark World, but at the very least, I am not a rabid fan of the character. He is an absolute fucking trashlord and I acknowledge it while still loving him anyway. I was positively giddy that they invited Tom Hiddleston back to shoot new scenes of Loki rather than simply using the old Avengers footage. And I definitely didn’t expect Tony, Cap, and Scott to screw up and Loki gets the Tesseract and vanishes. This is amazing. I can’t wait for the Loki mini-series on Disney Plus, and I assume this is what it’s going to be about. I’m really excited to see what kind of shit he gets himself into, and I loved the little bits we got of him mocking Cap even though they all just kicked his ass, and I loved him rolling his eyes in the background during the heist, and being the only one who knew something fishy was going on. Love, love, love it to pieces. Thank you for giving me more of my stupid trashlord, Endgame. You rock.
Scott
Oh, poor, poor Scott. Not only did he awaken to find his new family gone, but he lost five years of time with his daughter. Ouch. I really have to commend Paul Rudd for the reunion scene with his daughter. The shock and pain mixed in with the gratitude that she survived the Snap was so palpable. I’ve never really considered him much more than an easy going comedic actor, but he did a great job here. Kudos.
Gamora
I am really, really deeply hurt that this means our Gamora, the one we came to know and grow with, is truly gone. Like many fans, I had hoped she was somehow inside the Soul Stone and they could bust her out, but like Nat, it appears that we did truly lose her. I’m not okay. I feel so bad for Quill, who wooed her with so many great moments, and now he’s lost her again. He’ll have to try to make her fall in love with him again, and it hurts me because the sequence of events from the first two Guardians movies are how they fell in love, and it’ll be so much harder to make her understand what they meant to each other and what they had with one another as well as their little stitched together family. Damn it all. This might be one of the biggest underrated losses of all for me. Gamora is my favorite Guardian, period. I adore her, so I am both anticipating and dreading the third Guardians movie as a result.
Carol
Alright, I do have to admit one of my letdowns, even though it’s a total nitpick, is that the trailer gave us Thor and Carol, but the actual movie did not. Oh, why did you lift my hopes up this way?! I really wanted Thor and Carol to bond and have hilarious pissing contests about who is the strongest Avenger, and become battle buddies! However, this might be possible later since we know Hemsworth has agreed to at least one more film, if not more, so fingers crossed he and Carol share screentime. I adored that “I like this one” scene and Thor would play very well off of Carol if you ask me.
That being said, when Carol came back for the final fight…yassss bitch yassss fuck it up! When she came after Thanos, he was fuckin’ shook and I am here for it. I loved that failed headbutt. I want to frame that on a wall. Carol Danvers is not having any of your shit today, you purple Grape Ape punk ass bitch. She laid down the law, and it was glorious. 11/10 good shit of Carol whupping his ass and he had to suckerpunch her just to try to win.
And kudos for the utterly adorable interaction she had with my Spider Son, “H-Hi, I’m Peter Parker.” “Hey, Peter Parker. Got something for me?” *kisses fingertips* This could not have been cuter. Thank you so much, Carol.
Oh, and extra kudos for the Ladies of the MCU smackdown moment. My God. I loved every second of that assault. Please make that into a whole separate team someday and make a movie about it.
Wanda
Standing ovation for Wanda in every respect: her entrance, her powerful line (“I don’t even know who you are.” “You will.”), and the fact that she flat-out almost killed Thanos by her damn self. Wow, wow, wow, my girl. You brought the pain. I miss Vision too, honey, and I’m so sorry we can’t have him back. It’s so unfair that she’s lost her brother and her love within this story, but she still manages to keep going. Wanda is a testament to just how strong women truly are in spite of adversity.
Plot/Story
I know some fans didn’t want it to be as straight-forward as it appeared to be with them going back in time to grab the Stones and undo the Snap, but I was honestly fine with it. The story still managed to genuinely surprise me, especially with the development that the two Nebulas are what caused Thanos to find out what was going on. Holy shit, that was very creative and a great way to let her be a central character considering the trauma she has been through and overcome. I thought the pacing was excellent, and I will have to sit down and think it through but I don’t feel as if we had unnecessary scenes aside from the diner scene being a little longer than it needed to be. (You could have cut the photo op bit out and no one would miss it, for instance.) Like Infinity War, I felt that all the scenes had a use and showed us something, and the action was magnificent and creative. The Avengers pulling the entirety of the MCU together in the third act is some seriously iconic stuff that I really hope people will take into consideration as a legendary thing no one has ever really done before.
A friend of mine mentioned that you can neatly divide Endgame into three sections of story: build up, heist, and pay off. One of the best things about Endgame, to me, is the pay off. I love how many continuity nods we had and how many threads were tied off in a satisfying manner, from deeply emotional relationships to just sublime action sequences. We have so many films in this series that it’s hard to rank them, but I have to say I really would put Endgame in the top 10 for my preferences. It was a worthy ending to such an amazing set of films, and while I will miss the actors who won’t continue past Phase 3, I am incredibly grateful for their time and talents spent on this franchise. It is in its own category, honestly, with consistent quality in nearly every aspect it attempts. I think it was the perfect mix of solemn but affectionate goodbyes and bright, hopeful new beginnings. I am excited to see what is in store and what new ground we’re gonna break with the future stories.
So thanks for everything, Endgame. I’m glad to have had this era come to such a satisfying close.
See you in the funny papers.
Kyoko
#avengers#avengers endgame#endgame#spoilers#movie review#film review#the avengers#marvel#Marvel Cinematic Universe#mcu#spoiler alert#no really this is 14 pages long#i am so sorry but i had a lot of feelings okay#sorry not sorry
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Captain Marvel 2: What We Want to See
https://ift.tt/2T0QsEE
Carol Danvers has just broken the box office, so when Captain Marvel 2 inevitably happens, here's what we hope to see...
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Delia Harrington
Marvel
Mar 10, 2019
Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel 2
Captain Marvel has quipped, flown, and blasted her way into our hearts, not to mention fantastic box office numbers. If her inclusion in Avengers: Endgame is any indication, we should be seeing a lot more of Captain Marvel in the Marvel Cinematic Universe going forward. And while we don't expect any kind of official announcement about Captain Marvel 2 to get here until after Spider-Man: Far From Home has arrived in theaters, here's some of what we would love to see in a Captain Marvel sequel.
Getting to know her life on Earth
One shortcoming of Captain Marvel is that we got a very limited view of Carol Danvers’ life here on Earth. We only saw her father and brother in brief flashes, and we never even saw her mother.
read more: Complete Guide to Captain Marvel Easter Eggs
Did her brother die, like in the comics? Was her father abusive? Was she denied an education based on her gender? Was that what ultimately drover her to join the US Air Force? All of these are formative experiences that help us feel close to her. It might even be fine if some of these details change, but the longer the vast majority of her back story remains a blank slate, the harder it will be to connect with her.
Friendships with older women
Leading up to Captain Marvel, the identity of Annette Benning’s character was a surprising. Many were hoping she might portray Tracey Burke, a venerated writer Carol hired at Woman magazine in her 1970s comic who returned as an older friend in the 2012 run, or Helen Cobb, a fellow fighter pilot who broke the gender barrier decades before Carol. Both of these relationships were highlights of Carol’s comics and show the importance of multigenerational friendships. As a young, hotshot hero, Carol could stand to learn a lot from groundbreaking women who have come before her in their respective fields.
Expanding Carol’s characterization
An unfortunate side effect of “Vers” not knowing her real identity is that it was harder for us to get to know her. Carol Danvers showed us her sarcasm and confidence in Captain Marvel, as is only right. But much like her friend Tony Stark, underneath all of that brash impulsivity there is a vulnerability. Many of her best story arcs have a deep emotional core that make them pack a bigger punch than her fists alone could deliver.
read more: Stan Lee Captain Marvel Cameo Explained
While Carol is a member of the US armed forces, she has a rebellious streak a mile wide and often disagrees with their methods and/or aims. In all that military promotion of the film the messaging around how poorly Carol was treated in the military and Mar-Vell’s efforts to end the Kree’s genocidal campaign got a bit lost. We got a taste of Carol flouting authority when she deemed necessary, but it would be great to see that better articulated on screen.
Calling her Captain Marvel
In case Carol manages to go another movie without someone actually saying, “Captain Marvel,” out loud, this needs to be handled. In the comics, her good friend/coworker Captain America suggested the title and basically tricked her into it by leaking it to the press.
How will the MCU handle it? There’s something inherently goofy to using the name of the brand in her title, but with the loss of her friend Mar-Vell the writers can keep the idea of honoring her fallen friend without having to worry about her “stealing” Wendy Lawson’s title in-world. Of course there will always be a certain segment of fans who bring up Shazam and the various other Captain Marvels, but I’m more interested in how the MCU will establish Carol’s moniker. Perhaps Cap can do the honors again, as a ceremonial passing of the baton?
Punching a dinosaur
According to screenwriters Nicole Perlman and Geneva Robertson-Dworet, we almost got to see Carol punch a dinosaur in Captain Marvel. It’s understandable why it wasn’t included – that would mean working a dinosaur into the plot and the first movie already had enough to get done. But with a second movie there’s less exposition necessary and more opportunity to swing for the fences with these big, weird, winking showpiece moments.
read more: The Comics History and Origin of Captain Marvel Explained
Other classic Carol Danvers moves that would be great on the big screen include taking on Dr. Minerva (AKA Minn-Erva), fighting a copy of herself (either Mim or herself from another timeline, dealer’s choice), and taking on The Grapplers, a women’s wrestling duo – please hire Alison Brie for this and make Alison Brie Larson an on-screen reality!
A classic team-up
Carol Danvers raised her profile within the Marvel comics world largely by appearing in other people’s comics. She joined the X-Men, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and even led the Avengers. Obviously she’s got the Avengers covered with her upcoming appearance in Avengers: Endgame, but what about the Guardians? Rocket is a particularly frequent flyer and his sense of humor is a good match for hers. Their space-faring ways and the character’s voice-over-only quality makes it easy for a quick appearance. And what about the X-Men? By the time any potential future Captain Marvel 2 comes out, the X-Men license will have reverted back to Marvel, making it possible for Carol Danvers to reunite with the group that many see as responsible for her best character development.
A face off with Rogue/Mystique, or an adventure with Logan
Speaking of which, there are three members of the X-Men universe who Carol has been particularly closely tied to. Mystique first appeared in the pages of Carol Danvers’ titles, and a battle between these two formidable women would be a blast. Rogue, Mystique's adopted daughter, is responsible for one of Carol’s greatest traumas in the form of robbing her of her powers and memories. Carol, in turn, is the reason why Rogue can fly, but Rogue also had to live with the a second set of (particularly disturbing, thanks to Carol’s rough life) memories. That’s certainly a rich history worth mining.
read more: Captain Marvel Post-Credits Scenes Explained
Then there’s Logan, who was a Canadian intelligence officer with Carol back before he became Wolverine…and the two have hinted at sharing something more. Read more about the connection between Captain Marvel and the X-Men here.
Captain Marvel mentoring younger heroes
We got a small taste of Carol’s capacity as a mentor in Captain Marvel when she spent time with Monica Rambeau, but she has some fantastic (and beloved) mentors in the comics world in the form of Kamala Khan and America Chavez. Kamala Khan took on the mantle Ms. Marvel after Carol Danvers vacated it, in honor of a hero she so admired. It would be great to bring two of the more diverse young heroes into the MCU, and two of the most popular ones to boot.
read more: Captain Marvel Comics Reading Order
As Marvel enters its next phase, they need new, younger heroes to carry the brand. Peter Parker’s enthusiasm is infectious and Kamala Khan has a similar fangirl-level love of the OG heroes.
Carol Danvers’ disdain for dating
In the comics, Captain Marvel has been linked with Ant-Man, Wonder Man, Spider Man (less relevant in the MCU context), James Rhodes, and more, but other than Rhodey, she took very few of them seriously. Her friends Jessica Drew and Jessica Jones tried to get her on a superheroes-only dating app, which failed spectacularly. Captain Marvel has rarely had the time or inclination to date, and when she does, she often takes to the sky, her extended time in space ending whatever fledgling relationship was brewing.
read more - The History of Goose, Carol Danvers' Cat
One of the best decisions in Captain Marvel was to preserve all available minutes for Carol’s mission and relationships with people like Maria, Monica, Fury and Mar-vell, rather than wasting it mooning over some guy who would try and steal her show (looking at you, Ant-Man).
The #WomenofMarvel Poker Game
Okay I don’t necessarily need to see the literal card game (although that would be cool) but Carol Danvers has amassed one of the coolest squads in comics history. Monica Rambeau as an adult was a member, of course, her BFF Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman), Jessica Jones, her lawyer Jennifer Walters (She-Hulk), Kamala Khan, America Chavez, and Alpha Flight scientist Wendy Kawasaki have all participated. These women are all talented, funny, and interesting in their own right, and the fact that they kick back, tell jokes, and problem solve each other’s regular and caped lives together brings a grounding element to the story that all women recognize.
read more: Captain Marvel Ending Explained
Lt. Commander Abigail Brand is another woman I’d love to see, as she and Captain Marvel went from professional frenemies to trusted advisors and friends, contradicting many problematic tropes about women’s friendships. Carol is even friends with Inhuman royalty Medusa, and often serves as the bridge between the Avengers/all of humanity and the Inhumans. We get to see the men of Marvel go for falafel or bro out about science – why can’t the women?
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