Scenes were bound to get cut from Avengers: Endgame considering how big the project ended up being, but I still wish that one particular fight sequence had made the cut. Endgame is the longest film that the MCU has ever put out at a runtime of 3 hours and 1 minute, though it was completely understandable considering how big of an event it was. The culmination of the Infinity Saga, Avengers: Endgame marked the end of a major era for the franchise, and it’s no wonder that it received such a big-scale project. 6o292k

After dominating the box office and garnering mostly positive reviews for almost a decade, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was the defining film franchise of the 2010s. It kicked off with the surprise success of Iron Man in 2008, followed by solo films for the Hulk, Thor, and Captain America. These separate projects culminated in 2012's The Avengers, and Marvel Studios cemented itself in cinema history through this ambitious crossover. Over the next 7 years, the MCU would release a combination of solo and team-up films, the majority of which were well-received by fans and earned a tidy sum.

Avengers: Doomsday could pull more than just characters from Endgame, as a new Marvel Cinematic Universe theory showcases how Earth's Mightiest Heroes could have led to the creation of Doctor Doom without knowing about it. The Multiverse Saga will soon have its first Avengers movies, and with no Kang the Conqueror, Victor von Doom's arrival in the franchise has been rushed. Doctor Doom will debut in the first Avengers movie of the saga, which puts a lot of pressure on how Marvel handles the character's backstory and mission.

Looking back at Avengers: Endgame and its significance now, I'm glad the MCU decided to give it its final name instead of going with the title is was originally announced with. The MCU timeline came to its first major conclusion with the events of Avengers: Endgame, which brought the Infinity Saga to an end and concluded the arcs of a vast number of important Marvel characters. Even 6 real-world years after the events of Endgame, it's still affecting events in the MCU, and is still one of the most famous superhero movies of all time.

Avengers: Endgame's entire script was shown to shockingly few people, only making the quality of the film more impressive than it already was. Avengers: Endgame is often considered one of the best-ranked MCU movies, primarily due to how well it ended the Infinity Saga. From Avengers: Endgame's massive final battle to the stronger emotional hook it possesses over most other MCU ventures, the film still holds up to this day as an entertaining, fitting conclusion to Marvel's first three phases.

The finale of Avengers: Endgame likely dooms one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most abhorrent villains to a fate worse than death. The Red Skull, who is Captain America’s primary nemesis in both the comics and the MCU, unexpectedly returned seven years after his Captain America: The First Avenger debut in Avengers: Infinity War. After seemingly being disintegrated by the Tesseract (also the Space Stone in the MCU), Infinity War reveals that Johann Schmidt was actually transported to Vormir and cursed to guard the Soul Stone. With his megalomaniacal goals now impossible, Red Skull simply guides visitors to the Stone.

Avengers: Endgame paved the way for a crucial future MCU plot device, and Chris Evans’ performance was the best example of it working. The culmination of the Infinity Saga introduced the concept of the multiverse, directly setting up the MCU’s next arc, the Multiverse Saga. The multiverse opened up the franchise to brand-new possibilities with alternate timelines and variants. Even if there’s an MCU character that is completely familiar to fans, the studio can still put a new spin on them through a multiversal variant.

Avengers: Endgame may be one of the MCU’s most famous and celebrated movies in the entire repertoire, but its Rotten Tomatoes score is beaten by one other MCU movie - and I think this is a good thing. The fact that Avengers: Endgame remains the MCUs highest-grossing movie this far into a brand-new MCU saga speaks volumes. Without an Avengers movie since then, and with the highest-grossing Multiverse Saga movie being Spider-Man: No Way Home, it seems clear ensemble movies are the MCU’s most bankable - but that doesn’t always mean they are the highest quality.

The Red Skull returned to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. While he is not shown encountering his nemesis, Captain America, again, the Russo Brothers confirmed that the two met once more. Red Skull is one of Marvel’s earliest major supervillains, debuting in Jack Kirby and Joe Simon’s Captain America Comics, though this iteration of the villain was the America defector George Maxon, who would perish in the series’ third issue. The more iconic Johann Schmidt iteration would debut in the seventh issue of Captain America Comics, quickly becoming the nemesis of Steve Rogers.

Avengers: Doomsday will be the next big team-up movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but looking back at the breathtaking success of Avengers: Endgame, and especially the reviews that the movie received, it is hard to imagine Doomsday living up. While Doomsday has put together a cast that sees so many performers from so many different eras of Marvel, it is unclear how well all of these components will fit into the new movie. With such a high bar to reach, it is genuinely difficult to imagine how Doomsday could reach the same heights as Endgame.