How Avengers: Endgame Killed the Marvel Cinematic Universe

April 26, 2019. That’s the date Avengers: Endgame was released in theaters. It’s also the date when the Marvel Cinematic Universe began its slow, steady decline.
The culmination of an 11-year journey that began with Iron Man in 2008, Endgame connected plot points through 22 films and was everything Marvel Studios, and rabid fans, had hoped for. But to understand why the film led to the MCU becoming the muddled mess it is today, it’s important to look at the film’s iconic story and what it had that every Marvel production since has sorely lacked.
Avengers: Endgame is a perfect continuation of 2018’s Infinity War, where we witnessed Thor and Hulk getting their asses kicked, a plethora of heroes turned to dust, and a gut-wrenching scene where Peter Parker dies in Tony Stark’s arms that still brings a tear to my eye. An immense sense of loss continues in Endgame, with the first hour of the three-hour film focusing on how painful life is for those who survived the Snap.
Clint Barton is now a homicidal maniac. Natasha Romanoff cries over peanut butter sandwiches. Steve Rogers is leading support groups and Tony Stark has finally recovered, sort of, from the loss of his father/son relationship with Peter Parker by becoming a dad. The situation is bleak.
Endgame gradually evolves from morose to hopeful. After spending 30 seconds figuring out how to use the Quantum Realm to travel through time, Tony Stark and the remaining Avengers plan a time heist to retrieve the Infinity Stones from the past. The middle section of the film has an Ocean’s Eleven vibe but also serves as a sentimental journey through Marvel movie history.
Hey look, there’s Peggy Carter! What’s Red Skull doing on Vormir? I always knew Nebula wasn’t to be trusted. Aww, Tony Stark received fatherly advice from his dead dad.
Marvel fans, myself included, lapped it all up.
The final act is one for the ages. In a climactic battle, Thanos’ massive army takes on every hero the MCU faithful has come to know and love, with each step of the fight perfectly layered to amp up the intensity. If you were in the theater watching Endgame in 2019, you lost your mind when Captain America summoned Mjolnir, cheered like a lunatic when Black Panther and Spider-Man walked through portals, and cried like a baby when Tony Stark made the ultimate sacrifice. Recently rewatching the film was a genuinely moving experience.
Avengers: Endgame is Marvel Studios’ greatest success. It earned $2.8 billion dollars, has a 94% aggregate score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 555 reviews, and is universally loved by Marvel aficionados, who are known to be a demanding bunch.
So what happened?
Although technically not the end of Phase 3 of the MCU (Spider-Man: Far From Home was released three months later), the conclusion of Endgame led to a decline in both box office earnings and critic scores for Marvel Studios. Of 31 total films, the three lowest-rated MCU flicks—Eternals (2021), Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)—were all released within the last two years.