Avengers: Endgame

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Editor's Note: This entry contains spoilers for Avengers: Endgame; read at your own caution.

About

Avengers: Endgame is a 2019 superhero film based on The Avengers franchise in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Released on April 26th, 2019, Endgame is the direct sequel to the 2018 Avengers: Infinity War and the fourth film in the Avengers live-action film series.

History

The fourth Avengers film was announced alongside Avengers: Infinity War on October 28th, 2014 at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California (shown below). The original announcement promised that Infinity War would be a two-part story ^[1] with the first part being released in 2018 and the second part being released in 2019. The following year, it was announced that the two films would be separate stories but the other would pick up where Infinity War left off.^[2]

Production for the film ran from August 10th, 2017 through January 11th, 2018, with additionally photography running from September 6th, 2018 and October 12th, 2018.^[3]

Shortly after additional photography began, the film's directors, the Russo Brothers tweeted ^[4] a photograph of Joe Russo sitting on set. They captioned the photograph, "Look hard." The post received more than 18,000 retweets and 75,000 likes in less than two months (shown below, left).

The following month, on October 12th, they tweeted^[5] an image of blue light and the caption "#wrapped." The post received more than 14,000 retweets and 61,000 likes in less than one month (shown below, right).

Chris Evans Retirement Tweet

On October 4th, 2018, Chris Evans tweeted ^[6] that the fourth Avengers film would be his last. He wrote, "Officially wrapped on Avengers 4. It was an emotional day to say the least. Playing this role over the last 8 years has been an honor. To everyone in front of the camera, behind the camera, and in the audience, thank you for the memories! Eternally grateful." The tweet received more than 126,000 retweets and 500,000 likes in 24 hours.

Leaked Footage

On April 15th, 2019, footage of the film leaked online, in what many who viewed the clip described as a spoiler-heavy event in the film. The following day, a transcript of the clip was posted on the /r/MarvelStudiosSpoilers subreddit by Redditor Tuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurkey.^[9] According to Twitter^[16] user @Nash076 the footage is a cell-phone shot "sizzle reel" of the film's conclusion.

That day, fans on Twitter began posting about their disappointment in having seen the footage their intentions to leave social media until the film's premiere in order to avoid spoilers. Twitter^[10] user @quintabrunson tweeted, "I just saw leaked footage avengers endgame and honestly I’m ruined. Man. That sucked." The post received more than 110 retweets and 1,400 likes in two days (shown below, left).

Twitter user @tha_rami tweeted,^[11] "Apparently Avengers: Endgame spoilers hit the web. Mute all hashtags. Read your timeline with one eye closed. Do not tweet before you've seen the movie. Delete the Twitter app. Shut down DNS. Cut the submarine internet cables. Burn the internet down." Within two days, the tweet received more than 560 retweets and 1,500 likes (shown below, center). Throughout the day, others shared similar sentiments (example below, right).

Several media outlets covered the leak, including CNBC,^[12] The Washington Post,^[13] iO9,^[14] The Daily Dot ^[15] and more.

#DontSpoilTheEndgame

On April 16th, 2019, the directors of Avengers: Endgame, Joe and Anthony Russo, tweeted a letter to "the greatest fans in the world." In the note, they hoped that they would not spoil the film for people who had not seen the leaked footage. They wrote,^[17] "When you see Endgame in the coming weeks, please don't spoil it for others, the same way you wouldn't want it spoiled for you." The post, on Twitter, received more than 94,000 retweets and 202,000 likes in two days (shown below).

Following the post, fans of the franchise pledged not to spoil the film. These also included memes about Endgame spoilers (examples below).

That day, Twitter^[18] published a Moments page on the hashtag.

Entire Film Leak

On April 24th, 2019, hours after Avengers: Endgame premiered in China, and two days before the film's theatrical release, an in-theater recording of the entire film was uploaded to torrent websites (screenshot below). According to TorrentFreak,^[25] "Within minutes of the initial seed appearing, dozens of exclusively China-located users began sharing a 1.2GB torrent of the movie. There are also other variants, around the 2GB mark. We are currently unable to confirm the quality of those releases."

Following the leak, the website Fortune^[26] suggested numerous ways to avoid spoilers, including Browser extensions, muting words on Twitter and staying away from numerous spoiler-heavy subreddits.

Premiere

On April 22nd, 2019, the premiere of Avengers: Engame was held in Hollywood, California. During the event, many made jokes about the film's stars Brie Larson (Captain Marvel) and Scarlett Johansson's (Black Widow) Infinity Stones-inspired jewelry (shown below, left). For example, Twitter^[19] user @timischalamet tweeted an image of Larson with the caption "thanos found dead in a ditch," implying that Larson's character kills Thanos in the film (shown below, center). Within 24 hours, the post received more than 23,000 retweets and 78,000 likes. Throughout the night, others made jokes about the rings (example below, right). That evening, Twitter^[20] published a Moments page about the jewelry.

People also commented on the appearance of Natalie Portman at the premiere. Portman, who had appeared in several Marvel films, including Thor and Thor: The Dark World, said in the past that she was "done" appearing in Marvel films. However, fans reacted positively to her appearance and speculated that she might appear in the film. Following images of her appearing online, people made jokes about her role in the MCU (example below).

Thanos SNL Parody

On April 22nd, 2019, Twitter^[21] @dominicknero posted a series of photoshopped images of parody Saturday Night Live promotional tools featuring Thanos. They wrote, "what would it be like if Thanos hosted Saturday Night Live? this question haunts my every waking moment. since Endgame is out this week, i finally tried to answer that question. heres my spec script, an entire episode of SNL hosted by Thanos. please enjoy." The initial tweet received more than 1,000 retweets and 5,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below, left and right).

Throughout the night, people posted images of the script for the episode (example below).

Several media outlets covered the parody, including ComicBook.com,^[22] Men's Health^[23] and more. Twitter published a Moments page regarding the parody that day.

Fortnite Event

On April 22nd, 2019, the official Fortnite video game Twitter^[24] account teased a crossover event between the video game and the film Avengers: Endgame, which would be released on April 25th. Within 24 hours, the post received more than 36,000 retweets and 170,000 likes (shown below).

Reception

Critical Reception

The film received mostly positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregator MetaCritic,^[27] the film received a score of 78 (based on 53 reviews). The film received a 96% fresh rating (based 310 reviews) on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. ^[28] In their critical consensus, they wrote, "Exciting, entertaining, and emotionally impactful, Avengers: Endgame does whatever it takes to deliver a satisfying finale to Marvel's epic Infinity Saga."

Box Office

Ticket Sales

On April 2nd, 2019, Marvel released a "Special Look" trailer for Avengers: Endgame. At the end of the video, the company announced that tickets for the film were on sale. Within 24 hours, the video received more than 1.6 million views (shown below).

However, the morning the tickets went on sale, many reported that websites and apps for various movie theaters, including the Alamo Drafthouse had crashed.^[7] Other ticket sellers showed wait times of more than an hour (shown below, left). Some reported that the line had "paused," preventing them from purchasing tickets (shown below, center). Twitter ^[8] user @DougWintemberg tweeted an image of a seating chart with the disintegration effect, parodying the end of Avengers: Infinity War. The post received more than 330 retweets and 850 likes in 24 hours (shown below, right).

Twitter user @murdockism posted a Let Me In variation with the caption "me trying to get onto fandago for four hours." The post received more than 460 retweets and 1,300 likes in 24 hours (shown below).

#AvengersEndgameme trying to get onto fandago for four hours: pic.twitter.com/chFiO4rssJ

— laryssa misses matt murdock (@murdockism) April 2, 2019

Box Office Records

The film broke several box office record upon its release. On April 24th, the day of the film's preview screenings, the film grossed more than $60 million in ticket sales, the highest gross from preview screenings in history, breaking the $57 million grossed by Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Within two days, the film had grossed more than $300 million.^[29]

By the end of the opening weekend, Avengers: Endgame had grossed more than $350 million domestic and $1.2 billion worldwide, breaking numerous box office records. These include the largest Friday, opening day and single day gross; the fastest to $350 million; international opening weekend; worldwide opening weekend, biggest weekend overall and more. The film was also the fastest to $1 billion globally.^[31]

Highest-Grossing Film

On July 21st, 2019, Avengers: Endgame box office exceeded $2,789,700,000, overtaking Avatar and making it the hightest-grossing film in history (not adjusted for inflation).^[34] As of July 21st, Avengers: Endgame still remained the fifth highest-grossing film when adjusted for inflation behind Gone With the Wind, Avatar, Titanic and Star Wars.^[35]

On the same day, multiple memes about the film's achievement were posted online on Reddit, Instagram, Twitter and other websites (examples shown below).

Fandom

Cosplay

On the day of the film's release, people began posting images of themselves in cosplay either at the theater or heading to the theater (examples below, left and center). E News tweeted^[30] an image of Kylie Jenner dressed as Captain Marvel. The post received more than 800 retweets and 5,100 likes in 24 hours (shown below, right).

#ThankYouAvengers

Following the release of the film, fans began expressed their appreciation for the series, using the hashtag #ThankYouAvengers (shown below, left and center).

On April 27th, 2019, Captain America actor Chris Evans tweeted,^[32] "Some of these #ThankYouAvengers posts are incredibly touching. I’m feeling a deep sense of gratitude today." Within two days, the post received more than 90,000 retweets and 533,000 likes (shown below, right).

No Context Spoilers

Following the release of the film, those who had seen the movie revitalized the No Context Spoilers meme. These memes shared plot points from the film out of context and using images and media from sources other than the film (examples below).

QR Spoilers

The release of the film, as well as campaigns to not spoil the film's surprises for fans led to a trend of people sharing spoilers via QR Code, a barcode system that when scanned can lead internet users to a website. For example, on April 24th, Twitter^[33] user @alrenzborres tweeted, "a message for y'all, follow: 1. save the qr code 2. follow the arrows." The QR code leads users to a quote from the film (shown below, left).

Over the next several days, people continued to shared QR codes as a means of sharing specific plot points (examples below, center and right).

Following the trend of QR spoilers, people joked about the way Twitter users were sharing spoilers. Twitter user @murdocksmatthew tweeted a video of boy talking with the soundtrack replaced by robotic, mechanical static sounds (shown below).

marvel twitter discussing endgame spoilers in QR code right now pic.twitter.com/Hk11bWJ9te

— maddie | spoilers probably (@murdocksmatthew) April 28, 2019