13 Things You Never Noticed About The Avengers: Endgame Final Battle
"I am Iron Man." These words echo in every Marvel fan's ears as we watch our beloved hero and the pioneer of the Avengers team, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), sacrifice himself to defeat Thanos (Josh Brolin) and save humanity (and the rest of the universe's living things) in the epic conclusion to the Infinity Saga, "Avengers: Endgame."
This was the moment that a decade of Marvel's films came to a head. Throughout the film, we see heroes like Iron Man, Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson), and Captain America (Chris Evans) all die in epic fashion and leave gaping holes that other Avengers must now fill in their wake. Though the movie feels like an endgame in and of itself, Marvel continues to create more superhero content for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and fans dutifully continue to rewatch the classics as we wait with bated breath for more content.
For Marvel fans who have seen the films and shows many times over, they have likely noticed many details that some of the more casual fans would have missed. Specifically, in scenes where there is a lot of action going on with many different characters in the mix, it can be hard to pick up on all of the nuances present between character choices or script moments altogether.
One such scene is the massive final battle sequence in "Avengers: Endgame," where nearly every character introduced in the MCU comes to help the core Avengers beat Thanos. The scene is chaotic, filled with star power, and ultimately really well-coordinated. One of the reasons that it works so well is because of all the hidden and unnoticed moments that some casual fans might not have picked up on the first time. Here are 13 details you may not have caught in the "Avengers: Endgame" final battle scene, even after rewatching it endlessly.
A-Force teaser
One beat that even one-time watchers will remember is when all of the women in the Avengers team up to help Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) get the Infinity Gauntlet across the battlefield. This scene has become very polarizing among fans because some felt it is inspiring, while others believe it to be pandering. Whether or not you liked the scene, getting to see all of the women in the Avengers team together is reminiscent of something fans of the comics will know well.
In the Marvel comics, there is a distinct line of books called "A-Force." The series follows women of the Avengers like Singularity, She-Hulk, Captain Marvel, Dazzler, Nico Minoru, Medusa, and more, who all team up to combat forces across the multiverse that pose a threat. When all of the women in "Avengers: Endgame" team up, it could be a way Marvel is teasing the A-Force in future films. Captain Marvel and She-Hulk have both already been introduced, so hopefully, some of the other characters will be introduced and able to create a potential "A-Force" show or film. Either way, it could be a great addition to the MCU.
Howard the Duck is fighting, too
At this point, Marvel is famous for the various cameos the films and television shows have to offer eagle-eyed audiences. Most notably, Marvel creator Stan Lee used to show up in each of the films, but it also became a tradition for different characters to show up in end credit scenes and tease other MCU developments. One character that was never directly introduced in the Marvel franchise but has made a couple of cameos in the films is Howard the Duck.
Howard the Duck is from Duckworld, a place where intelligent life formed to be a duck. He has his own set of comics that follow his attempt at a normal life and generally fall under the realm of social satire. He appears in three of the MCU cannon films: "Guardians of the Galaxy," "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2," and "Avengers: Endgame." This is one of the most overlooked parts of "Avengers: Endgame" because you can barely see him in the battle. However, if you look closely, he is there, helping to take Thanos down with the rest of the Avengers. If nothing else, this cameo confirms that Howard the Duck is officially one of the Avengers, whether he gets enough screen time or not.
Thanos pins Thor
One interesting bit of character development to be found amid the events "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame" is how Thor (Chris Hemsworth) changes. In "Avengers: Infinity War," Thor has the opportunity to kill Thanos and save everyone, but instead of going for his throat and cutting off his head, Thor shoves Stormbreaker (his ax) into Thanos' chest plate. As a result, Thanos is able to survive, and tells Thor, "You should have gone for the head." Thor takes this comment to heart and feels like it is solely his fault that the Avengers failed against Thanos. Thor becomes heavily depressed, and it takes a lot of convincing to get him to help in "Avengers: Endgame."
However, the Avengers are able to get Thor back on track, and he brings one of the most unnoticed moments to the ending battle. At the beginning of the battle, Tony, Cap, and Thor are the only three taking on Thanos while the other Avengers are struggling with the aftermath of his attack. Thanos attempts to take out Thor, driving Stormbreaker into his chest plate until Cap is able to wield Mjolnir and save the day. What is key here, though, is that Thanos has the opportunity to kill Thor with Stormbreaker by decapitating him, but just like Thor's mistake in "Avengers: Infinity War," Thanos does not "go for the head." It is an interesting parallel to see Thanos make the same mistake his future self ridicules Thor for in the film prior, but it is poetic justice for Thor and ultimately saves his life.
Wielding Mjolnir
Arguably the most exciting part of the beginning half of the final battle in "Avengers: Endgame" is when Captain America summons and wields Mjolnir. When Tony, Cap, and Thor take on Thanos, Thor is overtaken by Thanos. The audience wonders what will happen because Thor is struggling to wield Mjolnir, and Stormbreaker is currently occupied by Thanos' attack. Only those who are truly worthy of Mjolnir can wield it, so it is no surprise to the audience that Captain America is able to summon the hammer and use it to help free Thor of Thanos' takedown.
Though this is always a huge moment in Captain America's character development — and for the audience's excitement as well — there is an aspect to this worthiness reveal that some fans might not know. Way back in "Avengers: Age of Ultron," the Avengers all attempt to pick up Mjolnir, to no avail. That is until Captain America tries. He grabs the handle, and the hammer slightly budges, which rattles Thor a bit even if no one else seems to notice. The truth of the matter is, Captain America has always been able to wield Mjolnir, even in that scene. However, as Marvel boss Kevin Feige later confirmed in a Reddit AMA, he was just "being polite" in the previous film. This makes the fact that he wields Mjolnir in "Endgame" all the more satisfying.
On your left
There is a part at the beginning of the final battle where it truly seems like the chips are down for the Avengers. Captain America is injured really badly, and though he persists through the pain, it comes down to just him versus Thanos and his entire army. Suddenly, though, he hears a small bit of communication from Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) as he says, "Cap it's Sam, do you hear me? On your left." This line is the start of one of the most iconic scenes in the Avengers franchise, with T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman), Shuri (Letitia Wright), and Okoye (Danai Gurira) coming through one of Doctor Strange's (Benedict Cumberbatch) portals. From there, all of the Avengers who were dusted or simply not in the vicinity at the moment come in to help save the day.
Many casual fans might not recognize the significance of Sam Wilson saying "on your left" at this moment, especially if you have only watched the group "Avengers" movies instead of the individual superhero movies. As longtime fans will remember, though, in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," when Sam and Cap start to grow their friendship, one of the running — no pun intended — gags between them is that Captain America runs circles around him because of the Super Soldier Serum. Every time Cap passes Sam while running, he says, "on your left," which eventually frustrates Sam. The two are able to laugh about it together, and that is why Sam uses it as a signal of help in "Avengers: Endgame."
Peter uses his instant kill
Debatably the youngest Avenger, and undoubtedly the most innocent, is Spider-Man (Tom Holland). He is Tony Stark's adoptive child and the reason Tony invented time travel in the first place to save the rest of humanity. Throughout all of the films, part of Spider-Man's lore is that he does not kill people, but rather injures them to let the justice system handle it. This is why in "Avengers: Endgame," it is shocking to see Peter utilizing his "instant kill" function on his suit to take out members of Thanos' army.
Of course, it is necessary that he does this in order to survive, but Peter's use of instant kill is actually a callback to "Spider-Man: Homecoming," Holland's first solo MCU Spider-Man film. In this, Karen, his suit's assistant, asks him if he wants to activate instant kill. To this, he responds, "No, no, no, no, I don't want to kill anybody," and deactivates the mode. Fans will notice that in "Endgame," Peter requests the instant kill function in order to protect the Infinity Gauntlet, showing how intense the situation is and how necessary it is to protect the gauntlet. Peter understands the difference between taking out Thanos' army versus killing people, so he is able to do what needs to be done for the good of the Avengers.
Introducing himself to no one
Peter's interactions with the other Avengers and with Thanos' army are without a doubt the cutest part of the "Avengers: Endgame" final battle. From trying to introduce himself to the other Avengers to awkwardly yelling through his comms machine for help, Peter is clearly the baby of the Avengers in this scene. However, one scene, in particular, sticks out because it shows Peter meeting one of the most powerful super-beings in the universe: Captain Marvel.
After fighting off Thanos' army, shooting a web onto Mjolnir to fly through the air, and being given a lift by Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) to get through the intense crowd, Peter and the other Avengers momentarily find themselves outnumbered. Then, the shooting turns away from the Avengers and toward the sky where Captain Marvel destroys Thanos' largest ship. Captain America asks her to assist Peter in getting the gauntlet to Ant-Man (Paul Rudd)'s van, and she flies over to a cowering Peter on the battlefield. He introduces himself to Captain Marvel, who responds, "Hey, Peter Parker. You got something for me?" He hands her the gauntlet, and the famous (or infamous) women Avengers team-up takes place.
What is so funny about this scene is not how charming Peter is or how receptive Carol is to his innocence. Instead, the comedy comes from the fact that the two actors in this scene did not even shoot this moment together. Holland and Larson were not on the set at the same time, so they both did the introductory dialogue to no one. Once you know that, though, it's hard not to notice the awkward editing of the exchange.
Charging Tony's suit
At the beginning of the final battle in "Avengers: Endgame," Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor find the responsibility on their shoulders to take on Thanos while waiting for the other Avengers to reach them. When the battle first starts, Thor charges up Stormbreaker with his lightning powers, Tony hits Thanos with a couple of shots that he blocks with his weapon, and Captain America uses brute force to attack him. However, Tony then opens up a huge hole in the back of his suit and requests that Thor hit him with his power. Thor summons as much lightning power as he can and charges Tony's suit with it so he has more power to hit Thanos. It momentarily works, but Thanos' battle strategy takes over.
Some fans might not know that Thor charging up Tony's suit like this is actually a callback to the first time they met in the first "Avengers" film when Thor and Tony are fighting over who gets control of Loki. Tony does not know that Thor is a literal god, so the two start to fight. Thor summons his lightning through Mjolnir and shoots Tony with it. Though Thor expects this to hurt him, Tony's power actually reaches 400% capacity. Tony turns around and uses that power to fight against Thor, quickly knocking him down. Because the two Avengers learn that charging Tony's suit will help in battle, it is a nice callback to see that they plan on a way to do it when the time comes.
War Machine's outfit upgrade
Many fans are familiar with War Machine (Don Cheadle), Iron Man's best friend and fellow superhero. War Machine, more affectionately known as Rhodey, starts off as a superhero in the "Iron Man" solo movies, where Tony gives him one of the other Iron Man suits to wear for battle. Then, fans will remember in "Captain America: Civil War" when Rhodey is accidentally paralyzed from the waist down because of Vision's (Paul Bettany) missed shot. Though Iron Man and the Falcon try to rush to save him in time, it does not work. When this happens, Tony hooks Rhodey up with the best possible physical therapy and gets him a new suit with functioning legs so he can still fight with the Avengers. That is when Rhodey truly turns into War Machine.
In "Avengers: Endgame," fans will see that Rhodey has an upgraded suit for the final battle. When the attack on the Avengers' location explodes most of the area and sends the Avengers to be trapped under debris, Rhodey's War Machine suit is damaged. This is why he has to improvise and wear a new suit — it's still the signature gray but with some red lighting details in the eyes, arms, and chest plate. Not much else is said about this new suit, like where he got it or why he had it on hand, but it helps him fight and makes him look cool, so we cannot really complain.
We're on it, Cap
A large part of why the Avengers are able to defeat Thanos is because of Ant-Man's van and his understanding of the Quantum Realm and time travel. When the chips seem down, Scott is able to point out to the Avengers that his van, with a Quantum Realm tunnel in the back, has not been destroyed and is a viable option to get the gauntlet where it needs to go. Captain America tells Ant-Man to make it to the van as fast as possible, and the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) flies into the frame to say, "We're on it, Cap." The two lovebugs — pun intended this time — share a glance and head into battle.
"Ant-Man" solo movie fans will recognize this throwaway line as a callback to the "Ant-Man and the Wasp" film, where Scott and Hope get into an argument about why Scott had to go to Germany in "Captain America: Civil War" to help Captain America. He tells Hope that his friends call him "Cap," to which she makes fun of him. That's why in "Avengers: Endgame," it is so cute that Hope is so excited to see Scott and help save the day that she uses the nickname, and shares a knowing glance about it with Scott. Needless to say, the couple is able to get the van up and running and plays a crucial part in saving the day.
Cap's broken shield
At the beginning of the battle, when Thanos is just facing Tony, Cap, and Thor, they each get taken out one by one. Tony is knocked out on accident by Mjolnir, Thor is knocked out by Thanos' brute force, and Captain America is taken down after Thanos breaks his shield and severely injures him. One of the most powerful moments in this scene comes from Captain America's persistence. Even though he is injured and does not feel like he can fight anymore, he still stands up and gears up to fight Thanos alone, because he is not expecting any backup.
But everyone knows that Cap "can do this all day." What is special about this scene is the imagery of Cap on the ground laying next to his broken shield, as it has a couple of references. First, Marvel comic fans will recognize the imagery of Cap's broken nature with his broken shield to match several different comic books. Cap can always get a new shield in the MCU thanks to vibranium and his relationship with the Starks, but the imagery is particularly haunting for fans of the persistent hero.
However, the bigger reference here comes from "Avengers: Age of Ultron." When Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) is putting visions into the Avengers' heads, she puts the vision in Tony's head of all the Avengers lying dead and Thanos prevailing. Cap's shield lies next to him, broken, and Cap lays the same way he does in the actual scene from "Endgame." The imagery in "Endgame" is a clear reference to Tony's nightmarish vision.
One
The probability that the Avengers will win the battle in "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame" is extremely slim. In "Infinity War," Dr. Strange uses the time stone to examine the possible outcomes of the war with Thanos. He goes through 14,000,605 different possibilities, and out of all of those determines that there is only one scenario in which they win. The tricky part about viewing the possible future, though, is that Doctor Strange cannot tell anyone what he sees, or else the events will not happen. During the "Endgame" final battle, Doctor Strange even tells Iron Man this, knowing that Iron Man will have to sacrifice himself. Only when Iron Man has the resolve of sacrificing himself does Doctor Strange signal to Iron Man that he is, indeed, right, and this is the one scenario in which they win.
To let Tony know he should do what he is thinking, Doctor Strange holds up one singular finger. Fans might miss this — or not quite understand why he is signaling "one" to Iron Man — but it is the right time to confirm Iron Man's resolve of sacrificing himself and leaving behind the people he loves because it comes from his own head and not from Doctor Strange telling him. The other small detail here is that Doctor Strange's finger slightly quivers while he holds it up, which is a callback to his introductory film, "Doctor Strange," wherein he gets into a car accident and severely damages the nerves in his hands.
Cap and Iron Man's arcs
By far, the most satisfying metaphorical moment in the "Avengers: Endgame" final battle is the completion of both Captain America and Iron Man's character arcs. These two characters have a complicated relationship with each other, but they also have complex existences in general. That is why watching them both complete their arcs in this film is so important.
For the meaning of their special moments in "Endgame" to make sense, you have to take it all the way back to the first "Avengers" film, where Tony and Cap are having a fight. They clearly butt heads from the start, partially because of Tony's harbored jealousy of his father's obsession with Cap, but mostly because the two just have very conflicting views on behavior and the Avengers. Cap tells Tony that he's selfish and not the guy to ever make the sacrifice play. Tony tells Cap that everything special about him comes from a bottle, referencing the Super Soldier Serum.
This comes full circle in "Endgame," where both characters prove the other wrong and complete their story arcs. Tony makes a sacrifice by putting himself in mortal peril in order to save the rest of humanity, and Cap wields Mjolnir, proving he is worthy and that he is special without the effects of the serum. Seeing the way these two heroes complete their character arcs and storylines is satisfying and very heartwarming for fans. It takes a long road to get there, but they both end up achieving what the other thought they could not.