Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame is a 2019 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the direct sequel to Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and the 22nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the film features an ensemble cast which includes Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Danai Gurira, Benedict Wong, Jon Favreau, Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Josh Brolin. In the film, the surviving members of the Avengers and their allies attempt to reverse Thanos's actions in Infinity War which erased half of all life in the universe.

The film was announced in October 2014 as Avengers: Infinity War – Part 2, but Marvel Studios later removed this title. The Russo brothers joined as directors in April 2015, with Markus and McFeely signing on to write the script a month later. It is a conclusion to the story of the MCU up to that point, ending the story arcs of several main characters. The film's plot revisits several moments from earlier films, bringing back actors and settings from throughout the franchise. Filming began in August 2017 at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia, shooting back-to-back with Infinity War, and ended in January 2018. Additional filming took place in the Metro and downtown Atlanta areas, the state of New York, Scotland, and England. The official title was announced in December 2018. With an estimated budget of $356–400 million, the film is one of the most expensive films ever produced.

Avengers: Endgame premiered at the Los Angeles Convention Center on April 22, 2019, and was released in the United States on April 26 as part of Phase Three of the MCU. The film received praise for its direction, acting, musical score, action scenes, visual effects, and emotional weight, with critics lauding its culmination of the 22-film story. It grossed $2.799 billion worldwide, surpassing Infinity War's entire theatrical run in eleven days and setting a number of box-office records. It was the highest-grossing film of all time from July 2019 to March 2021. The film was nominated for Best Visual Effects at the 92nd Academy Awards, among numerous other accolades. Two further films, Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, are scheduled for release in 2026 and 2027, respectively.

In 2018, 23 days after Thanos erased half of all life in the universe, Carol Danvers rescues Tony Stark and Nebula from deep space. They reunite with the remaining Avengers—Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, Thor, Natasha Romanoff, and James Rhodes—and Rocket on Earth. Locating Thanos on an uninhabited planet, they plan to use the Infinity Stones to reverse his actions but find that Thanos has destroyed them. Enraged, Thor decapitates Thanos.

Five years later, Scott Lang escapes from the Quantum Realm. Reaching the Avengers Compound, he explains that he experienced only five hours while trapped. Theorizing that the Quantum Realm allows time travel, they ask a reluctant Stark to help them retrieve the Stones from the past to reverse Thanos's present actions. Stark, Rocket, and Banner, who has merged his intelligence with the Hulk's strength, build a time machine. Banner notes that altering the past does not affect the present; any changes create alternate realities. Banner and Rocket travel to Norway, where they visit the Asgardian refugee settlement of New Asgard and recruit an overweight, despondent Thor. In Tokyo, Romanoff recruits Clint Barton, who became a vigilante after the erasure of his family.

Banner, Lang, Rogers, and Stark time-travel to New York City during Loki's attack in 2012. At the Sanctum Sanctorum, Banner convinces the Ancient One to give him the Time Stone after promising to return the Infinity Stones to their proper points in time. At Stark Tower, Rogers retrieves the Mind Stone from Hydra sleeper agents; Stark and Lang's attempt to steal the Space Stone fails, allowing 2012-Loki to escape with it. Rogers and Stark travel to Camp Lehigh in 1970, where Stark obtains an earlier version of the Space Stone and encounters his father, Howard. Rogers steals Pym Particles from Hank Pym to return to the present and sees his lost love, Peggy Carter.

Rocket and Thor travel to Asgard in 2013; Rocket extracts the Reality Stone from Jane Foster. Thor is encouraged by his mother, Frigga, and retrieves his old hammer, Mjolnir. Barton, Romanoff, Nebula, and Rhodes travel to 2014; Nebula and Rhodes go to Morag and steal the Power Stone before Peter Quill can, while Barton and Romanoff travel to Vormir. The Soul Stone's keeper, Red Skull, says that it can only be acquired by sacrificing a loved one. Romanoff sacrifices herself, allowing Barton to get the Stone. Rhodes and Nebula attempt to return to their own time, but Nebula is incapacitated when her cybernetic implants link with her past self; this allows 2014-Thanos to learn about his future self's success and the Avengers' attempt to undo it. 2014-Thanos sends 2014-Nebula forward in time to prepare for his arrival.

Reuniting in the present, the Avengers place the Stones into a gauntlet that Stark, Banner, and Rocket have built. Banner, who has the most resistance to their radiation, uses the gauntlet to undo Thanos's disintegrations. Meanwhile, 2014-Nebula (impersonating her future self) uses the time machine to transport 2014-Thanos and his warship to the present and destroys the Avengers Compound. Present-day Nebula convinces 2014-Gamora to betray Thanos, but is unable to convince 2014-Nebula and kills her. Thanos overpowers Stark, Thor and a Mjolnir-wielding Rogers; he summons his army to retrieve the Stones, intent on using them to destroy the universe and create a new one. A restored Stephen Strange arrives with other sorcerers, the restored Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, the Ravagers, and the armies of Wakanda and Asgard to fight Thanos's army. Danvers also arrives and destroys Thanos's warship, but Thanos overpowers her and seizes the gauntlet. Stark steals the Stones and uses them to disintegrate Thanos and his army, sacrificing himself.

After Stark's funeral, Thor appoints Valkyrie as the new king of New Asgard and joins the Guardians. Rogers returns the Stones and Mjolnir to their proper timelines and remains in the past to live with Carter. In the present, an elderly Rogers passes his shield to Sam Wilson.

Several actors from Infinity War reprise their roles in Endgame, including Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Stephen Strange, Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa / Black Panther, Tom Holland as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, Zoe Saldaña as Gamora, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / Falcon, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Letitia Wright as Shuri, William Hurt as Thaddeus Ross, Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, Winston Duke as M'Baku, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor as Ebony Maw, Jacob Batalon as Ned, Vin Diesel as Groot, Chris Pratt as Peter Quill / Star-Lord, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Ross Marquand as Red Skull / Stonekeeper, Michael James Shaw as Corvus Glaive, Terry Notary as Cull Obsidian, and Kerry Condon as the voice of Stark's suit AI F.R.I.D.A.Y. Monique Ganderton again provided motion capture for Proxima Midnight.

Also reprising their roles from previous MCU films were Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne / Wasp, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, Rene Russo as Frigga, John Slattery as Howard Stark, Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One, Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Marisa Tomei as May Parker, Taika Waititi as Korg, Angela Bassett as Ramonda, Michael Douglas as Hank Pym, Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet van Dyne, Linda Cardellini as Laura Barton, Maximiliano Hernández as Jasper Sitwell, Frank Grillo as Brock Rumlow, Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce, Callan Mulvey as Jack Rollins, and Ty Simpkins as Harley Keener. Sean Gunn reprised his role as Kraglin and was credited for the role, although he is not clearly visible in the film. Natalie Portman appears as Jane Foster in footage from a deleted Thor: The Dark World (2013) scene and a voiceover when Foster is talking in the distance. James D'Arcy reprised his role as Edwin Jarvis from the MCU television series Agent Carter, the first time a character introduced in an MCU television series appeared in an MCU film.

Hiroyuki Sanada played Akihiko, a Yakuza boss in Tokyo who opposes Barton. Lexi Rabe played Morgan Stark, Tony and Pepper's daughter. Katherine Langford was cast as an older Morgan, but her scene was cut from the final film. Emma Fuhrmann played an older Cassie Lang, Scott's daughter, after the character was played as a child by Abby Ryder Fortson in previous MCU films. Avengers co-creator Stan Lee had a posthumous cameo in the film, digitally de-aged as a car driver in 1970, in his final film appearance. Ken Jeong and Yvette Nicole Brown had cameo appearances as a storage facility guard and a S.H.I.E.L.D. employee, respectively. Co-director Joe Russo (credited as Gozie Agbo) had a cameo appearance as a grieving gay man, the first appearance of an openly homosexual character in an MCU film. Joe's daughters Ava and Lia Russo played Barton's daughter Lila and a fan of Hulk, respectively. Thanos creator Jim Starlin also appeared as a grieving man. The character Howard the Duck appeared in a non-speaking cameo.

In October 2014, Marvel Studios announced a two-part sequel of Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) entitled Avengers: Infinity War. Part 1 was scheduled to be released on May 4, 2018, and Part 2 was scheduled for May 3, 2019. Marvel's plan was to film both parts of Infinity War back-to-back. Anthony and Joe Russo were hired to direct the films in April 2015. The next month, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely signed on to write screenplays for both parts of the film. Producer Kevin Feige said that the sequel was titled as two parts of a single film because of shared elements but they would be "two distinct" projects, not one story split across two films. The Russos decided to re-title the two films to remove any misconceptions in May 2016, and Marvel left the second film untitled that July. Feige and the Russo brothers indicated that the title was being withheld because it would give away plot details for this film and Infinity War.