#like they purposely killed off Tony so they could wrap up his story & character arc

[angels-creative]

Am I the only one who isn’t that excited that RDJ is returning to the MCU?

[shenanigans-and-imagines]

Do you think that the Russo brothers got a little cocky and lazy with writing while making Infinity Wars/Endgame, similarly to Dumb & Dumber when making S8 of Game of Thrones? I kind of got the impression that they just wanted to be over it and didnt put much coherent story arcs because they know a lot of ppl will watch anyways. Winter Soldier was one of the best MCU movies, Civil War was good, too, but it's frustrating that the things that were left unresolved were barely mentioned in IF/EG.

I think cocky and lazy are very poor words to describe The Russo Brother’s situation.

Dumb & Dumber were connected to a TV show that ran for 8 years, and if they didn’t wrap it up, they, and the actors, would continue to be committed to for anywhere between 2 and 6 more years.  They were connected to the show for as long as if was still airing and needed to get out.

The Russo Brothers are in an entirely different situation.  Chances are they made some deal with Marvel to be committed to Winter Solider and Civil War.  You have to remember that before Winter Solider, they were directing TV episodes.  This was really their first big budget film. They’re young and ready for their chance to prove themselves.

So, my guess is when everything with Joss Whedon went down the studio heads looked at each other and were like, “okay, who do we have on staff to fill in”.  The Russos wrapped up Civil War, which is kind of Avengers 2.5 and Kevin Feige was probably like, “these guys know how to balance out a ensemble cast, let’s just use them”.  And I can only imagine the Russos jumped at the opportunity.

Infinity War and Endgame isn’t a story of lazy arrogance.  It’s a story of two directors with a lot of studio notes finding themselves way over their head.

Winter Solider and Civil War, are much more grounded stories then either Infinity War and Endgame.  They’re espionage/spy thrillers.  Infinity War and Endgame are pure comic book fun.  You need to embrace the absurd, otherwise it doesn’t work.  And the Russos just don’t know how.

There is a reason Wanda and Vision are benched in Civil War and Thor doesn’t even show up.  Just like there is a reason it takes until the climax for Thor to join the battle in Infinity War and why Carol doesn’t show up until the end of Endgame.  They just don’t know how to write over powered characters, which is what comics are full of.

As for all the dropped character threads...let’s go through the main Avengers since it’s really their stories ending in Endgame, the rest will be picked up in later movies:

Bruce Banner:  Admittedly nobody knows what to do with Bruce, so I’m going to give the Russo’s a pass on this one.

Tony Stark:  Honestly got the best deal out of this.  Tony had to die, it was inevitable.  He gets the best send off.  He’s had the strongest character voice out of everyone thanks to RDJ.  They literally could not screw this one up, and they didn’t.

Clint Barton: Every decision about Clint has been bad since day one.  Again, I’m not blaming the Russos for this one.  Everyone at Marvel is at fault.

Natasha Romanoff:  I’m pissed off they killed Natasha the way they did.  I really am, but I feel like it’s the principal of the matter, rather than injustice for the character.

Natasha is another character that never had consistent writing.  I think her best characterization was in Winter Solider, but there honestly wasn’t much to her. She was just kinda...strong with a vague sense that she’s trying to make up for past crimes.  So, having her die for a greater purpose kinda makes sense.  But we never really saw what those past crimes were.  Now, if they decided to give her the dumb assassins story for the 5 years in between, reverting back to her old ways whenever thing falls apart, it might have worked.  But, as it stands, we have a character death that doesn’t really mean anything to her non-arc or to anyone else.

Steve Rogers: Now, Steve is tricky because you’ve got a lot of studio notes coming in.  At the end of the movie, Steve needs to pass on the torch of Captain America to somebody else because Chris Evan’s contract is up and has made a point to say he won’t even to returning for a cameo.

So, you the Russo Brothers are stuck in a predicament.  You don’t want to kill Steve, because you just spent the last two films directing him as your main character.  He’s your baby and you don’t want to see him die.  Besides, you already have to kill Tony and Natasha is on the chopping block because Scarlett Johansson’s contract is up too. The only reason it was extended was for one solitary stand alone movie. 

So, you have to come up with a reason for him to still be alive at the end of the movie, without any chance of him taking up the mantle of Captain America again, while still giving him the happy ending you feel like he deserves.  And then it hits you, time travel.  This story is about time travel.  Of course! Have him go back in time and be with Peggy.

You spent a lot of time in Winter Solider on the fact that Steve has never gotten over Peggy.  You drove home the fact that he never gives up.  And he and Bucky’s relationship isn’t so much about helping his friend as holding on the the bit of his past still alive and well, not old and dying.

A lot of fanon has been thrown Steve’s way in the fandom, but when you look at the canontical facts of the movies he’s in; Steve has never moved on from the past, and the narrative never asks him to.

Steve going back in time to be with Peggy and have his happy ending is exactly in keeping with the character the Russo’s wrote back in Winter Solider.

You don’t have to like it.  I certainly don’t.  But, it’s not a departure or sign of laziness.  It’s two creators who love their character and want to give him the happiness they feel like he deserves.

Thor: This is the only character where I truly leave it up to incompetence. The Russos just do not know how to write Thor.  The only creator who knew how to write Thor is Taika Waititi.  Let him be or lord and savior and give us another soft reboot in Thor: Loving Thunder. Amen.

Seriously, I have waaaaaay too much to say about Thor, so let’s leave that rant for another day.

In conclusion: The Russo Brothers aren’t a couple of arrogant jackasses that bought into their own hype and were desperate to leave the show to move on the better things they sure were coming their way.  What they were are a couple of relatively inexperienced filmmakers asked to conclude a franchise ten years in the making without full understanding of all of the source material and a pile of studio notes based on contracts and future story-lines well beyond their control.

And this is why comics are best adapted in TV shows.

Sorry for the long post.  I just have a lot of thoughts.  Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.