In this new column, our favorite flicks from the big screen are brought to the page, whether they’re blockbusters or indies or anything in between. Grab some popcorn and a drink, and let’s dive into these films together.

***WARNING! Major spoilers follow! Look away now before the Endgame gets spoiled for you!***

The release of Avengers: Endgame, the fourth Avengers movie and sequel to Avengers: Infinity War, was highly anticipated for a year. At the end of Infinity War, one of the greatest supervillains in the Marvel universe, Thanos, wiped out half of the universe’s population with the snap of his fingers, and fans watched several of their favorite superheroes disintegrate moments before the screen faded to black. Talk about getting left on a cliffhanger.

Endgame was finally released on April 26, and the film broke a handful of worldwide box office records, including the fastest to reach $200 billion and the highest opening weekend gross. Fans were clearly ready to show out at the box office. Being one of these fans, I booked my ticket three weeks in advance and came to the theater as prepared as I could ever be for this inevitable rollercoaster of emotions.

The movie opens on Clint Barton (Hawkeye) teaching his daughter how to shoot a bow and arrow with the rest of his family having a picnic in the background. He turns away for a second, and his daughter is gone, followed by the rest of his family. We realize we’ve been thrown back to the moment where Thanos has snapped his fingers. Three weeks later, Tony Stark (Iron Man) and Nebula are saved in space by Captain Marvel and brought back down to Earth. They reunite with the remaining heroes – Thor, Captain America, Black Widow, etc. – and are eventually able to locate Thanos. The Avengers find an injured Thanos, who has since destroyed the gauntlet with all of the Infinity Stones that gave him the power to wipe out the universe. Out of nowhere, Thor decides to kill Thanos, and already in the first half hour of the movie, the supervillain is dead. The preparation I had for this movie completely flew out of the window at this moment.

Five years then pass. Five whole years. We get to see how life has changed for those still alive and how they bravely try to move past losing half of all life in the universe. Then, Scott Lang (Ant Man) gets accidentally released from the quantum realm by a rat. He visits the Avengers compound and explains his time in the quantum realm and how it can be used for time travel. Tony and Bruce Banner (the Hulk) eventually decide to build a time travel machine that could enable them to stop Thanos from getting the Infinity Stones and erasing half of life. Before putting these plans into action, Bruce and Rocket retrieve a now overweight Thor, a sign of how unworthy he feels after being unable to stop Thanos in the first place. Black Widow retrieves Hawkeye from Tokyo, where he has since become an assassin. The Avengers are back together and regain hope that they might be able to save the world again. This is where the fun begins.

The Avengers split into groups to collect the Infinity Stones in different time periods – New York City in 2012, S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters in 1970, Asgard in 2013, Morag in 2014. Traveling alongside them felt like re-watching some of the previous Marvel films, where these time periods served as settings for at least one movie each. This sequence of scenes was not only incredibly fun to watch as a fan but also brilliant in showcasing different characters interacting with each other. For example, Tony stumbles upon his father at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters while Captain America has to battle the past version of himself in New York. These fast-paced scenes are great bursts of energy and levity after the solemn beginnings of the movie. Of course, until Black Widow and Hawkeye’s attempt to get the Soul Stone. Black Widow decides to sacrifice herself so that Hawkeye can eventually reunite with his wife and kids.

All of the Infinity Stones were collected, but there’s one major problem. Nebula, as she’s time traveling, has an accidental connection with her past self. Through this connection, the past version of Nebula displays the Avengers’ plans to the past version of Thanos. This past version of Thanos realizes his future self has succeeded in destroying half of life in the universe, and he knows he must now stop the Avengers from undoing his work. He takes Nebula and sends her past self to the present instead of her present self, where she’s able to bring Thanos and his army from the past.

After the mind-blowing back and forth with all that time travel, it was definitely time to bring in the action and see if Thanos can get taken down. As the battle begins between the Avengers and Thanos’ army, the chance of Thanos actually getting defeated looks pretty slim. The combined efforts of Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor seem like nothing to Thanos. Even when Captain America magically picks up Thor’s other hammer (the theater erupted in cheers when this happened, by the way), Thanos is still winning the fight. Then … we see a light – a portal full of light from which exits Black Panther, one of those who were disintegrated in Infinity War. Several other portals appear, and every character we thought we had to say goodbye to emerges at last. And they are ready to defeat Thanos.

Only this battle in Endgame could top the insane fight in Infinity War. Everyone in the audience was on the edge of their seats and gripping their armchairs as we saw superhero next to superhero defending their universe. At the highpoint of this fight, Thanos retrieves his gauntlet thinking the Stones are in it. To our horror, he snaps his fingers again, but nothing happens this time. He looks down to see the Stones aren’t actually there, they’re safely tucked in Iron Man’s gauntlet instead. Iron Man then does the deed and snaps his fingers – Thanos and his army are finally gone.

After receiving the perfect ending to this battle, the audience seemed satisfied until we see a half-burnt Iron Man, who shortly thereafter dies from the effects of using the Stones. Cue the nonstop tears and sniffles. Endgame ends with Tony’s funeral, with Thor joining the Guardians of the Galaxy, and with Captain America going back in the past to be with his old flame, Peggy, aging normally in the process and passing his shield to Falcon in the present.

Avengers: Endgame had the most bittersweet ending with the death of Tony Stark, but it also left great expectations for the future Marvel movies. Tony becomes a symbol for humanity in the Marvel Cinematic Universe because of his enormous sacrifice. And fans will always remember the brilliance of Tony Stark, especially since this franchise began with him in the first Iron Man movie back in 2008. Avengers: Endgame is without a doubt a must-see movie and one that will take a special place in the hearts of Marvel fans.

Demi is currently a senior at UCF, studying creative writing. She is a lover of the arts and always eager to discuss films, TV and music. Have any movies to recommend? Shoot her an email at demi@nona.media.