Wow.

That’s one heck of a climax.

In Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos won. He snapped and half of the universe died–let’s ignore the logistics of that. In Endgame, there’s a chance–a very small chance–that they can fix it all. All they need is a little –

Tony Stark: [discussing the “Time Heist”] I believe the most likely outcome will be our collective demise.

Scott Lang: Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel. That means no talking to our past selves, no betting on sporting events…

Tony Stark: I’m gonna stop you right there, Scott. Are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the universe is based on “Back to the Future?”

Scott Lang: [chuckles] … No.

Time Heist.

Steve Rogers: Almost everyone in this room has had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity Stones.

Tony Stark: Or, substitute the word encounter with ‘damn near been killed by’ one of the six Infinity Stones.

Scott Lang: I haven’t. I don’t even know what the hell you’re all taking about now.

Bruce Banner: Regardless, we only have enough Pym Particles for one round trip each, and these stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history.

Tony Stark: Our history. So, not a lot of convenient spots to drop in.

Clint Barton: Which means we’ve got to pick our targets.

Tony Stark: Correct.

It’s a ridiculous solution to an even more ridiculous problem, set up over a decade and two dozen films with the most big name stars and huge CGI battle scenes I’ve ever seen in a movie. And … it just works. It’s a wonderful spectacle that probably couldn’t stand alone. But it doesn’t have to. It can stand on the shoulders of Titans (heh) and absolutely nail the landing.

I think the absolute crowning moment is the big final battle. A lot of of it doesn’t make that much sense, but it doesn’t have to. It’s the payoff. Everyone¹ is back for one last big battle. And it is spectacular.

Overall, if you’ve made it this far in the MCU, you’re going to watch this movie. And I doubt you’ll be disappointed. Some put Infinity War higher, some even put a few of the other individual movies higher, but so far as I’m concerned: this is what made it all worth it.

Now the only question left is… what in the world can they possible do next?