Avengers 4: Endgame & Tribute to Stan Lee
It’s finally here!
The final Avengers movie with all the Marvel superheroes we’ve come to love over the last 10+ years.
I generally don’t like to watch trailers because they tend to have more spoilers than I care to see. The experiences in watching a movie should be a surprise! But, with this trailer, it’s just about everything you could ask for.
Not much is revealed except for what we would expect post-Infinity War. Everyone is distraught and just about devoid of hope. Thanos has won and the aftereffects are being felt throughout the entire universe. And, we have no idea how the Avengers are going to succeed in whatever they feel is necessary.
I can’t help but go back to the very first Avengers movie where Tony Stark is threatening Loki in his own tower and says these lines: (Start video at 1:52)
https://youtu.be/b6IGVYr57LU?t=111
Which I think is really going to be the overall tone and purpose of the Avengers: End Game movie. Tony Stark will have come full circle. The Avengers have failed to save the universe, but you can be sure they’ll avenge it.
They’re coming for you, Thanos.
—
Just as well, now that the trailer is out I wanted to share with you all a tribute to Stan Lee my husband wrote a few weeks ago when Mr. Lee passed away. He, like most Marvel fans, always looked forward to each and every cameo Stan Lee would make in each MCU movie. So, he wrote what he imagined would be Stan Lee’s final cameo.
Here it is:
“In Tribute to Stan Lee:
Imagine this . . .
Avengers: Infinity War Pt. II has ended.
The Avengers have defeated Thanos, but the universe will never be the same as some losses are simply too great to repair. Yet the havoc that was wrought by The Mad Titan has been righted as well as it can. On a grateful universe, we see the sun rise.
The credits begin to roll.
And, like all loyal Marvel fans who have followed this consistent cinematic journey for 10+ years, we know two things. One, you must stay until the end of the credits, as there is always a post-credits scene. And two, Stan Lee always makes a cameo in these movies.
So there we sit, with all of us a single collective thought:
“Where was Stan Lee? I didn’t see him once in the movie.”
That is until the screen finally turns to black and we see just a single phrase:
“In memory of Stan Lee.”
It dawns on us. Stan Lee is gone and the Marvel Cinematic Universe will never be the same as some losses are simply too great to repair.
We sit there in silence staring at the dark screen and slowly realize:
“Are we not going to get a post-credits seen either?”
That is until the darkness fades to light and we see a graveyard where a funeral is being held. While a bit gloomy, it is mid-day and the sun is bright. We see men and women in their mourning clothes, in line to pay their respects to the open casket in front of them, laying a single rose upon the chest of the man within.
As the camera pans closer, we recognize these individuals. It’s Tony Stark . . . Or, is it Robert Downey Jr.? Is that Captain America, or is it Chris Evans? Black Widow, or Scarlett Johansson?
We can’t tell, as everyone is dressed in black.
Maybe it’s the actors giving their thanks to a man that made all this possible. Maybe it’s the characters recognizing a fellow that was somehow always a small part of their journeys.
We don’t know, and we’re never told.
One by one they file by, until no one is left, and not a word is spoken.
Slowly the camera pans over the casket and we see him; instantly recognizable by his glasses and mustache. Stan Lee himself.
Our view zooms closer until it’s just his face, tranquil and calm. As we watch, saddened by what we all knew was inevitable, we notice . . . something.
His hands inch their way into view, criss-crossed across his face near his cheeks, in the hand-sign gesture he is so well known for. And, the smallest, tiniest of smirks graces his mouth.
The screen cuts to black one final time, but we all share the same thought:
“Stan Lee will never truly die, as he lives on in his stories.”
I know this isn’t the actual last end-credits scene of this great man, and its not what was filmed. But, it is how I’ve always imagined Stan Lee’s last legacy would be portrayed, in my own private imaginings.
I hope you and your wife are finally reunited and you can rest in peace.
Excelsior, Mr. Lee.”
I hope to see you in the front row of the movie theater!
Stay stranger, my friends.
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