The prospect of being able to watch a clip of, say, the climax of The Rise of Skywalker, unofficially and way ahead of its premiere, is not something that would cause- to most people, that is- any hesitation whatsoever and a humongous bunch of people- this writer included- would meticulously and unscrupulously watch it as soon as it became available. Not only that; whatever the outlet responsible for the outbreak, they would immediately raise their hand way up in the air to claim the scoop as their own, legal consequences- if any to be suffered- be damned.
That is business as usual, normal behavior all around- until now, when the one exception in history has arisen in a most dramatic, emphatic way.
Something has happened- gradually, like dripping water hollows out stone- along the last eleven years, not really since the inaugural flagship title of the nascent Marvel Studios opened but, more accurately, since Samuel L. Jackson, fresh off signing his highly publicized and theretofore unheard of nine-movie contract for the studio, showed up after that movie’s end credits and, with a couple of casually uttered lines, offered an unbelievable promise that, all this time later, has been way more than simply kept. And its repercussions are being felt right now.
Right up until this very moment, not too long after, per CNBC, “…leaked footage from the upcoming “Avengers: Endgame” was found circulating online.” and a hitherto unseen panic ensued all around the furthest crevices of the Internet, I have come in contact with only one single person who has, willingly, watched it; his demeanor had been, until I asked him what the matter was, slightly but visibly morose, simultaneously depressed and- almost as an afterthought- reluctantly giddy. He was amazed at what he’d witnessed, he asserted but felt that, in a way, it had gotten rid of what he’d been looking forward to in the first place (which is, pretty much, the definition of a spoiler, of course). Afterward, he’d been reduced to re-watching said clip six more times in a futile attempt to try and quench the unexpected (really?) dissatisfaction.
I can vividly remember the frantically active hunt for any clip, image, sound, piece of music or any other kind of bona fide spoiler that unleashed prior to the openings of The Matrix Reloaded, The Dark Knight Rises, Spider-Man, The Force Awakens and, king among them all- until now, that is-, The Phantom Menace. Most emblematically yet comes that exquisite blast from the past which surrounds the whole X-Men Origins: Wolverine fiasco and the cynically detached reaction accompanying the ridiculously horrible work-in-progress (complete with its Tropic Thunder-like literally green-screened climax) that leaked one entire month previous to its official opening date. That all of them were post-internet releases goes without saying for, although the appetite for discovery has always been within us, it wasn´t until the coming of the digital age and the literal globalization it brought along that we had the actual means to achieve it; can you even begin to imagine how the landscape would have been like had we had a World Wide Web at our fingertips’ disposal the couple years before Burton’s Batman exploded?
Whereas the cult of Star Wars has been exactly that almost since May 25th, 1977- an actual religious observance by which an inordinate amount of people measure their lives’ purpose and from which they retrieve both comfort and guidance-, the unruly ravenousness for those comic-book adaptations was easily explained by the eager impatience to finally behold the live-action versions of such pop-culture milestones while the Matrix-related craze was an anomalous albeit extremely deserved offshoot of the original’s magnificence. However, there is one fundamentally seismic difference permeating the ongoing Avengers phenomenon, the one distinction that makes it indelibly unique: the people who care about it actually do- literally.
We have watched the characters before (Hope Van Dyne and Doctor Strange, 2 movies each; Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, Black Panther, Spider-Man, Vision and Scarlet Witch, 3; Bucky, 4; Falcon, Hawkeye and The Hulk, 5; Black Widow, Captain America and Thor, 6; and Iron Man, together with Nick Fury, a whopping 9) played by the same performers (with the exceptions of Terrence Howard and Edward Norton being replaced by Don Cheadle and Mark Ruffalo respectively after their very first outing) so there is not, in truth, any curiosity for introductions driving the excitement. In fact, that would be looking at it from exactly the wrong angle: people- myself included- feel invested precisely because of that extended period and the uncommon opportunity it offered us to get familiarized with them- not in spite of it.
With few exceptions the parts they have played in their Marvel Studios years are these actors and actresses’ defining work, the legacy by which, very, very likely, they will ultimately be remembered, most of their posterior attempts at blockbuster successes arriving stillborn. Adding to the goodwill a staggering amount of us felt practically from the get-go was, specifically, Robert Downey Jr.’s real-life Cinderella story, as he rose from the utmost netherworld (of both his own personal demons and professional nadir- two years prior to becoming Tony Stark he was barking, running on all four and playing second fiddle to Tim Allen in The Shaggy Dog) to reach Hollywood’s very literal and undisputed summit.
More importantly: unlikely as it might sound, a vital piece to fill in the puzzle was Marvel’s ultimate treatment of Captain America, a character (rather, an IP) considered until right before Joe Johnston’s inaugural installment opened- at least by mainstream audiences unfamiliar with the intricate minutiae of comic book lore- as nothing more than a Team America: World Police spin-off, a distasteful parody of the most egregious star-spangled, right-wing, xenophobic propaganda, bound to alienate an inordinate amount of domestic audiences along with every and all foreign markets before they were shown frame one. How could you even legitimize- let alone make alluring- that?
They transformed him into Superman, that’s how. With Chris Evans- up until then one of the most blatantly insufferable Alpha male Young Hollywood up-and-comers, no less. And only then it became apparent how excruciatingly people all over the world had been missing him. He was clearly outweighed by Stark’s flashy snark those first years, for sure, but ever since Civil War- probably to be regarded as Feige and company’s boldest move in the long run- he openly stepped up as the MCU’s unambiguous moral core. Unlike runaway hits and immediately essential characters Black Panther and Captain Marvel- steeped deep (at the very least in their introductory films) in, respectively, ultranationalism and a slightly veiled gender bias- this century’s Captain America, name notwithstanding, stood for you, me, everyone, regardless of gender, creed, nationality or skin color. Here was just a kid from Brooklyn who didn´t like bullies, that’s all; there was, at last, a good man- period.
Unbelievable? Yes. Necessary? Even more so. And call me corny all you want but- inspiring? To me, very much so. We have had new and extremely satisfying iterations of that comforting template ever since- most remarkably Wonder Woman and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Shazam!- but I genuinely believe that those would have hardly come to fruition if not for Captain America paving the way for them. The magnitude of Cap’s significance- if not himself- in the upcoming Endgame looms as large and undeniable as the incessant speculation regarding his impending demise, which has maintained an extremely unpleasant grip on a lot of us since, pretty much, last year’s Infinity War’s end credits rolled.
Which takes us, finally, full circle back to sheer humanity; in short, I feel that is the answer- the one that actually matters, anyway. It was, maybe, the endlessly flawless casting shaping every single one of them, so far, twenty-one released films. Or, maybe, the truly solid screenwriting on display- exceptional, in the case of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely’s efforts. Was it, mainly, Joss Whedon’s touch which veered the entire endeavor in this direction? I believe it was all of it, an unexpected maelstrom sucking in all perfect ingredients wherein they converged at the exact time to come out the other end converted, exalted. Whatever the actual truth, we- who care- are reaching the twenty-second movie in this universe with the exulted trepidation that comes right before meeting again, after a long yearning stretch, old and dear friends- or family.
That made the difference now and, I suppose, it will make it again sometime in the future. When? Probably more interestingly, regarding who? Who is to say? Serendipity can´t be forecast. I feel we should just feel grateful and enjoy today since, for many of us, this will probably be a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.
The simple fact remains, anyway: I care. And chances are really good that, if you are reading this, you do as well- just like a hell of a lot more fellow moviegoers eager to find out- on their own, before a screen- what happens at the end.
Eloy Ricardo Balderas Salazar
