While both highest-grossing movie of all-time after a conveniently placed re-release.
Avengers: Infinity War marked the culmination of nearly a decade of cinematic storytelling, in which Thanos (Josh Brolin), the egocentric warmonger Captain America: Civil War. Unfortunately, Thanos gains the upper hand in the climax of Infinity War, completing the snap and setting the stage for the heroes to come together years later in Endgame to try to reverse the Mad Titan's scheme.
Though both films had their fair share of moments ripped right off the comic book page, Avengers: Endgame will no doubt fare better than its predecessor as time goes on. This is due to a number of reasons, most notably Infinity War's existence as a glorified set-up for its sequel.
Infinity War's Narrative Is Predictable
With the first glimpse of Thanos given to audiences way back in 2012, Marvel Studios had been not-so-subtly gearing up the character for his culmination at the end of Phase 3. Between his seemingly random cameos in movies like strategic placement of each Infinity Stone throughout the timeline of the MCU, audiences have always known deep down that Thanos was going to be the final boss for the Avengers. For comic book fans, the anxiety was even worse, as Thanos' most recognizable claim to fame is the 1991 storyline The Infinity Gauntlet, in which Thanos collects the stones and puts them to use in horrifying fashion.
For better or for worse, Infinity War gives us exactly that. While it is undeniably awesome to see Thanos make his big-screen debut, especially with Josh Brolin giving the character such a humanistic performance, the main conflict of the film has been telegraphed for nearly 7 years. This results in a movie that, while engaging to watch, lacks any sort of real shock factor for anyone who's aware of Thanos' comic book history. From the moment the movie starts, fans are aware of how the narrative will play out: Thanos will collect the stones, the Avengers will try to stop him, they'll fail, and he'll snap. It's almost verbatim how the conflict plays out in the comic book storyline, and while directors Joe and Anthony Russo do throw a couple of curveballs at the audience (Thanos' new and seemingly selfless motivation, Gamora's death on Vormir, etc.), it's not nearly enough to keep the movie from being exactly what was expected.
Infinity War's Ending Is Hollow
Arguably the most important moment of Avengers: Infinity War comes in the last ten minutes of the movie, in which Thanos successfully rips the last Infinity Stone from Vision's (Paul Bettany) head and uses it to perform the Snap. Audiences in theaters were left slack-jawed as they watched a heart-wrenching montage of some of their favorite characters turn to dust and disappear, and Peter Parker's (Tom Holland) unexpected and emotional goodbye to his mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) was particularly emotional. Even if the movie itself is predictable, those last ten minutes are well-executed filmmaking.
However, Infinity War's ending will lose a lot of its weight over time, similar to the strange period of limbo after the movie's release in which the Russo Brothers tried to pretend as if the dusted characters weren't coming back. Back in 2018, several of the deceased characters already had confirmed sequels on the way, as well as existing contracts online that specified just how many films they would appear in. While emotional, Infinity War's ending in retrospect feels like an empty cliffhanger for its sequel, especially considering the fact that the main conflict at the heart of Endgame is the inevitable reversal of the Snap.
At the end of the day, Infinity War suffers from a similar problem as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1, in that they're both Part 1 movies. Marvel may have dropped the Part One and Two designations for both films, but that's what they remain in the narrative. Infinity War tries to get around this criticism by making Thanos, not the Avengers, the film's protagonist, but no matter how much screen time and narrative attention Thanos is given, fans naturally side with the film's heroes. From the perspective of the Avengers' narrative journeys, Infinity War exists not as a story on its own, but as a prelude to the story being told in Endgame. All the moving parts had to be put in place for the finale, and this is what undercuts Infinity War's emotional but ultimately inconsequential ending.
Avengers: Endgame Has More Staying Power
Avengers: Endgame is a movie that relies heavily on fan service, specifically in its third act, but that is precisely what will help the movie age over time. Endgame, much more so than its predecessor, is the true conclusion of the MCU's first ten years, and the movie portrays that as such. In just one film, the Russo Brothers pack in dozens of moments cherry-picked from the comics to elate fans, including Hawkeye's (Jeremy Renner) transition into Ronin, the debut of Professor Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), and Captain America (Chris Evans) wielding Thor's (Chris Hemsworth) hammer, just to name a few. And the movie also includes the inevitable resurrection of all the dusted heroes, presented in a sequence that is both satisfying and inclusive of every corner of the MCU up until that point.
Aside from its fan-service moments though, Endgame has a ton of moments in its narrative to keep it genuinely shocking. Whereas Infinity War's narrative is relatively predictable in order to set up for the next film, Endgame gets to relish in being an entirely original story, where the only assumed outcome is the return of the previously killed heroes. This allowed the movie to keep viewers on their toes, throwing twists out left and right such as Thanos' destruction of the stones at the beginning of the film, Natasha's (Scarlett Johansson) untimely death on Vormir, and the final siege on the Avengers' compound. On top of this, Endgame's ending is one that carries actual consequences for the rest of the universe moving forward, as the departures of Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans from the franchise will be felt far beyond just one movie.
Beyond all this, however, is Endgame's biggest advantage: it's a complete film. Infinity War, while enjoyable, exists only as a prelude for Endgame, with a cliffhanger that doesn't really resolve the narrative plot threads that it begins. This isn't necessarily a problem, as Part One and Part Two films have existed for a long time, but it certainly doesn't give Avengers: Infinity War a repeat viewing experience as satisfying as Avengers: Endgame's.
