Did the Academy Awards snub Avengers: Endgame?

First came The Snap. Now we’ve all survived The Snub.

Avengers: Endgame is now the highest-grossing film of all time. According to Rotten Tomatoes, it’s also one of the best reviewed films of 2019, scoring a 94% fresh rating from critics. Looking at those two quantitative measures, it would be hard to argue that the film didn’t resonate strongly with audiences and critics. Despite this overwhelming critical and commercial success, Endgame only earned a single Oscar nomination at this year’s Academy Awards, for Visual Effects. Best Director for the Russo Brothers? No. Best Adapted Screenplay for Christopher Markus
Stephen McFeely? No. Any of the enormous cast get a nod for acting? No. And of course Endgame isn’t nominated for Best Picture, although comic book movie, Joker, is.

Should Endgame have received more love from the Academy? I believe that Avengers: Endgame was the rare Hollywood blockbuster that deserved some awards recognition for its skillful ensemble storytelling and beautifully realized themes. Others have effectively argued that Endgame did an outstanding job of managing its unprecedented scope and wrapping up a story that took 22 films to tell, and that Robert Downey Jr.’s performance was award-worthy. What I want to discuss is what I loved most about the film, and why I thought a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination would have been welcome, if not Best Picture. There was certainly plenty of impressive action and fan service on display, but the thing that I found most exceptional about Endgame was that it actually dares to be quiet.

The opening scene on Hawkeye’s farm, which gradually shifts from a mundane family moment to slowly dawning horror, set the tone for a superhero film that is surprisingly meditative and mournful. Yes, we still got a number of super-powered smackdowns, but this is a film that at its heart is more about what’s worth fighting for than the fight itself.

One common complaint about Marvel films is that their use of humor can be excessive and undermine the stakes. My biggest pet peeve about Thor: Ragnarok was that in a movie where Thor loses his father, his hammer, an eye and his entire home world, the script never allows him to feel badly about any of it. By contrast, Endgame is explicitly about recovering from mass trauma, coping with grief and loss and appreciating the bonds of familial love that make life worth living, not just for the superpowered, but for all of us.

Image: Disney

After viewing Endgame, I reject Martin Scorcese’s widely-debated criticism that Marvel movies “aren’t cinema.” In Scorcese’s words, cinema is “about characters — the complexity of people and their contradictory and sometimes paradoxical natures, the way they can hurt one another and love one another and suddenly come face to face with themselves.” I’m not sure how this film could have done a better job of taking these beloved characters on an emotional journey that brought them to face themselves. It’s no coincidence that Black Widow refers to the Avengers as her “family” in a vulnerable moment with her old friend, Captain America. Thor exhibits classic signs of depression as he sinks into alcoholism and stops taking care of himself. Even in the midst of a time travel odyssey, Thor and Iron Man each have tender, quietly affecting moments of closure with their murdered parents. Widow and Iron Man surprise themselves with their capacity to make the ultimate sacrifice for the greater good, despite having been cynical people for much of their lives. And finally, after a lifetime of self-sacrifice, Cap lays down his shield and allows himself to enjoy some well-deserved happiness with the woman he loves. There’s a lot of love and grace on display in Endgame that manages to drown out the explosions.

One might argue that the box office success of Endgame is reward enough and that it doesn’t deserve awards for artistic merit. I think Endgame achieved a rare balance of art and commerce that warranted more consideration for its strong emotional core and moving character work.

What do you think? Comment below For Our Consideration!

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