Avengers: the dead, the twists and the end of the games – we have serious questions

Calling Avengers: Endgame, a dense film is tantamount to saying that Tony Stark is fascinated by metalworking. In other words, it's a huge euphemism.

As the culmination of 22 films from the Marvel film universe, End of Game has the unenviable task of wrapping up a decade of history arcs and characters and, of course, tackling this huge hurdle at the end of the war against Infinity.

For the most part, he succeeds, offering fans – especially hard fans who have obsessed with MCU films – a satisfactory conclusion. The fact that he can fulfill so many different functions and function as an entertaining blockbuster in its own right is a testament to the vision of Marvel Studios and the talent of Endgame directors, Anthony and Joe Russo.

But it is not perfect. And after a little thought, you could scratch your head at the implications of some Endgame twists.

If you have not watched the movie, STOP READING NOW. This is your spoiler warning.

Seriously, step back now.

Here are the main questions we have after Endgame:

What's wrong with the new Hawkeye training?

Let's start with an easy one before really going down to the rabbit hole.

Fans of comics will recognize Clint Barton's move from Hawkeye to Ronin, but the film does not completely explain the need for a new identity and a new costume. I understand that losing one's family is traumatic, but does that justify a transformation of a hero's costume – not to mention a long-sleeved tattoo? And where the heck did he get these new weapons and new equipment? He no longer has SHIELD support, so is he independently rich like Bruce Wayne?

It seems that Hawkeye is a victim of the limited development of his character that he has known in the past. The final phase catches up with him, but there is a little too much at a time.

At least he looks cool though.

What about these five years?

At the beginning of the final phase, the story advances five years and shows the survivors of the fallout of what is called "Decimation". When the Avengers save the day, everyone comes back in the present, five years after the crisis. It's a bold decision that guarantees that the MCU remains marked by the famous slam Thanos.

But the five-year gap raises many questions. What about people who died during these five years? And as pointed out Mike Sorrentino, editor of CNET, what happens if someone has evolved in life and remarried at that time? That would make an awkward meeting.

On top of that, can humanity even rebuild to become a postapocalyptic society? It's hard to see everyone coming back to reality, although that seems to be the result of Peter Parker's reinstatement at school.

Talking about that …

How will phase 4 approach the time jump?

Spider-Man's Trailers: Far From Home – the final film in phase 3 of the MCU – hinting at Peter Parker and his friends at a fun international holiday across Europe. Should we assume that they were all touched by The Snap but now go on to study five years later as if nothing had happened? Has international tourism resumed? How will Far From Home tackle the jump in time?

The ramifications are even more serious with Black Panther, whose after will probably be part of phase 4. Wakanda lost his king and sister for five years. What happened? Has anyone else taken over? And does Challa automatically take over the throne after his return?

One of the last scenes was T 'Challa overlooking his kingdom alongside Queen Ramanda and Shuri. But this masks some serious constitutional questions about how things work during their absence.

What about the history of the MCU?

Whenever you use a time travel in a story, you will open cracks in the logic. The Russo brothers have admirably tried to seal the leaks by having Captain America put the stones back in the timeline, but that does not solve everything.

For example…

Are there two Captain Americas now?

We have the original Steve Rogers frozen in ice until he wakes up in the 21st century MCU, as we have seen in the movies. But now, a second Steve Rogers, older, spends time in Peggy Carter's house. One theory is that Captain America would always go back in time, meet secretly and marry Peggy.

There was talk of Peggy getting married and having children, but in a scene between Rogers and Carter in Captain America: Winter Soldier, there is no picture of her husband.

Nevertheless, it is hard to imagine that Captain America remains hidden all this time, especially knowing that Hydra had infiltrated the Shield many years ago.

Where the hell is Loki?

During the return trip back to the original film events The Avengers, Scott Lang and Tony Stark attempt to capture the Space Stone, allowing Loki, recently apprehended, to recover the gem and disappear.

In the end, did Loki's escape change her fate at the hands of Thanos in Infinity War? It's plausible, since Disney Plus is working on an original show based on the character.

But if this is true, would it not have affected the events of Thor: The Dark World, also revisited in Endgame? But during Thor's time travel, we briefly see Loki in a cell, so the calendar has not been changed.

How do Nebula and Gamora live?

When Present Good Nebula turns beyond Evil Nebula, should Present Present Nebula not cease to exist, as the picture in Back to the Future shows? Alternatively, if it happened to Past Evil Nebula, Present Good Nebula should be remembered, and in turn, this memory would have been downloaded to allow Past Evil Nebula to see success come.

And do not tell us that there is now an alternative version of Gamora.

Did Infinity War even happen?

Thanos and his crew took the lead in 2013 (the first Guardians of the Galaxy) in the present and are defeated. Thanos could not have manipulated the events that led to Infinity War. If he had never picked up the stones, Tony would not have been able to undo the cliche, which did not even happen anyway.

And now, I have a headache …

How did 2014 Thanos send his ship to the present?

There's a scene where Nebula puts a vial of Pym's particles back to Thanos, but the Avengers all seemed to need these elegant white suits to navigate the quantum realm. Why is Thanos's boat different?

Moreover, if Nebula handed her only vial to Thanos, how did she come back? Or if she used this last vial, how did Thanos progress in time?

The glove can revive Thanos?

Do not forget that the glove is still there.

Did Captain America reconnect with the red skull?

Remember, Cape has gone back in time to return all the Infinity stones, right? If he had made the soul stone to sleep, would not he have met the Red Skull? Certainly, Red Skull has probably been relieved of his burden of watching over the stone, but it's not like he has a ship to take him off the planet.

It would be a hell of a difficult meeting.

Could Tony Stark save his brain?

He did it in comics. Or maybe I'm still denying having lost Robert Downey Jr. Hopefully the Avengers are not separating either from a Tony teenager earlier in the timeline … this has happened as well.

Is Black Widow really dead?

It is a death that seems permanent, because it completes the arc of Natasha Romanov as a solitary spy who found a family worthy of sacrifice. As she said in Avengers: "I have red in my registry, I would like to erase it." Think of it as erased.

But there's the lingering buzz that Black Widow will be playing in his own movie. Of course, this could be a prequel, but it's a world of comics, and the dead are reversing too easily. In fact, of all the people supposedly dead at the end of Endgame, three – Black Widow, Loki and Vision – are all in the lead of future MCU movies and television series.

Where is the vision?

With the arrival of WandaVision on the Disney Plus streaming service, it was possible for Vision to return. But aside from a passing reference to the end by Wanda, Vision was not found. The series could be a prequel in Infinity War, but in this movie, Shuri was working to separate Vision from Infinity Stone – could it be resurrected without it?

Has Hulk's consciousness gone?

Bruce Banner and Hulk merged to become "Hulk Professor". It seems that Bruce is more in control, probably by overwhelming Hulk's personality that we saw for the last time in Thor: Ragnarok. How did it happen? It's a big problem to simply explain that it's off screen.

Does Thor eat a salad?

Big Belly Thor is the best Thor.

Iyaz Akhtar, Michael Sorrentino and Sean Keane from CNET contributed to this story.

First published April 26 at 5:00 am Eastern Time.
Updated at 6:30 pm: Clarifies the placement of Spider-Man: Far From Home in the timeline.
Updated at 11:24 am PDT: Add an extra question about the red skull.
Updated April 28 at 4 am With additional questions.