Now we wait for the resurrection and justice. We have seen too many movies not to wait for the turn that will bring back all that is lost. But then the film ends. Half the universe is dead, and evil has won. That is it.
There is stunned silence in the theatre. The few who rise to leave receive cold stares of hatred from those who sit in mourning—we need to show more respect to the departed. There is funereal stillness in the hall. Adolescents weep. A teenaged girl, who is sobbing, is held by both her parents. Are you amused at the fall of the teenagers? After all, your arch-villain is The Teenager. Just a few hours ago, a teenager had scolded you in school, “Shut up and eat your f-wording food.”
“What a bad movie,” you say. “What a bad movie.” Outside the hall I see a teenager weep and I chuckle. You glare at me. “That is rude.” You fight back your own tears but they now flow.
There is no way this story can end like this. These days the end is never the end. There is always a sequel, you know that. Marvel has already announced the sequel. Only they and Dr Strange know how it is going to end. But I think we can guess—all the superheroes, at least the big ones, will rise from the dead. Have faith in capitalism. There is sorrow only in art.
Yet, I accept, the statements from the boss of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige, are very disturbing. He has hinted that some of the deaths of the big superheroes might be permanent. The directors, Anthony and Joe Russo, too have said disturbing things: “The audience can tell you they love chocolate ice cream, but if you give it to them every day, they’re going to get sick of it real fast. You’ve got to stay ahead of them….
“You have to go to very difficult places for the stakes to feel real, for the characters to feel like they have something to lose, for the audience to feel like they have something at risk.”
But if you wish to believe me more than them, which is unlikely, I think almost all the superheroes, especially Dr Strange, Black Panther and SpiderMan, are coming back. Apart from the trap of popularity and commercial success, a story is doomed by another factor—the good have to win in the end, that is the con in every successful story, there is no escaping that. That is the demand from everyone, including you, and that is what the storytellers will supply.
What is going to happen in the next Avengers is that there will be some time-travel trick or alternate reality.
“If you travel at the speed of light, it will change time,” you say. “But that is so obviously not true. Nothing can change time.”
The dead Avengers will return and whatever path they take, it is going to be lame, and a form of cheating. The sequel is already doomed. That is the price the storytellers have paid for telling a great, bold story.
Manu Joseph is a journalist and a novelist, most recently of Miss Laila, Armed And Dangerous.