We’ve come to the end of the original Avengers on screen. Endgame really meant it when they put “End” right there in the title. As we wait to see what a new team-up between the survivors might look like, let us also examine some ways they can improve on what came before.
After all, we spent a decade with these characters and part of what we love about them is they were and are far from perfect. They made a lot of mistakes before they were able to save the world multiple times. They had to grow into not only their powers but their problem-solving abilities as well. There were a lot of questionable decisions made in the first decade of the MCU and here are just a few of them.
Cap Refused to Sign the Accords
The storyline in Captain America: Civil War was obviously pulled from the comic book storyline of the same name, but that doesn’t mean we agree with the choices made just because they had happened before. When Cap refused to sign the accords he basically broke up the Avengers. Yes, even if you agreed with his wanting heroes to have the choice to keep their identities secret, the break up of the Avengers is on Captain America.
As the guy who is supposed to be the face of the team, the guy whose morals are true north compared to Tony, this was not a really well thought through decision by Mr. Steve Rogers.
Cap Doesn’t Tell Sam He’s Leaving For the Past
We’re going to stick with Captain Steve Rogers for a second and again wonder why he didn’t let his best friend know he was going to jump to the past to return the infinity stones (at the end of Endgame) and also stay there to live out what would have been his entire life.
Sure, it made for a gut-punch of a scene when old man Steve appears to Bucky and Sam, sitting on a bench, but it’s kind of questionable his wanting it all to be a surprise. Maybe it was a spur of the moment thing when he ran into Peggy? But for some reason, we’re pretty sure Cap had his longer sojourn planned all along.
Clint Became Ronin
We’ll give Cap a break here and focus on a different member of the Avengers team. Hawkeye appears to us in Avengers: Endgame as a ruthless assassin, Ronin, who Natasha is sent to find. Questionable choice their, Hawkeye. Let’s be real, he was not the only one who lost something when Thanos snapped his fingers, not even the only person who lost his whole family. But he is the only one who said, fine, I’ll ruthlessly kill people to deal with my anger.
Maybe we understand his feelings but really, it’s a bad look. What would your family, lost or not, think of you Clint?
Peter Doesn’t Ask For Help with The Vulture
He was not yet a member of the Avengers but, as he did become a member, we’re still going to have to count this against good old Pete. When Peter Parker decided he was going to go after the Vulture on the Staton Island Ferry he decided he was going to do it alone, even though he was already in contact with superhero mentor, Iron Man.
This obviously led to the epic Ferry Scene in Spiderman: Homecoming, but just because it made for great cinema doesn’t mean it was a great decision by young Peter.
Thor Abandons Asgard
When Avengers: Endgame opens Bruce Banner and Rocket head off to find a severely depressed Thor in New Asgard. New Asgard is new in more ways than one. The location is certainly new, but so is the leadership. For all intents and purposes, Valkyrie has taken over as numero uno in terms of taking care of the place.
After watching Thor spend so much time in Ragnorak fighting to keep Asgard, and by Asgard he meant the people, safe, it’s shocking and unfortunate to see him abandon all his responsibilities especially when he comes across Asgardians who actually survived.
The Hulk Rampages Against Natasha
Okay, so it’s hard to blame the Hulk, or Bruce, for this one or any of his other unfortunate “Hulk Smash” moments, after all, part of Bruce’s power comes with a total take over of his brain, but still. When the Hulk gets loose on the Helacarrier and slams his way through the bowels of the ship after a terrified Black Widow, it’s hard to separate the man from the monster.
It’s not his fault, really it isn’t, but sometimes the big green guy causes more problems for his friends than he solves. Maybe the real questionable decision is keeping Bruce on the Hellacarrier at all.
Tony Created Ultron
Tony does a great job of explaining to his fellow Avengers, and the audience, why he invented Ultron. A peacekeeping force all around the world that would take some of the pressure off the Avenger’s shoulders?
Sure. Why not. But, like his protege Peter, Tony keeps the information about Ultron clutched a little too close to his chest. Maybe he should have spitballed the idea around a staff meeting one day. But he doesn’t, and ends up committing entirely to the project and almost destroying the world.
Tony Gives His Address to Terrorists
We all know that Tony often does not think through all of his actions, but this decision, to offer up his address on national television while being hunted by the Mandarin, is particularly reckless and questionable. Why is it so questionable? Well, at this point in his life the address isn’t Tony’s alone, his girlfriend Pepper, love of his life, also lives there.
This hot-headed decision of the billionaire playboy philanthropist will go down as one of the most questionable of his long and storied career.
Nebula Didn’t Say Anything About Vormir
Nebula has come a long way from her days as her father’s worst henchman, but by helping Tony get partway back toward earth she began her journey to redemption. However, when splitting up the team to go after each infinity stone at different points in time, she didn’t say anything to Clint and Natasha as they headed after the soul stone on Vormir.
Nebula knew Thanos had taken Gamora to Vormir and when Thanos showed up on Titan with the soul stone, and no Gamora, she was able to basically figure out what had happened. Even if she didn’t know exactly, a heads up for Hawkeye and Black Widow would have been nice.
Steve Lied to Tony
So, it wasn’t great when Cap refused to sign the accords at the opening of Captain America: Civil War, but his most questionable decision didn’t come until the movie’s final act. We all understood Steve’s devotion to Bucky. We could even, maybe get behind his wanting secret identities to stay intact (in a world that actually had very few of them) but, when it came out that Steve had not only protected Bucky but known the truth about the death of Tony’s parents, that was the heartbreaker.
As Tony said, they were friends. Hurt feelings would still have existed, but if Steve had told Tony without his hand being forced, who knows what might have happened for the better.
