People of all backgrounds and ages gather together in a theater to watch the final installment of the infinity saga: Avengers Endgame. They munch on popcorn and sip from their ice-cold drinks, ready for the movie to start. The long-awaited movie came out to select theaters on Thursday, April 25th. However, some wonder if it meets fans’ expectations and debate whether they should see it or not.

*warning: spoilers ahead

I watched the new Marvel movie on opening night. While it is the longest Marvel movie yet at three hours, it grabbed my attention every moment and kept me at the edge of my seat. The movie is filled with humor, empowering moments, and time travel.

The movie opens up with Clint Barton showing his daughter how to shoot an arrow. His family is around him, either playing catch or preparing lunch. While Clint steps away for a moment, his entire family turns to ash. The scene changes to the other Avengers, who try to think of ways to get the missing people back. However, their hope falls, and they fall into a routine of helping the universe move on throughout the next five years.

Some are able to make the most of the Snap, such as Iron Man. He and Pepper Potts move to the country and raise a little girl, whom they name Morgan. It was mentioned in Avengers: Infinity War that Tony had a very vivid dream where he and Pepper had a child named Morgan, after Pepper’s uncle; this is an ode to that moment. Bruce Banner is able to finally able to figure out the exact amount of gamma rays needed to keep the form of The Hulk while having the brains of Banner, something that he describes as the best of both worlds. This was the lighter side of the after-effects, which brought some laughs from the audience.

Others are haunted with the feeling of guilt and try to think of ways to get the others back. Steven Rogers leads a therapy group, coaching them to move on and look past the Snap; he, however, can’t move on himself. Natasha Romanoff is stuck in the past by staying in Avengers Headquarters. We see Clint again, but this time as an assassin who murders villains in an effort to fill the emptiness inside of him. Thor forms an unflattering beer gut and fails when it comes to hygiene. Usually noted as one of the most loved characters in Avengers based on appearance, it released some of the tension of the overall movie plot by seeing a fat Thor. It’s not until a rat runs over a control system of the Quantum Realm teleporter and brings back Scott that they are able to come together.

Was the rat the real hero of the movie? Did Doctor Strange rely on a rat to bring back Scott in order for the Snap to be reversed? These strange questions immediately filled the heads of viewers as they watched the scenes unfold.

Together, Scott and Tony come up with the idea of going through the Quantum Realm to go to the past. Up to this point, we had only seen Scott as a street-smart guy who was outshined when it came to knowledge by the Pym family; it was refreshing to see Scott making a difference in the playing field and helping the cause. I, for one, was glad to see Ant-Man have a bigger role in the movie than expected.

The team of superheroes comes back together to grab the infinity stones before the Snap happened and bring the rest of the population back. By going back in time, fans get to see some of the highlights and never-before-seen scenes of the past movie, bringing nostalgia as the series comes to a close. We get to also see Stan Lee’s final cameo, in which he drives by a war camp in the ’70s and shouts “Make love, not war!”

While in the past, however, the superheroes come across a few bumps in the road. Instead of being sent to Asgard for prison, Loki is able to get the Tesseract and teleport himself away from Earth. Thor takes the Mjolnir from the past back to the present. The Thanos and Nebula from the past are killed, yet we see Nebula at the end of the movie.

Every superhero bands together to defeat this Thanos, creating a scene of wholeness as we saw stories and worlds collide. There was also a part of the war scene where all of the female superheroes fight together as a team; among those is Captain Marvel. While she was not in the movie as much as fans were expecting, she still helped the cause by destroying Thanos’ ship and by single-handedly fighting him.

Some things are unclear as to how these time changes worked out, and following the time travel theories took some time to wrap my brain around. Once you get past that, you can enjoy the humor and memories that Avengers: Endgame offers.

After getting the stones, Tony sacrifices himself and snaps his fingers while wearing the Infinity Stones, causing Thanos and his army to disappear. He dies with Pepper Potts and Peter Parker at his side. Tony’s funeral is attended by all of the superheroes and friends, including Happy Hogan and Harley from Iron Man 3. Everyone is finally able to move on and find something new to do; Thor decides to become a Guardian of the Galaxy, which we may get to see more of in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie.

Finally, we see Captain America going back in time to return the infinity stones and instead of returning to the same age, the characters see him as an old man sitting by the lake. He passes on the infamous shield to his friend, Sam Wilson, making him the next Captain America. While doing so, we catch a glimpse of a wedding ring. The camera shifts to the 1940s, where Steve and Peggy finally get that first dance that was promised in “Captain America: The First Avenger”. The screen fades to darkness, and the credits roll.

The 22nd Marvel movie presented the Avengers moving on to better things, satisfying viewers and creating a bitter-sweet ending. We witnessed many beloved characters die, such as Black Widow and Iron Man, which will stay in the fans’ hearts forever. For the first time in Marvel movie history, there was not an end-credits scene. Instead, there is the sound of metal banging on metal, which comes back full circle to the film that began it all: Iron Man. Overall, the movie was a thrilling masterpiece that was filled with plenty of opportunities to laugh and reminisce. It is the perfect conclusion for the Avengers series with plenty of easter eggs and new beginnings. It is a must-see for all Marvel fans.