Disclaimer: The following article contains major spoilers for Avengers: Endgame! So if you haven’t seen the movie yet, set aside 3 hours of your time to go experience it first on the big screen.
After experiencing the devastating outcome of Avengers: Infinity War, fans waited a whole year to find out what happens next. The latest instalment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Avengers: Endgame, brought us the grand conclusion we needed, along with many exciting and unforgettable moments. Avengers: Endgame has to be one of Marvel’s most successful movies by far, being the second-highest grossing movie of all time (at the time of writing) and the fastest film to surpass over US$2 billion in ticket sales worldwide. So, it’s no wonder that the movie generated a whole lot of buzz online.
Using Meltwater Social, we assembled to take a deeper look at what fans were talking about in the social media realm. It was unsurprising to discover that within a fortnight of its release date on 24 April 2019, the film generated over 8.7 million social mentions.
Social coverage spanned across multiple social media platforms with the bulk of mentions derived from Twitter. A high portion of social mentions was derived from the United States, followed by the United Kingdom. There was also significant coverage in other parts of the globe such as Europe and Southeast Asia, showing how stories of the MCU resonates with people of different backgrounds and cultures.
Now let’s take a look at some of the most talked about moments in the movie:
Tony Stark’s and Black Widow’s Sacrifice
Looks like Tony really was “the guy to make the sacrifice play”, in contrast to what Steve Rogers may have told him in 2012’s The Avengers film.
With over 65,000 mentions, one of the most important moments would have to be the death of the inimitable Iron Man a.k.a Tony Stark. The ingenious and wealthy business magnate slash scientist has come a long way since he was first introduced in 2008 and has paved the way for the MCU ever since. Fans expressed both their grievances and admiration for the long-time superhero online after witnessing his ultimate sacrifice. Using the Infinity stones (which he removed sneakily from Thanos’ possession), Iron Man wiped out the entirety of Thanos’ armies and the supervillain himself – but at the expense of his own life.
Nevertheless, Iron Man wasn’t the only one who made sacrifices in the movie. In the second act of the film where our superheroes carried out their “Time Heist” to recover all six Infinity stones, Black Widow a.k.a Natasha Romanoff sacrificed herself at Vormir to retrieve the Soul Stone. Her selfless act garnered over 39,000 mentions online, with some fans questioning why she had to be one of the characters to die in the film.
The Worthy Captain! And Avengers Assemble!
Tragic moments aside, there were also amazing, mind-blowing scenes in the movie that would make anyone punch their fists in the air.
One of them occurred during a gripping fight sequence between Thanos and three of Earth’s mightiest heroes. We discovered that Captain America was able to wield Mjolnir, proving his worthiness, and used its powers against Thanos. The scene sparked over 23,000 social mentions online. Fans expressed how thrilled they were that they finally learned the super soldier was worthy all along.
The next exciting moment happens not long later. If no one in your cinema was applauding or cheering at this scene, I can assure you they were most likely screaming internally. After Captain America hears Falcon calling out to him, we watched all our once “dead” heroes emerge from portals appearing around the battlefield, before kicking off an epic final battle sequence.
The scene received over 32,000 hits online with multiple users commending the soundtrack (“Portals” – Alan Silvestri) that was used in the background. Fans were also commenting on how they had waited so long for Captain America to finally say “Avengers Assemble!”
Thor’s Unexpected Weight Gain
Another noteworthy topic would be Thor’s controversial new look, where the previously able-bodied God of Thunder puts on quite a lot of weight and adopts rather unhealthy drinking habits. The topic reaped over 22,000 hits but unfortunately, about 49% of mentions were tagged as Negative. While some found Thor’s transformation hilarious, there were still many who criticised the character’s new look, claiming that it was unnecessary and did not do any justice to the character’s development.
Amongst all the superheroes featured in the movie (and there were a lot of them), some noteworthy mentions include Ant-Man and MCU newcomer Captain Marvel. Both superheroes who were not in the previous Avengers film appeared in this latest instalment and were ranked amongst the highest mentioned superheroes for the film. Mentions on Ant-Man mainly included fans claiming that the universe wouldn’t have been saved if he had not been released from the Quantum Realm while coverage of Captain Marvel included responses and conversations surrounding a contentious article from Screen Rant.
Ultimately, Avengers: Endgame generated a great amount of buzz and hits online. The mix of sentiments and emotions surrounding different topics seems to signify just how passionate fans can be and how impressive is it that superb filmmaking and storytelling can impact a great number of people. We can’t wait to find out what Marvel has in store for us in their next phase. With Meltwater Social, you too can harness the power of social listening and uncover insights about your brand at your fingertips – no gauntlet needed.
