By: Sharon Emdin

***THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS***

With half of the human population gone, Avengers Endgame Encore presents a world that’s clearly still grieving. Even Thanos, who ends up living like a farmer in a different universe, seems pained: Though his plan worked, he is not presented as satisfied in the movie. This is the same with all the characters. But while their world struggles to move forward, Marvel faces a question of its own: When does continuing a story stop honoring its legacy and start dragging it out?

Marvel has made a way into almost 78% of American households. It has defined an entire generation of superhero movies and their subsequent generations. So it’s no doubt a landmark in entertainment history, and ending that era is not easy.

Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow reaches her bitter end as she makes the ultimate sacrifice for the orange Soul Stone. Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man ironically ends up dying too, after he was the only superhero whose family survived after Thanos’ mass destruction. Their deaths may initially feel forced, particularly to casual viewers, but a closer look at their 11-year run with Marvel shows that their deaths were arguably inevitable.

But what happens when characters who should have been long gone are forced to stay?

Shuri’s journey demonstrated that a legacy does not have to be recreating the person who came before. Sometimes, honoring someone means allowing the next generation to do things differently. Thus, bringing T’Challa (Boseman’s Black Panther) back could complicate what’s already on the ground. Especially since Marvel Studios has already mentioned that they will be respecting Boseman’s legacy by not recreating him using Artificial Intelligence.

Ultimately, Encore explores the importance of family, sacrifice, and legacy. Yet those themes also raise a question for Marvel itself. Can a franchise honor its past without constantly bringing it back?

Perhaps the real challenge for Marvel is not figuring out how to bring the old era back; it is learning how to move forward without losing what made that era special.

Sharon Emdin is a freshman Biology major. In her free time, she likes to bake and watch multicultural shows. She plans to graduate in the Spring of 2030.