MovieChat Forums > Avengers: Endgame (2019) Discussion > was it right to reverse the snap?

was it right to reverse the snap?

posted 3 years ago by ExTechOp (2770)
19 replies | jump to latest

Now that all the repercussions are coming home to roost in the Marvel TV series plot lines and, apparently, "Eternals" as well

Was it really fair of the Avengers to reverse 5 years' adaptation to the new reality all on their own?

I think back over life's big mistakes, the ones I wish I could take back, and I now don't think I'd undo any of it. Life moves on, we learn and adapt.

Anyway, still thinking about it. I actually started thinking about it before "Endgame" when the rumors of a five-year time-jump started circulating. I didn't figure it'd be fair or necessarily the right thing to do to undo the Snap after anything more than a short delay.

Regardless, it was absolutely the right thing to do from a storytelling perspective. It gave the loss in "Infinity War" some real weight and the consequences give the MCU nearly limitless potential for future plot lines.

[–] FilmBuff (7436) 3 years ago

Imagine if your wife, child, brother, or anyone you care deeply about, died suddenly, and well before their time, 5 years ago. If you could bring them back today, would you? I think the answer for nearly anyone is "of course." So no, I don't think it was at all unfair or immoral of the Avengers to undo the murder of billions of people, even if it took them five years to accomplish the feat.

Meanwhile, I think from a story-telling point-of-view, it was the wrong way to go. They should have either ended the saga with Thanos' victory at the end of Infinity War, or found a way for the Avengers to immediately undo his snap in Endgame.

[–] acidraindrop (3055) 3 years ago

Meanwhile, I think from a story-telling point-of-view, it was the wrong way to go.

[–] jekporkins (1985) 3 years ago

If you step back and think about it, the amount of damage reversing the snap would be ludicrous. People mourned, remarried and had kids with their new love, sold homes, committed suicide, moved across the globe, are now five years older than you.... People were hired to replace those who were snapped, so what happens to those jobs? If you had a lot of stuff, it's all gone - given away or sold. Someone is now living in your house. Food production over that time likely diminished due to less demand, and suddenly billions are back and hungry. The economy would collapse, the housing market would be all over the place...

The Falcon/Winter Soldier touched on this, albeit terribly.

The snap should have bounced things back to five years prior when the first snap occurred. The only reason I can think of why they didn't is to create the Morgan character to take over Iron Man at some point.

[–] Otter (24464) 3 years ago

Yeah, "TFATS" grossly understated the chaos that would ensue, if four billion people re-appeared with no warning and demanded their homes, jobs, spouses, and governments back... and a place to live and something to eat. But no, "TFATS" made it seem like the unsnapping chaos was something that happened to poor foreigners.

I really hope that Pepper Potts Stark spent the rest of her life giving Stark money to people whose lives had been upended by her husband's poor decision-making.

[–] kuatorises (7467) 3 years ago

As opposed to the amount of damage of half of life suddenly disappearing?

[–] Stig2k (70) 3 years ago

But the point is it's not "opposed to", it's "on top of"

[–] kuatorises (7467) 3 years ago

There is no "on top of", that is my point. The whole "The Blip is worse than The Snap" storyline they keep pushing is pretty weak. The notion that the loss of life and nature is not a bigger issue than it returning is just silly.

[–] UncleRuckis (2637) 3 years ago

The snap should have bounced things back to five years prior when the first snap occurred. The only reason I can think of why they didn't is to create the Morgan character to take over Iron Man at some point.

That's an infinitely worse choice. Bringing people back to life is one thing. Gonna cause a bunch of chaos, but we'll push forward and manage.

But reversing the last 5 years and undoing the lives people have made is a non-starter. People have been born, have made families, and built new lives. Take that away and we may as well call you Thanos 2.

[–] kuatorises (7467) 3 years ago

"Take that away and we may as well call you Thanos 2."

Stop it.

[–] UncleRuckis (2637) 3 years ago

Like hell I will! reversing time back to the Snap and making it so it never happened would essentially be erasing from existence every person who was conceived post-Thanos. In their universe, that probably equates to billions.

Either explain how sacrificing those lives to save others, is any different than Thanos doing literally the exact same thing, or kick rocks.

[–] kuatorises (7467) 3 years ago

Tony's daughter is alive. They didn't wipe out people who were born since The Snap.

[–] UncleRuckis (2637) 3 years ago

Go back and read the original post I was responding to. His assertion was that the blip should have just reversed time back 5 years prior to the Snap occurring. My response was that doing that would have unfairly erased a ridiculous number of lives.

[–] kuatorises (7467) 3 years ago

I got ya. I didn't realize we shifted the conversation of the OP.

[–] jekporkins (1985) 3 years ago

But what if the snap took those memories? Essentially like it never happened. It's been a while since I read the comic but is this what they did there?

[–] UncleRuckis (2637) 3 years ago

That choice would basically be the Trolley problem, but erasing memories wouldn't mitigate the huge ethical considerations. I'm pretty sure Tony stark wouldn't have been cool with Morgan getting erased as long as he wouldn't remember.

[–] jekporkins (1985) 3 years ago

yeah, I mentioned that above as the reason why he didn't do it.

[–] Otter (24464) 3 years ago

Actually, if they just went back to the way things would have been, nobody would know about the children who wouldn't be born, the vacated dream house claimed from someone who vanished, the famine that killed all your existing children, whatever. So logically, using the stones to take the universe back to the instant before the initial snap would have been the logical thing to do.

However, Stark wasn't thinking logically. He was actively dying at that point, his brain was shutting down, and his brain was basing decision on emotions. And his emotional state was that of a person who thought he was the first and only person to ever experience parental love. He really was a self-absorbed twat in some ways.

[–] kuatorises (7467) 3 years ago

"Now that all the repercussions are coming home to roost"

You don't think killing half the life IN THE UNIVERSE has repercussions? The whole "The Blip is worse than The Snap" storyline they keep pushing is pretty weak.

[–] acidraindrop (3055) 3 years ago

This is the weirdest thread ever. And also

Regardless, it was absolutely the right thing to do from a storytelling perspective. It gave the loss in "Infinity War" some real weight and the consequences give the MCU nearly limitless potential for future plot lines.

Usually resetting/rewinding is considered a lazy thing to do, from a storytelling perspective, in part because it mitigates the sense of real loss. There's no consequences if you can just bring things back.