Chris Evans as Captain America in 'Avengers: Endgame'. Courtesy Disney / Marvel Studios
Chris Evans as Captain America in 'Avengers: Endgame'. Courtesy Disney / Marvel Studios
Chris Evans as Captain America in 'Avengers: Endgame'. Courtesy Disney / Marvel Studios
Chris Evans as Captain America in 'Avengers: Endgame'. Courtesy Disney / Marvel Studios

Marvel's 'Endgame': How the studio changed the movie industry with its superhero series


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"We're in the endgame now." It's Benedict Cumberbatch who says the words. But it's Marvel who means them. The line arrives at the end of last year's Avengers: Infinity War, as Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange and Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man sit battered and on the brink of a catastrophic loss that will, in one of the most audacious blockbuster endings of all time, leave less than half of their team of superheroes alive.

In a classic Marvel move, the line functions as both an Easter egg for fans – the name of Infinity War's feverishly anticipated sequel was hiding in plain sight all along – and a statement of intent.

After 11 years and $18.5 billion (Dh67.96bn) at the box office, Avengers: Endgame, the final instalment of Marvel's extraordinary tapestry of interwoven stories and intertwined characters, marks the finale of the greatest success story in cinema history. And I was there when it started.

From 2006 to 2014, I was editor-­in-chief of Empire, a magazine I'm probably still contractually obliged somewhere to remind you is The World's Biggest Movie Magazine. In 2008, there was simply no better place to be. That summer, Indiana Jones was coming out of retirement (he should have stayed there) in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Batman was back in The Dark Knight. And 007 was returning once again, in the sub-­editor's migraine that was Quantum of Solace.

For magazines like Empire, line-ups like these don't come along often, sure-fire news-stand smashes that have publishers rubbing their hands. Which is maybe why my publisher's hands very nearly ended up wrapped around my neck. "What's this?" he asked, eyes bulging with either fury or fear (it was hard to tell), when I showed him the cover we were running instead of any of those cash cows. "Who the hell is Iron Man?"

To be fair, it was a valid question. Now, it's Marvel's established formula to mix together third-tier super­heroes with unlikely talent and watch the magic fly. But a decade ago, this whole shebang sounded nothing short of nuts. Here was a character most of the public had never heard of, from the director of Elf (Jon Favreau), and played by an actor (Robert Downey Jr) whose most recent high-profile gig was 15 months in prison for possession of illegal substances and a handgun. "I felt like I might not get a shot at doing it because of the wreckage of my past," Downey Jr admitted in our Iron Man world exclusive. "Even though it had been long enough in my eyes."

A scene from the 2019 motion picture 'Avengers: Endgame'. Courtesy Disney / Marvel
A scene from the 2019 motion picture 'Avengers: Endgame'. Courtesy Disney / Marvel

Heck, it wasn't even as if Iron Man was the most obviously commercial Marvel movie of the year; the other one being Edward Norton's The Incredible Hulk, aka the Marvel movie everyone would now quite like to pretend never happened.  

Today, every studio is busily digging down the back of the sofa to see what "shared universe" of properties it can cobble together. Some, such as Warner Bros and DC, have struggled to maintain any sort of creative coherence. Others, like Universal's Dark Universe, the much-ballyhooed interlinking of their classic monsters, fell at its first Tom Cruise-fronted hurdle, The Mummy, and was swiftly shuttered – the studio quietly pulling the plug on Angelina Jolie's Bride of Frankenstein and Johnny Depp's Invisible Man

Conversely, the impact of Iron Man (a movie character I was the first magazine editor anywhere in the world to put on the cover, my ego would like to point out) was seismic, its $585 million worldwide forcing the naysayers to swallow their cynicism.

Come 2010's Iron Man 2, Empire had started its own small movie preview event, on London's South Bank. By coincidence, Downey Jr was in town, for – and I'm not making this up – ­Bono's birthday, although the actor headed back to Claridge's early with his producer wife, Susan, for room-service sandwiches and to watch his favourite TV show at the time, which was, somewhat ironically, called Banged Up Abroad. That's when I got the call. Downey Jr had heard about our event, and wanted to know whether I'd mind if he popped along with some unseen clips from Iron Man 2? A few hours later I was backstage with him, ready to surprise an audience of only 300 people with the ultimate cameo. As Downey Jr strode on to the stage, the room went bananas. Everyone screamed. Some even started crying. It was like a Beatles gig. That's what the man from Marvel meant to them.

If the Avengers really were the Beatles, then Iron Man would be McCartney to Captain America's (Chris Evans) Lennon. Which makes Thor (Chris Hemsworth) George Harrison and The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, who replaced Norton in the role) good old Ringo. It was these key characters that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige – the architect of this incredible ecosystem of long-form storytelling – always planned to use as the foundations for his ridiculously ambitious Marvel Cinematic Universe. First, they would have their own stand-alone movies. Then there would be one with them all together – the biggest-budget superhero experiment ever attempted.

Chris Hemsworth as Thor in 'Avengers: Endgame'. Courtesy Disney / Marvel Studios
Chris Hemsworth as Thor in 'Avengers: Endgame'. Courtesy Disney / Marvel Studios

Feige's MCU is an extraordinary achievement, especially when you look at its conception. In 1996, Marvel had in fact filed for bankruptcy, having only kept their comic-book empire afloat by licensing out its best-known characters, such as Spider-Man, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four. The company had even lost the rights to Iron Man; the unloved tin man passed from studio to studio before eventually returning home. Time was running out for Marvel, but a last-ditch plan was forming. The company went to Merrill Lynch and secured a loan of $525m, to make Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, and thus create their own production arm. The collateral against that loan? The rights to 10 of its biggest properties, including the Avengers, Black Panther, Ant-Man and Doctor Strange. If the gamble worked, Marvel would be king of a brave new world. If it didn't, it'd lose everything.

With great power, of course, comes great responsibility. And the unparalleled world-building Marvel has done since then has more than lived up to its own mantra – most recently with Captain Marvel and Black Panther. The former was female-led, both in front of the camera and behind it, and it's a beautiful and brilliant, billion-dollar blockbuster built on a genuine feminist apotheosis. And in Black Panther – a movie its director, Ryan Coogler, described as being about the hyphen between "African" and "American" – Marvel delivered the first comic-book movie to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. More than that, its black crew and cast gave black children everywhere not only a superhero to look up to, but a choice of which one they most wanted to be. 

Of all Marvel's success, that's surely the greatest tribute to comic-book writer Stan Lee's creations. His characters often confronted real-world bigotry and always celebrated the power of diversity. His superheroes really could make the world a better place. And now, they are again. Lee died last November, but he had already filmed his cameo for Avengers: Endgame, as he had for every other Marvel movie. With many of the Avengers as we know them saying goodbye in this movie and Feige describing it as the full stop on a story we've been following for more than a decade, it's only right that Lee should be there.

The characters will live on, for sure, with different actors in their suits. As will Lee's legacy. But for now, it's time to say farewell. The endgame is finally here. One last time, let's play.

SQUADS

UAE
Mohammed Naveed (captain), Mohamed Usman (vice-captain), Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Imran Haider, Tahir Mughal, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed, Fahad Nawaz, Abdul Shakoor, Sultan Ahmed, CP Rizwan

Nepal
Paras Khadka (captain), Gyanendra Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Pradeep Airee, Binod Bhandari, Avinash Bohara, Sundeep Jora, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Rohit Paudel, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi, Basant Regmi, Pawan Sarraf, Bhim Sharki, Aarif Sheikh

Key figures in the life of the fort

Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.

Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.

Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.

Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.

Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.

Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.

Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae

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What are NFTs?

Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.

You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”

However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.

This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”

This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.

From exhibitions to the battlefield

In 2016, the Shaded Dome was awarded with the 'De Vernufteling' people's choice award, an annual prize by the Dutch Association of Consulting Engineers and the Royal Netherlands Society of Engineers for the most innovative project by a Dutch engineering firm.

It was assigned by the Dutch Ministry of Defence to modify the Shaded Dome to make it suitable for ballistic protection. Royal HaskoningDHV, one of the companies which designed the dome, is an independent international engineering and project management consultancy, leading the way in sustainable development and innovation.

It is driving positive change through innovation and technology, helping use resources more efficiently.

It aims to minimise the impact on the environment by leading by example in its projects in sustainable development and innovation, to become part of the solution to a more sustainable society now and into the future.

Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions