MCU Cryathon: Watch the 22 Movie Marathon With Terra Joy!

Every so often AMC runs a marathon before big MCU releases. As the MCU has grown, these marathons have gotten longer and longer until now, with Avengers: Endgame still days away, it has to start tonight to finish before Endgame‘s Thursday opening. It’s going to be 58 hours and 37 minutes of non-stop MCU action- and this time, we’re taking you with us! Follow the MCU Cryathon and watch me try to stay awake and sane for (most of) three days.

First off: Who am I and why am I doing the MCU Cryathon?

I’m a lifelong fangirl, beginning with Animorphs at the age of 7. It’s only gotten worse (better?) from there. I’ve been a huge fan and follower of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since I saw Iron Man way back in 2007. Back then I was a high school senior preparing to begin my professional training as a filmmaker. I was blown away then by the character-driven action with clearly defined universe rules.

12 years later, I’m working as a full-time freelance filmmaker and am still equally blown away and enthralled by Marvel’s brave experiment. They’ve succeeded so profoundly, creating stories that are funny, entertaining, heartfelt, multilayered, and endlessly watchable. In doing so, they’ve showed the world that “superhero movies” can be much more than mindless fun. These are the stories of heroism, of making more of oneself, of building your own survival in a cave with a box of scraps, that resonate most deeply with humanity.

I do stupid things a lot for what and who I love, and the MCU is no exception. In 2015, when I was living in New York, I attended the Marvel Marathon leading up to Age of Ultron — over 24 hours of movies. Now that I live in Toronto, I missed out on the Infinity War Marathon and realized, belatedly, how disappointed I was. Then, like a miracle, AMC brought the Endgame Marathon to exactly one Canadian theater, and that theater is a half hour from my apartment.

So, I’m doing it. 60 hours of movies, one fangirl, one cooler of snacks.

I couldn’t talk any of my friends into coming with me. Any of my local friends who love Marvel are all “I have to WORK at my REAL ADULT JOB” and “I like sleeping” and other ridiculous excuses. Thanks to a special invite from The Geekiary, you can all be my friends instead! I’ll be updating periodically from RIGHT NOW up until after Endgame on Thursday night. My posts will contain spoilers for the rest of the MCU, but zero Endgame spoilers.

The hashtag for my MCU Cryathon is (suprprise!) #MCUCryathon . Feel free to follow me on Instagram @_terramoto_ for video Stories updates (as well if you want to fully track my mental downslide). DM me on Instagram or Tweet me @firemanbiddle if you have any questions you want me to answer or topics to address!

Thanks for coming along for the ride. ASSEMBLE!

Part 1: Getting ready for the MCU Cryathon

I’ve been spending all morning and afternoon packing for what is essentially a three-day camping trip. I decided last minute that I wanted everything I wear to be Marvel-themed in some way, and managed to pull together some excellent (imho) closet cosplay very quickly (in my APARTMENT with a BOX OF SCRAPS… ahem). First up is an Iron Man look.

I had one more thing to finish before packing everything up: my breakfasts! I got started making delicious coconut chia pudding. I forgot one important detail: everything had been going so well, and I am an agent of Chaos.

Sooooo I guess I’ll have to find breakfast elsewhere during the marathon. Also, I need a new outfit stat…

Part 2: Packing for the theater

Three days in a theater requires supplies. Lots of them. Here’s what I’m bringing.

I managed to find another Tony Stark closet cosplay to replace my more-stylish-but-covered-in-chia look. On to the theater! Traffic is thick but I’ve got plenty of time to get checked in and collect my swag.

Part 3: Swag and Seats And Antici………………………. pation

Girl behind me in line: “Why is everyone in line if there’s assigned seating? (cranes her neck to look) Oh, right, they’re giving away free stuff.”

Iron Man was due to start at 5pm, but when 5 hit we were all still in line getting our swag. Here’s what we got:

The toiletries are hilarious… they know we’re going to be ripe after 3 days here. Also IRON MAN IS STARTING,GOTTA GO!

Part 4: Iron Man starts a dynasty

Okay, pee break thoughts:

I love Iron Man. I could watch it an infinite number of times, and essentially have. I love nearly every MCU movie but Iron Man is truly special. Not just because it’s the first, but because of the way it feels so… real. Sure the nanotech suit is cool, but in IM we see the suit get riveted together, and it feels like something that exists in our world. A version of it did — most of the on the ground shots of the suit are of a real model worn by a real human. I think that really comes through the screen. The rules of this world feel human and grounded.

And Tony is so… not yet broken, so hopeful he can make a difference, and it hurts my heart.

END OF IRON MAN and here are my thoughts:

“I am Iron Man.” With those words I knew I’d experienced something special. I wasn’t a huge comic book fan growing up, so I had never heard of Iron Man. But from those lines I was instantly a fan of this trope-subverting, scoundrel superhero.

Also, this isn’t my original thought and I wish I could remember whose thought it is, but this movie is such a product of 2007. For the flip phones (Tony stark! With a flip phone! With a 1-inch video screen!), sure, but also for the specter of war, the relatively easy “good guy American soldiers vs bad guy” vaguely brown generic terrorists, and of course the iron mongering. It’s such a moment in time.

In themselves, the 12 year span of movies have also captured a decade plus of changing attitudes towards the world. I think it’s no accident that later films begin to incorporate an aspect of distrust in the government — but we can talk about that when we get there.

Next up, The Incredible Hulk.

Part 4: The Incredible Hulk may be the least interesting part of the MCU Cryathon.

Done with The Incredible Hulk. My thoughts: I go back and forth on this movie. I do think it’s unfairly hated among the MCU, but it also is far inferior to its predecessor, Iron Man. On this watch, I see the seeds of a captivating character-driven story… unfortunately, the seeds never grow. Here’s where I think Hulk could have done better:

1) Deadly serious storyline. Hulk came out between The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, and clearly owes a lot to those films. However, in doing that in loses an essential ingredient of the greatness of the MCU — its awareness that it is essentially ridiculous. Now, this can be done too much (just you WAIT for my feelings about how Ragnarok has no damn stakes), but there’s a wry charm to the MCU at its best. The Incredible Hulk plays everything straight and serious and it’s hard.

2) This film could be such a fascinating dissertation on the rage of quiet men. For an example, also in the realm of pop culture, see 28 Days Later . The image of Cillian Murphy at his moment of rage still sticks with me years later. It has its moments, especially in the ending meditation scene, but it falls far short of what it could be. And we know the MCU can do this, because we see it with Tony’s PTSD in Iron Man 3!

3) Minimal characterization of everyone else. Betty doesn’t develop the concept of a personality until way late in the story. Ross’s character is “angry and hateful.” I’m spending two hours with these people. I want to know about them.

4) We open with some extended action sequences before I care a wit about these characters. Iron Man before Hulk and Thor after both avoided this by grabbing our attention in medias res and then going back to teach us about our characters. Hulk doesn’t and as a result it sets us up to expect a generic action film even if it occasionally grasps at more than that.

5) Gosh, the cinematography is understatedly beautiful. It’s my favorite sort of camera work — it’s lovely, it tells the story, some of it is gorgeous, but it doesn’t draw attention to itself. The opening action sequence that I just harped on partially takes place in a chase through a soda factory and the environment is used beautifully. That sequence with more clearly defined characters would have been so much fun. Ultimately for me Hulk is too much CGI, not enough characters I care about.

For those tracking my caffeine intake, I consumed a Coke Zero during that last movie. Now, Iron Man 2!

Part 5: Iron Man 2

Stray observation at the beginning of IM2: the iconic Marvel opening logo hadn’t yet come into being. More to follow later, there’s not a lot of breaks this early.

Later observations: I really love rewatching movies because I connect with something different each time. This time, it was a moment after Tony has checked his blood for Palladium poisoning and has realized he’s worsening rapidly. He looks himself in the mirror and asks, “any other bad ideas?” A million things are going on for him — wry, hopeless, cocky, and so much more — it’s an enthralling moment.

It’s so much the theme of the whole film, as well as the stated theme of legacy: what happens to a person when they feel overwhelmed, when they reach a problem they can’t fix. It’s the worst for people who ARE natural problem solvers like Tony, because they usually CAN fix it, so not being able to solve something feels extra hopeless… never mind that the “thing” he’s trying to fix is his literal life. It’s tragic in a way, seeing him win over his demons here, knowing he’s won only to fight another day and gain more demons.

I’ve always loved the Iron Man arc because it does delve into Tony’s mental health and how being an ordinary man dealing with extraordinary situations affects him.

On another note — there’s a huge subplot here of Tony wanting to stay fiercely independent and refuse to give the government any of his Iron Man tech, which is such an ironic setup for his eventual role as champion of the Sokovia Accords.

Here in the real world, it’s been a few hours of solid movie-watching. People are holding up well in the theater! The teal-haired woman next to me snuggled for a bit under a TARDIS blanket during Iron Man 2 but didn’t snooze much. We had a brief incident near the end of IM2 where the lights came on randomly to everyone’s confusion, then eventually were turned off again. Then at the conclusion of IM2 they stayed off… watch this space to see if that was the last light-turned-on time all night and we wasted it!

Part 6: Where should I take my first nap?

I’m getting a bit sleepy and debating what movie to catch a snooze during. Thor is the most logical, because nothing in it TRULY affects Avengers. Jane and Darcy have been written out to my endless annoyance. But I love Darcy, and Captain America: The First Avenger is one of my very favorites but I’ve seen it the most….

I think I made my decision while writing this. Gonna try to snooze a bit in the second half of Thor after I catch a glimpse of Darcy and baby!Loki.

(A bit later) Thor is starting! Fun fact: the first iconic “page flipping” Marvel logo happens now.

Also I retract what I’ve said about Thor not setting up any Avengers things! Who even am I?? Heimdal! The introduction of the multiverse and SPACE! The tesseract! And (obviously) LOKI. I’m sometimes overwhelmed by how much every one of these movies all connect to each other, and yet work separately. It’s truly masterful.

Mental health note: I realized after leaving the theater, changing my clothes, and getting water that I’m less sleepy and more in need of a break from very loud noises and bright fast moving colors. Since it’s still relatively early (11:45pm) there are still other patrons getting out of their movies.

I hope I don’t get scolded for hanging out on the floor in the hallway for a bit.

I felt bad that I’m already getting overstimulated — I have so far to go! So many movies to see! — but then I remembered this is called a marathon, and in marathons you have to pace yourself so you make it to the finish line.

Okay, break done. I’m not actually sleepy so… back in for Thor! HI DARCY HI EVERYONE. I got back in just in time for one of my favorite scenes, THIS DRINK I LIKE IT ANOTHER

Also, dannnng, Loki looks hot sitting on the throne, #sorrynotsorry.

Part 7: Done with Thor!

I’m glad I went back in and watched. I got to see some of my faves and also Thor before his life is ruined.

I also had a bit of a nap, which had to happen, although I wish I couldn’t sleep at all so I could watch ALL OF THEM. However, I’m getting a bit too sleepy to have good thoughts.

LIGHTWATCH 2019: the theater lights are back on! And I’ve introduced myself to my seatmates! We talked about… guess what… our favorite characters. The woman next to me has a TARDIS blanket, which matches well with my Supernatural blanket.

CAPTAIN AMERICA TIME BYE 🇺🇸 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

Part 8: Captain America: The First Ship (well, first look at what would become a major MCU ship)

I have no memory of falling asleep, but I apparently did right after Bucky’s fall and then woke up directly at the end. That was NOT my intention! So my main thoughts are all Stucky related… those boys. they just care for each other SO MUCH. They’re so important. That’s all I got at 3:20 am…

*Avengers trailer plays after Captain America*

a guy: oh, I haven’t seen that yet!

rest of audience: *confused silence*

guy: just kidding!

rest of audience: *relieved hysterical laughter*

Part 9: AND NOW THE AVENGERS… followed by a deep need for real sleep

Caffeine watch: second Coke Zero obtained in hopes I can actually watch this movie.

I remember when I learned these movies were going to come together  I remember how excited I was for that audacious idea. So long ago!

Halfway through I kept passing out during Avengers, so I gave up and found a place to get some real sleep. I first went out in the hall like before but wound up finding an empty movie theater to stretch out. I am now awake with absolutely no concept of time, space, or what movie is playing.

Update: it is 8:30 am! I slept for about three hours. According to the schedule, I missed the end of Avengers and all of Iron Man 3. Thor: the Dark World is just starting.

I forgot until I walked to the lobby area that nobody goes to a movie at 8:30 am. Everyone here is either an employee or a zombie with a lanyard like mine , confusedly stumbling towards food, washroom, and caffeine.

The theater employees brought in coffee and pastries for us! Also, major shout out to the theater employees who volunteered for the night shift. I just chatted with some of them as I was getting my coffee and they’re 300% ready to go home — and they have to do this again tomorrow night before returning to their normal work schedule. They all deserve a medal as far as I’m concerned.

Also, here’s the essentially empty lobby.

Going back in to catch the rest of The Dark World! I didn’t like this one when I first saw it, but it’s really grown on me in subsequent viewings. For me personally, I just have to remember that the villains are disappointing generic villains and focus on the protagonist characters who I love.

Part 10: Thor: Dark World is never as bad as you remembered it.

Did I say “characters I love”? Make that “characters who I love and who I get to watch be well-sketched, complex, and play off each other in interesting ways.

• Loki in his jail cell, still projecting illusions of how he wishes he was, and the grimy true underlayer — such a beautiful image.
• DARCY and HER INTERN.
• Jane!

Also, this film contains one of my favorite lines in the whole MCU: Loki is trying to convince Thor to trust his plan. When Thor (probably rightfully) refuses to trust him at all Loki says, “Trust my rage.”

Ok so I left to get a coffee refill (Caffeine watch: 2nd coffee [Editor’s note: are we pretending she didn’t have the soda yesterday? I guess we are]) and I’d like to share the thought that I really enjoy the first two Thor movies. I think they’re really unfairly maligned.

One of the best parts of them is the expansive production design. These worlds are huge and beautiful, and I notice different small details on each re-watch. I’d love to do a whole post screaming about the visuals but I don’t have time to Google the requisite images before Winter Soldier starts.

But in short, I gasped when I saw Asgard the first time I saw Thor all the way back in 2010, and my love for the beauty, variety, and originality of these worlds only grows. Serious work went into making these places feel unique.

Also, DARCY. I love her.

Special shout out to my right-hand seat neighbor, Ellie. I asked her if I could have a splash of water from her water bottle in my cup because Winter Soldier was about to start but I needed water to take my meds. (TAKE YOUR MEDS EVERYONE.) She gave me a splash then said, “Actually, take all of it. I’ll go get more” and filled up my cup. What a lovely human. It’s the little things.

Winter Soldier is starting!

Part 11: Never sleep during The Winter Soldier

12:40: WINTER SOLDIER THOUGHT. In my ship, we don’t say, “I love you”. We say, “I’m with you ’till the end of the line” and I think that’s beautiful.

Seriously though, shipping ahoy!

I love Sam. I love him and Steve’s friendship, and how they’re so important to each other. But I just can’t ship them together when there’s… Bucky. Steve and Sam have love for each other, but Bucky and Steve are everything to each other. The depth of their feeling for each other gives me SO MANY FEELINGS, y’all. It’s so all consuming, so overwhelming.

For the record, my personal headcanon is bisexual Steve Rogers who loves Peggy and Bucky. It’s possible to love more than one person differently at different times. Also, PEGGY THOUGH.

I really, really love Winter Soldier.

Personal status note: I’ve kind of shifted out of my seat onto a wide step. I can sit in more ways and stretch out more… don’t worry, I’m doing my best to keep out of everyone’s way! And I’ll go back to my seat… eventually.

Part 11: Up next… Guardians of the Galaxy!

Between Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy, there’s a positively luxurious ten minute break instead of the usual five. I used it to put dressing on my salad, refill my ice cup for my first Red Bull (caffeine watch!), and change into what I’m ambitiously calling my ”Day Two Look”: my Rocket Raccoon closet cosplay.

Yes, a raccoon hood is A Thing I Just Own.

Coming back from a quick pee break! I’d just like to report that last night I was very tired and this all felt insurmountably long. Now, with more food (including vegetables) and caffeine, I am very awake, having a great time, and excited to keep going and see more movies I love.

Post movie:
DANCING BABY GROOT. That is all.

GotG has never been my fave but it was fun. Nothing really big to say about this one. Age of Ultron is next, which is as far as I got in my last marathon. After that is new back-to-back territory for me!

I’m using my break to walk a lap of the theater so my knees continue to function as knees and not as jello-like collagen.

In case you’re following here and not on Twitter (#MCUcryathon) I’m taking votes about whether to buy this collectible Endgame popcorn bucket. It’s $14 (ouch) but comes with popcorn in it?

Go vote on Twitter, I’ll put the decision off until the next movie or two.

It’s not like I’m going anywhere anytime soon.

People here are still excited. When the lights started to dim for AoU a guy in the front yelled, “Okay, here we go… we have movie sign!”

Part 12: Age of Ultron is finished — on to new Marathon territory!

AoU is definitely in the category of MCU films that have grown on me. There’s parts of I definitely don’t love — especially the breakup of my Clint/Nat OTP. I’m willing to attempt to buy NatBruce but they just don’t DO anything as a couple. What do they talk about? What do they like to do together? They TALK about what they see in each other but SHOW DON’T TELL, ya know?

However, I felt okay about the “best friends” of Clint and Nat this go-around. We see them deeply care for and worry about each other. Deep love doesn’t always have to be romantic.

Much like The Dark World, now that I’m prepared for the things I dislike I’m not actively disappointed by their reveals (Nat thinking she’s a monster because she can’t bear children?? Really? Plenty awful was done to her in the Red Room, is that the best you got, Whedon?). Instead, I just enjoy seeing my faves all work together… and watching the seeds of discord being sown. Tony and Steve just can’t agree what the right course of action is throughout the fight, but are able to part as friends. Tony thinks he’s getting out. But he needs what Iron Man makes him, how being a hero makes him feel. He’s always been an addict, be it for attention, liquor, or heroism. He can’t stop. It’s so tragic, and such good storytelling.

I think AoU also emphasizes the point of the overall arc of Phase 3 — do superheroes bring supervillians? Does one create the other? Do they create each other? Do heroes share some blame for the creation OF the villains? What about the reverse? GUILT FOR EVERYONE.

Next up, Ant-man!

I have only done the Marathon up to Ultron. Last time I was pretty delirious by this point. This time I feel pretty okay. My snacks are keeping me going and the people near me are lovely. I’m honestly interested to see when my energy starts flagging again. Watch this space!

Part 13: Ant-Man and the return of other theater goers

I left for water and a pee. All of a sudden there’s SO MANY HUMANS in the lobby. I guess other people go to the movies at 6 pm?

Ant-Man is so fun. As we hurtle from Ultron to Civil War, it’s such a fun reminder of what originally built the MCU: fully realized characters, character driven action, snappy dialogue, awareness of ridiculousness while still having real feeling stakes. So fun. NOW LET’S CIVIL WAR!

Mental state check in: I feel good! Not tired yet, but let’s be real, if I had a dark room and a bed I could definitely sleep. I’m now officially past the 24 hour mark and I feel like I could, well, do this all day. Too cliche? Well, fine, I feel like I can keep doing this awhile yet.

It’s half-hour break time and I’m not sure what to do with myself tbh. My lovely new friend Ellie, who sits next to me, is making a Tim Hortons run so I suppose I’ll just get some steps in.

Part 14: CIVIL WAR TIME. NOW WE CRY.

Civil War pee break thoughts:
1) I need to start drinking less liquid.

2) I love this movie a lot, and not just because it’s the star-crossed love story of Steve and Bucky (but that certainly helps). I also love that I sincerely can argue both Steve’s “don’t sign the accords” side and Tony’s “we need them”, and have done so on many occasions.

3) Watching all the movies back to back really shows Tony’s character development, for better or worse. The playboy who told the government YOU CANT HAVE IT about his tech is long gone, buried under layers of trauma and regret… but also addiction to adrenaline. He can’t stop, even as he thinks he needs to be reined in.

Post Civil War update: That movie inspires just as many OVERWHELMING FEELINGS as before. No clever analysis, sorry friends… just FEELINGS.

Also, another shout out to Ellie! Thanks to the coffee she brought me I feel AMAZING and like I can make it through the next several years of movies.

30 hour mark!

Part 15: We’re all mad here

Overheard cell phone convo during break: “No, I can’t, I’m not there. I have another movie to watch.”

I was chatting with someone about our respective tiredness levels and how we’re both doing okay but also oh my goodness, we have 22 more hours of this…
Guy: Well, I haven’t gotten to the “I’m-seeing-through-time” level yet…

On cue, the theater lights begin to dim for Doctor Strange.

Me: And conveniently we’re about to watch the movie about that!

Guy, smacked in the face with the 2-by-4 of realization: OH MY GOD WE ARE

Quick side note before the movie: I saw the Twitter poll results and if I can’t trust the internet to make decisions for me, who can I trust? I’m going to wait for the lobby to thin out a little, then I’ll grab the fancy popcorn tin.

11:30 pm, part of the way into Dr Strange…

So remember how I was all “I’M SO AWAKE I FEEL AMAZING!”?? I started falling into microsleeps partway through Doctor Strange, a movie I like quite a lot.

First plan was to concede defeat and have a couple hours’ sleep in an empty movie theater. But no sooner had I found an empty one than a cleaning guy popped in to let me know I was in the wrong theater. (Um, thanks?) Apparently I have to wait until the other movies in the multiplex are all done before I can pull that trick.

At least I’m cozy and warm in my jimjams, and I got a quick break from flashing lights. Let’s see how the rest of Doctor Strange goes! I’M GOING BACK IN, FRIENDS

Post Doctor Strange: stayed awake for the rest of it! Guardians of the Galaxy 2 is up next and I have absolutely no idea if I’ll be awake for it or not. Let’s find out together!

Social media update: scrolling through my Facebook at 12:10, and…

It took me SEVERAL seconds to realize that:

1. This isn’t an Endgame spoiler
2. It isn’t an MCU supercut
3. James Buchanan Barnes has never gone by Jimmy ever.

So that’s where I’m at, I suppose.

1:50 am: Just woke up… apparently I did indeed sleep through most of GOTG2. I’m going to hunt down some more sleep/a better place to have it.

Part 16: 8:20 am – TOO MUCH SLEEP TOO MUCH SLEEP

I didn’t think I’d sleep for this long on the floor!

I blame the second blanket. Or something. Anyway, I missed several movies and I’m sad about it, but I suppose one must sleep sometime.

I missed most of Guardians 2, Spider-Man Homecoming (really sad about that — it’s one of my faves), and Thor Ragnarok.

Unpopular opinion time: Ragnarok is my absolute least favorite and the only one I’ve only seen once. I was debating with myself if I should watch it again in hopes I’d enjoy it more on second watch, so I’m not completely devastated that I was spared that decision.

Per the schedule Black Panther is about an hour in. I’m really sad I’m missing it but PRIORITIES… must hunt down coffee.

According to the internet I owe you all photographic evidence of the bucket. Behold.

Better yet, I told my fiancee about it and got this response.

Okay, I’m going back in! I’ll see what I can of Black Panther ❤️

So Bucky shows up in the post credits scene and a girl yells from the top row, “OH MY GOD! WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS ARM?… just kidding you guys!” Everyone is a little punchy at this point.

Part 17: Is it weird that Infinity War is now but there are two more movies before we see how it ends?

I actually rewatched the majority of Infinity War what feels like “yesterday” but was actually Tuesday morning, in case I needed to have some emergency sleep during it. However, I have had more sleep than planned and I am on my second coffee in an hour (Caffeine watch, uh, x and x+1??), so I am READY. As ready as I can be, I suppose…

After Infinity War:
Welllp, that never gets easier. My heart hurts just as much seeing my faves turn into ash every time.

A note for those who say, “But you know Peter (or whoever) isn’t dead! There’s a sequel already!”

Okay yeah and movies aren’t real, entertainment is meaningless, we all die anyway, why care about stuff?! I have chosen to have (or been forced into having) an emotional connection with these characters, therefore I am connecting to their emotions and journey AS THEY HAPPEN. They’re feeling this pain and I feel it with them. For me, “but you know there’s more movies” sounds like “but you know that Robert Downey Jr, the actor, isn’t actually Tony Stark so you shouldn’t wince when he gets stabbed or worry for him.” It’s fiction. You have to buy into the world to enjoy it.

I mean… in my opinion. Which is right. 😀

Anyway, I’m just as in awe of Infinity War as I always am. What a freaking masterpiece. The amount that FITS TOGETHER, and the amount of characters and chess pieces that move around! Everyone gets a little piece of the plot. Every audience member gets to see their fave have a moment that’s more than just a cameo, that’s real and integral to the progression of the story. In a huge story with a million moving parts, we always understand where the characters physically are, who’s winning and who’s losing, what the goal is.

Think of other action movies you may have seen — have you ever been watching a fight scene and had no idea where the combatants are physically trying to get to? Or if that’s clear, just see a bunch of hitting without an understanding of how far along they each are towards that goal or prevention of it? Infinity War NEVER has those problems despite many opportunities for them. It’s amazing.

I may be terrified of Endgame (oh, and I am — I feel nervousness and dread deep in my stomach, like you get before you walk into a “we need to talk” meeting with your boss and you don’t have any idea what the talk is about but you know there’s no possible way it’s good), but I’m so so excited to see how it all happens.

I’m caffeinated, I’ve slept, I’ve eaten a salad, and I’m ready to do this.

But first, Ant-Man and the Wasp! I’ve only seen this one once and am delighted to reconcile it more closely with IW.

Part 18: Ant-Man and the Wasp is underrated af

Gosh, AMATW is so fun. Such a great use of the world!

My only gripe is that Janet Van Dyne’s makeup is PERFECT after 30 years in the quantum realm. My makeup isn’t that good after 30 minutes at a party.

I’m so curious how Scott being stuck sub-atomic is going to factor in later… AND WE’RE FINDING OUT SOON!!!

My seatmates and I have been discussing strategic hydration. We want to avoid having to pee during Endgame at all costs (although we did check out the spoiler-free pee guide, but… we also have to drink sometime. Our consensus has been to stop liquids during Captain Marvel.

With that in mind, I’m getting my last drink in now. Let the record (and caffeine watch) show that it’s a Red Bull, because I am terrified of falling asleep during Endgame even though I feel great right now. You NEVER KNOW.

Captain Marvel is starting! WILD cheers and applause for the Stan Lee title sequence!

Part 19: Done with Captain Marvel!! 

Half hour break until Endgame starts, which I will predominantly spend fretting.

I’d like to warn y’all that my intrepid editor / reason for this article’s existence Khai has departed the interwebs for her own Endgame preparations, so I’m on my own for the last bit. All errors are my own. [Editor’s note: Khai is now too emotionally compromised from Endgame to edit this, and besides you all deserve to enjoy Charming Giddy Terra with us.]

Thanks for sticking with me through all of this, friends. I would describe the General mood of the theatre as “relieved elation.” Lots of people yelling “oh WOW we’re actually going to SEE ENDGAME” and “it’s going to feel so short! 3 hours is nothing!” I also walked by one woman pacing back and forth outside, fiddling with her marathon lanyard and saying “I can’t do this, im not ready…” I replied SAME.

I’d like to give a HUGE thank you to the Geekiary for inviting me to liveblog for them. It’s been so much fun and I look forward to reading over my own thoughts after I’ve slept for about 24 hours. Thank you as well to everyone who’s followed my journey online — I really appreciate you (g)rooting for me (and thanks to James G. for that excellent pun). And oh my marvel, a Hulk-sized shout out to the employees of Scotiabank Cinema Toronto who stayed up all night with a bunch of weirdo nerds and provided excellent customer service throughout.

I’d lastly like to thank snacks. Friends, if you ever feel compelled to do a similar stupid thing as this, my number one tip is to bring as much of your own food as you can. Having a variety of my own food, a lot of it even green vegetable based, has done a ton for maintaining my mojo.

If you really enjoyed this coverage and want to say thank you, please consider throwing a few dollars to some real-life heroes at My Angel With Paws, a nonprofit in Florida that trains service dogs for folks with a variety of needs, including PTSD, seizures, and physical disabilities. They are amazing people who never have enough funding to train and subsidize dogs for those whose lives are changed by them. Also, they are currently training a dog from their “Q litter” named Quill, as in Peter — just look at those EARS! You’re going to be SUCH A GOOD BOY, Quill.

I love being a fan. I love caring about other worlds, other universes.

I love that fandom takes me on strange adventures I’d never do normally. I love traveling for cons, wearing weird costumes, and doing ridiculous things. I love meeting interesting people and having something we love immediately in common. I love loving things — no matter if those things only exist in our collective imaginations. I love the way entertainment takes us to a brighter, more exciting, more hopeful place that encourages us to stand back and punch back again.

 

I actually went to the Marvel office very early in my film career, in the space of time in between The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man 2. I was in film school, and I happened to be on an unscheduled overnight layover in LA (isn’t air travel fun?). Already a huge fan of Iron Man, I figured I might as well take a cab to the office and ask for a job.

The office was far from my hotel in a random industrial park. The cab was expensive. I remember a cramped reception room with a huge Iron Man cardboard standee dominating one corner. The gatekeepers quickly took my resume and dismissed me. I was amazed I’d even come that far, and proud of myself for being brave enough to try.

I bet that office is a bit bigger and a bit closer to downtown now.

(And, on a personal note, it took me a few more years but I am now a full-time freelancer working on film sets in Toronto and NYC. In a cave, from a box of scraps, my friends.)

Marvel Studios made a colossal experiment. It worked. I don’t believe it was a gamble. I believe they knew what people wanted, what they loved, before everyone else did. What they made connected with the world, and their amazing brave experiment has come together here. I’m so proud to have been here for it.

Let’s do this.

Awake, hydrated, all smiles — in preparation for the tears to come.

I will update this post after Endgame, but I will NOT post any spoilers.

My honest, spoiler free reaction:

I can’t figure out how to rotate this so someone fix this for me please. [Editor’s note: No. You lie there sideways and cry like the rest of us.]

Anyway, my feelings are: I got everything I wanted and more. I also got everything I didn’t know I wanted and feared. I have infinite feelings. I would watch it ten more times right now but I don’t know if my heart could take it. I feel that any more words are a spoiler. I hope you all watch it and love it and cry.

I have to be on set at 7 am tomorrow but maybe I’ll get shawarma first. It seems right.

Thanks for joining me. To quote one of my compatriots, it was a pleasure being emotionally fried with you.

And from someone else on the way out: HULK… NAP!

I keep adding to this but I just want to say that cheering with a whole squad of marathon-ers WE DID IT as we walked back out into the real world was such an uplifting and magical moment. We all shared this ridiculous thing together, all loved these characters deeply as we watched the greatest fight of their lives, and now are all dispersing into the night, taking the flickering light of this shared experience with us. That’s fandom, friends.

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