# Has a movie ever been as anticipated as Avengers: Endgame **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 4, 2019, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-movie-ever-been-as-anticipated-as-avengers-endgame/828919 "2019-02-04T01:11:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-movie-ever-been-as-anticipated-as-avengers-endgame/828919/41 "2019-02-04T18:08:55Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Everyone’s forgetting about _Star Trek: The Motion Picture_. Every fan was wanting to see it from the moment it was announced. > . I actually thought about this, but eventually didn’t include it because I was too young to be aware of the wider world. As a nine-year-old, I certainly anticipated it more than the Star Wars sequels that came later. Unfortunately, I didn’t really get it upon seeing it. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-movie-ever-been-as-anticipated-as-avengers-endgame/828919/42 "2019-02-04T18:11:37Z")
Some of us on seeing the title Avengers only think of the 1960s British TV series with John Steed (Patrick Macnee) and Emma Peel (Diana Rigg): > **[The Avengers (TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Avengers_(TV_series))** > > The Avengers is a British espionage television series, created in 1961, that ran for 161 episodes until 1969. It initially focused on David Keel (Ian Hendry), aided by John Steed (Patrick Macnee). Hendry left after the first series; Steed then became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants. His most famous assistants were intelligent, stylish, and assertive women: Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman), Emma Peel (Diana Rigg), and Tara King (Linda Thorson). Dresses and suits for the... ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-movie-ever-been-as-anticipated-as-avengers-endgame/828919/43 "2019-02-04T18:36:29Z")
> [@Yodalicious](#): > > Definitely The Phantom Menace. People were buying tickets to Meet Joe Black, and leaving after the TPM trailer. That’s called dodging a bullet only to get hit by another bullet months later. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-movie-ever-been-as-anticipated-as-avengers-endgame/828919/44 "2019-02-04T18:42:04Z")
I remember people buying movie tickets just to see the trailer Batman as well. There was much hype. Great poster. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-movie-ever-been-as-anticipated-as-avengers-endgame/828919/45 "2019-02-04T18:44:43Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > In the last years of the 20th century the phone would sometimes ring in my house. > Upon answering I would hear the voice of a friend saying something like “14 months, 23 days, 22 hours” > It was the time we still had to wait for Fellowship of the Rings. > Most anticipated movie. EVER. Well, I would fully expect that from you. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-movie-ever-been-as-anticipated-as-avengers-endgame/828919/46 "2019-02-04T18:53:18Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I think the anticipation for Gone With the Wind beats this one by a mile. The only people anticipating the Avengers movie are those who have already _seen_ the previous movies - the rest of the public has already self-selected themselves out of the potential audience. Outside of that self-selected audience, there’s not much in the way of anticipation for Avengers: Endgame. In 1939, however, a far greater percentage of the nation was eagerly awaiting Selznick’s production, having already been primed for this by not just the runaway success of the novel itself, but a masterful PR game by Selznick, et al, which kept the _making_ of Gone with the Wind at the forefront of the movie-going public’s mind for over 2 years. > > So, to answer the question in the title: Yes. GWTW was far more hyped and far more anticipated by the general movie-going public than the Avengers film is. Yeah if we are restricting ourselves to the US, GWTW beats Avengers and even Phantom Menace. Not least because movies as a medium were just a far bigger part of the culture back when there was no television let alone the Internet. And GWTW was both based off a hugely popular novel and used a fairly new technology: Technicolor, which gave audiences a visual experience unlike almost everything else. I am not sure quite sure how much hype there really is over Endgame. The movies are hugely popular of course and I am sure this will be no exception but their frequency and essential sameness does diminish their status as a special event IMO. And I say this as someone who generally enjoys Marvel films and will definitely watch Endgame. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-movie-ever-been-as-anticipated-as-avengers-endgame/828919/47 "2019-02-04T18:56:25Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > I was only 12 years old at the time, and in addition, there wasn’t the internet to gauge wide-scale anticipation, but perhaps Return of the Jedi was more highly anticipated than Phantom Menace? I’d say that’s more of a match. The Phantom Menace wasn’t continuing the story, it was backfilling. And there was as a good dose of dread mixed in. For ROJ, we really wanted to see the end of the saga. > [@](#): > > Originally Posted by markn+ View Post > Gone with the Wind? > [@simster](#): > > **Carnac the Magnificent:** Another name for Avengers:Infinity War Well done. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-movie-ever-been-as-anticipated-as-avengers-endgame/828919/48 "2019-02-04T18:58:50Z")
And one other thing about GWTW: It lived up to the hype. There were not many people in 1939/1940 who came away perplexed, asking “all that fuss, for this?” ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-movie-ever-been-as-anticipated-as-avengers-endgame/828919/49 "2019-02-04T19:01:46Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Right, not comparing it to Phantom Menace, but to say there is no anticipation for it is ridiculous. I also don’t think that “Going to YouTube” is an exclusively young male thing. Yeah, I’m not saying there’s no anticipation. Just, I dunno how much. And of course youtube is not exclusively young and male, but a behavior doesn’t have to be exclusive for the measurement of it to be affected, just uneven. Certainly young men who are online a lot are both more likely to use youtube and more likely to be interested in Avenger movies. A movie that was anticipated by equal numbers of 50-year-old women would clearly chart much lower on the “views of trailer on youtube in first 24 hours” metric. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-movie-ever-been-as-anticipated-as-avengers-endgame/828919/50 "2019-02-04T23:34:14Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > And one other thing about GWTW: It lived up to the hype. There were not many people in 1939/1940 who came away perplexed, asking “all that fuss, for this?” Fellowship of the Ring wins the award in my book for “most anticipated that lived up to its anticipation”. An instant classic. The crowds I saw it with roared, cheered, and broke out in applause at the end in a way I’ve rarely seen. I’ve read criticism over the years, but FotR’s theatrical version was an amazing movie that did the rarest thing; it lived up to its hype. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-movie-ever-been-as-anticipated-as-avengers-endgame/828919/51 "2019-02-04T23:54:54Z")
I think that there is little doubt that nothing comes close to the marketing pre-_The Phantom Menace_. You couldn’t come close to any store without seeing product ads for the movie (forget going inside–even the vending machines were TPM themed.) And all the prizes winnable in soda/snack products–I ended up with two backpacks, a pair of walkie-talkies, and a set of posters without even trying hard. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-movie-ever-been-as-anticipated-as-avengers-endgame/828919/52 "2019-02-05T01:32:41Z")
Still say there is a good case for Avengers: Endgame, being the most anticipated cliffhanger resolution in movie history. Not sure what it’s competitors would be… The second part of the Harry Potter finale was known to all the hardcore fans, and never had as much anticipation around it, as I recall. Same for the (completely ruined IMO) LOTR parts 2 & 3 Matrix 2 wasn’t really a cliffhanger (IMO just went back in time and made the original, that had a very satisfying ending worst) Possibly Return of the Jedi after Empire Strikes Back (you couldn’t claim the origin Starwars was a cliffhanger) What other examples are there? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-movie-ever-been-as-anticipated-as-avengers-endgame/828919/53 "2019-02-05T01:50:26Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Still say there is a good case for Avengers: Endgame, being the most anticipated cliffhanger resolution in movie history. Not sure what it’s competitors would be… > > The second part of the Harry Potter finale was known to all the hardcore fans, and never had as much anticipation around it, as I recall. > Same for the (completely ruined IMO) LOTR parts 2 & 3 > Matrix 2 wasn’t really a cliffhanger (IMO just went back in time and made the original, that had a very satisfying ending worst) > Possibly Return of the Jedi after Empire Strikes Back (you couldn’t claim the origin Starwars was a cliffhanger) > > What other examples are there? I think your last question is appropriate, but doesn’t it sort of make the whole question pointless? If you’re going to disqualify movies from consideration because they don’t fit some arbitrarily narrow definition of “cliffhanger resolution,” then basically there are hardly any movies to choose from. It becomes almost something of variation on a No True Scotsman argument, where every possible alternative offered is disqualified because it doesn’t hew to an unreasonably specific set of criteria. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-movie-ever-been-as-anticipated-as-avengers-endgame/828919/54 "2019-02-05T02:04:41Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I think your last question is appropriate, but doesn’t it sort of make the whole question pointless? > > If you’re going to disqualify movies from consideration because they don’t fit some arbitrarily narrow definition of “cliffhanger resolution,” then basically there are hardly any movies to choose from. It becomes almost something of variation on a No True Scotsman argument, where every possible alternative offered is disqualified because it doesn’t hew to an unreasonably specific set of criteria. A cliffhanger is a pretty well understood concept in popular culture (dating back to olde timey serials like Flash Gordon), doesn’t seem too arbitrary to me. Just seems its not often done in feature length films as then you are forking out for a full price ticket, you don’t want half a movie. And this is coming from someone who’s not a huge Marvel fan. They generally entertaining enough and well made, but not comparable to “the greats” like the original Starwars trilogy. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-movie-ever-been-as-anticipated-as-avengers-endgame/828919/55 "2019-02-05T02:16:30Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Just thinking about things, I’m not certain there is. Maybe Return of the Jedi? > > Seriously, think on it. Marvel’s set up this movie for essentially ten years. And they left it on a massive cliffhanger. I can’t think of any movie with expectations built this high. Even with other trilogy - sort of - enders like Deathly Hallows or Mockingjay I’m having difficulty seeing the same level of interest. I remember TPM and the run up to it, and that was certainly hugely anticipated. But as you note, this movie has literally been a decade in the making, with teasers and Easter eggs galore. Even though this particular movie hasn’t been on the radar that whole time, everyone knew that some movie was going to be the culmination of everything Marvel has done, and I think that unknown movie has built over those 10+ years, making this the winner IMHO. TPM was a movie (the last movie actually) I was willing and did wait in a huge ass long line to go see, but after the original trilogy ended there wasn’t a lot of solid indications that there would be another trilogy. It wasn’t really on my own radar, though I read the books and hoped for some of them to be made into a movie (sadly, they never were, even with this new trilogy). But this movie? It’s been on every fans mind…where is all this going? What’s going to happen? How is going to live, who is going to die? Who else is going to join the universe…and how? It’s all going towards this one movie…all that fan hype and hope, all the fear and expectation. This is the big one (even though, personally, I’m currently psyched for Captain Marvel…but End game is like a slow simmer on the back burner, ready to explode once we get closer… ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-movie-ever-been-as-anticipated-as-avengers-endgame/828919/56 "2019-02-05T04:29:56Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Still say there is a good case for Avengers: Endgame, being the most anticipated cliffhanger resolution in movie history. Not sure what it’s competitors would be… This reminded me of seeing _The Fellowship of the Ring_. As the theater emptied, the woman directly ahead of me said to her date: “That ending made no sense! They’re going to have to make another movie.” ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-movie-ever-been-as-anticipated-as-avengers-endgame/828919/57 "2019-02-05T07:26:27Z")
I suspect that many people are planning on seeing it when it comes out, may have watched the trailer on YouTube, and couldn’t tell you the month it’s coming out, much less the release date. That’s pretty much me, except I haven’t watched the trailer. I’ll watch it whenever it comes out but it’s not like I’m making any plans or keeping a countdown. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-movie-ever-been-as-anticipated-as-avengers-endgame/828919/58 "2019-02-05T08:18:59Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Even though this particular movie hasn’t been on the radar that whole time, everyone knew that some movie was going to be the culmination of everything Marvel has done, and I think that unknown movie has built over those 10+ years, making this the winner IMHO If you were talking about The Avengers I might agree with you, that was the culmination of everything that had come before and was something genuinely different. But outside of some small group of fans nobody has been waiting for this for ten years, this is just another marvel tent pole blockbuster, little different to Ultron or Civil war. There were other blockbusters recently, there will be another out again in about ten minutes, thats just the way it is these days. I also think using youtube views as a measure of anticipation would be inaccurate. I mean, I have no real anticipation for this movie but I’ve still seen the trailer on youtube, it was on the homepage when I was browsing one day. Doesn’t mean a thing except that I saw a link and clicked it. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-movie-ever-been-as-anticipated-as-avengers-endgame/828919/59 "2019-02-05T14:12:49Z")
Just to point out, that the 3 Avengers movies are the 4th, 6th, & 8th highest grossing [movies of all time](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/). Black Panther is 9, for a total of 40% of the top 10 being MCU movies. No other movie franchise has more than one movie in the top 10. In the USA, it’s [similar](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/domestic.htm), Black Panther is 3, Avengers & Infinity Wars are 4 & 7 (Ultron is down at 16), and Star Wars is the only other franchise with 2 or more (Force Awakens 1, Last Jedi 8). So lets not say it’s just a “small group of fans”. More people watch MCU movies than damn near anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-movie-ever-been-as-anticipated-as-avengers-endgame/828919/60 "2019-02-05T14:17:37Z")
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