WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
It's the year of big endings for the MCU and Star Wars as they cap-off their respective long-running narratives with Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Unfortunately, unlike the Marvel Studios production, not everyone was pleased with how Star Wars 9 wrapped up the Skywalker Saga - making Avengers: Endgame's ability to pull a satisfying conclusion to the Infinity Saga much more impressive.
Avengers: Endgame was directed by Joe and Anthony Russo with the story written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. It is the direct sequel to last year's Avengers: Infinity War, which left Earth's Mightiest Hero's at their lowest following their defeat from Thanos (Josh Brolin). Aside from ending the Infinity Saga, the film was also tasked with providing a deserved send-off to some of the MCU's founding heroes such as Iron Man (Tony Stark), Captain America (Chris Evans) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). Meanwhile, The Rise of Skywalker succeeds Rian Johnson's Star Wars: The Last Jedi from 2017. Aside from tying all three Star Wars trilogy together, it also needed to finish off the personal ar of the sequel threequel's main characters like Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), Poe (Oscar Isaac) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver).
It's an understatement to say that nailing finales are very tricky to navigate, which is why many were surprised to learn how well Endgame executed its narrative, with both critics and fans enjoying the movie. Sadly, the same cannot be said about the reactions to The Rise of Skywalker, which had less than ideal reception.
Endgame Is A Better Culminating Film Than The Rise of Skywalker
Both Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker were marketed by Disney as the culminating film for the MCU and Star Wars franchise respectively, however, only the Russo brothers' film lived up to that tag. While Star Wars 9 was chockfull of references from past films, not to mention the return of Emperor Palpatine, for some reason, it wasn't quite as effective in wrapping up the Skywalker saga compared to what its Marvel Studio counterpart was able to do. Tackling the pressing issue brought by Thanos' snap at the end of Infinity War resulted in retreading some of the MCU's most iconic moments thanks to the Time Heist. This brought heroes back to certain points in the franchise's history, allowing fans to revisit these key moments in order to collect all sis Infinity Stones. It also further establishes the idea that all these movies are somehow connected to each other.
Meanwhile, The Rise of Skywalker mostly brought fans to places we've never visited before. While there's nothing wrong with that, there this sense of disconnect from other movies in the franchise (even from its own trilogy). It did feature planets such as Tatooine, Endor, Mustafar, and Ahch-To, but other than the last one, there's really no strong narrative bearing for why the others were in the movie. It felt like they were featured simply because they reminded fans of the previous movies.
Endgame Has Better Narrative Pay-Offs Than The Rise of Skywalker
Marvel Studios is known for their plot set-ups where seemingly unassuming details eventually become a focal point for future projects. Avengers: Endgame hugely benefitted from this as they pay off several plot seeds in the most satisfying way. Captain America's best moments in the movie alone were set-up by previous films, including his final fate of getting to have that much-awaited dance with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). Even within the same film, there's a set-up and it's eventual pay-off with the reveal of Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) suiting up as Rescue during the final battle.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, on the other hand, was less successful in executing their story pay-offs. Following the defeat of Emperor Palpatine, Rey and Kylo Ren share a kiss - granted that Abrams insists that it's not sexual attraction between them, fans who have been pushing for their romantic coupling interpret it otherwise. Regardless of what it is, the fact is it felt unearned and rushed, some even argue that it came from nowhere other than something that came from a segment of the fan community who were shipping the two. The moment was so brief anyway, the film could've done without it. Another plot point that seemed to originate from nowhere was Finn supposedly Force-sensitive - a detail that was never hinted in any of The Rise of Skywalker's predecessors, which again means there's a lack of pay-off.
Endgame Has Better Character Arcs Than The Rise of Skywalker
Aside from dealing with the overarching narrative, both Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker had to deal with their characters' individual journeys. For Endgame, the focus was on the original 6 Earth's Mightiest Heroes - particularly Iron Man and Captain America. The Marvel Studios filmmakers made sure that they tied up all narrative loose ends for the aforementioned heroes, gearing up for what would be their final outings in the MCU, hence giving them a fitting send off. Granted that Black Widow's death remains controversial, Marvel could justify their decision to kill her off in her own standalone next year. Even the supporting casts were given compelling journeys in the movie like Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and Nebula (Karen Gillan).
Things are quite different with The Rise of Skywalker, however, especially when one looks at how Rey's story was built up from what was established in The Last Jedi. The movie revealing that she's the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine directly contradicts The Last Jedi's reveal that she's a nobody. While Star Wars 9 tried to work their way around this detail, her lineage left a lot of unanswered questions including how Luke (Mark Hamill) and Leia (Carrie Fisher) supposedly know who she truly is before she found out. Frankly, only Kylo Ren has a clear character arc throughout the sequel trilogy, and that said, even his story in The Rise of Skywalker left a lot of lingering mysteries. Other than the main two players, there's barely any story for other supporting characters. There are some hints to their own arcs, but nothing consequential to the movie's story to spend time to explore.
Endgame Acts As A Definitive Ending, The Rise of Skywalker Does Not
As sad as it was seeing key deaths and farewells in Avengers: Endgame, they not just serviced the heroes' stories but MCU's narrative as a whole. Steve Rogers officially passed the shield to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), effectively making him the next Captain America. There's also narrative poetry in ending the Infinity Saga with Tony Stark's "I am Iron Man" line - the same phrase from 2008's Iron Man which kicked off the universe. And while he has yet to choose a successor, the fact that the MCU will go on without him is an indication that it's treading new territory. As the MCU's founding heroes take a back seat, they give way for new key players to be at the forefront of the franchise.
Following The Rise of Skywalker, it's unclear what the Star Wars franchise's status is. Star Wars 9 was marketed as the final film in the Skywalker saga, however, the way the film ended in a way that opens itself up for future stories moving forward. Rey adopting the last name Skywalker means that Lucasfilm can revisit her story years down the line. Fans are certainly intrigued at what's next for the Jedi now that the First Order is defeated, but doing so would arguably cheapen The Rise of Skywalker's narrative as supposedly the culmination of Star Wars' episodic movies.
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Avengers: Endgame is not a flawless film, but it's easy to overlook what it was able to accomplish in terms of wrapping up more than a decade's worth of story for the MCU. It's obvious that every single detail in the movie was carefully thought-of with the intention of providing a satisfying ending to the fans while not compromising its story. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is still an enjoyable time at the cinemas; it also did a decent job working their way around the untimely death of Carrie Fisher whose General Organa was supposed to be the front and center of the film. Sadly, it just doesn't have the story cohesion or emotional resonance that its Marvel counterpart provided long-time MCU fans. Its failure to wrap up the Star Wars' Skywalker saga is a testament at how big of a deal Marvel Studios' feat is with their own culminating movie.
