Usually, I make a point in my reviews of steering away from spoilers. After all, part of the point of film criticism is to talk about a movie in a way that helps readers decide whether they should see something. Shouldn’t a reviewer save the majority of the plot developments and character moments for the audience to discover on their own?

Some reviews of Avengers: Endgame have thusly been divided into two parts: the spoiler-free and the spoiler-friendly. Separately, over the past two weekends there have been vicious arguments online over what counts as a spoiler and when it’s permissible to talk about them - to the point that the film’s directors, Joe and Anthony Russo, have released an official “statement” that according to them, the ban lifts today, May 6th. (This is due in no small part to the release of a new trailer for the next Marvel outing, Spider-Man: Far From Home.)

As far as I’m concerned, Endgame’s relationship to spoilers runs a little deeper than this, because the movie is basically constructed out of them. It’s the culmination of twenty-one previous features, which have all had several breadcrumb scenes embedded inside and at the end of the credits that have led to this movie’s release. From beginning to end, watching the movie is like getting numerous stubborn itches scratched, with hilarious banter, epic team-up shots, and satisfying emotional arcs. It’s also telling that Endgame itself doesn’t participate in the Marvel trend, forgoing any special add-on scenes in favour of an audio callback to the first Iron Man film.

So let’s indulge in Endgame spoilers here, because like my beloved new incarnation of Thor (Chris Hemsworth) - heretofore known as Fat Thor - sometimes it just feels good to let it all hang out.

Endgame has two main goals: deliver on the cliffhanger of its preceding film in the chronology, Infinity War, and wrap up the stories of two founding Avengers: Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans). Both Downey and Rogers have announced their intention to finish appearing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though how much they stick to this plan is anyone’s guess.

And in terms of our goodbye to their characters, the Russos and their writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely find a happy balance. Stark makes the ultimate sacrifice, claiming the all-powerful Infinity Stones and using them to defeat Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his hordes, before succumbing to the damage this causes to his own body. Rogers, meanwhile, long the subject of theories that he would die in battle as well (due to his fate in the Civil War arc from the comics) gets the happy ending that most fans didn’t know they wanted: a life with his soulmate, Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), permitted via some clever use of time travel.

In terms of fan service, this feels like a good bargain. We lose one cherished character permanently, but see another retire and get rewarded for years of brave service. Along the way, there’s half a dozen other similar threads wrapped up. Among them are a conclusion to the long friendship between Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), a balanced way of life for the Hulk/Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), and an improbable chance at a fresh start between Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) and Gamora (Zoe Saldana).

The ins and outs of the plot barely matter. The heroes need some way to undo Thanos’ unthinkable deed in Infinity War, and bring back the half of the universe who turned to dust. They opt for a thorny plan involving the aforementioned time travel and navigating the Quantum Realm previously explored by Ant Man (Paul Rudd).

This opens up one of many scenes where the writers push past logic and crack wise - in this case about various time travel moments in pop culture. But whereas this technique might be yawn-inducing for some hardcore fans who thirsted for an even denser solution, somehow the character moments help us barrel through and enjoy ourselves nonetheless.

And when everyone who’s not perma-dead (what an odd concept) does come back, it opens up a battle scene that’s barely comprehensible but bizarrely thrilling nonetheless. Perhaps the novelty will fade with time, but at this point in superhero movie dominance, there’s still something fun about watching so many heroes cascading across the screen. My favourite moment in this third hour was actually before all the fighting begins, in a wide shot reminiscent of old matte paintings, depicting Captain America facing down an impossibly large force of Thanos’ minions. It’s a rare moment of truly beautiful filmmaking in a movie that is more about pure entertainment.

Will you enjoy Endgame? I can confidently answer that if you ever enjoyed even a handful of Marvel movies, this is the ending you wanted. While the cinematic universe has yet to feature its female characters in a way that achieves true equality - a lone shot of the #WomenofMarvel charging en masse still seems a little weak - the other goal of Endgame is to set the stage for projects to come. There’s already two confirmed spin-offs with female leads for Disney+, and of course, Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) set to be the new leader of the team.

Endgame has the unenviable challenge of being the ultimate movie (to date) that’s all things to all people, and it doesn’t succeed with that on every score. But it closes the door on the first (three-phase) era of these movies, and promises much to come, albeit in a far less direct fashion than its predecessors. The slate is clear once again, and the movie industry will be reflected in what the producers choose to do next.

Avengers: Endgame gets three and a half stars out of four.

Stray thoughts

• Assorted things I loved: everything with Professor Hulk, “America’s ass”, Cap picking up Mjolnir, the final shot with Cap and Peggy, and Fat Thor.

• Seriously, give me a whole show about Fat Thor on Disney+ and I’ll subscribe.

• Five years from now we’ll all be embarrassed when we realize that this was a three-hour Disney+ ad that we willingly paid to see.