” I have waited long enough to write this piece. As we are about 45 minutes from seeing Avengers: End Game again. As we venture back into the Marvel Universe I am reminded that change is pivotal, poignant, and purposeful for each heroes dramatic arc.”

With the events of Thanos’s “Snapture”  the remaining Avengers are ready to do whatever it takes to set the universe right. They all bear a certain amount of guilt and regret facing an epic fail that balanced Thanos’s scales in his favor. As we spotlight on an assault on Thanos and his farm, Thor attempts to rectify his lethal blow to Thanos. 

A weary and radiated Thanos is surrounded by the Avengers who make quick work of him. The Infinity Stones are dust, along with any hope of bringing back their friends and family. Thor sees an opportunity to rectify a mistake that he feels was his greatest mistake. He and Stormbreaker relieve Thanos of his head that resolved one great issue but took Thor down a whole new path that he could not foresee. 

Five years later.

After the Snapture people are moving on or at least trying to. New Asgard has arisen on Earth. It’s humble version of that uber kingdom. Others are finding themselves, but Thor has let himself go. He is overweight, drunk, and wallowing in regret. The emotional weight that he stuffed down for 1500 years has finally emerged. He is broken, weeps at the drop of a hat, and has taken himself out of the fight for life. Thor has no other choice but to experience what many men deny having: that emotional self. 

Yet, Thor admits that he us crying. He shares his disjointed thoughts with those he feels are family. When Captain America wields Thor’s hammer Mjolnir Thor is excited for him instead of acting threatened. Thor doubts he is still a hero so he gets an opportunity to literally walk down memory lane. Maybe this is a blessing for him to experience that cathartic release. After all he lost, his father, his mother, his brother, his sister, ah his hammer, his kingdom….yeah that was a lot of emotion to pile drive down. However now, he is turned inside out, looking nothing like the Thor we know, but on the road to being healthier than he has ever been. The whole hero is being made whole. 

But isn’t his journey one all men take at some point in their lives? Sure, we can flex our muscles and try and fight our way through our inner feelings. Emotions can be shrugged off with a chortle or crushed down alongside our fragile spirit. But one day we will come to see that we are complex and layered creatures. We might be stronger then most women on the inside, but ladies seem to have the inner person figured out. Is there any wonder why they live longer than men? There is a freeing, a completeness, and a whole new lease on life when men finally get it. Men in their later years have worked through a lot of the pride, self, and ego and have happier lives. Hopefully it won’t take us 1500 years to finally start living.