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Remember the days when a single post from an Avenger could break the internet? Well, Chris Pratt just took us on a nostalgia-fueled trip down MCU memory lane with his latest “illegal” behind-the-scenes video.
From the looks of it, the BTS clip is from the final battle scene in Avengers: Endgame. Judging from Chris Evans’ fake shock at noticing Pratt making the video and the fact that the studio kept the film’s production under tight wraps to protect it from those sniffing around for leaks, it is easy to deduce why it used to be “illegal.”
The video is a who’s who of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We’ve got Dave Bautista (Drax), Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda), Chris Hemsworth (who seems to be battling an invisible swarm of flies), and even a rare sighting of Chris Evans (Captain America) channeling his inner SpongeBob SquarePants. Meanwhile, Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) appears deep in thought, script in hand, while Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther), and other casts make brief but impactful appearances. The presence of Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark), seemingly bored and chewing on something, adds a touch of humor to the scene.
But amidst the laughter and camaraderie, there’s a sense of bittersweetness that permeates the comments section.
Fans have spotted Chadwick Boseman, forever our Black Panther, trying to hide his face from the camera. It strikes a chord, knowing now what we didn’t know then – that Boseman was silently battling cancer even as he suited up to save the universe.
Furthermore, if Pratt’s video is a reminder of Marvel’s glory days, it’s also a stark contrast to the company’s current state which is a mess of mediocre movies and Disney Plus shows. Fans are mourning the glory days of the MCU when every film was a must-see event and the Avengers were still assembling.
One user laments:
“When Marvel was actually worth a damn.”
While another adds:
It’s no secret that the MCU has been struggling to recapture the magic of its early phases, with a string of lackluster releases and a growing sense of superhero fatigue among audiences. Sure, there have been bright spots – Pratt’s own Guardians of the Galaxy films continue to be a blast, and Spider-Man: No Way Home proved that the MCU still has some tricks up its sleeve.
Tom Hiddleston’s performance in Loki TV series as the God of Stories was an interesting revelation, and the show’s exploration of free will and determinism was surprisingly thoughtful for a series about a guy with magic horns. Now we have Deadpool & Wolverine hanging tight to the expectation that it will revive the currently comatose MCU with the aid of Wade Wilson’s proper Marvel initiation and Wolverine’s return.
But for every hit, there seems to be a massive miss (we’re looking at you, Eternals). When your big climactic battle scene involves a bunch of CGI monsters that look like they escaped from a PlayStation 2 game, you know you’ve got problems.
Perhaps the most telling moment in the video comes from Sean Gunn’s Rocket stand-in, who quips, “I’m pretty sure I’m the most famous person here.” It’s a joke, of course, but it also says a lot about the star power the franchise is steadily losing. These were the biggest names in Hollywood, all gathered together for a common purpose. And now? Well, let’s just say the fandom would trade their souls to erase Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and M.O.D.O.K.’s minion buttocks from existence.
The MCU has become so focused on expanding its universe that it’s forgotten what made it special in the first place– the characters, the heart, and the well-written plots that left us wanting more.
That’s what makes Pratt’s video so special. It reminds us of a time when the MCU was more than just a franchise — it was a family. A dysfunctional, quippy, occasionally problematic family, sure, but a family nonetheless. And in a world where every new release feels like a calculated attempt to set up the next big thing, it’s refreshing to see these actors just being themselves.
So thank you, Chris Pratt, for this blast from the past. Maybe this video will be the wake-up call that Kevin Feige and co. need to get back to basics and remember what made us fall in love with these characters in the first place.