In 2008, Marvel Comics began producing its own films after decades of sub-licensing its properties to various movie studios.

The head of Marvel’s film division, Avi Arad was satisfied with the results of the Spider-Man films over at Sony but was not pleased with its other properties, which prompted Marvel to form its own independent film studio.

Eleven years and twenty-two movies later, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is arguably the greatest movie franchise in history and culminated in the widely anticipated conclusion in “Avengers: Endgame.”

Directors Joe and Anthony Russo laid out a superb foundation of storytelling for Endgame and its predecessor, “Infinity War.” Audiences last year were left on a cliffhanger and mourned the loss of Spider-Man, Black Panther and Nick Fury thanks to the damage perpetrated by Marvel’s ultimate super villain, Thanos. After watching three hours at the Thursday night premiere, it sure as hell didn’t feel like three hours as “Endgame” is arguably “Return of the Jedi” what “Infinity War” is to “Empire Strikes Back.”

The film picks up right where “Infinity War” left off which saw the Avengers mentally and emotionally divided after Thanos used the Infinite Stones to wipe off half of life across the universe with a snap of a finger. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and War Machine (Don Cheadle) are the only superheroes remaining but so divided and mentally defeated than ever. But ultimately, the power of good would triumph all evil in the end.

“Avengers: Endgame” was nothing short of marvelous because it has an authentic heart, something beyond what it sets out to do. The CGI is an important part without a doubt, but what does it really mean when there is no story behind it? “Endgame” was able to balance the best of both worlds. For all its CGI madness, it’s the ideas of teamwork and friendship that put together the grand arcs of this movie, along with “Infinity War.”

The reason why the Marvel Cinematic Universe worked is because of its simplicity of solving the basic problems that are under looked by this world, and that is people looking out for each other. Without a doubt, a spectacular farewell to a highly successful comic-book style, filmmaking experiment. For the last time, Excelsior!