Let's TalkMarvelMovies

Logan vs Avengers: Endgame

Bare in mind, this is based on my own opinion.

Superhero movies have truly become one of the most important genres in the last decade. When most people think of the best superhero movies of all time, the first films that come to their mind would likely be The Dark Knight, Logan and most recently Avengers: Endgame. It’s been over two years since Avengers: Endgame came out and the Marvel Cinematic Universe does not seem to be slowing down with the amount of content that will be released in the future. After such a landmark of a film, many people are excited to see how Marvel will possibly top one of the biggest movies of all time. There is little doubt that Avengers: Endgame is one of the greatest Marvel movies of all time. However, unlike The Dark Knight where most people agree in that film being the greatest DC movie of all time, there has not yet been a majority decision on what the best Marvel movie of all time is. Today, I am going to pit Avengers: Endgame against Logan, the final film starring Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and see which of these two films is the best Marvel movie.

Round 1. Story:

Both films have a terrific emotional story with a gut punch of an ending. With Avengers: Endgame, we see the Avengers deal with the aftermath of Thanos (Josh Brolin) wiping away half of the population in the universe. Some are able to move on with their lives like Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) while others are practically broken by what had occurred such as Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). In their greatest challenge yet, the Avengers decide to go back in time and temporarily steal the Infinity Stones for themselves in order to can bring everyone who was killed back. The remaining Avengers then split into teams of two or three to collect the stones where the audience is taken back to several events from the previous films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. During their adventure, a handful of the Avengers interact with a past character and even their past selves. It is a wild ride throughout and the emotional third act wraps everything up nicely while also opening new doors for future movies and shows in the MCU. The death of Tony Stark is arguably the most heartbreaking moment in the MCU as we say goodbye to the character who basically started the whole franchise. With Logan, we are taken to the year 2029 where nearly all of the mutants have died or have not born for over two decades. An older and far more jaded Logan takes care of an elderly Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) who is suffering from a dangerous degenerative brain disease. Logan now works as a limousine driver to save up for a boat where he can take Charles away from the public while also paying for his medication to suppress his constant seizures. When Logan meets a young mutant named Laura (Dafne Keen) who is being hunted by a corrupt organization, Logan must bring her and Charles to a safe haven in one final act of heroism. The entire movie is an emotional experience as Logan attempts to keep Laura safe but loses nearly everything important to him on his journey while doing so. If anything, Logan is more of a western than a superhero movie and the film seems more than aware of that. The ending of the film is one of the most heartbreaking finales in a comic book movie as Logan is brutally killed but is still able to save his clone/daughter. While both films have a phenomenal story, I have to give the point to Logan, as the story allows the film to stand on its own and serve as a fitting farewell to the character of Wolverine. While Avengers: Endgame did the same with Iron Man, it also set up several plot points for future MCU projects and left many things unanswered. Logan gave a perfectly satisfying story and wisely didn’t decide to set up any potential sequels.

Winner: Logan

Round 2. Main Characters:

Advertisement

With Avengers: Endgame, we have two official main characters in Tony Stark/Iron Man and Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans). Both Tony and Steve are greatly affected by the snap and attempt to move on with their lives in different ways. Steve runs several therapy sessions for those who were affected by the snap while Tony finally marries Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow) and has a daughter (Lexi Rabe). In addition to them attempting to move past what happened with the snap, both of them are able to resolve their conflict that began in Captain America: Civil War. Both heroes also get a great deal of closure as Tony is able to have a final conversation with a past version of his father (John Slattery) while Steve reunites with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) and decides to spend the rest of his life with her at the end of the film by going back to the 1940s. The film is a terrific conclusion to the story of Tony and Steve and both actors give an amazing performance. With Logan, the title character is at a point in which he has pretty much lost all hope. Unlike Tony and Steve, Logan has no way to bring his loved ones back, nor does he have any advanced technology or wealth to help him through his struggles. Despite saving the future in X-Men: Days of Future Past and getting back nearly everything that he lost, the film makes it clear that Logan will sadly never have a happy ending. After Charles accidentally kills the X-Men through his one of his seizures, Logan’s only purpose is to take care of him and unlike the Avengers, has pretty much no one to lean on besides the mutant tracker Caliban (Stephen Merchant). He is even planning to kill himself once Charles dies of his disease. When he is forced to take Laura to Eden, Logan actually gains a small glimmer of hope back by protecting his clone/daughter. It becomes clear to Logan by the third act of the film that he will not survive protecting Laura, but does not care either way, deciding to do what’s right. While both films provide a terrific final story for each main character, I once again have to give the point to Logan. While Tony and Steve had terrific character arcs in the film, they do show a certain selfish side for only bringing back the people who were killed in the snap and not undoing the event itself. It’s understandable that Tony wants to keep his daughter, but many people were killed after the initial snap due to reasons such as that they may have been on a plane or were in a car that crashed because the driver was snapped away. Logan sacrificed everything to save Laura, including his money, home and even his own life. It’s a tough call, but Logan wins this round.

Winner: Logan

Round 3. Supporting Characters:

With Avengers: Endgame, you have several characters who help Tony and Steve on their mission, including Thor, Hulk, Clint, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), War Machine (Don Cheadle), Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Ant-Man (Paul Rudd). While all of the supporting Avengers have a moment to shine, the film makes it clear that this is Tony and Steve’s movie. Three characters in particular who are highlights of the film are Natasha, Nebula and Clint. Both Clint and Nebula are greatly improved in this film, as both of them went from being the least interesting members of the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy to two of the most compelling characters in the film. Natasha also goes through a great arc in the movie, as she finally accepts the Avengers as her new family and sacrifices herself to get the Soul Stone. Her death isn’t the saddest moment in the film for me personally, but I still found it to be extremely moving. While I wasn’t the biggest fan of Fat Thor and Professor Hulk, I still found them to be fun at times if not a bit cringeworthy. I also really liked the film giving more time to Rhodey, who hasn’t been given anything interesting to do since Iron Man 3. I always found Rocket to be an awkward fit with the Avengers, as he only had chemistry with Thor, but thankfully he was paired with him for the second act of the film. I also enjoyed Scott’s role in the movie, constantly sucking up to Steve and being the butt of everyone’s jokes. I could take or leave characters like Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) and Okoye (Danai Gurira), particularly because the film gives them nothing to do until the big climax. It honestly makes me wonder why they were chosen to be the survivors of the snap at all. With Logan, the amount of supporting characters are small but they are still nonetheless fascinating. Charles is as compelling as ever with Patrick Stewart giving quite possibly his best performance in the franchise as a much older and ailing individual. What is so interesting about Charles in the movie is that he is far different than any version that we had seen beforehand in the X-Men movies, lashing out far more at Logan and swearing almost just as much as he does. Caliban is also an entertaining character in the movie, proving several moments of levity with his dry wit. He also serves as our POV character when dealing with the villains in the film after he is captured and forced to track down Logan. The most compelling supporting character in Logan has to be Laura/X-23. Dafne Keen portrays her with an intense amount of ferocity but also contains a tremendous amount of innocence. Her relationship with Logan is one of the best dynamics I have ever seen in a superhero movie, as the two are both simultaneously at each-other’s throats yet are also trying to work together to escape the situation that they are both in. Towards the end of the film, you believe that Laura is Logan’s daughter, as she carries his violent temper and massive amount of guilt for the people that she kills. While I am devastated that we will probably never see Keen in the role again, I am more than satisfied with what I have been given. However, while Laura is incredible and both Charles and Caliban serve as great supporting characters, it is honestly hard to compete with the Avengers, who are each given their own small stories in the film and play off each other very well. When it comes to supporting characters, Avengers: Endgame excels in this category. As such, it wins this round.

Winner: Avengers: Endgame

Round 4. Villains:

Advertisement

In Avengers: Endgame, Thanos once again fills the role of main villain. However, instead of the version we followed in Avengers: Infinity War, this version of Thanos is from 2014 who attempts to stop the Avengers from undoing his actions after he discovers that he succeeded in wiping out half of humanity. While Thanos’ role in the film is significantly smaller compared to Avengers: Infinity War, he still makes for a great villain with another terrific performance by Josh Brolin. The final battle in which the Avengers fight Thanos one last time is one of the most satisfying conclusions to a villain’s story in a movie. Other supporting villains like the Black Order are not nearly as interesting, but they honestly don’t need to be as the movie is fully aware that Thanos is the only villain we care about as an audience. With Logan, the main villains of the film are Zander Rice (Richard E. Grant), Donald Pierce (Boyd Holbrook) and X-24 (Hugh Jackman). Rice is the head scientist of Transigen, the company chasing Logan, Charles and Laura. While he isn’t the best main villain in the franchise, he still makes for a very solid big bad as he is able to manipulate Caliban into finding the location of Logan’s whereabouts and track down Laura and the other mutant children. Grant portrays Rice with a slimy and smug attitude and while he isn’t a phenomenal main villain, he still works in the film’s favor. Next we have Donald Pierce who serves as the most active threat in the film. Holbrook does a fantastic job at making you hate his character as his cruelty and ruthless torture of Logan, Caliban and many others in the film is extremely hard to watch. Of there three main villains in the film, Pierce is definitely the most memorable and entertaining. His death at the hands of the other mutant children is immensely satisfying and one of the most deserved deaths in the franchise next to Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) and Ajax (Ed Skrein). Lastly, we have X-24, a feral clone of Logan whose only mindset is to kill. As the biggest physical threat in the movie, X-24 is a terrifying beast filled with rage who serves as a dark mirror to Logan. While some people may have a problem with this character, I personally found him to be a very terrifying villain and a fitting person to be the one who kills Wolverine. While Rice, Pierce and X-24 are all great villains, there is honestly no competing with Thanos. Avengers: Endgame easily wins this round.

Winner: Avengers: Endgame

Round 5. Action:

This was probably the hardest section to pick a winner because both films have some of the best action scenes in any superhero movie put to film. With Avengers: Endgame, much of the action is saved for the third act of the film. Normally this would be a detriment for a movie, but the final battle in the film is easily the best fight scene in any of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films. When I say everyone gets a moment to shine, I mean everyone. From Thor to Spider-Man (Tom Holland) to Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to Iron Man, the final battle in Avengers: Endgame is a masterpiece of an action scene and I don’t think the MCU will ever be able to top it again, though given what we saw in the movie, anything is possible. Even though the three hour runtime is a bit excessive, the final fight alone makes it all worth it. Normally I would have a problem with such an excessive amount of CGI, but I honestly didn’t care when it came to this climax. Meanwhile, Logan finally delivers on all the violent action with Wolverine thanks to its R-rating. After so many films in the X-Men franchise where the character of Wolverine is watered down when it comes to the action, Logan makes up for all of that by providing an endless amount of brutality and gore with each time Logan and Laura use their metal claws. It’s a shame that it took so long to use Wolverine to his fullest potential but the action scenes in Logan prove that it was worth the wait. Both Jackman and Keen flawlessly sell the rage and violent nature of their characters and make each fight excel when it comes to the entertainment value. Both of these films deliver on the action in spades. However, I have to go with Logan as the film with the superior action. While the final battle in Avengers: Endgame is absolutely perfect, the film still saved up on most of its action for that third act. The fight scenes before that final battle were still good, but nowhere near as close to being as epic as that climax. Logan in the other hand never once seemed like it was holding back on its action until a certain moment or climax. Every fight scene in that film is a fantastically violent set piece with each one proving to be just as, if not more violent than the last. I still adore that final battle in Avengers: Endgame, but Logan always delivered on every fight scene in the movie. A very tough call, but I have to give the point to Logan.

Winner: Logan

Final Verdict:

Advertisement

I still think these movies are incredible, both as swan songs for their main actors who have been around for multiple films and as emotional rollercoasters that challenge the normal comic book film with their heartfelt storytelling and deep character studies. However, when it comes to being the greatest Marvel movie of all time, I still think Logan is the clear winner in this scenario. Both movies are phenomenal and fitting endings for each franchise even though they didn’t actually end with those particular films. However, Logan is still the greatest Marvel movie of all time at the end of the day in my opinion.

Winner: Logan

Adam Grunther

Adam is a freelance writer who is an avid fan of comic book movies and television shows, especially that of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Doom Patrol. He joins the team with a deep understanding for all of the content from both Marvel and DC Comics, and will use this information in future rankings and reviews. He looks forward to sharing posts that will bring a mix of entertainment and his passion for superhero related content to Only Comic Universe.

Related Articles

Back to top button