“Avengers: Endgame” made a staggering amount of money last week. If you care, you probably saw it, or at least tried to see it.

This particular article will only contain the mildest of spoilers in order to protect the secrets for anyone still on the fence about seeing “Endgame” in theaters. Do those people even exist? I don’t know, but let’s pretend they do for the next few column inches.

“Avengers: Endgame” marks the conclusion of a 22-movie epic, though it fittingly focuses most of its time on the core “Avengers” team from 2012 — Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye.

Oh poor, sweet Hawkeye. What Jeremy Renner’s bow-and-arrow wielding soldier lacks in super powers he more than makes up for in heart and effort. After sitting out the events of last year’s “Infinity War,” Hawkeye appears in the very first scene of “Endgame,” and it’s as much of a gut punch as that Snap Heard ‘Round the Universe.

The first hour of this three-hour marathon plays like no other Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie before it. Reeling from the massive loss at the end of “Infinity War,” the surviving Avengers are forced to sit with their grief. It allows this stellar ensemble cast to play emotional beats they’ve never had to do before in the franchise, and directors Joe and Anthony Russo deliver a mournful and compelling follow-up act that justifies the cliff-hanging nature of the “Infinity War” climax.

The MCU can’t ever be too morose though, and “Endgame” finds enough moments of levity even in these opening minutes to keep audiences hopeful of an eventual Avengers victory. Chris Hemsworth’s Thor continues to be the recent MCU MVP, and his arc in “Endgame” is surprising, tragic and often oddly hilarious.

Scarlett Johnannson and Jeremy Renner also get some good material in the early going, reestablishing their characters’ long-standing relationship without resorting to cheap romantic shortcuts. They are platonic friends who would do anything for each other.

More than anything though, “Endgame” is a story about Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark and Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers — two heroes who have spent more time fighting each other in recent films (the rift from “Captain America: Civil War” finally comes to a head in “Endgame”). Even for two of the standouts from the entire run of movies, “Endgame” gives both actors some incredible material as they are forced to finally work together again for the sake of humanity.

Paul Rudd, another MIA hero in “Infinity War,” also plays a pivotal role here as Ant-Man. It’s Rudd’s goofball charm that helps the movie through some truly insane plot mechanics. The key to stopping Josh Brolin’s Thanos and undoing his genocide relates to time travel that definitely doesn’t follow the “Back to the Future” rule book, but Ant-Man makes sure you’re as much up to speed as he is, even if that’s significantly less than the super-geniuses surrounding him.

“Endgame” has three acts that feel like three completely different movies, though they flow into each other fairly well. The first two hours of the film is the MCU in top form, especially in how it manages to transition from quiet tragedy into a plucky “time heist” adventure with countless bits of easter eggs to please franchise devotees without losing narrative momentum.

The final hour features some incredible moments of fan service — seriously, things people have been waiting for years to see in a live action superhero movie, and “Endgame” delivers some truly jaw-dropping moments. But the climax also contains another overstuffed and somewhat generic CGI battlefest. Though well-executed, it just isn’t as fresh as the material in the preceding two hours. I suspect most longtime fans won’t mind, especially when (redacted) takes the (redacted) and (redacted).

“Avengers: Endgame” is an exhausting and satisfying conclusion, though many questions and potential story threads remain for the next 10-year chapter of the MCU. We just might need to take a little break before… oh geez, “Spider-Man: Far From Home” comes out in two months.

- • •

Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com