The Blip and The Aftermath

As the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to expand, what we have learnt from the 3 new titles since Avengers: Endgame is that the blip will be a crucial plot device for many projects in the future. After Thanos (Josh Brolin) snapped away half of all living organisms, the world had to deal with this loss for 5 years before everyone and everything returned. One can only imagine the chaos which would have occurred with this, but the main issues which happened during the 5 year period have been dealt with on screen and have presented the blip as the most integral part of the universe since the formation of S.H.E.I.L.D.

Avengers Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo said that they “wanted to pick a time that was long enough to force everybody to move on.” The blip lasting 5 years was the perfect time for this as although the initial grief would have hit hard, after 5 years many people will have moved on. Many will have changed relationships and started families with different people than whom they originally were with and nobody can blame them for this. Also, with the time period being 5 years the memory would still have been there and it would be hard to tell which life people would prefer to be in. After 5 years of living would you want to return to the one point that gave you so much pain? As such the 5 year period was a perfect choice in creating differences between people. Some would want to be reunited with their loved ones, whereas others would want to continue with their new life they have created.

With people moving on during the blip, countries and governments would also have begun to start life with a sliced population. As seen in Falcon and The Winter Soldier many people were allowed to move countries and were given aid when in the past they would have been refused access. The result of this would have been like what Thanos promised and that is a prosperous world or at the very least the beginning of this process. This is what caused the Flag Smashers to form so the impact of allowing people into new countries was a big thing during the blip. With a sense of community across the world things may have not been as bad as people originally thought it would have been. This is why the 5 year period is perfect as there is no majority as to what people would want to happen, there is a contrast in opinions across the globe despite the new found unity.

When those who faded to dust returned, despite being a joy for many, problems still appeared. Firstly there will be many people whom moved on and started new families. This would have been incredibly awkward and caused heartache for many whom returned and saw their loved one leave them for someone else while they were dust. This may not be the most drastic of problems but it still deserves recognition as it would have happened more than expected.

Grief would still be a major impact of the return because like with Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Paris) there will have been many people who return to only find those that they love died during the 5 year blip. Again there would be so much grief at one point which could have caused many to become depressed and lose themselves. Knowing that, the return wasn’t the joyous moment that we all expected for everyone. We can begin to see that although a good thing occurred for many, the blip created just as many problems as it solved like as we mentioned earlier the Flag Smashers.

With those allowed access into countries, with 50% of the population returning there would be an obvious house and supply shortage. Falcon and The Winter Soldier does a good job of displaying the effects of this and with the original plan to send the displaced people home it looks like governments want to go back to normal immediately. It is only the new Captain America Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) who manages to stop this and make those in power see the light and realise that the common struggle of the blip shouldn’t divide it should unite once again.

It doesn’t look likely that the blip will be forgotten in the MCU anytime soon as it looks likely to be key to projects like Armour Wars and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantamania. As such the story of the blip will continue to develop and will be the point which separates the Infinity Saga and the new journey we embark on within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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