‘Despite moments of weakness and unpredictability in life, these movies were a source of consistency’

I was probably 11 when I watched the first Iron Man, and quickly caught up by watching all the others available in 2012. Of course, Avengers Assemble came out at this time, and that really kick started my obsession.

I’vewatched the first Avengers movie more than 40 times, and the Captain America movies must be close behind. I went through phases where I would come home from school, and just re-watch these movies, with family, with my dinner, while doing work, sometimes just repeating the lines with the characters. Probably unhealthy, but the initial teenage years are some of the weirdest, most confusing periods of your life and I formed an attachment to this family. Despite moments of weakness and unpredictability in life, these movies were a source of consistency. A tad overdramatic, I’m aware, but literally growing up with these movies has meant most of my life that I can remember has included this universe. I was seven when the first movie came out and, now that I’m going to university soon, it’s sad to see that I have to also leave that part of my life. It’s also how I formed some friendships and a way that I bonded with my Dad. These movies have, in these cases, determined the important people in my life and my relationship with them.

'Epic on every level' – readers' Avengers: Endgame reviews with spoilers Read more

I cried. A lot. It didn’t really hit me that I would never see the six original Avengers again, I remember crying when I left the cinema, my face was a mess, and we walked past a huge line of people waiting to get in to watch Endgame. I cried on the bus on the way back ... I think I had developed such a dependency on these films and characters, that it almost felt that I would never see a friend or family again. Juno, 18, London

‘It was strange how some of the characters I had grown up with would no longer be part of my life’

The first Marvel movie I watched was Iron Man, I was eight when I watched this but I had to sneak into the living room late at night because my parents didn’t think I was old enough to watch. The Marvel movies mean a lot to me, they’re the one franchise I have watched in the cinema which creates a real connection to the characters because they are quite literally larger than life in that situation. The movies are a safe place for me to go when it feels like everything is becoming too much, or I need to escape the mundane life I live.

I’m fairly certain I felt every possible emotion in Endgame from extreme joy to sadness. I think what is more important is how I felt at the end of the movie, it was strange how some of the characters I had grown up with would no longer be part of my life in the same way that they were before. Jonathan, 19, Cambridge

‘Half of my life, I grew up living with the Marvel Cinematic Universe’

I haven’t missed seeing an Avengers film in the cinema ever since the first one in 2012. It’s like missing an adventure of a lifetime or something! I’m 22. Half of my life, I grew up living with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It felt like I got to be raised with and by its heroes. Best part was that these films made me feel like I belonged. Besides that, the stories have really brought worldly conflicts to the table and have shown the disparities of diverse human views through the heroes, yet at the end of it all, we realize we’re just really on the same side wanting one same thing. We just have different ways of getting there. Steffi, 22, from Manila in the Philippines

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Avengers - 2012. From left: Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Captain America, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man, Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk. Photograph: REX/c.W.Disney/Everett

‘The films offer at once escapism, empowerment and a sense of community through entertainment’

Personally, the films and the fandom have offered an escape and a support network when I’ve struggled with mental health problems. But the point is that the films transcend individual enjoyment and engagement. The films that champion characters from underrepresented groups (Black Panther, Captain Marvel) have shown me the real empowerment that can be achieved through representation, even if Hollywood still has a lot of work to do. Seeing what these films mean to other people, and how you can connect with them through this mutual affection, is a big part of the enjoyment of it all. The films offer at once escapism, empowerment and a sense of community through entertainment.

One of the best features of the MCU is the care that is clearly taken by the filmmakers: there is a genuine attempt to please fans, and I think Endgame had a lot of gratifying (and in some cases superfluous - Pepper!) payoffs that fans had waited a long time to see. It was like a sugar rush, but without the crash. Even though I could watch ten more Avengers films, closing the book on these characters in such a satisfying and rewarding way to some extent feels like ending a chapter in the lives of the fan community. We grew up with these characters: these are our heroes, and while there is much more to come and we will undoubtedly eagerly consume whatever comes next, we can cherish this formative decade as our piece of it. Chris, 26, London

‘I remember going to the first Avenger premiere and being obsessed with the fanbase’

Growing up with a lot of boys, I was surrounded by Marvel and DC comics alongside the superhero genre. I remember Iron Man (2008) being released, I was eleven or twelve years old. I grew up with every year a new superhero film and in particular the Marvel saga, Iron Man and Thor being the ones distinctly I remember watching. At a young age that was very influential.

Now, I like to go to keep updated on the storyline and waiting after the credits. However, I remember going to the first Avenger premiere and being obsessed with the fanbase, the stars featured (especially Robert Downey Jr) and films themselves until I reached fifteen to sixteen years old and I began to grow out of it. Looking back at it, I remember it being the first fanbase who were mostly women, using it as a vehicle to be creative and identify themselves, oddly that impacted me. Tilly Corbett, 22, Eastbourne

“Endgame was everything I wanted out of the finale of Tony Stark’s legacy. I loved every moment and cried a lot.”

I watched the first film Iron Man in theatres when it was released. My parents are big movie buffs so we saw every big blockbuster in theaters when they released. I was in high school and I fell in love with the film. I bought an Iron Man shirt, and was inspired to build and fix things. I built one of my first computers after that movie and I taught myself photoshop and tried to photoshop a photo of myself with my ‘Arc Reactor’ glowing on my Iron Man shirt. I remember how much Iron Man meant to me. He was the first awesome Marvel character to come to the big screens.

I’ve seen every Marvel movie in the theaters as they released over the past 11 years and Endgame was everything I wanted out of the finale of Tony Stark’s legacy. I loved every moment of it and cried a lot. They did an amazing job to give the fans what they needed. Atara, 25, from South Korea

‘Thankfully 15 year old me wasn’t an executive for Marvel’

I was 15 when Iron Man came out, I then caught every one as they were released in cinemas, mostly on numerous occasions. There was buzz about Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury appearing in the post credit scene teasing things to come. I remember cynically thinking even back then that this was nothing more than a novelty and nothing would come from it ... thankfully 15 year old me wasn’t an executive for Marvel.

They’ve changed the landscape of blockbuster filmmaking for the better when it comes to themselves, for the worse when it comes to literally any other studio attempting to emulate the Marvel Studios formula. Starting off as a collection of relatively simple genre films, the MCU [Marvel Cinematic Universe] branched out to proper genre filmmaking using these heroes as vessels to tell something more intimate. Seeing these characters develop over 11 years has been fascinating, using cinema in long form to this degree should not have worked. The film takes you to places you don’t expect, it also takes you to a few you’ve been waiting to see for years.

Calum, 26, Edinburgh