Earn Your Happy Ending / Marvel Universe

Marvel Universe

Comic Books

Comic Books

• During Mark Waid's run on Fantastic Four, the eponymous group ends up in Heaven. Then they meet God—who happens to look like Jack Kirby. He gives Johnny a sketch of the foursome — something to remember the trip by — and tells them 'you'll earn it'. The sketch? The Fantastic Four: merely older, happy as ever, close as ever, and a caption that reads "To Be Continued!"
• Marvel 2099: Manifest Destiny ends the 2099 line in this way. After several series of escalating catastrophes, culminating in a mass flood wiping out almost all of humanity, a re-frozen Captain America is discovered. He finally fills everyone in on the cycle of events that turned the 2099 universe into such a Crapsack World, and Miguel is able to steer what's left away from total annihilation. By the year 3099, war has ceased, humanity has accepted mutants and superhumans as their successors, and Earth has become one of the dominant forces in the universe.
• Marvel Universe since 2004 to 2010. First, Scarlet Witch goes crazy and kills some people and the Avengers disband. Then House of M wiped ninety percent of the mutants on Earth, and stopped new ones from being born. Then heroes have to fight each other, one of Earth's greatest heroes dies, another makes a deal with the devil, another is labelled a fascist, Hulk is shot in space by people he thought were friends, has to fight for survival on another planet, and when he finally finds a place when he's accepted and loved, it's destroyed, so he comes back, pissed off. Then Bishop betrays the X-Men while Mister Sinister infiltrates the X-Mansion. Then we find out that Skrulls have infiltrated the superhero community, destroying the last bits of trust among heroes. And when they attack, the heroes taste Pyrrhic victory. Oh, and then Norman Osborn becomes the most powerful man in the United States, creates the Dark Avengers, attacks and destroys Asgard and... Good guys won. At that same point in time, various anti-mutant forces conspired to commit a single act of genocide that would destroy all of mutantkind by killing the last 200 mutants on the face of the Earth, starting with Cable and Nightcralwer and... Good guys won there too. After all of it, the heroes still won, managed to overthrow all those things, and their lives are returning back to normal, heading towards a Heroic Age.
  • Post Heroic Age, Cyclops manages to maintain the peace for a while by founding a mutant "nation," but concerns about his increasing radicalization lead the Avengers to attack the X-Men, all the while the Phoenix is baring down on Earth. Ultimately, several of the X-Men are possessed by the Phoenix and proceed to go Drunk with Power, with the force ultimately ending up in the hands of Hope... who does exactly what everyone thought she'd do and restores mutants' powers. Sure, Cyclops was arrested for his actions while possessed, but he plainly considers it Worth It, and everything ultimately works out okay for him too.
  • Except for you, Spider-Man. Though, one might say that by the end of Spider-Island, ol' Spidey prolly earned his happy ending. Except at the end of Spider-Island, he loses his latest girlfriend... though considering most of the fandom never liked her to begin with, one might say he earned a different kind of reward being freed from her. He also got Mary Jane to admit she still loved him, although he wasn't privy to her declaration of love.
  • And then, of course, it gets blasted when Doctor Octopus occupies his body and pretty much kills him. Then, he comes back and fixes a lot of the crap Doc Ock did to him.
• Lee-Ditko Spider-Man: The original If This Be My Destiny...! arc was this for Spider-Man's entire high-school arc. His Aunt May is sick, he has to fight the Master Planner (Doctor Octopus), and he's just starting college. Despite being at his lowest ebb with virtually no way to fight back, Peter overcomes the odds, defeats, scares, and exposes Doctor Octopus as the Planner, he finally gets one over JJJ (negotiating a raise), maturely gives up on Betty Brant and passes by, and saves his Aunt. It was the first unambiguous triumph Spider-Man had after many half-hearted back-and-forth failures in the early run and it's still one of the few outright positive moments in all the books.
• Spider-Man pays a heavy price earning his happy ending in the Marvel Comics 2 Universe's version of his mythology, which follows a lot of his late 90s continuity. After apparently losing his baby at the hands of Norman Osborn, Peter is left to deal with Osborn's resurfacing as a legit businessman and a huge bounty placed on his head as he is framed for the gajillionth time. He's stalked by a mysterious new Green Goblin, the original Hobgoblin, and yet another son of the then-deceased Kraven The Hunter, before he finally clears his name. In the 616 continuity, he defeats Norman Osborn and is reunited with his elderly Aunt May and goes on to live in luxury with Mary Jane, having retired as Spider-Man... until the pull of the ol' "power and responsibility" kick gets the better of him again. In the MC2 Universe, Peter is reunited with his infant daughter, but opts to remain Spidey anyway. Things go well for him and MJ before a fateful final battle with Norman Osborn costs Peter one of his legs... ouch. Peter decides that THIS is as big a wake-up call as ever to grow up and he puts his web-swinging behind him to raise his daughter... and then his daughter grows up, realizes she has powers, and sets about continuing where her father left off. Peter just can't catch a break trying to earn some peace and quiet... but that's why we love 'em.
• This is the biggest problem with the Utopia Initiative in Squadron Supreme. They do come up with solutions to crime, poverty, war and even a stop gap measure for death, but the solutions are generated, implemented and maintained by a small team of superheroes and rely on them to maintain it. Humanity didn't earn its happy ending the way Zarda's Utopians must have.
• Ultimate Marvel:
  • Spider-Men II: The Miles of Earth-616 meets an alternate version of his wife (and they immediately get along swimmingly) when he crosses over to the next universe... and it's a revived Ultimate Marvel Universe! The characters who died like Captain America and Thor are back to life, there is an Ironheart, Peter and MJ are still together, Kong joined the Army and is now coming back home, Aunt May has a new boyfriend and they are still close to their friends. The last shot is Jessica shooting a knowing glance to the reader before racing off to join Peter. And the Adventure Continues...
  • Ultimate X Men: Life wasn't exactly great for Ororo after Ultimatum. After the assassination of Cyclops she was arrested and sent to a series of mutant concentration camps where she abused and experimented on. Despite this, she stood up for the other inmates and led a rebellion. Unfortunately, she was then recaptured and sent to another concentration camp, where her spirit was very nearly broken.. until she heard of a new mutant revolution led by Kitty Pryde, which she joined and in joining finally got the happy ending she long since earned.

Films

Films

• Marvel Cinematic Universe:
  • A Villain Protagonist example would have to be Thanos from Avengers: Infinity War where his ultimate goal is to gather the Infinity Stones to halve the universal population so they won't collapse from an Overpopulation Crisis like his own planet. He, in no short order suffered several setbacks from his minions, has two of his "Children" rebel against him while the rest of his loyal "Children" dies while having to tearfully sacrifice his beloved daughter, faced several opposition from the heroes while nearly getting defeated on two occasions but through his sheer willpower, he successfully gathered all 6 Stones and wiped out half of all the universe. By the end of the movie, Thanos retires to a quiet farmland, content as he watch the sun rise on a grateful universe.
  • A more traditional example occurs to Iron Man, Captain America, Falcon, Thor, Hulk and Scott Ant-Man in Avengers: Endgame. Iron Man dies snapping Thanos and his forces, but not before spending the last five years of his life with Pepper and his daughter, Morgan, and finally being at eternal peace after laying his life down the line for the sake of the universe. Captain America not only is allowed to return to the 1940s to be with Peggy Carter, but when he turned old and gray, he passes his mantle to Falcon, who was brought back from the dead during the film. Thor finally has a new purpose in his life with the Guardians of the Galaxy after spending perhaps a decade of constant trauma and shutting himself in for 5 years as a result. Bruce Banner makes his peace with the Hulk and the two become merged, Bruce's mind with Hulk's Body, and is widely beloved by the world, it is probably the happiest we have ever seen him. Also, Ant-Man was trapped in the Quantum Realm with Wasp, Janet and Hank dead in Ant-Man and the Wasp. He had not only gotten free from the Quantum Realm, but he helped bring Wasp, Janet and Hank back from the dead, as well as getting to be with his daughter, again.
  • Almost every member of the Guardians of the Galaxy gets this in in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3's conclusion.
    • Star-Lord is finally at peace with the original Gamora's death before giving up the mantle as captain to Rocket, and reuniting with his long-lost grandfather who happily welcomes him back in his life.
    • Drax the Destroyer gets a second chance at becoming a father by adopting the Star Children that he rescues from the High Evolutionary's ship. Even Nebula implicitly lampshades this.
      Nebula: You weren't born to be a destroyer. You were born to be a dad.
    • Speaking of Nebula, she finally has a purpose in life leading the people of Knowhere after spending years of abuse from Thanos. The scene where she dances alongside the new denizens of the planet clearly shows her at her happiest and fully at peace from her past.
    • Mantis, after spending years being submissive to others (considering her tragic past as Ego's ward), decides to go out on her own adventure as a means of self-discovery. It really marks the peak of her Character Development as a much more confident being compared to her socially insecure personality during her Vol. 2 introduction.
    • The alternate Gamora reunites with the Ravagers and ends on good terms with the Guardians despite begrudgingly joining them on their mission to save Rocket. This marks the conclusion of Gamora's arc throughout the entirety of the MCU.
    • More minor members of the Guardians get their happy ending as well. Kraglin firmly establishes himself as Yondu's successor after fully mastering the Yaka Arrow, Cosmo is referred to as a "good dog" after proving herself in the final battle against the High Evolutionary's forces, Adam Warlock finds a new family (and a second chance) with the Guardians after nearly killing Rocket and witnessing the death of his mother, Blurp also finds family with the Guardians, and so does Phylla after spending her childhood under the imprisonment and abuse of the High Evolutionary.
    • But nobody. Nobody has it better than Rocket Raccoon. And this is after everything he went through: the abuse from the High Evolutionary, his childhood friends murdered by his psychopath of a master, joining the Guardians and witnessing some of his new friends die — particularly the original Groot and the rest snapped by Thanos (sans Nebula), joining the Avengers for the sake of saving his friends, and confronting the High Evolutionary himself after nearly being killed by Adam Warlock. He not only accepts the fact that he is an empowered raccoon, he avenges his childhood friends after he and the Guardians defeat the High Evolutionary, and finds a new purpose as the captain of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
• X-Men Film Series
  • X-Men: Days of Future Past: After nearly drowning, Logan wakes up in the Sentinel-averted future to find all the X-Men and children at Xavier's school. Also, this is the first film to give Wolverine a perfect happy ending. He's a teacher!
  • X-Men: Apocalypse: Professor X is savagely victimized by En Sabah Nur. After his mind, body and soul are violated, and he nearly dies twice because of it—on the astral plane, Xavier is not only drenched in his own blood, but he's also lying in a pool of it—his terror and misery are rewarded with a surrogate family which is larger than what he had in the original trilogy. Raven returns home as his second-in-command, plus Quicksilver and Nightcrawler are now officially part of the X-Men, which they never were in the original timeline. Charles and Erik reconcile much earlier, even though the latter decides not to stay at the school. The Professor succeeds in preventing Jean Grey from developing a Superpowered Evil Side, and thus ensures that she, Cyclops, himself and many others won't die because of the Phoenix.

Live-Action TV

Live-Action TV

• Every main character gets this in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. after seven seasons of nonstop drama externally and internally. Mack continues to lead S.H.I.E.L.D while maintaining a stable love life with his top agent, Yo-Yo, May has finally retired and becomes a professor at the Coulson academy, FitzSimmons also retires and establishes a family with their daughter, Alya, Deke becomes the director of S.H.I.E.L.D in an alternate universe, the LMD Coulson has the chance to make the best of his life by traveling the world (thereby concluding Phil Coulson's arc as a whole), and Daisy finally has a stable love life with the alternate Daniel Sousa and travels in space with the alternate Kora. So much for seven seasons dealing with a crazed psychopath working for a terrorist organization as The Mole, a sadistic evil scientist working for the same organization, an enraged superpowered being wanting to lash out on humanity, a lifelong-friend-turned-traitor with a personal vendetta against the heroes, another superpowered being with a questionable desire to remake the universe, you get the idea.

Western Animation

Western Animation

• In What If…? (2021), Peggy Carter invokes the trope by name after she and the other transdimensional heroes recruited by The Watcher deal with the season's Big Bad. Apparently, she gets it, as does Natasha.

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