There was PLENTY of on-screen character development in Endgame. Almost the entire first half of the movie was a character study.
Sure. Black Widow. CAP... It just didn't involve any of the characters I described.
Your summaries are very reductive, and I don't think accurate. At all.
OK. Which one? Was Captain Marvel given any character development? How does she develop as a character from the beginning of the film to the one at the end? Please point to any part of her 15 minutes of screentime where she isn't there for the sole purpose of solving a problem? Do we learn anything more about her as a person? Why does she cry when seeing the image of Fury? Was she just as concerned for the family she hasn't seen in 30 years? How does Steve suddenly talk like he knows her, yet her reaction to Natasha describing past events implies she is just learning of this now?. No we don't learn anything about her. Because she doesn't speak to
anyone. She remains stone faced with no personality. She's barely in the movie to be called a
character let alone one with
character development. No. She is just as I
accurately described. A Deus Ex Machina with a bad hair cut. That is all she is. Horribly written and terribly executed.
Killing Thanos - a character you built up for 10 years and developed in your previous movie and only to have him killed off at the beginning of your next, was probably one of the dumbest decisions I've ever seen in film history. It would be like if you killed Darth Vader and the Emperor in ROTJ. You want to talk about character development. What a waste of a villain and any potential tension you could've had with him still present and a threat. How about you don't kill off your main villain that has a history with these characters and then replace him with what is essentially a clone or twin brother trope.
Thor: Throughout his solo films he went through various trials and tribulations. From his father and mother dying to seeing his whole world destroyed. We saw all of that pain in Infinity War come to ahead in the scene with Rocket. A scene that has more depth than anything a fat suit can ever convey. The Russos completely ignored all of that character development for the sake of a joke, making Thor one of the most mishandled portrayals of a character since Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi.
Hulk: Replace all of Professor Hulk's scenes with just Bruce Banner. Would it really be any different? Replacing your human character with a green CGI version of the same character isn't character development. It's purely a cosmetic change. If they continued ON-SCREEN, the character arc setup in Infinity War with Banner struggling with his inner conflict with The Hulk then that would be considered character development. Instead, once again this character arc is resolved through exposition off-screen. Why do you think so many Hulk fans are angry with his portrayal in Endgame? The Hulk never reemerges ever again. All we get is a green Banner that dabs. Stupid
Skipping 5 years and then
telling the audience the progression characters may have made is a cardinal sin of storytelling. We should've seen Tony's resentment towards Steve resolved throughout the movie. Did Tony and Steve not speak in 5 years? Why? Endgame would rather spend more time on Fortnite and Taco jokes.