WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for The Tomorrow War, now available on Amazon Prime.
In 2012's The Avengers, one of the film's most macabre moments came when the World Security Council decided to nuke New York after they felt that the Chitauri invasion couldn't be stopped. As much as Earth's Mightiest Heroes were trying, the sinister powers-that-be didn't want Loki's alien army to escape alive. Fortunately, Nick Fury and Iron Man would thwart the nuke because they believed in the team, and in Stark's case, self-preservation. However, in The Tomorrow War, the movie puts a dark twist on that aspect of the Battle of New York.
Fury resisted the bombing in The Avengers, despite valid points being made by the World Security Council. Granted, no one with a spine would condone such an act because it would kill a lot of innocent people, but the members of the council came from a global defense angle, believing the sacrifice of Manhattan would save billions by eviscerating the present threat.
The Tomorrow War adapts a similar attitude with its resistance when Chris Pratt's Dan is sent to 2051. He and his fellow soldiers are dropped in a decimated Miami to retrieve research from Muri's lab, but they quickly realize the place is overrun with the White Spikes. The aliens begin to pursue them, just as word comes down the city is going to be bombed.
This ticking clock creates a lot of drama as Dan has an argument war with his squad because some don't believe in saving weak stragglers who were never meant to be in the field. Regardless of their differing beliefs, however, the squad has to get out of the cordoned-off zone and away from the red smoke that marks the perimeter.
Of course, Muri, who's Dan's daughter, doesn't want her father to die, but she knows they don't have the firepower or manpower to annihilate the beasts and are losing the war with the remaining humans they have left. After all, Muri's resistance doesn't possess magical gods, super-soldiers or elite assassins to turn the tide in a superhero fairytale story. And with that being the case, the jets end up bombing the city, killing the White Spikes, as well as members of Dan's crew.
When compared to a movie like The Avengers, this aspect of Tomorrow War feels more realistic, as it's unlikely everyone makes it out alive of a full-scale invasion happens. Thankfully, Dan's able to escape to blast, only losing consciousness, but he learns how high the stakes are and how expendable temporary soldiers are.
Starring Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, Sam Richardson, Betty Gilpin, J.K. Simmons and Edwin Hodge, The Tomorrow War is now available on Amazon Prime.