WARNING: The following blog not only contains explosive, fiery content, but also juicy spoilers. You have been warned.
Last Sunday, I carved out some time in my busy weekend to see Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War in theaters for the first time. Going in with high expectations and little to no idea of how the movie would hold up against those expectations, I left the theatre feeling a very strange mix of shock, satisfaction, uneasiness, and confusion. After mulling over the movie for almost a week, only one of those emotions is left: satisfaction.
If you haven’t seen the movie yet, it’s a must-see. Marvel’s newest masterpiece just became the fastest movie ever to cross $1 billion at the global box office (Liptak, The Verge). Secondly, now might be a good time to stop reading.
So let’s get to it. For what was labeled as “the most ambitious crossover movie in history,” Infinity War’s intense nature and surprisingly dense plot kept viewers from feeling overwhelmed. From Thanos killing Loki at the beginning to the finger snap at the end, Thanos really was (by the skin of his teeth) an invincible supervillain. Cheating death several times by using his several acquired Infinity Stones, Thanos seemed to be everything that former Avengers villains were not. In the first Avengers, the Asgardian villain Loki showed weakness in his short-sightedness and immaturity. Then in the second one, the android Ultron lacked motive and a developed background story. In my opinion, your superhero movie is only as good as your supervillain, and Thanos is a pretty badass supervillain.
As for the heroes, there were high moments for the Avengers and Co., like when Thor trades his signature hammer in for Stormbreaker the ax and brings the thunder on Thanos’ army in Wakanda (my favorite moment in the entire movie). Then, there were low moments, like when Thor had the chance to destroy Thanos once and for all and blew it by not aiming for the head. Other lowlights included (but aren’t limited to) when Star-Lord lost his temper and botched Tony Stark’s plan to remove Thanos’ Infinity Gauntlet when Thanos killed his daughter and Guardian of the Galaxy Gamora for the soul stone and the deaths of beloved characters at the end of the movie.
On that note, I’m going to divulge every character that died in Infinity War, the characters who are dead for good, and the characters who will come back––more on that in a bit. Here’s the list: Heimdall, Loki, Gamora, Vision, Bucky, Black Panther, Groot, Scarlet Witch, Falcon, Mantis, Drax, Star-Lord, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Nick Fury, and Maria Hill. Of those who bit the dust, every character that disintegrated when Thanos snapped his fingers will likely return in the future. How, you may ask? Well, I don’t know. My theory is that the remaining Avengers will track down Thanos, capture the time stone, and somehow restore the universe. Time will tell. Every other character who died is likely gone for good, with the exception of Vision––if the Avengers can return the Mind Stone to the android, he may be able to make a full recovery.
All in all, I’m satisfied with the outcome of Avengers: Infinity War; I think the ending left a lot up to interpretation, which bodes well for all the Marvel theorists (including myself) out there. I also think the future of the Marvel Universe may become a little more expansive than most are expecting. We’ll likely be seeing much less of Earth and more of the outer universe, which could end up dissipating the roles of Marvel’s beloved human Avengers Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man, Hawkeye, and Black Widow. Get ready Marvel fans; we’re in for an interesting Avengers 4 next year.
(Also, if you missed the post-credits scene, first of all, you’re not a true Marvel fan; second, Nick Fury sent a message on an outdated pager to Captain Marvel before he disintegrated, so look for her to show up in the next installment of the series.)
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