Kellen Morris

Blogger

May 16th, 2018

Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War is the latest installation in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Infinity War was meant to be the culmination of 10 years worth of movies for the MCU, and it is just that. It brings together a countless number of heroes, including Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Star Lord, Doctor Strange, and so many others in their greatest battle yet: against the villain Thanos and his army.

The movie is primarily split up into four different focus areas for the majority of the film, narrowing down to just two areas by the end of the film. Each area has its own unique purpose and characters involved. It could be easy to imagine that the casual movie viewer would have difficulty following what was happening, but in this case it is done quite nicely and fluidly, so viewers should have no trouble following along.

Infinity War is able to bring together so many characters in so many different places, yet they each have something significant to contribute to the overall story. It meshes characters and different areas of the MCU very well, when the Avengers meet the Guardians of the Galaxy it actually fits in with the story and isn’t forced. Even the scene when the Guardians pick up Thor isn’t just some coincidence, something that people may not expect from watching the trailers and the released clip.

Next up, the humor. Infinity War is unexpectedly hilarious, but the thing that really makes the humor in the movie great is that it was able to have plenty of jokes and quips from characters like Iron Man, Star Lord, and Drax, all while not taking away from the serious scope of the story. By the end of the movie you will have had many laughs, but they are done in a way that you will never once think that they made the story feel less serious.

The villain, Thanos, is what really makes this movie stand out from the others in the MCU. Although you may think Thanos is the worst person ever, thanks to the trailers that show he wants to kill half of all life in the universe, that’s simply not the case. By the end of the movie, some may even feel sympathy for Thanos. His goal to wipe out half of the universe may seem insane at first, but his motivations for wanting this are disturbingly valid if you look through his point of view. This makes him unlike any other villain in movies: his goal seems psychotic, yet people may still feel sympathy for him, and he doesn’t want power just for the sake of having it. Thanos is the engine of the entire movie, whether people like it or not.

At the end of the day Marvel Studios’ Avengers Infinity War is an epic and climactic cinematic event that boasts the MCU’s best villain and will leave audiences begging for more.

Warning. Spoilers Beyond this Point! Read at your own Risk

As you’ve read in the warning above, we are going to discuss some spoilers about this movie, with the 5 biggest questions, and the 13 most significant moments within the film

 

5 biggest questions regarding Infinity War

5. Why would Nick Fury call Captain Marvel now?

Assuming you all stayed for the post-credits scene (why wouldn’t you, it’s a Marvel movie), you know that Nick Fury pressed a button on some device, when he died a few seconds later, it was revealed that he was calling Captain Marvel in some form or another. Captain Marvel is a very powerful member of the Avengers and exists mostly in outer space (but is also from Earth). While it makes absolute sense to call in backup when the world is falling into chaos after half the population was killed in literal seconds, the question is, why now? We know from details regarding her solo movie (coming out March 2019) that she has been around since the 1990s, so Why hasn’t Captain Marvel been called down to Earth before this? Like when Loki was invading or Ultron was about to make Earth go extinct? Are the things that she’s dealing with so important that the only way for her to show up or be called was for half the universe to die? Anyways, hopefully her solo film coming out in early 2019 will explain all of this, until then, we still have to ask the obvious.

4. Why didn’t Thanos kill Thor in the beginning of the movie?

In the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War Thanos takes over an Asgardian ship in order to obtain the space stone from Loki. After he obtains it he blows up the ship it seemingly kills everyone left on it. We learn later in the movie that Thor somehow survives the massacre. Considering Thor nearly kills Thanos in the end of the movie, why didn’t Thanos make sure he was dead? Why didn’t he personally kill him instead of just assuming he would die in the explosion? The obvious reason is that Thanos assumed that using the power stone on the ship would kill him, like it did the others. But seriously, Thanos surely knew that Thor was one of the more powerful heroes out there, so why didn’t he just kill him himself when he had the chance to make sure he was dead? After all, he killed Loki on the spot for trying to kill him, he should’ve known that Thor is very powerful and would surely come after him should he survive the explosion (which is exactly what happened).

3. Just how powerful are the Infinity stones really?

In every movie in which any of the infinity stones appeared in, there were touted as being the most destructive forces in the universe, easily outdoing everything else. However, in Infinity War, some parts of that don’t hold true. Though the early scenes certainly support the case as universally destructive, the latter part of the movie doesn’t quite hold that up. Take for instance the fight on Titan, when Thanos fires the force of the power stone at Iron Man, but he is able to resist it’s force with a shield of his. For a stone that was shown to seemingly be able to destroy planets in seconds, the fact that it was held up by a makeshift shield seems a bit sketchy. The stone should’ve been able to piece right through that shield in seconds. Along with the Iron Man instance, there is also the part when Thor’s new weapon is able to push right through the power of seemingly all the infinity stones. Simply put, the most destructive forces in the universe shouldn’t have them happen to it. With the combined effort of all six stones, Thanos should’ve been easily able to destroy Thor’s new weapon as soon as the energy came in contact with it, much less stop it.

2. What exactly is Doctor Strange’s master plan?

Doctor Strange is, unanimously, the most important hero in Infinity War, maybe not for the audiences (in which it’s probably Spider-Man, Iron Man, or Captain America), but for the story. Aside from the obvious, which is that Strange holds one of, if not the most powerful Infinity Stone, Doctor Strange is also the only hero who knows how they will win. Before Thanos comes to Titan, Strange tells Iron Man that he has seen over 14 million outcomes of the coming conflict, and there is only one in which they come out on top. This means that, throughout the latter part of the movie, he knows the only possible way that the Avengers will eventually beat Thanos. Now, we have to ask the question, what is his plan? And what does it involve? The Avengers seemingly have Thanos beat until Star-Lord loses his cool at the worst time possible, so he is the reason that they lose that fight and eventually all end up defeated. So, did Doctor Strange want that this would happen? As part of his big master plan? This makes it seem like that they knew what they had to do to win, and that Star-Lord’s temper tantrum seemingly threw a wrench in Strange’s master plan, especially since the movie makes it seem like none of the members saw it coming. Another confusing thing about Strange’s plan is that he willingly gave away the time stone in exchange for Iron Man’s life even after making it very clear that he would not hesitate to let him die if it meant keeping the stone. Also, at the end, when everyone is dying, Strange said to Iron Man “it was the only way.” So seriously, what is his plan? Having a one in 14 million chance of winning means that something extremely specific has to change in order for the outcome to change, and I doubt that one thing was to have Thanos win at first, only to then lose later. We’ll have to wait till May 2019 to see what exactly Strange had in mind, since that will surely be a point of emphasis.

1. What happens next?

This has to be the most obvious question audiences have in mind after watching Avengers Infinity War. Many heroes died and Thanos is still alive with the infinity gauntlet and all the stones. Most people know that the majority, if not all heroes who died at the end will eventually return and be fine, but how? It likely has something to do with Doctor Strange’s master plan, but we don’t know what that entails. The remaining heroes are without any known way of time travel, two of them are stranded on an alien planet, and Thanos is still alive with all the infinity stones. This means that, theoretically, Thanos could be able to see into the future and prevent whatever the heroes may plan up using the time stone, know what they are about to do before they even do it using the mind stone, or simply snap his fingers again, only to kill the remaining heroes. At the end of Infinity War, the heroes have seemingly nowhere to go, with their only foreseeable option being just giving up, but everyone should know that’s not what they are going to do. We’ll have to wait another year see what Marvel has in store for us.

 

12 Most Significant Infinity War moments

12.  Destruction of Xandar

Thanos destroying Xander to get the power stone is a moment briefly mentioned in Infinity War but that doesn’t make it insignificant. This shows how Thanos was able to get the power stone instead of leaving audiences to just assume that it he did it, and it sets up a possible new superhero in the MCU, Nova. In the comics Nova is a very powerful hero and is the last remaining citizen of Xandar, so, who’s to say this moment doesn’t bring Nova into the MCU in a few years, using Thanos’ destruction of is homeworld his origin story.

11. Nick Fury calling Captain Marvel

Usually, this moment would rank a lot higher, but because this is Infinity War we are discussing, it ranks at 11. The post credits scene of Infinity War gives fans their first ever reference to the hero Captain Marvel. Not only this, but Nick Fury calling her at the end of the movie will allow Avengers Four to introduce her without wasting a lot of time, and given she is one of the more powerful heroes currently in the MCU, this is great news for the remaining heroes.

10. Thanos’ multiple speeches

Thanos’ speeches in Infinity War are what help make Thanos the great villain that he was meant to be. They reveal his twisted plan, but are also what helps make him sympathetic. It is in his speeches where you learn that his plan to annihilate half the universe isn’t a plan for death, but a plan he feels will make the universe a better place. You learn that he feels that killing one half will give the other half better lives, which is why he is doing this. His point is even supported by evidence when he reveals that before he killed off half the people in Gamora’s home world, they were living impoverished lives and fighting for food. After he kills off half, those left on the planet were living happily and were no longer impoverished. Thanos’ last speech comes at the end of the movie when it is reveal that although he succeeded and killed off half the universe, it costed him everything he had. This shows that the losses in the movie were felt by not only the heroes, but also the villain. Without the Thanos speeches he would just be another bland MCU villain, something the movies are infamous for (disregarding the last few movies).

9. Reveal of the Soul Stone

This was the question everyone wanted Infinity War to answer, where is the last infinity stone? There were theories that seemingly covered every possibility, except where it actually was. The final infinity stone was revealed to be on a planet called Vormir, which had never even been referenced in the MCU before the movie. Given that it was always going to play an important role in Infinity War, where it was located carried that same significance.

8. Gamora’s death

The death of Gamora carried major importance is that not only is she an important member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, she was also someone not many expected to die. Her death also served importance because it was the only way Thanos could obtain the long coveted soul stone. Without Gamora’s death, Thanos would’ve never won, and most of the emotional scenes in Infinity War would never exist. Without her death, Infinity War likely have been just another MCU movie with no stakes and a bland villain.

7. Thor getting his new weapon

When Thor gets his new hammer-axe hybrid weapon in the middle of the movie, it seemingly makes one of the most important parts of Thor: Ragnarok irrelevant, but it is nonetheless significant in its own right. Thor is one of Marvel’s original characters and giving him a new, more powerful weapon gives the movies a nice change from his usual hammer. However, this moment is so important because it is his new weapon that nearly kills Thanos at the end of the movie.

6. Thanos retiring

This moment in the movie is exactly what makes Infinity War feel like a complete movie, and not just a “part one movie” like it was originally intended to. When Thanos appears in an unknown place, with no one around, and smiles at the pretty landscape in front of him, one thing is very clear, he is done. Thanos has completed his life’s goal and is done fighting and trying to take over the universe. He has no plans to get back into the “alien warlord” business. It makes the movie feel complete in that the villain has won, and is done fighting, while the heroes are seemingly defeated.

5-3. Thanos gathering the reality, time, mind stone

When Thanos sets out in the beginning of the movie (after obliterating the Asgardian ship), he needs four more stones, the soul, reality, mind, and time. The reason the latter stones are all more important than the soul stone, are because they all play critical roles when talking about how Thanos completes his goal. When he gets the reality stone, it allows him to stop Gamora from being killed, twice. Her being alive was literally the only way he gets his hands on the soul stone, so that’s that. Moving on, when he acquired the time stone, it allows him later to reverse time so the mind stone is never blown up by Scarlet Witch. In other words, the time stone is what allows Thanos to complete his goal. Once Thanos acquires the mind stone, he is able to successfully wipe out half the universe by snapping his fingers. In short, the mind, reality, and time are the most significant stones since the time and reality stones allow him to obtain another, and the mind stone allows him to complete his goal, and win.

2. Doctor Strange’s time travel fiasco and speech

If Avengers Four ends with the good guys winning, this will have to be moved up one spot. Doctor Strange is the only hero in Avengers Infinity War who actually gives the heroes hope that the can win. When he travels forward in time he tells Iron Man that he saw 14 million and some outcomes of the coming conflict, and only one outcome where the heroes win. This one moment is what gives audiences hope that the Avengers will eventually win. It also sets the stage for a very entertaining and interesting fourth movie knowing that this will (near certainly) be explored more, not to mention giving fans something to speculate about going into said movie.

1. The finger snap

This is easily the most important part of the movie. This is the part of the movie when you see the villain win and the heroes lose, something we had yet to see in any MCU films prior. The finger snap is what wipes out half of the universe and causes nearly every death in the movie. Each death (especially Spider-Man’s) is done in a way that makes it an especially emotional moment. The surviving heroes are forced to literally watch their friends fade away before their eyes. This simple snap of the fingers gives the heroes seemingly nowhere to go and no one to look to, it is what makes them lose and the villain win.