I was not prepared for what I saw in AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR. Nearly a decade of films have been building to this insane superhero showdown. The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, old and new allies – all together for a fight to the finish against Thanos – with cosmic stakes for the entire Marvel Universe.
With so much action, so many characters, an emotionally heart wrenching ending and that end-credits scene – we need Infinity therapy to talk about our burning questions including what’s next.
Before we continue here’s a SPOILER ALERT!!!
If you have not seen AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR yet stop reading now and go to your nearest cinema.
Seriously.
OK.
Here it comes.
Marvel Studios let him do it. Thanos won. He freaking did it. The Mad God of TItan actually wiped out half the universe taking many of our beloved heroes in the cosmic carnage. With Spider-Man, Black Panther and more sequels in the works – we know there’s a way to bring back the lost heroes – but how and at what price?
Let’s start with the burning questions:
Asgard Attacked Again? Survivors of THOR: RAGNAROK were on course for Earth when their ship is attacked by Thanos. As the film begins, half of the refugees are wiped out, Thor is beaten then Heimdall and Loki are killed. Where’s Valkyrie and Korg? The scene stealing heroes from the earlier film must have got out in an escape pod or did Heimdall transport them off ship like he did Banner?
Xandar no more? When the Odinson meets the Guardians of the Galaxy he reveals Xandar was devastated by Thanos. This is the planet the Guardians saved in the first film so why wouldn’t they have got a distress call? What happened to the Nova Corps? There has been talk of a Nova film featuring the original Richard Rider and/or Sam Alexander, the younger man now in the famous space suit. The destruction of Xandar could lead to a rebuilding of the Nova Corps and need to recruit new officers which could mean Sam’s cinematic introduction.
Ant-Man, Hawkeye? Scott Lang and Clint Barton were MIA and said to be in witness protection. Lang, Hope Van Dyne and Hank Van Dyne will all return in ANT-MAN AND THE WASP later this summer. The sequel could mark the return of Janet Van Dyne and more exploration of the Quantum Realm which could be affected by the power of the Time Stone and events in INFINITY WAR.
Red Skull the Stonekeeper? Thanos and Gamora meet a long lost villain in the quest for the Soul Stone. Red Skull appears to be a sentry/sage guarding the Soul Stone and warning Thanos the price he must pay in order to seize it. Has Red Skull been here the whole time since the end of the first Captain America film? Was that the villain’s punishment and now is he free since the Soul Stone is claimed?
What now Mad God? The motivation of Thanos is changed from the comic book version. In the pages, Thanos courts Death who takes the form of a shadowy woman figure. The Mad God’s quest pits him against other powerful cosmic forces like Mephisto (the Marvel version of the Devil) and Eternity. The villain actually believes he is saving the universe by doing what he couldn’t do on his homeworld of Titan. Is this really retirement for Thanos? What does he do now? Is there a bigger villain or will Thanos return for AVENGERS 4?
Eternals? There’s talk of a film based on the Eternals. We don’t learn from the movies but in comics Thanos is a Deviant, a mutant within the race of Eternals who live on Titan, a moon of Saturn, not its own planet.
Who’s really dead? Everyone who died in “the snap” could be revived in some cosmic reversal but what about those who were killed in the battles before? Will Loki, Heimdall, Vision and Gamora stay dead?
How do they come back? Doctor Strange used the Time Stone to see all the possible outcomes and appears to have a plan, even saying to Tony this will the only way. Could the Time Stone be used again to go back (how far?) to reverse the events? Could the Soul Stone give a hero the power to resurrect the lost heroes in the snap. And then there’s the signal – more on that below.
The end-credits scene!!!
Nick Fury always has a contingency. Fury has a back up plan to his back up plan to his plan for every scenario.
In the post-credits scene Fury appears to have come back out of the cold to reunite with Maria Hill. You may recall after the events of CAPTAIN AMERICA: WINTER SOLDIER, Fury let the world believe he was dead and Hill was applying for a position with Stark Industries. The super spies were together in Manhattan as the chaos began. Hill and Fury are among the half but Fury was able to activate a communicator device that left audiences with an ironic signal on screen:
Captain Marvel. A sign of hope. A cheer among the Carol Corps and beyond but who is she? In the comics Carol Danvers is an Air Force pilot transformed by a Kree weapon into a superhero with super strength, invulnerability and power to fly. The first Captain Marvel in Marvel Comics was Mar-Vell, a Kree spy sent to Earth who became a hero and Avenger. Monica Rambeau once held the title. Carol was known as Ms. Marvel for years until her taking the famous code-name.
Marvel revealed CAPTAIN MARVEL starring Brie Larson as Carol Danvers will be set in the 90’s and feature Samuel L. Jackson as Fury, Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson. Ronan the Accuser and Korath – the renegade Kree from the first Guardians film – are in it too. All signs point to Earth having been caught in a cosmic conflict like the Kree/Skrull War. Where has Carol been this whole time? In deep space keeping the peace? In hibernation? In an alternate universe?
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is now playing.
ANT-MAN AND THE WASP hit in July 6. CAPTAIN MARVEL soars March 8, 2018 then AVENGERS 4 assembles May 3, 2019.
By Editor