Avengers: Infinity War is the most ambitious crossover event Marvel has ever done, and it’s also the most traumatic. Let’s talk about how one movie brought shocked silence to theaters around the world.
By now, you’ve seen Infinity War or you’ve heard about the ending. We all knew that characters would die, and even upon taking a closer look at the trailer, we anticipated the death of Loki early on.
Granted, I didn’t think it would be Thanos. I thought Proxima Midnight would be killing him, but I had tried to prepare myself as best I could. What I didn’t prepare myself for was the emotional deaths that Marvel dealt out repeatedly throughout the film.
Within the first ten minutes, Heimdall had saved Hulk, sending him to Midgard as his dying act before he was stabbed through the heart. Loki, offering his experience in traveling to Midgard, manages to get close enough to Thanos to try and stab him in his throat.
Unfortunately, Thanos as the power stone (he destroyed Xandar for it) and stops Loki. He chokes him to death, right in front of his brother. True to Loki’s personality, he manages to cut Thanos one last time, which could be foreshadowing…
“You will never be a God.”
As we all know, Thanos does the snap of death and kills half the universe at the end of the film. Yes, the bad guy officially wins one for now.
This line from Loki shows its impermanence.
Gods give and take life, and Thanos is no God.
Thor is, though.
One of my favorite theories at this point is that Stormbreaker, Thor’s axe, can wield the Infinity Stones. If this is the case, Thor, the God of Thunder, can bring life back after they take the stones from Thanos.
Of course, he’ll need a little help from his friends.
Right now, Nebula needs to get Tony back from Titan to rejoin the rest of the Avengers on Earth. We’ll have Black Widow, Hulk, Cap, Rhodey, Rocket, Thor, and Okoye. Yes, I’m calling it now. Okoye will not sit idly by and wait for them to bring order back. She watched her King disappear in front of her eyes, Okoye is now on the team.
So, who else do we need?
Ant-Man and the Wasp are bound to show up. I’m sure Wong will be there, too, when he figures out that Doctor Strange drifted away into nothing.
Hawkeye will finally make an appearance in the second part. I’m willing to bet that his family fades away in front of him, and he books it to NYC to try and figure out what the hell happened and how they can fix it.
Shuri will be a huge help, too. She’s the smartest person in the world, and if Tony Stark never meets her that’s a travesty.
The missing piece is someone we haven’t been introduced to yet, but we will be soon. In the after credits scene, Nick Fury sent a page to a very special someone…
Captain Marvel.
Her solo film will be out in March, and it’s the last Marvel movie before Avengers 4 hits theaters next May. I imagine Captain Marvel’s end credit scene will tie her to the Avengers, and she’ll be the saving grace of our favorite heroes.
Now, even if Thor’s axe can wield the stones and Captain Marvel helps get them on track, there are some deaths that may stick.
Heimdall. He managed to save half of Asgard and send Hulk to warn Earth. However, with Asgard’s people gone, they no longer need their seer. He dies a heroic, selfless death.
Loki. I don’t want to count out my favorite God of Mischief, but things don’t look good. This is the third time he’s died. The only promising thing is Tom Hiddleston has a six film contract and this was film five.
Gamora probably won’t see life again until Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3. They’ll need to figure out how to reverse the Soul Stone. Maybe Red Skull has some insight?
Vision. I’m willing to bet that we won’t see him in his previous incarnation, but with Shuri copying some of his conscious before he fought off Thanos’ bad guys, she’ll be able to bring back some part of him.
Everyone who dusted away?
They’ll be back.
Now, we just need to figure out who we’re truly ready to say goodbye to next film.
Tony Stark or Steve Rogers?
With Tony’s near death experience on Titan and having his surrogate son (Peter) die in his arms, it would appear that Cap’s time is up. Even with getting half the universe back, if Steve Rogers dies next May, theaters will sit in shocked silence again.