[Analysis & Review] Avengers: Infinity War [Impressions & Trivia]
Hello!
Went to see it on day one~~
So, writing it up the usual way!
*Warning:
Analysis and predictions ahead. Spoilers for the rest of the MCU as well.
Reference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmWVPr-_2hY
Contents
Impressions & review
MARVEL STUD10S
Ten years since Iron Man came out.
And as if to mark it, the logo read STUD10S instead of STUDIOS.
Long wait… the Infinity War everybody has been waiting for…. Ten years of real time makes the love for these films run that much deeper.
And on 27 April 2018, the first showing of the day it was.
It was the best… Plenty of the predictions missed the mark, but an MCU that keeps betraying those predictions is just extraordinary.
Classic, straight-down-the-line storytelling. Several locations running in parallel, beautifully balanced. Thanos being genuinely compelling as a villain.
The team-ups were incredible too! Everyone’s strengths put to work.
Half of everything dies to Thanos’ snap in this film.
His philosophy… the man is a madman, but personally it does add up. To think he loved Gamora that much… that final expression was so good.
And packing in so much of the essence the MCU has built up across its films was the best part of all.
- Doctor Strange shows up and the camera work spins
- The Guardians of the Galaxy show up and the music kicks in
- Heading to Wakanda brings the Black Panther theme
- Place names are captioned exactly the way they were in Civil War
There must be plenty more! Will add them as they turn up!
And on top of that!!!
Johann Schmidt / the Red Skull appears on Vormir, the planet with the Soul Stone!!!!!!!! More on that below.
So many characters die, smashing the fixed idea that nobody really dies in a franchise!!!! Made with real respect for The Empire Strikes Back!!!
Right — from here, a summary of the film, some analysis, plus predictions and Easter eggs.
Characters
Thanos
Played by Josh Brolin
Calling him the main character of this film would be no exaggeration.
So strong! There’s no scene of him taking the Power Stone from Xandar — he has it from the start.
He keeps the armour on until he takes the Space Stone from Thor and the others, and drops it once he holds both Power and Space. A sign of his confidence, maybe.
A warrior who overwhelms the Hulk with his bare body, and a strategist on top of that. That charisma must have won over a lot of the audience.
His face in the scene where he sacrifices Gamora for the Soul Stone was so good.
And the way he uses the Infinity Stones is the best.
Boosting himself with the Power Stone, moving with the Space Stone, casting illusions with the Reality Stone. The strongest villain the series has ever had.
And after Vision and Wanda destroy the Mind Stone he restores it with the Time Stone — a cheat-level move. One thing that nagged: does the Time Stone show those spell-circle patterns by default? Really curious why the sigils appeared when he used it.
Cracking the surface of Titan’s moon with the Space and Power Stones, then teleporting the debris down as a meteor shower — that scene was electrifying. The Infinity Gauntlet never feels like brute force here; he really has mastered it. The Space Stone teleports are far too stylish.
As for why he didn’t just take the Infinity Stones with his full army from the start, thinking it over, the key this time was grabbing them all at once, completing the set before the stone holders could react (destroy them, hide them, lie in wait)! Hence the small elite force first, and the full Thanos army only once the finish was in sight.
The whole story really is barely a single day.
The Soul Stone and the Mind Stone never get used in combat. Wonder what that would have looked like.
Thanos finally kills Vision, takes Thor’s axe through the chest, and still finds the opening to snap and turn half of all life in the universe literally into dust. Doing it as one flowing gesture rather than the huge set-piece of the comics was a fascinating choice. Normally you’d slow it down or push the camera in to make it land lol
The scene straight after, where the Soul Stone presumably lets him talk with young Gamora about having “sacrificed everything to finish it”, was lovely too.
The snap seems to have broken the Gauntlet. Does that mean it can never be used again? And still carrying the axe wound in his chest, he warps — probably to Gamora’s homeworld — and exactly as he declared, “when it’s done, I’ll watch the sunrise on a new universe”, he watches the sun come up, nods a little, and the film closes on that face full of accomplishment.
This ending was, personally, the best.
Thought he was going to die right there, but the chest wound is gone, so he lives lol
Thanos will return
It even said so in the credits.
It would be great if Avengers 4 follows the comics and has him farming (details here)
His psychology is worth a look as well. Thanos pins down the location of every stone except the Soul Stone, moves on his plan in perfect condition, and takes the armour off once he has two of them. Normally taking your armour off means you can’t fight. It was the Reality Stone at work, but Gamora does cut his head off and kill him, which shows that fighting in the flesh is dangerous for Thanos too.
This is only a guess, but until he had two stones Thanos probably still thought he might fail, and from the second one he became certain his cause was right and that destiny was carrying him. So off came the armour, and he fought the heroes without using the Infinity Stones at 100%. Sure of success without going all out, because fate was on his side lol
The Japanese subtitles had him tell Wanda “I know how you feel”, but in English the word was “Daughter”.
He really did love Gamora…
Thanos, whose existence had been confirmed since the early days of the MCU.
Finally in motion, and a fascinating character who turned madman for his cause.
Tony Stark / Iron Man
Played by Robert Downey Jr.
Tony, who proposed to Pepper at the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming.
He’s hugely preoccupied with whether they’re having a child, so life looks to have been peaceful right up until this fight started.
The chest reactor is apparently something he built so he’d be ready whenever lol And it comes off, too lol
The nanotech was presumably made possible by Wakanda opening up its technology. It’s never explained in detail, so nobody knows lol
The new suit is nanotech through and through. It changes into any shape at all, so mobility and firepower are massively up. Best experienced on screen.
The call with Pepper aboard the round enemy ship, the Q-Ship, was sad too. That self-sacrificing streak pulling him into the fight again…
When Peter Parker officially joins the Avengers, Tony touches his shoulder.
https://www.eonline.com/news/183809/sir-patrick-stewart-boldly-goes-under-the-sword
That’s generally the ceremony a monarch performs on a subject when granting a British knighthood lol
Thanos knew about him, apparently, and treated him as someone to watch out for.
In the end a great many people die, Peter Parker among them. Maybe Pepper and Happy too…
Peter Parker, a boy he doted on almost like a son, dying while saying “I don’t want to go, I don’t want to go” — that hurt so much…
He’s left alone with Nebula on Titan. What happens from here…
Tony Stark, who probably retires in the next film.
How does his story end?
Thor
Played by Chris Hemsworth
The story opens with them already under attack by Thanos’ ship, Sanctuary II! So he’s 1,500 years old…
I assumed every Asgardian had been killed, but he says half of his people died. So either some survived, or he’s mistaken.
The back-and-forth with the Guardians was so funny lol The bit where he drops his voice was the best lol
His friends, his brother and his parents all being dead already is genuinely sad…
But is Hela really dead? If so, what a waste of a character…
Guardians of the Galaxy
Never expected the eye Rocket swiped in Guardians Vol. 2 to be used here! lol
Two eyes again!
To get a weapon to replace the hammer he lost, he goes with Rocket and Groot to the planet Nidavellir, where a dwarf named Eitri forges the weapons of the gods.
The thing that looked like a gate being closed in the trailer turned out to be the iris lol
Inspired by the sight of Thor, moody teenage Groot makes the handle of the new weapon, “Stormbreaker”, out of his own body!
What a moment!!
Thor with an axe was absurdly strong. And living up to the name of a god’s weapon, Stormbreaker cuts through Thanos’ Gauntlet and buries itself in his chest….
But Thor. Just like Thanos said, you should have gone for the head…
Survived the snap.
Loki
Played by Tom Hiddleston
Never expected him to team up with the Hulk to try and take Thanos down.
That quick glance at Thor when he says “I am Odin’s son” was great!
But… he goes for Thanos, gets caught, and is strangled to death…
He went out brave, protecting Thor and the rest as an Asgardian.
Bruce Banner / Hulk
Played by Mark Ruffalo
He’s with Thor early on, but losing to a bare-handed Thanos clearly shook him badly, and he can’t turn into the Hulk any more.
After that he climbs into the Hulkbuster and fights in that.
He couldn’t become the Hulk against Cull Obsidian in Wakanda either, but beat him with a trick close to the Hulkbuster hand attachment the Hulk pulled off in Age of Ultron.
He doesn’t know about Civil War, so he doesn’t know Spider-Man or Ant-Man either — very funny lol The “there’s an ant and a spider now?!” moment lol
The way he looks at Natasha is so full of love. But two years have gone by, so whether they can get back to what they had…
Didn’t die in the snap. Survived.
Steve Rogers / Captain America
Played by Chris Evans
He comes to Scotland to save Vision and the others after Bruce Banner’s call!!! The two new shields feel built purely for attack — so cool!!
That entrance out of the dark was unbelievably cool!!!
Nearly shouted out loud in the cinema lol
He isn’t a government man now, so he’s not Captain America but Steve Rogers, a private individual — the slightly uneasy face he pulls when someone calls him Captain America is a lovely touch lol
Also, the Japanese subtitle read “Earth has lost its protector”, but the audio sounded like “Best Friend”. Nice of him to call Tony his best friend.
He had less to do than expected. He brings in the other heroes and works hard in Wakanda, of course, but for the character who symbolises the MCU it feels light….
And there’s a good reason for that.
Chris, who plays him, graduates from the MCU after Avengers 4 (details here), so his part is small here because he gets a huge showcase in Avengers 4. No question about it.
Didn’t die in the snap. Survived.
Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow
Played by Scarlett Johansson
Black Widow, who has a solo film lined up in Phase 4.
Her relationship with Bruce Banner is barely touched. Left hanging.
Against Proxima and Corvus of the Black Order she takes their weapons off them with pure technique and holds a real advantage. Amazing, for a human being.
Didn’t die in the snap. Survived.
James Rhodes / War Machine
Played by Don Cheadle
His paralysed lower body has a mechanical support rig, and daily life barely seems to trouble him. Good.
He looks like the bridge between the government and the Avengers now, sandwiched between a crowd of difficult people. Rough job lol
In Wakanda he shows overwhelming firepower — he’s come a long way since Iron Man 2 lol
Didn’t die in the snap. Survived.
Vision
Played by Paul Bettany
So he has been with Wanda ever since Civil War lol
Thought they were living in Sokovia, but it was Scotland.
The theory that Vision’s mind is a blend of “JARVIS, Stark, Ultron, Banner” and so should be separable from the Mind Stone was a good one.
Shuri runs out of time to separate the Mind Stone in Wakanda, but if he does come back somehow, there’s hope.
The Mind Stone is destroyed once, then rewound by Thanos with the Time Stone, and Vision dies as it is torn out of him by force.
Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch
Played by Elizabeth Olsen
Together with Vision, exactly as in the comics.
Honouring Vision’s wishes and destroying the Mind Stone was well handled.
As Age of Ultron makes clear, her power comes from the Mind Stone, which makes her the one person who can also destroy it. Remarkable.
In Wakanda she lifts what looks like a giant harvester and finishes Proxima.
Killed by the snap.
Sam Wilson / Falcon
Played by Anthony Mackie
Looks like he’s been operating as a trio with Steve and Natasha.
Not the rookie hero of The Winter Soldier any more — a veteran who gets the maximum out of what he does best.
Killed by the snap.
Peter Quill / Star-Lord
Played by Chris Pratt
The exchanges with Thor were so funny lol
Things have clearly moved on with Gamora since Guardians Vol. 2.
Warping backwards while shouting “BOON!!” was extremely cool.
When Gamora makes him promise to kill her if Thanos takes her, and then presses him to swear it on his mother, his face snaps straight into serious — what a good actor. He was reportedly cast as someone who could one day stand alongside Robert Downey Jr.
On Knowhere he tries to shoot her at her own request, but Thanos’ Reality Stone blocks it.
On Titan, with Doctor Strange backing him up, the warping and the running through mid-air looked great.
But… losing his head over Gamora just as they had Thanos pinned, and letting him slip away, was bad.
He loves Gamora so much that it can hardly be helped, though…
This film shows he isn’t a flawless hero but a character who makes mistakes this big, which made him easier to warm to.
Killed by the snap.
Genuinely shocking. Was certain he’d survive…
Groot
Voiced by Vin Diesel
“I am Groot”
Thor apparently took Groot’s language as an elective back in school, so maybe it isn’t such a rare language after all?
Sulking through his rebellious phase, playing video games — endearing. He also pulls off the skewering move adult Groot used, which was great.
He is technically a different person from adult Groot, more like a son.
Thor’s going to be a bad influence on him lol
Killed by the snap.
Rocket
Voiced by Bradley Cooper
Joking around and mouthing off as always, but when he hears Thor has lost everyone he handles him carefully. He’s grown up lol
What is he going to do now that Groot is dead…
Didn’t die in the snap. Survived.
Drax
Played by Dave Bautista
He and Mantis kept the laughs coming lol
The bit about erasing his own presence was the best lol
Thanos’ attack on him was a nod to the comics.
Killed by the snap.
Gamora
Played by Zoe Saldana
You could call her the heroine of this film.
Exactly as the trailer suggested, she knew Thanos’ entire plan.
So she knew where the Soul Stone was too…
It was an illusion, but she sheds tears after killing Thanos… the affection ran both ways, apparently.
He took her in as his daughter because, when he halved the population of her homeworld, this tiny girl stood up to him.
Explaining his thinking to a child that small plays like a man making excuses for slaughter, which was a good touch. He does seem to feel a little of it.
The food shortage on Gamora’s world was clearly severe as well. Maybe her family was poor, close to homeless — they certainly weren’t living comfortably.
And then…
She is sacrificed on Vormir, the planet with the Soul Stone, and dies….
With Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 still coming, what happens now….
Mantis
Played by Pom Klementieff
She and Drax kept the laughs coming lol
Her power worked on Thanos too! Incredible!
Bouncing around on Titan was adorable lol
Thanos’ attack on her was a nod to the comics.
Killed by the snap.
Stephen Strange / Doctor Strange
Played by Benedict Cumberbatch
Eating Avengers tie-in snacks with Wong was funny lol
He knows Thor, so he mourns his death. Glad he was alive after all.
Ebony Maw pushes him around from start to finish and he ends up captured…
Using the Time Stone he looked through 14 million futures, and said only one of them was a win.
Then Tony is taken hostage, and he hands the Time Stone over to Thanos.
Killed by the snap, and as he goes he tells Tony “there was no other way”.
Which means!!
Wasn’t handing over the Time Stone one of the conditions of that single winning path? More on this in the Avengers 4 section near the end.
Peter Parker / Spider-Man
Played by Tom Holland
He’s said to be the one who will carry the MCU after Avengers 4.
Here his Spider-Sense gets him off the school bus, he fights the Black Order, and then boards the Q-Ship.
There’s also the great moment where he’s starved of air on the Q-Ship and Tony’s assist puts the Iron Spider suit on him.
“That ‘old movie’ called Alien”
O-oh no lol
Tony must have felt like an old man all over again lol
But the plan to break the hull and blow everything out into vacuum was brilliant, and it threw Ebony Maw — who would honestly have wiped them all out if he hadn’t been dealt with there — straight into space.
The four arms on the back of the Iron Spider look extremely versatile. It uses the same nanotech as Tony’s, so the Iron Spider suit can shift into all sorts of shapes too. With more practice he’ll be far stronger, no question.
But….
Killed by the snap.
That very teenage terror of dying was painful to watch.
And Tony’s face in that moment is a man losing a son. It hurt.
T’Challa / Black Panther
Played by Chadwick Boseman
His first appearance since Wakanda opened itself to the world.
He and M’Baku looking so friendly was heartwarming lol
The shot of all of Wakanda standing ready looked like warlords in the Sengoku era. Very cool.
He uses the suit to its limit, but the sheer number of Outriders keeps pushing him back.
Killed by the snap.
Bucky Barnes / White Wolf
Played by Sebastian Stan
Has Bucky lost a bit of weight?
He kept out of the fight aboard the ship, then joins in. He and Rocket were a perfect match lol
The hug with Cap felt like real friendship.
Killed by the snap.
Nebula
Played by Karen Gillan
After parting from Gamora at the end of Guardians Vol. 2, she boarded Sanctuary II alone to assassinate Thanos, and failed.
Being introduced with her body pulled apart felt genuinely deranged.
The actress is from Doctor Who, so she’s a character you can’t take your eyes off.
No sign of any affection from Thanos… poor thing…
She does seem to enjoy flying ships into her assassination targets lol
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/infinity-gauntlet-comic-behind-avengers-3-941769
https://www.quirkybyte.com/blog/2018/03/infinity-war-avenger-defeat-thanos-infinity-gauntlet/nebula-steals-the-infinity-gauntlet-from-thanos/
In the comics Nebula catches Thanos off guard, puts on the Infinity Gauntlet and rewinds time to before the snap.
To keep that essence alive for Avengers 4, she doesn’t die in the snap and survives. That’s why she’s left stranded on Titan with only Tony for company, I think.
Wong
Played by Benedict Wong
He and Doctor Strange look like proper friends lol
Probably survived.
Valkyrie, Korg and the rest
Played by Tessa Thompson
Played by Taika Waititi
From the third Thor film
They should have been on the same ship as Thor and Loki, but they’re nowhere to be seen.
Killed, or still alive somewhere… worrying.
Heimdall
Played by Idris Elba
When he summons the Bifrost, the rainbow bridge that warps you across space, I’m fairly sure he says something about “dark magic”. Could that bridge run on the power of the Dark Dimension? The colours are similar, so it might be a strong theory lol
Early on he sends the Hulk down to Earth as a warning, and is then run through the heart by Thanos and dies…
Okoye
Played by Danai Gurira
She fights Proxima alongside Natasha.
Only her second MCU film and the presence is enormous. Feels like a veteran lol
Probably survived.
Shuri
Played by Letitia Wright
Watching her talk to Bruce Banner, she seems to be the smarter of the two.
So close to separating Vision’s Mind Stone!!
Probably survived.
M’Baku
Played by Winston Duke
Leader of the Jabari.
Such a great character in Black Panther!
Their war cry fired me up again this time lol
Probably survived.
Ned
Played by Jacob Batalon
On screen for a few seconds, but with the crucial job of throwing the school bus into chaos lol
Probably survived.
Pepper Potts
Played by Gwyneth Paltrow
Pepper is as lovely as ever.
Peace needs to arrive soon so she can live with Tony.
Whether she survived the snap… unknown, but here’s hoping.
Happy Hogan
Played by Jon Favreau
From Homecoming
Doesn’t appear. Shame.
Taneleer Tivan / The Collector
Played by Benicio del Toro
Guardians of the Galaxy
The man on Knowhere.
The one who first looked like him turned out to be an illusion created by Thanos.
Fate unknown.
He and the Grandmaster are brothers, so here’s hoping he’s alive.
Eitri
Played by Peter Dinklage
http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/the-avengers/feature/a855259/avengers-infinity-war-peter-dinklage-eitri/
A dwarf of Nidavellir.
He’s a famous actor — never expected him to join the MCU lol He played a thoroughly hateful character in Pixels.
The Infinity Gauntlet is a god-class weapon too, and apparently the dwarves made that as well.
The bus driver
Played by Stan Lee
A cameo
Personally backing the theory that Stan Lee is TOAA.
Details below
https://movie-paradise-blog.com/2018/04/%e3%80%90%e5%ae%9a%e6%9c%9f%e4%ba%88%e6%83%b3%e3%80%91%e3%80%8e%e3%82%a2%e3%83%99%e3%83%b3%e3%82%b8%e3%83%a3%e2%80%95%e3%82%ba-%e3%82%a4%e3%83%b3%e3%83%95%e3%82%a3%e3%83%8b%e3%83%86%e3%82%a3%e3%83%bb/
Cull Obsidian / Black Dwarf
Played by Terry Notary
One of the Black Order.
Looks like pure muscle, but he’s a warrior who uses his weapon with real skill. Pretty strong.
He goes out caught in the shield blast, but the way he handles that weapon never got old! Constantly going “oh, so that’s what it does!!” lol
Ebony Maw
Played by Tom Vaughan-Lawlor
One of the Black Order.
Strong suspicion he’s the strongest of them. Slicing objects clean in two, lifting things into the air — extremely powerful.
He captures Doctor Strange with relative ease.
The actor’s British accent combined with those lines made him a fanatical psychopath with powers. Very cool.
Wish he hadn’t died such a stupid death and had stuck around to fight more.
Proxima Midnight
Played by Carrie Coon
One of the Black Order.
An alien with horns growing out of her face, and yet very feminine — beautiful, even. She and Corvus toy with their opponents using spears, until Wanda drops the giant mower thing on her and she dies.
Corvus Glaive
Played by Michael James Shaw
One of the Black Order.
First thought: what a long chin! lol
He has Captain America cornered, then Vision runs him through from behind and he dies.
Some of them go down fairly easily, but every one of them is as strong as a past MCU boss, and they only lost because they were taken on as a group this time. One on one would have been bad….
Ebony Maw is the personal favourite.
On the Red Skull / the Stone Keeper / Johann Schmidt
Played by Hugo Weaving
The Red Skull, the nemesis of the first Captain America film, turns up as the Stone Keeper guarding the Soul Stone
Bringing him back here is a stylish move.
He was the only one who touched the Space Stone and vanished somewhere. Everyone assumed he had died, and he was alive all along…
He was sent to Vormir something like 70 years ago and hasn’t aged a day.
Some strange power of the Soul Stone, perhaps.
Nothing is known about him after Thanos takes the Soul Stone. Did his duty end and he died with it…
On the Soul Stone
Just as I said, the Soul Stone is special: it has to be bought with a sacrifice.
Its own power is an unknown quantity too — given that it demands a sacrifice, does it allow the dead to be raised? And it only appears once the price is paid, which raises the question of whether the stone itself sits inside the Soul Stone, or whether some greater being is watching. No way to tell, but there are clearly more secrets there.
There’s an Easter egg where the initials of the Infinity Stones spell out THANOS.
For that last Soul Stone the theories were
Adam Warlock (HIM)
Heimdall (HEIMDALL)
The Black Panther herb (HERB)
and so on, but the answer, as the film shows, is that it’s summoned on Vormir by paying a price.
So then, what’s the word beginning with H…
Couldn’t work it out with a quick think while writing this lol
Let’s wait for a native speaker to fill in the blank lol
Updated 2018/5/6
A comment on the main article from Ensaba suggested it might be Thanos’ HAND.
Of course it is lol
It’s Thanos’ HAND, no doubt about it.
On the other Infinity Stones
A quick recap of the other Infinity Stones.
Space Stone (blue)
The Tesseract. Allows instant travel through space.
Appears in
The first Captain America
The first Avengers
Mind Stone (yellow)
Controls the human mind.
Appears in
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Reality Stone (red)
Turns whatever it touches into dark matter.
In this film it affects everything around the user, letting them rewrite reality however they like. Presumably it reverts once the user moves away.
Appears in
Thor: The Dark World
Time Stone (green)
The Eye of Agamotto. Controls time.
Can restore even a destroyed Infinity Stone.
Personally reckon it becomes important from here on.
https://movie-paradise-blog.com/2018/03/%e3%80%90%e4%ba%88%e6%83%b3%e3%80%91%e3%80%8emcu%e3%81%ae%e4%bb%8a%e5%be%8c%e3%81%a8%e3%83%95%e3%82%a7%e3%82%a4%e3%82%ba4%e3%80%8f%e3%80%90%e3%83%9e%e3%83%bc%e3%83%99%e3%83%abmarvel%e3%80%91/
Appears in
Power Stone (purple)
Wipes out any life it merely touches.
Also boosts physical ability.
Appears in
Soul Stone (orange)
Governs souls. Forces a sacrifice on anyone who wants it.
Power unknown
Appears in
This film
On Clint Barton / Hawkeye
Played by Jeremy Renner
Hawkeye, who never showed his face in a single poster or trailer for this film.
Quoting from the article below.
https://theriver.jp/iw-hawkeye/
Anthony said “(the reason he’s absent) will be clear once you see the film. All of it ties deeply into the story”, and Joe added “we’ve prepared a slightly longer story for him”.
With comments like that, I assumed he’d have a hugely important role and make a heroic sacrifice, and then — Hawkeye does not appear in Infinity War at all!!!!
He announced his retirement back in Civil War, but somehow I still thought he’d turn up to help….
Like Ant-Man, he took a plea deal and is under house arrest.
Worried about his wife and children after the snap. And will Hawkeye even be in Avengers 4…
Will keep updating as information comes in.
On Scott Lang / Ant-Man
Played by Paul Rudd
Ant-Man was absent too. He took a plea deal for his daughter’s sake and is under house arrest.
But don’t worry!!
Ant-Man and the Wasp this summer will show us exactly what they were doing!!
Can’t wait!!!
Post-credits / the final scene
Nick Fury and Maria Hill
Played by Samuel L. Jackson
Played by Cobie Smulders
Former S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury and his right hand Maria Hill appear in the very last scene!!! And both die in the snap!!! Fury calls Captain Marvel (more below) with his final moment, and the film ends there
He was in uniform rather than dressed like a man off the grid — has he taken the S.H.I.E.L.D. director job back?
Season 5 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. hasn’t aired in Japan yet, so no way to know lol
Captain Marvel
The one Fury calls as he dies is Captain Marvel!!
Her film is due in March 2019, set in the 1990s, and apparently a young Fury, Phil Coulson, and Ronan, the villain of the first Guardians, all show up!!!
Setting a new film in the past is seriously difficult, mind.
The problem being: Captain Marvel has been around all along, so where has she been and what has she been doing? Would love Captain Marvel to answer that properly.
Really looking forward to it!!
The main villains
The main villains look to be the Skrulls above and Ronan, a Kree, below.
Remarkably, 20th Century Fox held the screen rights to the Skrulls, and Disney — Marvel’s parent company — buying Fox recently is what lets them into the MCU.
Scenes that differ between the film and the trailers
A scene that isn’t in the film.
The Bruce Banner and Natasha conversation was probably cut because it darkened the tone of the whole thing.
- Thor has no prosthetic eye
- No blood at Tony’s mouth
- The Reality Stone and the others aren’t set in the Gauntlet
- Same as 3
The Bruce Banner and Natasha conversation went, so this scene was probably cut with it.
Look closely and this shot is flipped left to right lol
Thanos’ left hand is the Infinity Gauntlet, so it may have been meant to mislead about the order in which he gets the Power and Space Stones.
And this iconic shot is cut!!!
The Hulk never gets over his trauma, so it had to go, I think.
Avengers 4
Deaths
Killed by the snap
- Bucky
- Black Panther
- Falcon
- Doctor Strange
- Spider-Man
- Groot
- Scarlet Witch
- Mantis
- Drax
- Quill
- Nick Fury
- Maria Hill
Killed by other means
- The four members of the Black Order
- Loki
- Gamora
- Vision
In the comics Thanos merges with the universe and no longer needs a body, and Nebula takes that opening, puts on the Gauntlet, turns time back and brings the dead back to life. Plenty happens after that, but that’s roughly how it goes lol
How will Avengers 4 handle it? Leaks from the set have them in old costumes, so turning back time may well be on the table.
Detailed predictions below.
https://movie-paradise-blog.com/2018/03/%e3%80%90%e4%ba%88%e6%83%b3%e3%80%91%e3%80%8emcu%e3%81%ae%e4%bb%8a%e5%be%8c%e3%81%a8%e3%83%95%e3%82%a7%e3%82%a4%e3%82%ba4%e3%80%8f%e3%80%90%e3%83%9e%e3%83%bc%e3%83%99%e3%83%abmarvel%e3%80%91/
The people killed by the snap are coming back. 100%.
The question is Gamora, Vision and Loki.
Loki is probably graduating even if he does appear in Avengers 4. Tom Hiddleston has played the part a long time. It was a heroic death here, so let him sleep quietly lol
Vision is…
Hard to call. His abilities are still an unknown quantity as a character, and there’s far more to dig into with Wanda. Separating the Mind Stone looks possible, so there’s reason to hope.
Gamora has Guardians 3 coming and matters to both Quill and Thanos, so she really has to come back. What if Thanos sacrifices himself to bring her back lol
Eternity
Eternity is the embodiment of time, and every life in this universe is part of him.
In the comics he shows up when Thanos completes the Infinity Gauntlet, and loses.
The being who handles all life. This whole business might bring him out. Maybe Doctor Strange planned to summon him to defeat Thanos, and handed the Time Stone over on purpose?
Heart of the Universe
This film shook that confidence a little, but Heart of the Universe is still the pick for the title of Avengers 4. Details in the article below.
https://movie-paradise-blog.com/2018/04/%e3%80%90%e5%ae%9a%e6%9c%9f%e4%ba%88%e6%83%b3%e3%80%91%e3%80%8e%e3%82%a2%e3%83%99%e3%83%b3%e3%82%b8%e3%83%a3%e2%80%95%e3%82%ba-%e3%82%a4%e3%83%b3%e3%83%95%e3%82%a3%e3%83%8b%e3%83%86%e3%82%a3%e3%83%bb/
Graduating
For the people leaving the MCU, see the article below.
https://movie-paradise-blog.com/2018/03/%e3%80%90%e4%ba%88%e6%83%b3%e3%80%91%e3%80%8emcu%e3%81%ae%e4%bb%8a%e5%be%8c%e3%81%a8%e3%83%95%e3%82%a7%e3%82%a4%e3%82%ba4%e3%80%8f%e3%80%90%e3%83%9e%e3%83%bc%e3%83%99%e3%83%abmarvel%e3%80%91/
Doctor Strange’s last words
“There was no other way”
At first it sounds like an excuse aimed at Tony Stark, but thinking it through, given that he said only one of 14 million futures was a win, it can be read as “cruel as it is, handing over the Time Stone is the key to beating Thanos”.
If Doctor Strange hadn’t handed the stone over right there, Tony Stark would certainly have been killed.
So: hand over the Time Stone ➡ Tony Stark survives ➡ the key to beating Thanos
That is almost certainly the shape of it.
And yet Doctor Strange looked terribly sorry.
Can’t shake the feeling that’s the face of a man who knows the one path is only reached through Tony’s death, and genuinely pities him for it.
In short, by handing over the Time Stone, Doctor Strange
hand over the Time Stone ➡ Tony Stark survives ➡ Tony and Thanos fight ➡ Thanos is beaten but Tony dies too
put the film onto that route, I think.
Captain America and Tony Stark
Tony Stark left for space early aboard the Q-Ship, so he never links up with Captain America.
The rift with Bucky, who killed his father Howard Stark, hasn’t gone away either.
You could say Thanos, Gamora and Thor were the leads of this film.
The next one, Avengers 4, should be the story of Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, Bucky and Thor, the ones who are graduating.
And most of the survivors are the original Avengers!
No doubt the originals get plenty to do next time and hand the baton to the next generation of heroes!!
A good film.
That last shot of Thanos’ face still won’t leave me.
