WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR “AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR.” READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Thanos looks upon the works of his creation. A smile plays on his lips as he soaks in the glory of his success. There is no greater feeling than the satisfaction the Mad Titan feels in this moment. He breathes it all in, knowing that he can finally rest and watch this grateful universe adapt to this new age.
I imagine that this image of Thanos, basking in his victory, represents the contentment that MCU pioneer Kevin Feige and "Avengers: Infinity War" must be feeling right about now. Millions of fans have had the opportunity to see the first half of the culmination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (also known as the MCU) as we know it, and their reactions vary from tearful, heart-broken screams for some to jaded, skeptical laughter for others.
Feige, “Infinity War” directors The Russos, and practically everyone involved in the movie played us like fiddles. In the build-up to this unprecedented cinematic accomplishment, the fans were repeatedly told that "Infinity War" and its sequel, currently titled “A4,” are two separate, stand-alone films. Many fans worried that "Infinity War" would end in a cliffhanger, and they were assured, from several sources, that this movie would be its own story, that it would stand independently from the sequel. As it turns out, we were lied to. And we should be grateful.
In this world where social media and the internet allow news and rumors alike to spread like wildfire, "Infinity War" lost some of its suspense before it even premiered. Through interviews, the stars of the movie spoiled the outcome by announcing their presence in the sequel. Downey Jr. told us that he would be in the sequel months ago while Evans confirmed that “A4” will be his last film in the MCU. Additionally, fans that follow the news could see that Peter Parker was confirmed for both “A4” and the sequel to “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” Beyond that, fans could logistically deduce the likelihood that certain characters would survive "Infinity War." "Black Panther" shattered box office records when it came out, so there was no chance that the titular character would actually die in this latest addition to the franchise. All in all, a solid portion of the intrigue surrounding this movie was lost months before it even hit theaters. As a result, Feige and Co. were brilliant to intentionally mislead the fans by lying in the interviews they gave. We expected "Infinity War" to end conclusively. We expected the story to end in a satisfying manner that would make the year-long wait for “A4” a little more palatable. Instead, the movie left us with many more questions than answers and, for the first time in the MCU, nobody really knows what will happen next.
Because of that uncertainty, it makes sense to delve into what we do know and to analyze what we have been given. There are several aspects of this movie that I love, and the characterization of Thanos stands out the most. Within the first five minutes of the film, you know that Thanos is not to be taken lightly. With his minions, he has decimated the ship carrying Thor and the surviving Asgardians, who lay broken and battered in the ruins of the ship. Thanos picks Thor up off the ground as if he were a feather and effortlessly tortures the God of Thunder. When the Hulk manages to launch a sneak attack on the conqueror, Thanos bests him in a colossal fist-fight-turned-brawl and bench presses the green behemoth before casting him aside. The sight of Thanos holding the monstrous Hulk above his head shows the viewer that this villain is one unlike any we have seen in this film’s predecessors. As powerful and menacing as he is, the best part about Thanos is that he is incredibly sympathetic. Throughout the movie, we see that this is a man whose home planet perished and who, in his own twisted way, loves his daughter Gamora more than almost anything. On top of that, Thanos is merciful. He has plenty of opportunities to kill Tony Stark and other Avengers/heroes, but he lets them live. You can argue that he only does so because he does not take them seriously as threats. Or, you could say that his mercy is pointless because many of them will “die” due to his actions anyway. These are fair points. However, Thanos proves that he is not evil for the sake of being evil. He has a mission, and he intends to fulfill it by doing what is necessary and nothing more. The Russo Brothers have stated that they wanted to make Thanos this generation’s Darth Vader. This claim raised already lofty expectations for The Mad Titan and many fans believed that he was set up to fail. After seeing "Infinity War," I can say that, by crafting such a complex character with simultaneous brutality and compassion, the directors gave the fans a villain that lived up to his billing.
A lot of fans can agree that Thanos is a successful villain. This consensus is not applicable to the ending of the film. More so than any of its predecessors, "Infinity War," and particularly its ending, has polarized the millions of Marvel’s avid fans. I witnessed this as I watched the last few minutes of the film unfold. All around me, I heard gasps, screams, expletives and cries of anguish. Dozens of us helplessly watched as we saw our heroes rapidly fall in a matter of seconds. Left and right, the characters we adore crumbled to dust one after the other. When Bucky fell, one of my close friends, who particularly likes him, loudly screamed. Bucky was the first to go. Then, Star-Lord disintegrated. Then, Drax. Then, Groot. (That one hurt.) By the time Black Panther crumbled, and 99% of the theater screamed, I knew it was all a lie. Feige and Co. went overkill, going for (almost) the most shock value possible. For months, the fans “knew” that Marvel wouldn’t kill off Black Panther or Spider-Man in "Infinity War." Yet, there was T’Challa, biting the dust like many of his comrades. Feige and Co. essentially flipped off the fans and said “you don’t know jack.” Fan theories and speculation become widely popular among MCU die-hards and casual fans alike, and the Marvel powers that be rubbed our faces in how wrong we were. Now, I love them even more for doing it.
By the time it was T’Challa’s turn, the shock had worn off for me. I knew that 99.6% of these characters would be back by the end of “A4,” that practically none of them are “actually” dead. So, when Black Panther “died,” I laughed. That’s when I realized that we were all being played. All around me, fans screamed and cried as the hits kept coming. Goodbye, Doctor Strange. (No one will miss you.) Bye-bye, Spidey (Ok, well, that one actually hit me a bit because the Russos really went for the heart strings on that one). We sat in our seats, shell shocked, while the camera panned to a smiling Thanos and the screen went black. The wonderfully somber, funeral-like credits rolled and fans around me kept screaming. I smiled ear-to-ear because I loved the fact that Feige and Co. had the guts to end the first part of their masterpiece like that: so inconclusive, so jarringly different than any of the Marvel movies that preceded it. Finally, the Marvel masterminds looked their fans in the eye and, instead of playing it safe and following the typical MCU formula, they ended the movie in a way that few expected. You practically have to see “A4” now: what fan could possibly leave "Infinity War" satisfied with that ending to the MCU’s story? Well-played, Marvel. Well. Played.
Of course, we all sat through starkly-different, black and white credits for the solitary post-credits scene. What would be the last thing we would see tonight? As it turned out, it would be Nick Fury, who had been oddly absent since 2015’s “Age of Ultron,” experiencing Thanos’ genocide. Fury, and S.H.I.E.L.D. top-cop Maria Hill, drive through New York City (where else?) and see cars veering off course and a helicopter crashing as half the population perished. Then, Hill bites the dust and Fury, in a last gasp effort to save the world, pulls out an archaic pager. As he turns to dust, he presses the pager, which reveals that he called Captain Marvel. That’s how "Infinity War" really ends, with Captain Marvel’s insignia on a ‘90’s pager a few inches away from Nick Fury’s ashes.
“A4” comes out next May, but in an effort to whet our appetites, we’ll have "Ant-Man and The Wasp" and "Captain Marvel." The former takes place after "Civil War" and before "Infinity War," while Captain Marvel’s debut takes place in the 1990’s, years before Iron Man even dons a metal suit. So, neither movie will really serve as an answer to the many questions fans currently have. Maybe the post-credits scene in the sequel to "Ant-Man" will tie into "Infinity War." Maybe "Captain Marvel" will bring the titular character to the present, where half of the population has seemingly disintegrated. Even if either, or both, of those scenarios occur, fans will have to chew on the images of our fallen heroes for more than a year.
I wish I could have seen this movie in the eyes of a younger fan. How must it feel to really think that your heroes are dead? I don’t get to experience that genuine loss. Being a comic book fan has shown me that, when it comes to superheroes (and villains), death more closely resembles a nap or a vacation. Characters never die; they’re resurrected or brought back through time travel, magic or any number of other factors. My love of superheroes has taken the intrigue out of the genre’s frequent exploration and exploitation of death. As a result, all of the “deaths” in "Infinity War" fell flat. We know the majority of these characters will be back. Many fans also know that, in addition to the news about their respective actors’ contracts, the Russos’ decision to keep Thor, Captain America and Iron Man alive makes it painfully clear that some, if not all, of them, won’t survive “A4.” For this reason, I fully expect that “A4” will leave an even more significant impact because fans know that, in many ways, the MCU will never be the same after it.
"Infinity War" addressed a lot of the complaints that I’ve had about the MCU. When you look at this film on its own and ignore “A4,” the movie delivered some gut-punching consequences in the form of the the deaths of several characters. I would argue that Thanos is the MCU’s best villain and that he will be very difficult to surpass. There is tangible plot and character development, unlike "Thor: Ragnarok" and several of the MCU’s other blockbusters. "Infinity War" offers everything I love about Marvel movies and more. It stands as a shining accomplishment of the MCU’s might and makes me hopeful for the future of the franchise.
