Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War released on April 27.
Avengers Infinity War is finally here. If you have not seen it already, please go and watch it. Then come back. Read this piece only if you have seen the movie or do not plan to watch it. I will talk about the five biggest questions I have about the movie so there would be spoilers.
So that happened. Thanos, the Mad Titan achieved his goal of annihilating half the universe. Half of the superheroes also got wiped out in the process. Interestingly, nearly all the newcomers – most of the characters introduced after the phase 1 – poofed out of existence. That includes Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Spider-man, nearly the entire Guardians of the Galaxy excluding Rocket, and so on. Of course, that list does not include Loki, Gamora, and Heimdall who were murdered before. They are probably dead for good.
The ending was shocking. But it somehow did not have the same effect as, say, the Red Wedding of Game of Thrones. The new characters were well-drawn but we were not as attached to them as we were to an Iron Man or a Captain America, who we had followed for years. Also, there is a lot of mystery attached to a lot of what happened in Avengers Infinity War.
So here are five questions about the film that need to be answered in the untitled sequel.
1. Where are Korg and Valkyrie?
Okay, the first scene in Avengers Infinity War established Thanos and his Black Order as ruthless forces of evil. We learnt that every single Asgardian on the ship that left at the end of Thor Ragnarok is dead except Heimdall, Loki, Thor, and the Hulk. So where are Valkyrie and Korg? Are they dead too or some Asgardians survived? After all that Thor, Loki, Heimdall and others did to save their people, it would be tragic if they left their burning old home only to die at the hands of Thanos.
Tessa Thompson, who played Valkyrie in Thor Ragnarok, has hinted that she might be in an all-female Marvel superhero movie. So maybe a faction of Asgardians survived, somehow. Or maybe not.
Valkyrie in a still from Thor Ragnarok.
2. What did Doctor Strange see?
Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange saw millions of potential futures and in only one future he saw Thanos losing. There comes a time when Tony Stark is stabbed by Thanos in a duel. Doctor Strange – who had previously said that he will not compromise on the Time Stone and will prefer to keep it than save Tony Stark or Peter Parker – makes a deal with Thanos. He exchanges the Time Stone with Tony’s life. Thanos gets all the Infinity Stones in the end, and subsequently obliterates half of all life forms in the universe. Strange also dies, but not before saying, “It was the only way.” Did he envisage himself dying too?
Doctor Strange and Wong in a still from Avengers: Infinity War.
3. Is the Infinity Gauntlet destroyed?
It appears that the Infinity Gauntlet, in which the Mad Titan kept the Infinity Stones, was destroyed after he did the infamous snap of his fingers that cut the universe in half. It looked damaged. What does that mean? Will he get the spare Gauntlet that we saw in Vormir (home of Eitri, the dwarf who forged the Gauntlet)? Does he even have any need for it now that he has achieved his goal? He did look content at the end. Are Infinity Stones gone too? I do not think so, since their destruction would have been a conflagration enough to destroy the remaining half of the universe.
Thanos in Avengers Infinity War.
4. What does Captain Marvel’s arrival mean?
Captain Marvel, who was teased in the post-credits of Infinity War is a powerful superhero and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has said before that Brie Larson’s MCU Captain Marvel will be the strongest superhero they have introduced yet. Carol Danvers is the iteration of the character we will see in Avengers 4 and the 1990s set Captain Marvel standalone movie scheduled to be released about a month before it. So she is certainly powerful, but can she really fight Thanos? Can she undo all the deaths at the end? One way or another, we will most likely see the ‘dead’ superheroes again. Will Captain Marvel be that way?
Brie Larson at the sets of Captain Marvel.
5. Why are Ant-Man and Hawkeye not in the film?
We learn the reason why Ant-Man and Hawkeye are not in the movie. It is convenient and makes sense. Apparently, both are under house-arrest and made a deal after they were arrested at the end of Captain America Civil War. In Ant-Man and the Wasp, we may see more of Ant-Man but the film is unlikely to be set after Infinity War. Since the trailer for the film looked pretty upbeat and did not represent a world with half of all life gone. Will we see these two in Avengers 4? Certainly, and Hawkeye with perhaps the new identity of Ronin.