Avengers: Infinity War....Who will be the MVP?! A Theory
So…. I haven’t written anything… in like… a long ass time. But with Avengers: Infinity War SOOO close I feel like it’s time for me to come out of retirement and drop my own personal theory of what we are going to see on April 27th.
Russo Brothers: Joe and Anthony Russo
Before I hit you with my nerd knowledge I am going to first breakdown what we know so far and what I think holds importance.
This is a Russo Brothers Joint: Since 2014, we have been gifted with the glory of a Captain America film every other year from Anthony and Joe Russo. Whether you loved the movies as much as I did or not, Marvel clearly has a ton of faith in the brothers to produce a movie, the long awaited finale to this 10 year, 19 movie experiment. They have proven that they have a great understanding of these characters and what makes them work.
The gang’s all here!: 23!!! That's how many heroes are listed in Wikipedia as being in this movie! That's not even including Hawkeye, Ant-Man, the Wasp, Shuri, Okoye and her Dora Milaji, M’Baku, Kraglin, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Pepper Potts, and Valkyrie. This film is chock full of every hero, sidekick, love interest, royal guard, and foul-mouthed Aunt in MCU. The important question is to what degree?
And he didn't come alone: Infinity War’s big bad, Thanos the Mad Titan, will surely be the most impressive villain to take on the Avengers. We haven't seen much of him in the films but we do know his adoptive daughters, Gamora and Nebula, both fear and hate him. He seems to be one of the most powerful beings in the universe and will push our heroes to the limits of their abilities. Here's the catch….he isn't coming alone. He's bringing the rest of his kids. The Black Order, known as the Cull Obsidian in the comics, are the rest of Thanos’ children and the generals of his armies. We have to assume that they match Gamora and Nebula in strength, skill, smarts, and outpace them in cruelty. Not much is known of the film versions of these characters but their comic counterparts first appeared in Jonathan Hickman’s AMAZING Infinity crossover and instantly took on Earth’s Mightiest without breaking a sweat. We can expect something similar in the movie.
Thanos (Image courtesy of gamesradar)
Are they gems or stones?: What leads Thanos to Earth is his desire to acquire (haha I rhymed) the infinity stones, known as gems in the comics. We know the locations of 5 of the 6 and that 2, but most likely 3, are on Earth. Each stone is incredibly powerful on it's own, but when combined, become a weapon that can literally warp reality.
It's a spoiler: When Avengers 3 and 4 were first announced it was as Infinity War parts 1 and 2. That changed shortly after and it was announced that Avengers 3 will be stand alone and part 4 has a name but it can't be announced because it's a spoiler. This is interesting because these movies are DEFINITELY connected, they were literally filmed back to back and when they completed both they celebrated with a cake shaped like Thanos. So if it ISN'T a direct sequel… What the hell is it?
Hawkeye played by Jeremy Renner
WHERE THE HELL IS HAWKEYE!!!: I love Hawkeye. I love Jeremy Renner. I love that between battles of space aliens, super soldiers, rampant AI’s and God’s in human form, there's just this dude running around with a bow and arrows. He's LITERALLY a government employee just collecting a paycheck. Since he is one of the original Avengers you would think he would be getting a lot of fanfare, much like Black Widow, but besides a single picture in Entertainment Weekly, he hasn't been featured in ANY promotional material or seen in any trailers. There are other characters, like Ant-Man, that hasn't been featured either, but Hawkeye being a founding member you would think he would get SOMETHING!
No franchise tags left: This might be going a little deep for anyone who isn't a die-hard fan but a lot of attention has been drawn to the fact that several BIG names have contracts that expire between this movie and Avengers 4. I'm not going to go into specifics now, just keep that in mind.
So! Now that I've laid down some of the groundwork, let's get to my big, dumb, gonna be proven wrong in less then a week, fan theory…. I believe that at the end of this movie Thanos will win and almost EVERY Avenger will either be dead or incapacitated. I also believe that Avengers 4 will involve a large amount of time travel and in the end, Hawkeye will save the day.
I'll let that sink in. Take your time…
Those who didn't close the page in shear indignation to how stupid that sounds, thank you for hearing me out. I know, I get it, it sounds ridiculous! That's not how superhero movies work, it's the ONE RULE! The heroes have to win you big idiot. And to that I say, this is a Russo Brothers movie.
The Russo Brothers “get” comics. They understand what makes them unique and what fans look for in them. They also understand what to adapt from them to make a successful film version. That doesn't just mean the characters and settings, but the story telling and general conventions as well. Comics rarely have truly happy endings, especially superhero ones. Since they don't normally have true end points there always needs to be that sting that means there is still conflict left. The hero never COMPLETELY wins. The Russo's live by that rule. In The Winter Soldier, Hydra is stopped and their helicarriers are brought down, but Captain America is beaten into unconsciousness and is saved by the movies titular villain before making his escape. Civil War’s Helmut Zemo is captured and arrested… But he is the ONLY winner of that movie. Cap and his team are on the run as international fugitives, Tony Stark is forced back into service as the new leader of the Avengers, and the world has lost faith in it's defenders. Now these featured heroes have to face off against the most powerful foe to date plus a squad of the most powerful generals AND an entire other world army? The Russo’s have already proven that good doesn't always win.
What makes you think this movie will be any different?
So who is going to fall during Infinity War? Everyone has their own theory, Cap or Tony, Thor maybe, Vision because Paul Bettany hates that makeup, there are 2 or 3 DEFINITES. My list… Is a little bigger.
Their deaths will include: Captain America, the Falcon, Black Widow, Loki, Nebula, Pepper Potts (in an Iron-Man suit), the War Machine, Vision, Bruce Banner, and Spider-Man. I also believe that Tony Stark will be left bloodied and broken, one of the few survivors to witness what has been wrought upon the Earth; The Winter Soldier will survive to avenge his fallen brother; Thor will arrive glorious, with a new hammer, to realize he's too late. T’Challa and his warriors will be left in the ruins of their once astounding city. And the Guardians… I'm not so sure what they'll be doing honestly.
Captain Marvel
See, I've left a few people out. Hawkeye, Nick Fury, Ant-Man, the Wasp, Dr. Strange, and……
….. Listen I'm dropping a POSSIBLY HUGE SPOILER HERE…
….. I'm serious!.... If you don't want to know anything, even if it's a guess, stop reading now!...
….. Okay I warned you….
Captain Marvel!
We don't actually know she will be making her onscreen debut during Infinity War but there's a strong possibility that the Carol Danvers will join the fight against Thanos. More specifically, I think she will be the reason why some of our heroes are missing. These Secret Avengers have been sent to find this super powered being that hasn't been seen since the 90’s (the time period her first movie will be set in). Much like Warner Bros. Justice League from last year, our heroes need that big gun to save the day and who better than a literal superwoman?
Thanos & The Black Order
So here's how I see it, in the big climax the majority of our heroes fall, Thanos and the remains of his Black Order stand triumphant. As the dust clears and he monologues about something fatalistic that will be on a poster in every college dorm next year, he will get cut off by Hawkeye. A single man with a bow and a killer mohawk (look it up). He's the character that is always forgotten, always made fun of, who will never get his own movie, and is so insignificant that he wasn't even included in the marketing. He will say something cool and will fire a single arrow. As he does this, an impossible figure will enter the fight, moving so fast that time seems to slow. Captain Marvel will clear the path as the camera focuses on the arrow. It will focus to reveal our ant based heroes riding it. The arrow will find a home in or near Thanos’ left hand. His gauntleted left hand. They will steal a green stone, the time stone, and the good Dr. Himself will use it to turn back time. From before Thanos. Before the Avengers even.
That's how the movie ends. I have a follow up theory about Avengers 4 being a time hopping adventure where our forgotten heroes go through the history of the MCU and make changes to better prepare the Earth for the arrival of Thanos. In doing so, some characters will live, some will change, others will take up new mantles, and the Marvel Universe will continue on. The Phases will be complete and next slate of movies will blaze their own trail. New cast. New characters. Same love for the genre.
