Beware Major Spoilers below!
So the film has been out for a while now and I think its safe to talk about probably my favourite superhero movie ever. This movie had it all. The action was brilliant , the acting was brilliant the story was exceptional. Thanos was brilliant and for me is up there with Darth Vader! I'm struggling to think about things that I didn't like about it!
So lets talk about a few things that happened because I think this movie will set the scene for the next crop of Marvel movies.
Xandar
When Thanos turns up at the beginning of Infinity War he already has the power stone. This means he must have already been to Xandar and defeated the Nova Corps. We didn't see this in the movie but it was mentioned that Xandar was destroyed. If you remember the Guardians of the Galaxy handed the power stone over to the Nova Corps for safe keeping. The reason we haven't seen Thanos take down Xandar is, 1 there was enough going on in this movie anyway and 2 it sets up the origin for Richard Ryder aka Nova when they announce his solo movie. I think we'll see Nova Prime escaping the destruction of Xandar but mortally wounded only to pass on the Nova Prime mantel to Richard Ryder. Thus a new character comes into the MCU. I've written about this in previous articles and after seing Infinity War I'm 99% certain this is whats going to happen. Get those Nova 1's people !
Thor gets a new Hammer
Stormbreaker , I loved the fact that Groot used his arm as the handle for Thor's new hammer. How good were these scenes and Peter Dinkage's Eltri was brilliant. But when you mention Stormbreaker I can't help thinking about Bet Ray Bill, we know he's around somewhere as his image was sneakily carved into the walls of the Grandmasters palace in Thor Ragnarok. I don't know how he'll get his hands on Stormbreaker but I think Thor will die at some point in the future passing the mantle to Beta Ray Bill. Maybe , possibly, hey this is speculation after all.
Thor 337 is the one to look for here.
The Deaths:
So a lot of hero's died in this film but we know a lot are going to come back , they do after all have movies coming up for Phase 4 (Spiderman, Black Panther etc...) lets talk about the ones that died before Thanos clicked his fingers and wiped out half of the universe!
Loki and Hemmdal got killed off at the start of this movie and I think they are dead for good. We may see a past Loki if we get time travel for Avengers 4 but I think these 2 are dead going forward.
Vision got the mind stone ripped out of his head, yeah he's toast for now. At least until Scarlett Witch goes mad and uses her infinite power to resurrect her former lover and completely changes reality bringing about the House of M storyline. Again I've spoken about this before but even more convinced that Marvel will head in this direction with the Scarlett Witch character.
Lets talk about Gamorra , there were so many theories about the location of the Soul Stone and everyone including me got it wrong. So Thanos killed Gamorra in order to get the Soul Stone. The inclusion of Red Skull as the keeper of the Soul Stone was brilliant by Marvel. It shows how far these guys plan into the future, they could have just killed him off in Captain America: The First Avenger but they had plans for him. Brilliant just brilliant. But lets get back to Gamorra is she really dead or is she still alive within the Soul Stone. One scene where Thanos is speaking to a young Gamorra after he wipes out half the universe seems to suggest she is still alive within the stone, she asks him "Is it Done?' suggesting that this is not a flashback but Thanos speaking to Gamorra in the Soul Stone.
So hear me out about this , we know Adam Warlock is on the way and in the comics he's the keeper of the Soul Stone, we're not going to see him in Avengers 4 I don't think. Most likely he's in Guardians of The Galaxy 3 and that movie will be all about the GOTG team hunting for the Soul Stone in order to bring back Gamorra.
Thor 165 is the first app of Thor/Warlock
That Ending
The ending for Infinity War was just brilliant seeing hero's such as Bucky and Spiderman disappear into dust really pulled on the heartstrings! Another master stroke by Marvel!
Doctor Strange hands over the Time Stone to Thanos in order to save Tony Starks life "It was the only way". Earlier on in the movie Doctor Strange makes a point of saying that if it came down to Starks life or the Time Stone then he'd protect the Time Stone at all costs. So why does he exchange the stone for Tony's life? He went through millions of possibilities and scenarios and only 1 allowed the hero's to win. Doctor Strange knew that Thanos had to wipe out half of the universe and he had to make sure that Tony Stark lived in order for Tony to put things right in Avengers 4. "It was the only way"
Whats next?
Where was Hawkeye and where was Ant-Man? It was explained in the film that they wanted to keep out of the way due to loyalty to their families. I think this sets up a few things for Avengers 4. After having half of his family disappear , Clint Barton becomes Ronin. Pictures on set of Avengers 4 have seen him in a Ronin type costume , I don't know how he's going to affect the storyline but I know he's going to be badass and about time too , Hawkeye's character is a bit underwhelming and his transformation to Ronin will hopefully give him a bit of depth.
As for Ant Man his next movie is this summer alongside the Wasp. Pictures on the set of Avengers 4 have revealed that the surviving members of Infinity War (who happen to be the original Avengers) have all got strange watch type devices around their wrists , apart from Ant Man who has it built in his suit. What if this device allows them to time travel, maybe getting to the Infinity Stones before Thanos does. And what if this technology is Pym technology that is detailed in Ant Man and the Wasp in this summers movie. Food for thought.
We've also got Captain Marvel coming into the fray, that movie gets released a month before Avengers 4. She is an incredibly powerful superhero. We know the movie is set in the 90's so where has she been? Perhaps she's been being awesome elsewhere other than Earth only coming back when she receives the call from Nick Fury before he turns to dust in the end credits. She will have a big part to play in Avengers 4!
Last thing to say is that I think its no coincidence that the hero's left standing at the end of Infinity War are the original Avengers. I think Avengers 4 will be the last outing for most of them and they'll get to go out with a heroic demise. This will make way for the new age of superheroes that Marvel has planned in the next phases. They can't continue to make movies about Captain America and Iron Man , things will start to go stale.
It will be interesting to see whats announced for phase 4 during this summers comic con's. At the moment Marvel are keeping things close to their chest. Avengers 4 doesn't even have a title yet and its only a year away. I think there will be some big surprises.
I for one can't wait!