*WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD*
The moment everyone has been waiting for has arrived. “Avengers: Infinity War,” the epic climax to the Marvel cinematic universe, hit theaters Friday.
The franchise began with the release of “Iron Man” in 2008. The idea was to develop a universe in which all Marvel super heroes coexisted. An idea, in the words of Avengers founder Nick Fury, “to bring together a group of remarkable people… to see if they could work together when we needed them to to fight the battles we never could.” The characters would be introduced in their own individual films; however, when the time came, no matter what conflict they were facing on their own, they would be depended on to assemble and become something greater than themselves. Each of them would be part of the Avengers: “a group of remarkable people.”
After years of preventing alien invasions, destroying makeshift meteors intended to kill the entire planet, created by a machine of their own invention, and surviving plots to turn against each other, the Avengers come together one last time in a battle that will decide the fate of the universe. No one, not even the heroes themselves, are ready for what’s coming in “Avengers: Infinity War.”
The movie revolves around the six infinity stones: Time, Soul, Reality, Space, Power, and Mind, which have all, except the Soul stone, appeared in the other movies. The six infinity stones are the most powerful weapons in the Marvel Universe. Just one of the stones would give the wielder unimaginable power. In this movie, Thanos, a Titan obsessed with balancing all species in the Universe, is in pursuit of the six Infinity stones. He believes that wiping out half the life in the Universe is the key to balancing it. And if he obtains all six stones, he’ll be able to do it with the snap of his fingers, literally.
The movie starts off right where the last Thor movie ends, with Thor, the Hulk, and Loki heading towards Earth with their entire kingdom of Asgaurds people, the kingdom having been destroyed by the giant Surtur in “Thor: Ragnarok.” The opening scene shows almost the entire ship dead, with Thanos and his children interrogating Loki for the Space Stone, and Thor and the Hulk attempting to fight back. Eventually obtaining it, Thanos leaves with two of the six Infinity Stones before the opening title even shows; the Power Stone, it is later revealed, having been taken the previous week. Two of the remaining stones are on Earth, and the location of the other two are unknown.
After this amazing opening, everything starts to fall into place. The characters are seen where the previous movies left them, starting with Iron Man, Spider Man, and Doctor Strange in New York. The Avengers fight a very exciting battle against two of Thanos’s children who are after the Time stone, which is kept by Doctor Strange. This results in his capture, and when the aliens depart back into space, the other two tag along for the ride.
The movie then transitions to the Scarlet Witch and Vision, where they battle another set of villains intent on taking the Mind stone, stuck inside of Visions forehead. Captain America and his crew of outlawed Avengers, who haven’t been scene since “Captain America: Civil War,” turn up to help the other two defeat the aliens. They reunite with the Hulk and War Machine at the Avenger’s base, and decide to visit Wakanda, where there’s technology to remove the Mind stone from Visions head, so that they can destroy it.
The Guardians of the Galaxy, some of the last heroes to be introduced, are then seen responding to a distress signal. They meet Thor adrift in space, and end up going after the Reality Stone, whose location is revealed by Thor. However, Thanos beats them there, leaving three more stones to find.
After finding the Soul stone and defeating the Avengers in the fight for the Time stone, Thanos heads to Wakanda in one last epic battle to retrieve the Mind stone. Out of time, the Avengers are faced with a decision, or rather the Scarlet Witch, who is the only one with the ability to destroy the stone. Without the Mind Stone removed from Visions head, she must either destroy it anyway, killing Vision, and who she has feelings for, or let half the Universe die at the hands of Thanos. In a suspenseful finale, she makes her decision, and destroys the Stone while the Avengers hold off Thanos. The Avengers have won- or at least that’s what they thought.
In an amazing plot twist, Thanos reverses time with the time stone to pry the final Infinity stone from Visions head, completing his collection. A dramatic and emotional ending to the movie follows Avengers members as they slowly disintegrate, just like the rest of the Universe, leaving the audience to fear which half of the members they’ll have to let go of. By the time it’s all over, Vision, Bucky, Black Panther, Spiderman, Doctor Strange, every Gaurdian of the Galaxy except for Rocket, Falcon, and Scarlet Witch have turned to dust. The movie ends with Thanos smirking triumphantly, and the Avengers left as surprised and confused by what just happened as the audience. It ends with no further explanation.
Though no one really knows what happened at the end of Infinity War, we can make an educated guess. It is clear that Thanos killed off half the Universe by snapping his fingers, just like it was said that he would. However, how it worked the way it did and what Thanos intends to do next is still up for debate.
The most obvious prediction for what happens next would be that the remaining Avengers are going to rage war against Thanos in the next movie to try and revive their friends. It is reasonable to say that most of the Avengers who were killed will somehow be revived, especially since most everyone who was killed is a new character in the Universe, and still have stories to tell. Since those who were kept alive are the Avengers who were expected to die, since they’ve already been fully developed, such as Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor, it implies that they will probably die in the next one while saving those who were killed in Infinity War. However, to know the full details, we’ll have to wait for Avengers 4.
Overall, no words can describe how amazing “Avengers: Infinity War” is. Far from being over hyped or disappointing, Marvel managed to capture the true spirit of a Marvel movie, while blending every character together so perfectly and accurately. Marvel takes the definition of a crossover movie to a completely different level, throwing in so many main characters into one movie that decides the fate of all of them.
One of the best parts about “Avengers: Infinity War,” besides the basic comedy mixed with intense action that every Marvel fan has come to expect and love, is the way that it fused all of the heroes together. Taking every hero ever introduced in the films and integrating them into one fight can be a challenge. The placement of each character, from who they were with to what they contributed to in the movie, was so well planned and thought out that it couldn’t have been done better.
Another really great part about the movie was that it stayed true to the other movies. It brought back memories of the past movies, such as the exile of Captain America, or how the events of “Thor: Ragnarok” contributed to where he was in Infinity War and how it led to the capture of the Space Stone. The movie did just what fans wanted it to do: bridge together all the movies in one final battle that would give the whole series meaning.
Marvel fans will love this superb addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And, for anyone who is not already a fan, prepare to become one after watching it. “Avengers: Infinity War” takes the definition of a good movie to a completely different level.
10/10
Nick Sowell // Co-Sports Editor
