Do You Think Thanos Will Actually Destroy Half of the Universe in AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR?
There has been a ton of new information released for Avengers: Infinity War over the past couple of weeks. As I've read through all of the interviews from the cast and crew, I've become convinced that Thanos will actually accomplish his mission of collecting all of the Infinity Stones and destroy half of the universe by the end of the film. Bare with me while I speculate away...
In a previous interview with EW, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was asked about the criticism that he's gotten about not really killing off Marvel characters in the MCU. When talking about Infinity War, he's asked if it will be for real this time, and he said:
"Yes. I mean, I could always list off the characters that we’ve killed in our movies that haven’t come back, but the big ones, which I know they’re looking at …? [Pause.] I would just say, yes. People need to be careful what they wish for."
I love that last comment, "people need to be careful what they wish for" because it teases that something bigger than expected is going to happen.
At the end of the Infinity Gauntlet comic book story arc, Thanos collects all of the Infinity Stones, snaps his fingers, and obliterates half of the universe. I think that is the ending that we will see for Infinity War. It's just hard for me not to read between the lines of what the cast and crew are are saying in these interviews that they've been giving.
While making it clear that Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4 will not tell a two-part story, director Joe Russo says that Avengers 4 will focus on different characters at the forefront who will be carrying the ball for the story.
“We always try to make each film different so they don’t get repetitive. This kind of serialized storytelling, outside of ‘Harry Potter’ which was a distinctive story that was told over that eight movies, you have to keep evolving. You have to keep evolving who’s at the forefront, how you’re laying the story out, because I think rigor mortis will set in very quickly. So for us, we absolutely are very, very particular about who carried the ball on this movie, and who will carry it on this movie because each character represents a different theme, each character has different wants, and that can shape and color and re-tone an entire film depending on who you’re following. Especially in stories this big.”
This leads me to believe that not many of the core characters will actually make it out alive. I know a lot of fans are saying Captain America and Iron Man bite the dust, but I can't help but think the casualty numbers will be much bigger. While talking about Thanos in an interview with Comingsoon, director Anthony Russo says:
"This movie is catalyzed by Thanos’ decision and an opportunity for him to make a very aggressive move for the stones, a more effective move for the stones than he has ever in the past. So when Thanos decides to do it, he really goes for it, and he’s kind of one step ahead of our heroes through the movie and he puts them through a lot of pain in the process of that."
If he's one step ahead of the heroes throughout the course of the film, he's going to get away with it. On top of that, Joe Russo goes on to say that the Mad Titan will surpass all other villains in the MCU:
"Our job with Thanos is to make him the preeminent villain in the Marvel universe. That’s his role in the comics, that’s his role in these movies, and in order to be a preeminent villain you have to do some pretty bad things."
If he's going to be the preeminent villain in the Marvel Universe, he's got to do something huge and insane, and the fact that he says Thanos' role in the comics is the same as his role in the MCU, drives home in my mind that the villain will actually accomplish what he sets out to do.
I believe that Marvel is going to use this as an opportunity to reset the MCU. Kevin Feige has already teased in the past that phase four is going to be a very different and new thing after Infinity War. What better way to do that than destroy half of the universe and make a fresh start from what's left? It's not hard to think that fresh start will begin with Avengers 4.
What about the upcoming films Captain Marvel and Ant and The Wasp, you ask? Well, both of those films are set in different time periods before the events of Infinity War, so Avengers 4, which will be a direct sequel to Infinity War, will be the film to continue that story. However, I do think that there are elements that will be included in the stories for Captain Marvel and Ant-Man and The Wasp that will play into how their characters will be included in Avengers 4.
I know that there are films planned for after Avengers 4 that involve heroes from Infinity War like Spider-Man, Black Widow, and Guardians of the Galaxy, but that doesn't necessarily mean those characters will be in Avengers 4.
All we really know about Avengers 4 comes from what the Russo's have said above, and some set photos that show modern day Ant-Man with Captain America from the past wearing his old Avengers costume. I've seen a lot of theories about what this could mean. But, maybe it has something to do with finding a way to fix what Thanos ends up doing in Infinity War? Avengers 4 could be the MCU's reset button. That would allow for Marvel Studios to move forward with whatever characters they want in.
What do you think about all this? Do you think Marvel could actually destroy half of the MCU to reset the Marvel Cinematic Universe?