May 4th in Grand Prairie, TX. It's been six years since Thanos was teased in a post credits scene from 2012's The Avengers.
Has it really been six years?
Everything in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been leading up to this film. If you've invested as much time as I have then it's about time. It all comes together here.
Speaking of post credit scenes, Infinity War picks up right after the Thor: Ragnarok post credit scene.
That's Thanos' ship intercepting the Asgardian refugee ship and things go downhill from there. Thanos and his thugs defeat Thor and the Hulk. Heimdall manages to send Banner to Earth to warn the others, the ship is destroyed and Thor is cast into space.
Thanos is on a quest to bring the Infinity Stones together. He acquired the Power Stone offscreen by destroying Xandar and he gets the Space Stone from the Tessaract which in case you forgot was kept in Asgard. Thor meets up with the Guardians of the Galaxy and they decide to split up. Thor, Groot and Rocket go to Nedvallir to have Eitri make him a new weapon (spoiler, it's Stormbreaker, originally given to Beta Ray Bill in Thor #337 and no I did not need to look that up). Quill, Gamora, Mantis and Drax try to intercept Thanos at the location of the Reality Stone which is in the custody of The Collector on Knowhere. They're too late and Thanos kidnaps Gamora.
Meanwhile on Earth, Thanos' goons; Ebony Maw, Midnight and Glaive arrive to obtain the Time and Mind Stone. Dr. Strange is the keeper of the Time Stone, it powers the Eye of Agamotto and the Mind Stone is infused into Vision. Vision and Scarlet Witchescape an attack with help from Captain America, Falcon and Black Widow. Maw however defeats Iron Man, Strange and Spider-man and leaves Earth with Strange in tow as he us unable to remove the stone due to enchantment. Iron Man and Spider-man stow away on the ship and rescue Strange but are not able to get off the ship.
Thanos is able to get Gamora to reveal the location of the Soul Stone by torturing her little sister Nebula. The catch here is that in order to get the Soul Stone, Thanos must sacrifice what he loves the most. Now everyone knows that Thanos, the "Mad Titan," loves only himself. See the paradox? Thanos gets the stone.
Thanos heads back to his home planet Titan where Iron Man, Spider-Man, Dr. Strange and the rest of the Guardians lay in wait. But before they spring the trap, Thanos gives some exposition about Titan and his plans for the stones. He knows that the universe is a crowded place with limited resources. With the Infinity Stones, he could eliminate half of the universe's population so that the other half will flourish. Less talking more fighting. To their credit, the heroes almost get the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos but to no avail. Strange, in order to save Stark's life, gives up the Time Stone (something he told Tony he would absolutely not do earlier).
Now the battle returns to Earth for the finale. The Earth group realizes that if they destroy the Mind Stone, Thanos loses. Vision offers to sacrifice himself for the greater good but Captain America gives him the "we don't trade lives" line. So the team head to Wakanda in hopes that Black Panther's sister Shuri can removed the stone. Shuri mocks Banner for not doing the job correctly the first time, her theory is very sciencey. She can take care of it given, but the process will take time. The final battle awaits.
Seriously? A shot by shot scene steal. Boy, they really went there.
During the battle, neither side can seem to get the upper hand. Thor arrives to help turn the tide and it looks like they might win out. However, just when the light at the end of the tunnel is seen, Thanos shows up and extracts the stone. Despite a furious attack from Thor, Thanos is able to snap his fingers. His dream complete. Half the universe's population is gone. In a last heroic effort, Nick Fury is able to use a beeper(?) to get a sub space message to Captain Marvel before disintegrating.
Set for theatrical release in 2019.
There's a lot going on here. The film has just about everything. Directors Anthony Russo and Joe Russo keep the plot moving despite multiple story lines in simultaneous multiple locations. This was not an easy task. The story is very fluid and moves along nicely. The story takes some key points from Marvel Comics' 1991 Infinity Gauntlet and 2013 Infinity crossover events. This crossover came after my time, I pretty much stuck with X-Men titles for another year before fading away from comics. Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Steven McFeely did a nice job of incorporating the source material while keeping everything that has happened in the MCU in line. Not an easy task. Great special effects, great sound and great acting from the from the ensemble cast. My only issue with the cast was there was not enough Shuri. They are a few Avengers that weren't in the film but it gets explained away in a fashion that made me not care where they were.
Since Thanos was able to snap his fingers, half the population of the universe died. This includes a few popular Avengers. The problem is that it's no secret that some cast members are signed on for more films. I mean, T'Challa died and his stand alone film grossed over $1.3 BILLION worldwide so you know that character isn't going anywhere. Plus Dr. Strange used the Eye of Agamotto to view the over 14 million outcomes of the fight with Thanos on Titan. Of the outcomes there is only one where the Avengers are victorious. Thanos' act is devalued (they already filmed the sequel too). Other than that, the film is a lot of fun. It's a solid cinematic experience that just does not come around all that often. Unless of course it's a superhero film. The next film and the next phase will be interesting.
This was probably the most expensive film ever made coming in a nearly $400 million. The box office receipts are nothing short of staggering. Over $257 million on its opening weekend. To date it has grossed over $600 million domestically and over $1.8 BILLION worldwide.
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