Spoiler To me the villain complaint has been getting a little tired since Phase 3 started. Iron Man was a great antagonist. Killmonger was an amazing antagonist. Hela was solid (should have been a little more fleshed though). Ego may have been somewhat cliche, but I liked him and found his "twist" to be incredibly emotional. Vulture was a great, great villain. Kaecilius was their worst and even he wasn't terrible. But Thanos... Thanos is something else entirely. Thanos was incredible. Thanos was horrifying and yet somehow still empathetic at times. I won't say relatable, but certainly he wasn't just a cartoonish baffoon either. The film makers talked about wanting to create the "end all" of bad guys. They wanted to make 10 years feel worth the wait to see how bad this villain actually is. They. Nailed. It. I can't believe it honestly. What they did with this character is out of this world. I completely understand and agree with them that he's the main character of this movie. We see it through the lens of our heroes, but he is the one who "wins". I loved Thor and I have defended him a little in the movies. I don't think he's "nerfed" they just never really go into depth exactly how awesome his acts are. For instance: he killed at least 3 or 4 of those leviathan aliens single-handedly in Avengers 1. He took on an Infinity Stone single-handledly in Thor 2. Those are pretty massive feats. And yet in this movie... He gets his butt kicked yes, but he comes back and is the most bada** we've ever seen him on screen. It is CLEAR how powerful he is. Great point about the pairings being unique and lending to some fun. I also thought the Russos did an incredible job blending the different tones and themes of the different franchises together cohesively. Every character felt like their own character and was given a chance to be themselves. As dark as this movie is, the comedy is a perfect balance and really helps you stay afloat while horrible, horrible things are happening.
Spoiler Killmonger and Vulture were great and signs that the MCU were figuring out their villains but there were so many bad ones at the beginning that its hard to forget. The thing with Thanos is that he truly believes in what he's doing, kill half to save the other half and he's prepared to sacrifice anything and everything to do it. The whole soul stone sequence was top notch. RE: Thor. It was great hearing Banner "You're all screwed now." cause that's usually said when Hulk shows up. It just dawned on me that it's been about a week between Ragnorak and the events in Infinity War, dude has been through the gutter. Side not, was not expecting Dinklage as a 25 foot dwarf.
Disclaimer: I'm not a comic head, had a round of boba before I watched it (rookie mistake) and as a result missed possibly some important dialogue (plot development). So could you guys/gals help me find some answers to some possible newbie questions. Spoiler: Help! So I had to hit the head and when I got back, I was trying to find out what I missed, but never got a satisfying answer. I walked out as Gamora was talking about Thanos. I'm not sure what I missed, but I know she wanted Quill to kill her if she got captured...why? ....and I know that Thanos wants to kill half the population...why? Also, again I don't know the ramifications or history of the stones other than what the movies have showed us, but why couldn't a powerful avenger like Thor or Hulk or Iron man via the suit or Star Lord who is half god wield an infinity stone against Thanos. I get that Strange saw all the outcomes and sacrificed the Time stone as a result, but couldn't the Avengers just turn back time and destroy the stones at an earlier date knowing that Thanos was coming? Couldn't they wield the Reality Stone and trick Thanos into a trap before he got to the Collector and captured Gamora...if they were running out of time, then couldn't they just use that Time stone again....so many questions..so little time. Anyways each stone had its own powers so couldn't the Avengers figure out a way to use it against Thanos before he got a majority of them on the Gauntlet? Also, its been a minute since I've seen the 1st Capt. America, so how did Red Skull get to that planet and why are these infinity stones just floating around in the first place. Ones in a sceptor that Loki had, but didn't Thanos send him to earth with that sceptor? Why didn't he just claim the mind stone then? The tesseract (space stone) and the time stone were on Earth...whose bright idea was it to put these WMDs in the same location? Gamora was initially sent to retrieve the Power stone, but she disobeyed and kept the whereabouts of the soul stone from Thanos. Why didn't she just get the Guardians and go get those stones to destroy them knowing Thanos was after them. Also, was her knowledge of the Soul stone shown in a previous movie or was it revealed through Nebula in this movie? Also if Thanos truly loved Gamora, then why couldn't he just bring her soul back once he got the soul stone? That's one of the powers right? Anyways, this movie must have been hard to pull off and its WTF moments are amazing. You compare this to Justice League and DC needs to get their s*** together. They technically have the more popular superheroes, but JL was atrocious compared to Avengers and Darkseid will have a even poorer reception if he isn't fleshed out like Thanos is....Brolin is that dude...no, he's not a dude...he's the man! I definitely have to catch it again for the parts that I obviously missed (the boba was pretty good tho) and the parts that I couldn't get on my 1st viewing due to the scope of this movie! Awesome writing, awesome acting, awesome movie...but truth be told, I probably should have just encased myself in a spoil-free compartment till May next year so that I could watch it back to back with the sequel. You can't feel this way knowing that its still a whole year out...FML...no wait, snap that from the record.
Agree with all your takes except the Vulture. The Winter Soldier was a great antagonist too. Dormammu didn't get much screen time but was great.
Spoiler: Some answers Gamora wanted Quill to kill her before Thanos got the Soul stone location from her Thanos wants to kill half the universe to bring balance to an overcrowded cosmic environment. Maybe Thor could wield a Stone but not the others. Remember, even Quill almost died holding the Stone at the end of Guardians. Yes, Strange could have turned back time, but that's the one loophole in any time travel storyline. I suppose you could say all timelines would inevitably lead back to this one. Red Skull was teleported by the Tessaract at the end of the first Cap. Loki's staff was a plot hole. Just ignore it. I don't know.
Loved the movie. Read a few reviews that hated it. Those critics are loco. Thanos was amazing. Somehow getting all those characters screen time was amazing. The humor was amazing. The action was amazing. Iron Man's upgrades were amazing. Spidey's upgrades fit this time. Doctor Strange was amazing. Thor stole the show for me. I was a bit disappointed by the Hulk. But that's nitpicking. Is it 2019 yet? Spoiler I wonder why they chose to not have Hawkeye in this.
Spoiler: Thanks for the knowledge! Few other follow ups: How powerful is Ms. Marvel supposed to be....like comparatively speaking to Thor. The power stone is what nearly killed Quill, cause it enhances power so you'd need to be powerful to wield it. But couldn't the other stones be wielded by him or other "supers"...for instance didn't Shield and the Skull run experiments on the Tesseract aka Space stone. Didn't Hydra's Strucker experiment with the mind stone to give Witch and Quicksilver their powers? Of course Banner and Stark had their go at it too to help create Vision. Anyways I get that there is story element here so I just wanted to figure out why the Avengers didn't try to wield the stones themselves and instead just resorted to trying to destroy em or put em through a garbage disposal. EDIT: I just caught your Hawkeye comments...one of my buddies told me he's probably going to show up in Antman 2 or in the 3rd act of Ms. Marvel to help tie in to the Avengers 4...he supposedly is on a side mission. Antman and the quantum physics angle makes alot of sense towards fighting Thanos and we have seen Hawkeye and Antman tag team before in Civil War.....either way, it was an interesting deletion no doubt. In terms of Gamora there is a Guardians 3 slated for 2020 so you would think she comes back from the dead at some point...right?
Spoiler: Hawkeye He's retired, ever since Ultron. He only came back in Civil War cause Cap really needed him. Hawkeye and Ant Man sat out of this one because they are retired and have families to worry about. Ant Man and The Wasp movie takes place after Civil War but before Infinity War. But I think how those 3 get involved is their families turning to dust, or if thats too dark then maybe cause the remaining Avengers desperately need allies. Captain Marvel will also take place in the past, 90's I think. I think with that movie the after credit scene will be her answering the page from Nick Fury.
Spoiler: Possible Answers According to Kevin Feige, Captain Marvel will be the most powerful superhero they've done to date. It takes incredible strength and power to wield a single stone let alone all 6. And no the gauntlet doesn't make it easier, it just happens to be Thanos' choice of fashion. What makes it easier is actually the power stone. Like you said it enhances ones power, making it's wielder superhuman which allows the use of all of the other stones. So why can't Thor, Hulk or Cap wield any of the stones? Because even without the gauntlet/stones Thanos is still one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel universe. He was born as an Eternal which are even more evolved humans, they are essentially immortals. How did Loki use the space stone? It was inside the Tesseract which dampened it's power. As for the experiments? It was them just sucking power from the stones in small quantities not wielding the entire thing.
Spoiler Traditionally, Thor is more powerful than Ms. Marvel. But from what I've read Ms. Marvel is going to be made the equivalent of Superman in the MCU. I do think they "nerf" Thor in a way. He is a little inconsistent. Like Realdeal said, he has some amazing feats in the MCU. I mean, he just got blasted by a freaking star in this movie for a few minutes and lived. But other times he can't handle certain things he should have no problem with. He is known as the Mightiest Avenger for a reason, but it looks like they are setting up Captain Marvel to be the uber-powerful one. As for Gamora, I honestly think her, Loki, Heimdall and Vision are all dead for good because they got wiped out before the culling. How far back can they take the inevitable reversal of Thano's finger snap that will happen in Avengers 4? I think Peter is going to have to find a new girl.
Thx guys! Spoiler Is there some back story to Thanos. So he wanted to destroy half the population for the good of the remaining race? What motivated him to do this? Tough childhood...his parents starved to death? Was it something in the comic books or in the movie that I just missed, cause I don't really get his full purpose for doing this. Dude didn't seem to be completely evil. How does purging the population and in the process killing the one person he loved beneficial to him in any way? Or did he have a false sense of altruism thinking it was necessary for the good of humanity. Anyways, yall have any idea of how they're going to defeat Thanos and undo what he did? The gauntlet looked damaged at the end...so did the snap take out the stones as well...why did Thanos seem to spare certain Avengers? Were his intentions selfless ie with his snap, could he have turned to dust too? How true was this movie to the comic books? Do the comics corroborate anything in the movie as to any spoilers or methods of undoing Thanos's snap (ie snapback)? How the heck do you undo this...Strange clearly thinks Tony is the answer, but how? Guardians 3 without Gamora.....how does that work? Speaking of which...Adam Warlock, is he a goodie or a badie? Would he be able to take down Thanos? I shoulda saw this next year... Don't get it twisted, I loved it, but the wait is going to be unbearable. This is just like Westworld...I tell myself to just wait and binge watch it, but I f***ed myself again and now I'm dying to see the 2nd episode only to f*** myself into waiting for the 3rd and so on and so on... Anyways, yall don't have to answer my questions...I'll probably be doing this till next May...
Nope. Somewhere earlier in this thread I explained why he was a poorly conceived bad guy for me. Not poorly acted, just a bad concept. Regular salvage guy suddenly becomes super villain with special forces level flying, fighting, etc.
Spoiler: Duh why didn't they cut off thanos ' arm with iron mans sword rather than trying to yank off the gauntlet while he was immobilized by wasp?
I forgot about that convo. He was, in my opinion, one of the most well motivated characters. I can deal with him learning how to operate this system over the years. He certainly seemed like a smart and capable guy.
Spoiler I thought about the same things. There were many opportunities for them to either kill him or take his hand off. For whatever reason it didn't occur to them to try these things. Keep in mind, nothing really cut Thanos until Tony gave him absolutely everything and even then it only cut him slightly on the cheek. Only Stormbreaker was capable of more than that and they didn't have Stormbreaker. Also, it was Mantis not Wasp.
Spoiler 1. The backstory is what they provided in the movie: he was born on a planet called Titan. The planet was fine, but eventually became overpopulated. Thanos offered them the idea of killing half the people, chosen at random, in order to protect the rest of the population. They refused and somehow caused some sort of major cataclysm and the planet died. Thanos then vowed to never let anyone else make that choice for him. He determined that the entire universe needed to be cut in half to save the universe. He believes this deeply in his heart. He believes he's doing the universe a favor and saving everyone. He believes he's the hero of the story even if nobody else thinks so. To him, this is for the greater good and he's the only one strong enough to pull it off. I have no idea how they finish this off. I have a feeling they'll time jump a little ahead and rendezvous with Captain Marvel. They hunt him down and undo as much of the damage as they can. There might be some multi-dimensional stuff going on as well. Guardians 3 can also be set before IW and delve more into how Gamora/Peter became a real couple. Give us toddler Groot. As for some of the other questions: 1. Captain Marvel is going to be the most powerful hero we've seen. She has super strength, can fly, can absorb energy blasts and redirect them. In the comics she's on par with most of the heavy hitters. Look at what Thor did in this movie and she can do that without the hammer probably. 2. None of the heroes have the ability to wield a raw stone outside of maybe Thor, but more importantly wielding them is extremely dangerous. The stones are like nuclear bombs: in the wrong hands, even good intentioned hands, those stones could rewrite the universe. That much power is too large a responsibility for these heroes right now. In the comics eventually the stones are split up among the most powerful/smartest/most influential beings on Earth. We may see something like that. 3. This movie wasn't really all that true to the comics at all. They had specific nods to all kinds of things. The Iron Spider suit is straight out of the Civil War comics. The "snap" is straight out of the first Infinity War story with Thanos. The "half the universe dying" is straight out of the comics. Stormbreaker exists, but it belongs to someone else in the comics. Basically they've created their own world here, their own universe using elements that they borrow from all sorts of comics. 4. The fact that Gamora knew where the Soul stone is was only revealed in this movie through Nebula. I have no idea why she didn't think to destroy it. To be fair, I'm not sure anyone knew it was even possible to destroy them at all. Scarlet Witch revealed herself to be one of the most powerful beings in the universe holding off Thanos with FIVE stones and destroying another one at the same time. If they'd known she was that strong all along, they may have decided to destroy all the stones they came across. Gamora thought she'd done enough by destroying the map she found.
