If there’s one thing Marvel does well as a movie production company, it’s sending their fans into a frenzy. With Avengers: Infinity War being one of the biggest cinematic crossovers, and its release on April 27, rumors and theories are plaguing the minds of everyone from the most dedicated fans to the most casual moviegoers.
Marvel could not have picked a better time to release this movie—ten years after Iron Man’s release, which receives the official credit for beginning the Marvel cinematic universe. In this installment, the Avengers, Spider-Man in his new Iron Spider suit, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, and the Guardians of the Galaxy are uniting to stop the villainous Thanos before he gets his hands on all six Infinity Stones, thus saving the world.
Anyone who has ever seen a Marvel movie knows what to expect: 20 seconds of Marvel Comics logos, exposition with lots of eye-catching action and easter eggs, then suspense and anxiety infused with comic relief, followed by an overwhelmingly intense battle, the end, roll the infamous post-credits scenes.
With Infinity War, it’s worse.
Marvel reportedly allowed the writers to live and die—joke intended—by “go big or go home” with this movie’s screenplay.
“We didn’t want to […] cut off a flower just as it’s beginning to bloom. But a nice big flower? Maybe,” said screenwriter Christopher Markus to the Toronto Sun, hinting at a major character death.
“Marvel allowed us big swings,” said co-writer Stephen McFeely. He elaborated that there was no mandate to bring everything to a close at the end of the movie so as to ensure the continuation of any part of the franchise, meaning standalone films and series.
One of the most prevalent theories is Loki’s death in Infinity War, which was confirmed to be foreshadowed at the end of Thor: Ragnarok right after the Loki and Thor seemed to make amends. Whether the scene of Loki handing the Tesseract, which holds the Space Stone, to Thanos in the new trailer is blatant betrayal or a life-or-death decision, one of the most heartbreaking theories is that Thor will be forced to watch a vengeful Thanos kill Loki.
The good news, if it can be considered good news, is that if Loki handing over the stone turns out to be a life-or-death decision, he will die a hero. There’s also the fact that Thor doesn’t die in this scene with his brother; he gets picked up by the Guardians after Thanos leaves him to die—a classic move for an egotistical villain.
Another theory claims that there are actually two battles between Iron Man, Spider-Man, the Guardians, Doctor Strange, and Thanos, and the second one is a recreation by Doctor Strange, who uses time travel when things go awry in the original battle. Aligning the theory with the trailer and some footage from San Diego Comic Con, all but Doctor Strange, who holds the Time Stone, are wiped out by Thanos in the original battle, and Tony Stark is seen crying over someone, and holding their burned hand.
Fans are theorizing that the burned hand belongs to Peter Parker, because in a trailer scene he is seen apologizing to Tony, his mentor and role model, as he presumably dies in the same landscape. Heartbroken by this, Doctor Strange uses the Time Stone to turn back time, and properly prepare the group for battle—this explains why Spidey changes from his regular suit to the Iron Spider suit.
Again, the good news is that fans know this will not be the final battle. The final battle seems to be set up to happen in Wakanda, where Black Panther and his team will join forces with the other Marvel heroes. After Black Panther’s massive box office success, the familiar setting will be a silver lining for moviegoers, if only for a few moments of reexperiencing the hidden nation’s beauty.
One of the lesser discussed theories involves Thanos’s daughters, Gamora and Nebula, who are introduced in the Guardians series. While Josh Brolin, who plays Thanos, says his character has a capacity for love, particularly for his daughters, he also says he can’t discuss Gamora, Thanos’s favorite daughter, more. This has led some fans to believe Thanos may use her as a sacrifice, to fully activate the power of the Infinity Gauntlet, and all of the stones.
However, actress Zoe Saldana, who plays Gamora, says she’s filming scenes for Avengers 4, but it is unknown if the scenes will be flashbacks, or the Avengers attempting to reverse the events of Infinity War through time travel.
Predictable casualties also include the lives of characters who possess Infinity Stones, including the formerly mentioned Loki, who has the Space Stone. Vision possesses the Life Stone, and Doctor Strange possesses the Time Stone. The Soul Stone has yet to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but theories include: Tony Stark is the Soul Stone, the Soul Stone is in Wakanda and its vibranium, and that it may not even appear in the Infinity War.
Among these speculations are the deaths of Captain America and Iron Man, two of the franchise’s most popular heroes, and practically the faces of Marvel. While these theories are largely unsupported, fans are worried that Marvel will decide it’s the end of the line for these beloved years-long series. After all, the writers believe fans are most impacted by big changes in their favorite characters, and there’s no bigger, and more permanent change than death.
Chris Evans is already jumping off the train, saying it’s better to get off on his own time than to be pushed off by the company. He said he plans to leave after the fourth Avengers movie, which is set to premiere in 2019, but his recent statement only adds to the fans’ nerves, seeing as they believe Evans to be the real-life model of Captain America, and to have him give up the role is downright cause for a riot against Marvel.
On the bright side, there’s only so much Marvel can get away with, with rumors of more movies within the same universe on the horizon. Moreover, there’s always the disclaimer of promotional misdirection in trailer content, meant to throw viewers off from the real twists and turns of the movie.
Regardless, fans can rest assured that, if it’s any consolation, Thanos won’t destroy the entire universe, because it would disrupt the universes, and timeline continuity of the upcoming films.
