Someone's too excited for Avengers' Movies
How Avengers Infinity War trumps The Last Jedi in subverting fans expectations. "This isn't going to go the way you think".
The Russo Brothers made a movie we didn't expect. "This is not gonna go the way you think." Do you think it's a mantra that Disney has instilled on Star Wars and Marvel? Or are we in the golden era of TV and Movie/Superhero tropes, that now every writer is expecting the unexpected? Why are fan's in literal shock and excitement/potential of Infinity War, while near criticizing every choice and Story Arc of our protagonists in TLJ?
Infinity War shocked us. At every alley and turn, Thanos definitively wins and triumphs. He beats Hulk into submission. Never to emerge again. He foils all of our heroes' plans, and fills his gauntlet with all infinity stones.
*SNAP
The Snap heard 'round the Universe. - infinity gauntlet.
When's the last time a movie had the stones to actually have an ending like this. Disintegrating half the universe. Smiling into the sunset. That's not the hero team up romcom we expected.
Comments all over the web compare this to Empire Strikes Back - the Villains winning. Hell, even Revenge of the Sith had the bad guys winning. But not like this.
Let's take a quick turn to the Last Jedi -
Who is Snoke? Snoke dies. Who are Rey's parents? Nobody. How's Leia going to die? She doesn't. The heroes fail spectacularly in the Casiono, Luke dies and our heroes narrowly escape with 'Hope'. This isn't what we expected. These twists only serve to streamline the story. Place Kylo as the main antagonist. Drop the weight off the Legendary Skywalkers off the franchise. This isn't what we expected. And I want to see what happens next… I guess? TLJ subverted expectations for streamlining purposes. Hopefully JJ can bring back the wonder he brought in The Force Awakens.
Marvel: We didn't want this, expect this, and walked out in silence. AND WE WANT MORE.
In Infinity War, the Russo Brothers also showcase failure and subvert all expectations. Iron-Man and Doctor Strange fail. Thor and Asguard fail. Captain America, Black Panther, and earth's mightest heroes all fail. Why? For Thanos. (It'd be heresay to make a movie focused on Snoke!). The shock in the audience only emboldens and empowers the stakes of Thanos. This is not what we expected - and we're left wanting more, because it edges the brilliance of Breaking Bad - plots - writing Walt into an impossible to get out of corner. How will we get out this?
Marvel Villains - a mediocre affair
That's not to say that the Marvel universe is without it's flaws: Marvel villains suck. Iron-Man was good, except Iron Monger wasn't memorable. Guardians of the Galaxy was great - except Ronin (the elf from lord of the rings?) wasn't memorable. The Dark Elves in Thor 2 (the real enemy being the brown tint the movie seemed to have?). It got so bad that the antagonist protagonist in the movies flipped in Civil War - just have the heroes fight - but also with Zemo.
How many executive meetings did Kevin Feige and the Russo's have to listen to on the weakness of the villians - before giving the largest gauntlet filled middle finger to the audience - and making a movie about Thanos the villian, rather than the heroes?
The Cap Trilogy - how memorable were the villains?
Thanos.
Indisputably, Thanos is the most personable, momentous, and consequential villian of Any Marvel movie. The last time we've felt the weight of a villian who we've related to (besideds Loki) is only recently: a father driving his daughter to a homecoming dance - Vulture in Spider-man homecoming. The Russo brothers and writers were very smart to make sure Thanos had a connection to each of the hero groups.
Here's a checklist rundown, just in case any fan would have complaint on character motivations: How can we make Thanos' interactions with our main heroes so tragic that there is an eternal hatred, indisputable hatred to make the heroes want to avenge?
Thanos vs Thor
"We have a hulk"
Except this time, hulk the giant brute definitely gets his ass handed to him. Punch for punch, - the weight can be felt. There was no doubt that Thanos would win.
Thanos definitevly defeats team Asgaurd and the Defenders so harshly - it almost goes as far to undo all of Thor Ragnarok. Where was the strength of Thor - who in the climax faced: "What are you the god of hammers?" "I'm not as strong as you." "No you're stronger." Thanos kills Loki, stabs Heimdall. (Korg and company are conveniently missing). Thanos and his team are not to be messed around with.
Thanos versus the Guardians of the Galaxy
Literally a shoe-in since the first Guardians, Nebula and Gamora are the step daughters who hate Thanos. Only Gamora and Thanos' backstory is explored in depth. Within the Avengers film we saw the hunt for the soul stone. Thanos' deeply expressed love of Gamora, before tragically throwing her off a cliff. Star Lord and Gamora finally saying their love for one another before Gamora being taken away, and killed.
Thanos versus Iron-Man.
"You know of me" - Tony. "I do". Ever since Avengers Ultron Tony has felt the weight of the world through PTSD in Iron Man 3 to his vision of all his friends death by Scarlet Witch. This spirals him out of control, rebuilding and iterating his suits - and the writers were canny to make Thanos the embodiment of his fears.
Thanos versus Captain-America and the New Avengers?
A small stretch as the motivation for Cap is more secondary, but having Thanos hunt Vision and literally walk through the Avengers, before knocking out Cap out cold. Earth unfortunately didn't have enough time to make a connection to Thanos up unitl the very end - something had to give in the cosmic weight of the film.
Breaking the infinite Avengers into factions.
This works spectacularly to highlight characters and interactions that are digestible on screen. Some factions and stories work better than others:
The Strongest
Thor and Rabbit (Rocket)
How did this take the cake? Maybe when we see Thor, vulnerable in losing the death of his brother, and experiencing real Ragnorok and shed a tear. Defeated by Thanos and willing himself to focus on rebuilding a hammer. We see him go into the depths of a neutron star, only for 'Tyrion' to conveniently lose the handle.
Highlights
"You speak Groot" "It was an elective"
Gamora and Thanos, Gamora and Starlord
In Guardians, 'hating Thanos and wanting to Kill him' didn't carry as much weight as the hatred and love felt in this movie. We never saw Thanos take Gamora in, cry, beg Star Lord to kill her. On your mother's grave. It used the entire climax of Guardians 1 "Take my hand" to alarm us how serious Gamora's secret is. We had screen time to search for a soul stone that didn't even appear in any other Marvel movie, with just Gamora and Thanos. Only for his love to throw her on the cliff.
We even got a treat to see Red Skull - who was alive from Captain America, only to suffer the fate of guiding others to the Soul Stone.
It's Starlord... Man
Guardians 2 Mixtape Hunt - Star Lord's a hero! How could he mess up that scene (though Thanos had to win)
Let's talk about that Star Lord fuck up. They had Thanos in 'chains.' And it felt too good to be true to remove the glove. Star Lord - to the uncharacteristic surprise of the audience? Angrily beats Thanos in the face, and the whole plan derails. Is this out of character for Star Lord? It sure felt like it. Commenters are quick to point out that Star Lord snapped out of Ego's trance, once it was revealed that Ego killed his mom. So it is consistent? I disagree, the situation isn't exactly the same, one is breaking a trance while the other is acting in uncontrolled rage. Expect people to dislike StarLord here, and a flurry of defenders. We don't question Iron Man's motives, or Spider-Man's, Thors, but this scene was enough to be like "What the hell you had it!" The Russo brothers didn't have to raise our hopes like this.
Vision and Scarlet witch
These characters have been on the back burner in Ultron and Civil War. Overpowered by the mind stone, they took a lot of focus away from the plot in Ultron. Does anyone remember Quicksilver? Or how controversial Vision's birth was - pitting Thor briefly against Iron-Man? How about in Civil War - when Scarlet Witch had to mute out Vision (how could Hawkeye defeat a flying cyborg concisous being). They've either been too strong or haphazardly introduced, that we haven't spent time with them. Until now. Where they literally want to run away and choose each other. Only to be the target multiple times. Scarlet Witch faces the same choice to kill her lover and succeeds. Only to have Thanos rewind time, and straight up kill Vision.
Felt Forced, or a backburner to main events
Guardians, Iron-Man Spider-Man, Doctor Strange
Iron-Man as a character's arc was tragic see: Thanos v Iron-Man section. Having Doctor Strange and Iron-Man call each other ass-holes, and a noble Peter trying to please a Mr. Stark isn't nearly as friendly/compelling as the emotional drama in the top pairings.
Captain America, Black Panther, and the New Avengers
As stated earlier, Cap and the New Avengers felt like a catch all, protecting only one infinity Stone. The war scenes were great. Bucky holding Rocket, Shuri fighting to separate the Stone, all soon to be collateral damage.
Hulk - a common thread?
Hulk not coming out. Why would Heimdall send Hulk to earth for a message? And not Thor? Interesting to see Hulk in nearly every Avenger's faction - Thor and Asguard, Iron-Man and Doctor Strange, and finally back with Captain American and Black Widow. Hulk got defeated and doesn't want to fight? He didn't come out.
Why Avengers Infinity War Succeeds
The reason this movie works and subverts expectations is because of two things: An indisputably, formidable Villain. Killing our favorite super heroes.
We've been accustomed to Plot Armor. And then the film goes and chokes Loki to death on-screen. Throws Gamora off a cliff. Stabs Heimdall through the heart. Rips Vision's brain 'infinity stone' straight off. After Scarlet Witch had just killed Vision. If this sounds R rated - something straight out of a rated R Noir Logan - it's actual events in the real movie. Real deaths, onscreen stakes. Like the Red Wedding, all of a sudden our favorite characters could die at any instant. When's the last time we've seen a hero die? Agent Coulson brought the Avengers together. Nick Fury faked his death. Rody had a spinal injury in Civil War. Those were the stakes. Until Thanos.
Death of Gwen Stacy. His scene in Infinity War just got me.
Spider-Man's death.
This was the most tragic superhero disappearance. "I'm sorry Mr. Stark." Just a young teenager in high-school, dissapearing into the veil. Clinging to Stark. Death.
The OG Avengers
Plot Armor 2 -
Conveniently - look who doesn't get disintegrated. Iron-Man. Captain America. Thor. Hulk. The cast from Avengers 1. We expected them to die off right? They didn't. The OG's still in the story. Sad that this came at the cost of Star Lord, Spider-Man and T'Challa. How does this come into play once we get Captian Marvel? It's important to note what we didn't see. Thanos decimates Kree and gets first infinity stone. Where was Glenn Close? Captain Marvel must be there - and we should see the aftereffects in Infinity War 2.
Bonus! My own personal Signed Stan Lee Poster
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