In 2018, Marvel will celebrate the 10th anniversary of MCU which began with Iron Man (2008). But it’s a two-part story which will continue in the untitled fourth Avengers movie. Marvel Studios have managed to assemble a magnificent cast under one roof to create a mega comic-book event as part of phase 3. The Infinity war films are the most awaited superhero ensemble movies of the 21st century. Fans are ready to witness the grandest event called Infinity War.
Marvel Cinematic universe will systematically expand to around 68 comic-book characters who are likely to appear in Avengers Infinity War movies. The Russo Brothers had categorically stated that the final two movies in phase 3 are two independent movies without any major inter-linkages. The first one is from Team Avengers perspective while the second one is entirely based on Thanos storyline.
Although the cast is stacked up with superhero heavy-weights, the most important comic-book character present in the movie is Thanos. Till now, he has been teased in Marvel movies in post-credits of Phase 2, 3 films, but Infinity war will be the first major project where he is going to be the big villain hell-bent on total destruction.
But he can do that only if he takes possession of powerful Infinity stones that are scattered across the realm. Anthony Russo, the co-director of the movie described it as a heist movie where Thanos will spend time strategizing in order to steal Infinity stones.
In an interview with CNET, Russo Brothers spoke about how they were inspired by heist movies for Avengers Infinity War. Here’s what they said:
“With “Infinity War,” the biggest new element to the movie is Thanos and the fact that he’s entering the storytelling in a very bold, strong way, to the degree that he’s almost one of the leads. We’ve shaped an interesting narrative around him that in some ways leans heavily on a heist film in the fact that he’s going after the infinity stones in a much bolder, successful way than he has in the past. The entire movie has that energy of the bad guy being one step ahead of the heroes. We looked at a lot of movies that had that heist-style energy to them, and that brought some inspiration”.
The actor Josh Brolin is excited as he is finally getting a shot at playing super-villain Thanos. He shared a picture on his Instagram account teasing his transformation into the most powerful cosmic being in the galaxy. He teased the massive powers of Infinity gems, each of them individually is powerful but collectively they can rewrite reality and destroy worlds.
It will be very interesting to see the most powerful cosmic creature stealing stuff to pursue his sinister ends. It will inject a totally different energy into the MCU than any other Marvel movie. Everyone will be rooting against the mad Titan while he keeps on accumulating more power through Infinity stones. He will have more hands-on and direct approach as he can’t trust anybody as they failed to meet his expectations.
He will bring big guns in the form of “Black Order” who are a team of ruthless mercenaries and their “Outriders” who are genetically engineered for a single purpose, find new worlds, invade and conquer it for Thanos. At Disney’s D-23, the Black Order of Thanos (also known as Thanos Children) was revealed including Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight, Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian who was Black Dwarf. In a departure from comics, the members of Black Order were introduced as “children of Thanos”. On one hand, Thanos’ children Gamora and Nebula have rejected the overtures made by father, the Black Order is firmly behind Thanos all the way.
They made their first appearance in 2013’s New Avengers #8 created by Hickman and Mike Deodato Jr. These cosmic creatures were brought together by Thanos to serve as leaders in an inter-galactic campaign for universal domination. They followed the orders of Thanos and destroyed many worlds for him until they found out that Infinity Stones are with “The Illuminati”, a secret society/group with members like Iron Man, Black Panther etc. created to keep the Infinity gems safe.
It is very clear now that Avengers Infinity War will be like Ocean’s Eleven with Infinity stones. But Avengers 4 has been kept tightly under wraps. The production is still continuing but nothing big came out into the public domain until now. In the latest batch of set photos of Avengers 4 released on the internet, Tony Stark can be seen wearing the same shirt he wore in “The Avengers” and in another picture he is wearing S.H.I.E.L.D uniform, so it’s likely that the scene is set before Winter Soldier when S.H.I.E.L.D. was brought down to the ground.
Till now, Tony Stark has been a consultant to S.H.I.E.L.D but he was never a member of the organization (he can’t be). Moreover, he is wearing a tactical vest instead of a suit of armor. There are two possibilities to this: Firstly, this could be a scene shot immediately after Stark Tower was destroyed and Tony had to settle for whatever protection he could get at that point in time.
Secondly, it is possible that if this is not a flashback scene, Tony Stark may actually become Director, S.H.I.E.L.D in Avengers 4. Well, we shall find out soon.
The IMDb twitter account may have revealed a character from Iron Man 3 who could be part of Avengers 4, but we have to take everything with a grain of salt unless it is officially confirmed. The character in question here is Harley Kenner played by Ty Simpkins, a 16-year old who was Tony Stark’s friend but it’s unknown as to what his role will be. He shared an amazing relationship with Tony as we saw both of them trading their wealth of wit when the world is falling apart. We are likely to see something similar in Avengers 4 as Thanos is ripping apart the world as we know it.
The recent casting call from Marvel is suggesting a funeral scene for major character’s death. Here’s the description of casting call:
“Mourners: Looking for men and women over the age of 18, all ethnicities, to portray mourners. Especially looking for good character looks and expressive faces. This will be photo selected by the film’s directors! Size restrictions: Men no larger than 44 coat, women dress size 0-8. FOR NEW FACES ONLY! You cannot have worked on this project previously, or be booked on upcoming days. NO EXCEPTIONS!”
If it’s Tony Stark, it would be poetic to see Phase 3 ending with his death. He is most certainly going to die in Avengers 4 as Robert Downey Jr. has repeatedly said that he wants to go out before the character becomes a parody and now is the right time. It is possible that Harley Kenner is back to mourn the loss of his friend.
Here’s the official synopsis of the movie:
“As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos. A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment – the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain”.
The studio has been building the hype of Infinity War over a series of films, so expectations of Marvel fans are very high, some even believe that the movie will not only break the record of highest box-office collections for a superhero movie but of any movie. And it’s heartening to see that things are falling into the right place.
Hopefully, we will see the trailer soon. Avengers: Infinity War to arrive in theaters on May 4, 2018, Avengers 4 likely a year later on May 3, 2019. CHEERS!
Note: In Marvel “Thanos Quest” series, the Mad Titan’s journey to collect all the six infinity gems from the likes of In-Betweener, The Runner, The Gardener etc. has been chronicled and then something insane happened. Do check out this one before you see the movie.
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