The start of Avengers: Infinity War marked a change in the reality known to us as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We saw Thanos approach the Earth’s mightiest heroes in a bout to reclaim the powerful singularities known as the infinity stones. Somewhat of a play at the original Infinity Gauntlet saga from the Marvel comics, Thanos breached with determination and exterminated a large chunk of earth’s mightiest heroes and united all six infinity stones until the gauntlet to wreak havoc on our reality.
The entire premise is grim but makes for a very effective illusion of stakes. Marvel has clearly overplayed its hand in the movie industry by killing off half of its cast and thereby utterly forgoing almost half of its future cash flows. Everyone knows they ain’t gonna go for it. They’re pulling the same gag they have been pulling in the comics for a long time. An ultra high stakes event followed by a soft reboot of the entire series. Changing characters and switching actors with younger contemporaries.
After all, won’t you like a younger version of Iron Man, by whatever actor it be played. I wonder who Marvel would choose if they do plan to stand at their current positions regarding actor contracts and the supposed ‘Chris Evans exit’. But the real question is whether we get a soft reboot or not and how does Marvel plan to have Thanos defeated in the main series?
Do we find some alternate power capable of destroying the fabric of reality and space-time to challenge the Infinity Gauntlet? Perhaps time travel is the answer. Maybe we can combat the might of Thanos by the way of time travel assisted pre-emptive strike. If only the mad titan had been a bit later. If only he had made mistakes we could exploit.
Well, this theory from Reddit claims that Thanos failed in his endeavor to kill half of all creation. According to u/DaniD10
[Avengers – Marvel] Thanos did not wiped out half of the universe as he claims and that will lead to his defeat from FanTheories
The premise suggested by the reddit user is perhaps one to deliberate on a little. It seems that the idea of Ant-Man escaping the powers of the Infinity Gauntlet may be more than just half boiled. It may be concrete in terms of feasibility and just absurd enough for Disney to pull off. The idea that Avengers 4 will be a movie that will showcase Ant-Man smack in the middle of its climax is highly likely. The idea that Ant-Man may have escaped the calculations of the Infinity Gauntlet because he was at that particular moment residing in the Quantum Realm, is feasible. But is it actually enough to overturn what the gauntlet has caused?
Is Ant-Man big enough of an anomaly for Thanos to completely lose control of the universe ‘the most powerful’ artifact? It remains to be seen. Perhaps we will find out the finale of this storyline come Avengers: Endgame. Up until then, we must brace ourselves for the worst. Ergo, even if Ant-Man has a secret weapon up his sleeve, the fight will be far from easy.
Thanos is arguably one of the most insane beings in the universe capable of unspeakable carnage. His entire story arc focuses on salvation through death and destruction. The extermination of a good chunk of the population so that we are forced to come face to face with our own mortality and perhaps grow from it. The solemn question of life and death stands eternally atop the sands of time mocking us of our staggering insignificance.
Did Thanos succeed in this endeavor? Well, I think the Marvel Cinematic Universe heroes have never felt more humbled in their entire lives. We have Iron Man adrift in space, Captain Marvel operating under unknown circumstances, Ant-Man lost in another world and the majority of heroes dusted. What will be the fate of this reality come Avengers: Endgame? Only the wizard knows. The attempts of Dr. Strange may be the Trump card Disney has been hiding from us all along. We cannot wait to find out what the next installment of movies has in store for us, can you?
Avengers: Endgame comes out on April 27, 2019. All the heroes will return to us on the silver screen once again in all their glory. It will be magnificent. Up until then keep watching this space for everything Marvel.
