Marvel’s The Avengers: How does it impact Infinity War?
By Barlow Adams
NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 28: Actor Robert Downey Jr. attends ‘The Avengers’ Premiere, Closing Night Of The Tribeca Film Festival Sponsored By Bombay Sapphire on April 28, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for Bombay Sapphire)
How will it impact Infinity War?
Six years later, the events of The Avengers still loom large over the MCU. It’s here where we see the true power of the Tesseract, where we witness the core team assembled for the first time, and where we meet the Mad Titan Thanos, if only for a brief moment.
As Loki says, “There is only the war.” And he’s right. In the MCU there’s only ever been one war that truly mattered–the battle for the Infinity Stones, that collection of cosmic gems capable of granting their wielder unlimited power. In almost every film before and since, we’ve watched them in the background, slipping from owner to owner, attempting to find, like the One Ring, their way into the hands of their dark master.
Without discounting the films that have transpired between them, The Avengers and Infinity War are the tent poles of the MCU.
In The Avengers we get but the briefest taste of Thanos’ war machine. In the years since, heroes have emerged, villains have been vanquished, and battles have been fought, but always the real war, Thanos’ war, lurked in the background. It has always been Marvel’s endgame, and we see it here clearer than in any other film.
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More, many of the character arcs started in The Avengers are still active, still seeking conclusion. Iron Man and Cap are still rivals, one a champion of the past, the other a prophet of the future, each trying to shape the world that will be. Banner has yet to prove that he’s a hero to the most important critic of all–himself. Thor, the naive godling has come into his power, but seems poised, finally, to serve his people not only as an icon, but as a leader.
From Hawkeye to Loki, the characters of The Avengers have evolved since this film, but none have completed the arcs started in this groundbreaking film. As Infinity War approaches, each stands poised over completion like a sword stroke about to fall. For all of them, their ends can be seen in their beginnings. To appreciate the answers Infinity War will bring, we must first understand the questions The Avengers asks.