Avengers: Infinity War: Predicting the MVP against Thanos
By Jon Hawley
Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR..L to R: Okoye (Danai Gurira), Black Panther/T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlet Johansson) and Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan)..Photo: Chuck Zlotnick..©Marvel Studios 2018
Who will be the star hero against Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War?
Everyone’s talking about how many heroes we’ll see in Avengers: Infinity War, but here’s the real question: who’s going to matter in defeating Thanos?
It’s not a simple question. Assuming Marvel Studios hasn’t doctored any of the trailer footage we’ve seen – which they did for Thor: Ragnarok’s trailers – we know Thanos is going to be wielding at least the Space and Power Infinity Stones in much of Infinity War. He should be unstoppable with just those, let alone collecting the four remaining stones. As the Infinity Gauntlet comic arc and the final film trailer affirms, the complete Infinity Gauntlet makes him a god among gods.
In other words, for all the focus on the most popular Avengers and Spider-Man, their powers are basically irrelevant to defeating Thanos. The most they can hope for is being a good distraction.
Who’s best suited, then, to outmaneuver a mad god? I’d say Adam Warlock, but he’s not in the movie. As you should all know by now, he’s pivotal to defeating Thanos in Infinity Gauntlet. That’s because he had unique insight into the Infinity Gems (the term used in the comics), knew Thanos’ psychological weaknesses, and had the raw power and charisma to unite the universe’s most powerful beings.
So who’s the next best person to get the job done with Warlock apparently shelved until Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3? I have five early contenders for MVP: Most Valuable Protagonist. I considered characters’ relevant abilities and their roles in both the comics and the MCU.