One year later we now get to see the aftermath of Thanos’ snap. This cliffhanger reminds me a lot of the Empire Strikes back. From Spiderman to the new star super hero Black Panther the Russo brothers were irreverent when it came to killing off main characters in Infinity War. There are so many unanswered questions; how the Avengers will get out of this and fight back? Everything is now on the line and how will our heroes respond? I remember the first time I saw the Mad Titan in print was in a comic book store as a kid and I honestly thought he looked like a dopey version of Apocalypse. Josh Brolin proved me wrong and has brought that character to life by making himself a villain you can’t help but kind of root for. A foe that is patient and uses mathematical reason. Thanos has already cemented himself in the supervillian hall of fame rivaled by only a few (Darth Vader, The Joker, Bane).
Comic books have always been very special to me because I view them to be modern mythology. I have seen these same characters repeatedly throughout my childhood. In the early 90’s there was no internet so most media was in print form mostly except for television. I remember rushing home on my bike so that I would get home for a 90 minute block on Fox which was X-men, Spiderman, then the Power Rangers. I grew up on these characters. I pull a lot of inspiration for my art from Jack Kirby and Stan Lee. Thier ability to use characters with supernatural abilities to tackle harsh topics like racism, civil rights, violence, and even death. Disney has done a fantastic job with taking storytelling to the next level by creating what is now the Stage 3 Marvel Universe.Here is a collection of theories and character profiles to get you filled back in on everything Avengers.
Earth to Thor and Hulk
By J-Walk
In the first five minutes of infinity war you two managed to get your asses whipped by Thanos and lose the Teserac. You both learned quickly that this villain was the strongest you had ever face but still found ways to blow it later in the film. Your inadequacies in Infinity War need to be amended in Endgame. Thor failed because of his hubris and Hulk because of his fear. Lets Start with the God of Thunder.
Thor
Why the fuck didn’t you aim for the head? Thanos killed your brother and life long friend right in front of you right after beating the shit out of the Hulk in a fist fight. You lost once and you took a chance the second time you faced him? All i’m saying is a head shot is usually a guaranteed kill for most life beings. Who knows how alien organs work?! Granted you saved the day in Wakanda with Stormbreaker but you had everything you needed to kill him! All you had to do was the sensible thing and run that ax through Thanos’ purple skull. Instead Thanos receives a non fatal wound, snaps his finger, and POOF half of the Universe is dead. The motherfucker jetted into a purple vortex while giving the our heroes a figurative middle finger on the way out. Moments later you saw the fruit of your failure, your friends and family disintegrating into dust. Thor has never taken any setback lightly and I don’t expect him to quit now so I expect that he receives some sort of redemption in Endgame.
The Hulk
The dichotomy of the Bruce Banner/Hulk ethos has always astounded me. On one hand Bruce Banner is a scientific genius who wouldn’t hurt a fly and on the other is a beast fueled by pure rage without any sense of reason. In the first two avengers movies the Hulk could not be stopped. Up until Infinity war only Tony (Iron Man) and Thor had been able to beat him in a fight. All of that went out the window in Infinity War, the Hulk’s unbeatable mystic had been fractured. Thanos beat his braun with calculated strength and fighting experience. This was the first time Hulk had been overpowered this easily; he was no match. After those first ten minutes the rest of the movie he was no longer the Incredible Hulk, he was Bruce Banner. Though Banner tried to summon Hulk’s strength more than once the rage monster refused.
The Hulk is either tired of bailing Bruce out or he was mortified by Thanos’ power. Now that Banner has seen what Thanos can do up close he now knows how important it is to become the Hulk again. Like Thor I see the Hulk having to pick up a lot of pieces from the snap and dealing the feeling of failure. I do wish him and the team luck because they are going to need it. Hulk we need you.
Unpopular Opinion: Nebula is Key in the Thanos Throw Down
By Chelsi Gallegos
Like Winter Soldier and Loki, Nebula is one of the MCU characters who dropped out of the School of Bad Guys to seek a life of reform and good deeds. It’s very easy to be sympathetic to an abused cyborg who was kidnapped at an early age and spent her whole life being reminded that she was never good enough by her adopted father who is nothing short of psychotic. It’s this trauma that puts Nebula in the unique position of harboring intense Thanos hatred and immense Thanos knowledge. That’s why she could be the one to help take down her purple papa in Avengers: Endgame.
About one hour into Infinity War, Thanos successfully pressures Gamora to tell him the location of the Soul Stone by torturing Nebula. Thanos admits to Gamora that Nebula boarded his ship to try and kill him, and she “very nearly succeeded”. Don’t forget that it takes the entire highly advanced Wakandan military, most of the Avengers, and a massive Nidavellierian axe that only Thor, the pirate angel, can wield to “nearly succeed” at killing Thanos. This puts Nebula’s presumably solo mission into an impressive perspective. Let’s also not forget that, in the battle scene on Titan (almost 2 hours into Infinity War), Nebula enters by jumping on Thanos and repeatedly striking or attempting to strike his head. While these particular efforts don’t prove to be very effective against a super angry Mad Titan, we also know that Iron Man caused Thanos’s dome to bleed after a mighty hit and that Thor’s royal f-up was due to not attacking Thanos in the head. Nebula likely knew about Thanos’s physical weak spot in her attempts to desperately destroy him on Titan and tried to use it to her advantage. It’s fair to assume that, especially with the Russo brothers at the helm, details like this are not coincidental this far into the MCU. Nebula may not be able to claim the prized head of Thanos by herself, but she has proven she is more than valuable in the quest to do so.
Ant-man: Small Hero, Big Player
By Kai Connolly
We got a very unique last look at Ant-Man with the post-credit scene from Ant-Man and the Wasp. Scott Lang is experimenting with travel into the Quantum Realm while Hope, Janet, and Dr. Pym looking on from a rooftop. Unfortunately, Thanos snaps his fingers at the exact same time as their experiment. With the deadly snap, Dr. Pym and his family disappear, leaving Scott wandering the Quantum Realm without any knowledge of what has happened.
With this series of unfortunate events, Ant-Man is left with one of the most unique perspectives of the new world. We see that he comes back to Earth in the preview, and it is clear that he has no idea what has gone down while he was gone. He might be the only one in the universe that wasn’t technically around when the snap happened. He will be even more in the dark putting the pieces together as quickly as he can. Lang will be operating out of a state of loss and anger with the Pym Family gone. This will only fuel is determination to bring them back.
My theory is that the will have a large roll in the recovering of those that disappeared. I believe the build-up of the Quantum Realm in Ant-Man and the Wasp was to set the stage for Endgame. It is very possible that the Quantum Realm will be a tool used by Ant-Man to travel through space and time to change the events that have already taken place. This small guy will most definitely play a big role in solving this huge problem placed before the Avengers. I think the only way the team will be able to change the course of events, is to go back into time to prevent Thanos from getting the infinity stones to begin with. Ant-Man will be the only one with time traveling ability, and I have a big hunch that will come in handy for the team.
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