Avengers: Infinity War

speaking of the opening scene, are we to assume that valkyrie and korg and miek and the rest of the crew of thor's ship are all dead now after it blew up?

the tone of the Guardians or maybe just Starlord in particular felt a little sleazy or something, it wasn’t quite right. Minor quibble tho.

veg otm about this btw, something about chris pratt really rubbed me the wrong way in this one - maybe it's just his shtick is getting thin or maybe it's the moustache, but he was definitely more on the wrong end of the loveable rogue - cocky dipshit spectrum this time out

drax remains a delight, tho - dave bautista is such a great deadpan weirdo

I assume so, if Heimdahl is dead it seems the rest of them are as well. Which is one of the darkest things the MCU has done! That makes Thor literally the only surviving Asgardian.

Hulk in the last Thor movie is so Hulk he doesn't want to be Banner ever again. It takes work, but they finally convince Banner to come out again. Then when they need Hulk they need Banner to become Hulk, but there is the express concern that Hulk might be permanent. I forget whether the movie ends with Hulk Hulk or Banner, but clearly he is Banner again by this movie. Maybe Hulk is just sick of the constant indecision? Be Hulk! Don't be Hulk! No, be Hulk again! And Hulk is all, I'm getting too old for this shit.

holy shit xxxpost I don't remember hearing it but I read elsewhere that there was a line about Thanos killing half the people on the ship (as is his wont) so I'd wager that some of them managed to escape. Almost certain they wouldn't have killed the heroes from two movies ago offscreen.

One of my many predictions is that (at least some of) the Asgardians are going to be resurrected and New Asgard will be on earth where Odin died immediately after being all 'hey sons, check this place out, pretty sweet huh, hint hint'.

well, as someone else pointed out itt, any deaths in this one are likely to be wiped out next time around - it's the deaths in the sequel which are likely to stick

(That was me.)

new asgard seems real likely, yeah

my wife pointed out that doc strange's willingness to give up the time gem, and his justification that this was the way it had to be, must be because when he looked into the divergent timelines this is what happened in the only timeline where the heroes win

woulda been a lot less hassle for everyone if you'd just outright said that tho, doc, c'mon

you otm xp

Yeah, Doc Strange knows how this ends, but he's mum on spoilers.

There are a few deaths that seem permanent in this one. There are a few (like Loki) that get an asterisk because he's been "dead" before (like Red Skull). Gamora, she's clearly existing in soul world or whatever, so she can be freed.

I told me daughter after the movie that the comics have all been going on for so long that virtually every permutation has occurred. Everyone's dead! Everyone's back! Multiple people have been Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Spider-man, etc. Multiple universes! Multiple dimensions! That's what I sort of appreciate about the never ending stream of Marvel movies. Like, of course it's never ending! There have been thousands and thousands of issues and stories and sidelines and characters etc. It never ends!

peter parker's exit is still haunting me :(

It's pretty sad. Black Panther shocked several people near me. I mean, that movie is still in theaters!

Strange can't hip Thanos to his plan, man! He's gotta keep it to himself for now.

GOING ALL-IN ON SPOILERS HERE! LOOK AWAY! LOOOOK AWAAAAAY!
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I think Heimdall is gone (if only because I believe Eldra has been a kinda begrudging participant in the MCU), but the Warriors Three were dispatched just way too easily in Ragnarok so they'll be back. Where the eff is Sif even at, come to think of it?

Gamora has taken up residence in the Soul Gem a la Warlock (and, tbf, a la Gamora in the comics). Vision gonna get fixed and turn white. Loki? Who knows. Probably back, but not for a while.

Cap and/or Stark are toast in the next one.

And as I hinted upthread, upon a second viewing of the first Captain America movie, it became clear that Red Skull didn't die. He was 'disintegrated' by the Tesseract but in a totally different way than the people who'd been obliterated by the Tesseract beforehand. I knew he was coming back eventually (and, given Weaving's vocal lack of interest in reprising the role, that he's be recast).

Re: Stark, they've been playing up his PTSD since the first Avengers, but I forget - did he see something specific that sort of bonded him with Thanos? Why does Thanos know who he but apparently no one else? I guess he knows of Thor and Loki already, right?

Also, friends and I have been guessing that the reason Marvel is mum on much past the next couple of movies is the at least distinct possibility that they will get the rights to Fantastic Four/Doom/Silver Surfer, X-Men, et al. Gotta leave some wiggle room.

Vision gonna get fixed and turn white

when he died i was convinced his corpse was gonna be white

when he does go full returned-gandalf they're not gonna need to use makeup on paul bettany's face and hands because he is the pastiest motherfucker who ever lived

cap is definitely a goner in the next one, i think, probably seconds after mending fences with tony. but who will be cap next - bucky or sam?

did he see something specific that sort of bonded him with Thanos? Why does Thanos know who he but apparently no one else?

tony has a weird dream / flash-forward during age of ultron where he sees all his teammates dead on a ruined planet out in space, which kinda foreshadows his first meeting with thanos in this one

presumably thanos knows him from when he singlehandedly shut down the chiaturi invasion at the end of avengers

One of my biggest personal disappointments (which I'm sure is disappointing to only me and maybe like three other people on the planet): I was really hoping for at least a cursory acknowledgment of the TV side of the MCU. I'd been hoping the schism was a long-term fake-out and everything would come together now. Like, spend a grand total of four seconds of time showing the small-screen dudes and dudettes TCB-ing it in the midst of chaos. But nah. And on Agents of SHIELD this week we got one passing mention from Jake Busey about crazy stuff going down in NYC (and I'm guessing half the team won't have mysteriously disappeared by next week's episode). Thanks, Loeb.

yeah, that was a bit of a bummer, although it did occur to me that the avengers still (iirc) think coulson's dead so i dunno if they could spare a few minutes of screen time to get everyone back up to speed

but clark gregg's gonna be in captain marvel tho right?

Is that official?! It makes sense that he might be but I hadn't heard anything about that.

Avengers 4 would be a good time for Coulson to go public again, right after half of the supposedly-dead population of the universe is resurrected. And just play it off like that's the reason he's alive again.

apparently so! clark gregg:

That was a fun call from my friends in the Cinematic Universe, who I normally see at these events, saying, 'You know, we think once again we have some work for you, but it takes place in the '90s. Can you go to the gym?' Yeah, I said, 'The '90s? I mean, there is no gym that can get me back to the '90s.' And they said, 'Well, don't worry. We've been working on that technology, and we think we can goose you back a few years.'

On-set photos of a de-aged Fury from the Captain Marvel set have been kinda hilarious.

Re: sleazy starloard - I couldn't see Thanos the same for the rest of the movie after his sick "testicle chin" burn early on.

One complaint about the movie that I keep seeing over and over is regarding the relative lack of stakes, given the fact that everyone knows that most of this death and destruction is going to be rolled back in the next film. But I think one key plot element to keep in mind is the repeated warnings in Doctor Strange that there's a price to making such huge and sweeping changes to the universe. Things are largely going to get fixed but I wager that it'll be a pyrrhic cure and that the cost will set the tone for the MCU going forward.

can't believe Fury's been carrying around a pager that contacts Captain Marvel all these years and finally decided to push the button

and that cost will be casting jai courtney as iron man xp

I think their decision to try to claim the fourth movie *isn't* a part two was kind of closing the door after the fox was in the henhouse, but I was still extremely skeptical they'd end the movie on the note they did. The stakes of leaving half the universe dead until another movie comes out is still a pretty heavy thing, imo

The reactions to the Guardians' 'sleaziness' is intersting inasmuch as I kinda figured there'd be some friction once they were tossed into the mix. Most of the earth-bound heroes have been trying to toe this very noble line of saving and sparing lives whenever possible, living according to a certain code, whereas the Guardians are basically mercenaries without much compunction for killing (or mass slaughter). Kinda makes sense that they'd seem a little more douchier and antiheroic in this context.

also one thing i don't think is explicitly laid out in this is that gotg vol 2 actually took place a couple of years before the 'now' of infinity war, right?

I just remembered my wife and I were talking yesterday after having seen the movie on Saturday and I said, "I can't believe we got from 'Hey, that dude from Friends and Swingers is making an Iron Man movie' to this, but here we are." It really is some kind of accomplishment that transcends liking/disliking/hating the genre or the individual films or the effect on the industry.

I keep reading stuff about GotG 2 taking place pretty much directly after GotG 1 but I don't remember many indications in the film itself of that being the case. I guess maybe the scene at the end with the teenaged Groot is a jump forward into the present?

been a while since i've seen it but iirc gotg2 starts with an 80s flashback with de-aged kurt russell then cuts to the guardians in space with a title card that says '2014'?

and presumably the only reason it's set out that way is so that groot isn't still a baby in infinity war

The sleaziness of GotG wasnt in contrast to the others, it felt more like putting them in the hands of someone other than Gunn meant that their heart & playfulness got kinda lost in translation

I thought the Starlord/Iron Man scenes were a little iffy, but Thor deciding most of them were clowns and that Rocket was surely their captain was great. If you're that old you can immediately spot competence, I guess.

All right, I saw the mention in the credits about an Arrested Development character but missed it in the film:

Arrested Development easter egg in the leaked Avengers: Infinity War clip. A reference to Tobias Fünke after he auditioned for the Blue Man Group. pic.twitter.com/lyVi3NJ9Oh

— GuruKid (@FunWithGuru) November 26, 2017

putting them in the hands of someone other than Gunn meant that their heart & playfulness got kinda lost in translation

yeah, this is otm i think

so there's a deleted scene with the destruction of Xandar, right?

it didn't get much in the movie other than a mention and an eyebrow raise

Tons of lols this time around particularly the line about Wanda when she came down to kick ass, but Rocket's "THIS is our plan? We hit him with a brick?" was the most i've laughed at a Marvel line since Rudd's Civil War mid-scrap pearl "Anyone got any orange slices?".

Anyone see it in 3D/Imax? I went 2D as that was the next available. Might go back for round 2 in 3D.

Also what are the odds you can use randomly install someone else's eyeball and still see through it?

Yeah, I always see these in 3D whenever possible. As usual, it was decent if not mind-blowing or entirely necessary (Doctor Strange was the only one where the 3D really kicked ass, and it was the first time a movie ever made me feel like I might need some Dramamine).

Dude, it was a space eyeball. They pretty much install themselves.

so uh, that old classic about shouting "fire" in a movie theater..
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/04/30/after-avengers-screening-a-calif-man-started-yelling-about-god-moviegoers-panicked/

(this is horrible and would be a bad idea at any movie, but doing so immediately after the end of this one would have given me a guilty lol if people hadn't been injured)

I will admit that I was mildly alarmed when the lone dude in the front row of my showing (who I assumed must be a big fan because, y'know, front row) got up and walked out about five minutes before the movie ended. It was a little WTF.

maybe it was his second viewing and he had to go pick his kid up from school

one thing that bugged me about this was the battle in wakanda at the end, which is set on exactly the same hillside as the final battle in black panther and has basically the same tower-defence objective too - like, couldn't you have at least moved it to the other side of the hill or something?

as if they'd put their palace in a location that has two fronts for attack? pssh

maybe they ran short of budget or something i dunno