Entertainment

Is 'Infinity War' The Last Avengers Movie? It Will Be The End Of An Era

If anyone needs more any time soon, you're just going to have to wait. Because I'm going to be boning up on my Marvel universe movies in preparation for Avengers: Infinity War. As someone who is generally pretty switched on to all things Marvel, thanks be to my four sons, I'm well aware that the grand scope of this next Avengers outing needs to be prefaced by some serious studying. Because this next movie has been stuffed to the brim with every hero and villain from the past 18 films, which has me wondering if Infinity War is the last Avengers movie. The trailers alone have me thinking this could be the last hurrah, which means my extensive research will be extra imperative.

Despite the massive amount of hype surrounding Avengers: Infinity War, not to mention the full 10 years and 18 films that have led up to it, this is not meant to be the last of the films. Another Avengers movie is slated to open in May 2019, according to The New York Times. Still, the franchise is expected to wrap up over the course of the next two films, which means that Avengers: Infinity War can be expected to do a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to developing and solidifying dozens of story lines before finally wrapping up after the next film. Which would make this movie the end of the beginning, as it were. And to think, it all started with Robert Downey Jr. playing Iron Man 10 whole years ago. Oh how far we've come.

Avengers: Infinity War was written by Captain America screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely and directed by brothers Anthony and Joe Russo. The team took on a daunting task; how to blend the worlds of Iron Man, Dr. Strange, The Hulk, Thor, Spiderman, Black Widow, Captain America, Black Panther, and even the Guardians of the Galaxy.

The subplots alone — trying to pull together side characters and entire planets so the heroes can join forces to fight Thanos, the villain first introduced in the original Avengers movie — are mind boggling. Thanos is trying to cut the universe's population in half by getting his mitts on the Infinity Stones. Fortunately, the writers kept the good versus evil plot relatively succinct; as Tony Stark puts it in Avengers: Infinity War, according to The National Post;

He’s from space. He came here to steal a necklace from a wizard.

Early reviews for Avengers: Infinity War are promising, and I'm guessing the star power behind the new film didn't hurt (Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johanssen, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Pratt, Chris Hemsworth, and Chris Evans to barely name a few). Then there's the visual element, of course. This new movie is the first superhero flick to be filmed with IMAX digital cameras, which means it should look pretty spectacular. But people are going to want to see this new movie for more than just a series of handsome guys name Chris and stunning visual effects; as Marvel universe creative director Kevin Feige pointed out in an interview with Vanity Fair; Avengers: Infinity War is paving the way for the final Avengers movie that "bring things you’ve never seen in superhero films: a finale."

Feige told Vanity Fair:

There will be two distinct periods. Everything before Avengers 4 and everything after. I know it will not be in ways people are expecting.

Could this mean we will see superheroes actually perish in the new movies? Only time will tell.

Meanwhile, I think everyone out there needs to get down to the business of Marvel universe research. Because nobody wants to show up unprepared.

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