If you are part of the 20 people on this planet who haven’t seen ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ yet, what are you doing with your life? Bookmark this story, go watch it and then come back here so that the spoilers below don’t ruin your experience. You have been warned.
I’m going to assume that everyone who continues reading has watched the movie.
After Thanos has killed half the universe we see him living in a small hut on an unknown planet watching the sunrise just like he said he was going to. While this has got to be one of the saddest endings to a movie in the MCU (probably the saddest) there is an ‘Avengers 4’ slated for release on the 3rd of May 2019. That movie has a lot riding on it. It needs to fix everything that went wrong in this movie while also ensuring it’s not just a master reset on all the events of ‘Infinity War’ making it pointless.
There is one thing we do know, though. How the Avengers managed to defeat Thanos in the comics. There was even an animated TV series where the Avengers fought Thanos. Here’s what happened in both those story arcs and whether or not they are possible in the MCU:
First, the comics:
The comic series we’re talking about is ‘The Infinity Gauntlet’ which released in 1991 and was written by Jim Starlin. The story goes something like this…
The main motivation behind Thanos getting the Infinity Stones is so that he can impress Death by destroying half the universe and creating balance. There is no showdown between the Avengers and Thanos, no Infinity War. Thanos gets the Stones (Gems) and wipes out half the universe.
The rest of the story is all about how the remaining characters including Adam Warlock, the Silver Surfer, Nebula, Captain America, Doctor Strange and a few more band together to right this monumental wrong. Nebula is the one who takes the gauntlet off Thanos’ hand and then proceeds to wear it herself. Thanos eventually convinces her to rewind time to before he started using the gauntlet and in the ensuing chaos, Adam Warlock gets a hold of the Gauntlet and Thanos ends up as a farmer on an unnamed planet having given up.
Why can’t this happen in the MCU? Well, even though Disney now owns both Fox and Marvel, the chance of us seeing the Silver Surfer in ‘Avengers 4’ is highly unlikely. As for Adam Warlock, he isn’t going to be making an appearance before ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3’. At least he isn’t planned to make one. Nebula is still alive but Doctor Strange isn’t. So, while it is possible we’ll see Nebula wear the Infinity Gauntlet at some point in ‘Avengers 4’, it’s not going to go down exactly like in the comics. That’s for sure. Also, Josh Brolin is not going to end up as a farmer on an unknown planet. It won’t be fair!
Now, on to the animated TV series:
In a TV show called ‘Avengers: Assemble’ Thanos took on Earth’s mightiest heroes with the full power of the Infinity Stones at his disposal. While I don’t remember the moments leading up to the battle clearly, I do remember how the Avengers managed to defeat the Mad Titan. They use Thanos’ ego against him. They challenge him to try and defeat them using just one Stone at a time. Thanos accepts the challenge.
He starts off with the Time Stone. He ages all the superheroes to the point where they are nothing but ash. But, as for Thor, he only grows stronger with age. He reverses the Time Stone beam and it hits Thanos leaving him very old and frail. He then resets everything he did bringing back all the superheroes.
Next up, he uses the Mind Stone to make all of them start fighting each other. The only Avenger who is used to being filled with rage all the time, The Hulk, convinces everyone to stop fighting each other and focus their rage on Thanos instead. Just like that, his plan is thwarted once more.
Thanos then uses the Space Stone to teleport and attack each of the Avengers. Hawkeye and Black Widow pick up his pattern quickly and counter him.
The Avengers then capture Thanos and everything seems to be going well until Captain America has a hunch that things are going too well. That’s when they realise Thanos is using the Reality Stone to influence their thoughts. They, subsequently, break free from his mind control.
Thanos then turns to the Power Stone to try and defeat them. But, the Avengers restrain him with the help of the Hulk who only gets angrier the more Thanos attacks him. This is when Thanos reactivates all the Stones, breaks free and destroys Iron Man. They then learn that Tony Stark has been back on Earth all this time working on Arsenal.
Thanos transports him to the moon along with his laboratory. Tony activates Arsenal and he easily defeats Thanos with some help from the rest of the Avengers. Arsenal then turns out to be Ultron and this leads to a whole new war.
There’s just one loophole here, there is no mention of Arsenal anywhere in the MCU yet. Arsenal was Howard Stark’s robot improved by Tony Stark. You never know, it may just be the Hail Mary solution ‘Avengers 4’ needs. All the heroes that need to be alive for this story to come true are alive so we don’t know. But, if they do go down this path, the introduction of Captain Marvel in the post-credits scene will end up being pointless. We would love to see Ultron come back, though just for James Spader’s voice.
What will they do? We’ll just have to wait and see.
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