It’s hard to believe, but as I write this, it has been 5 years since the release of Avengers: Infinity War. This anniversary had me thinking about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, what it meant to me as a fan, to cinema history as a whole, and what has happened over the last five years.
First off, it may be bold to say that it made cinema history, and it’s possible nobody cares about this but me, but never before in the 100-plus years of film had there been a sequel to 18 different movies. This one movie brought back about a million actors from those previous 18 movies, plus introduced us to some new bad guys, and finally fleshed out a really big one that we had only seen glimpses of in previous movies (and yes, he was a slightly different color then.) Not only did they bring all these actors back, but they actually gave most of them something significant to do. So many elements from the previous movies that were supposed to be building to something? We finally saw the climax. Look at it this way; there have been James Bond movies for sixty years, but only in the last few did we see them build to anything (and let’s face it, that didn’t really work out for him. Or us.)
So, I am a fan - and let me tell you, I am a capital-F Fan of Marvel movies. Sure, movies like Iron Man 2 and Thor: The Dark World weren’t exactly cinematic treasures, but prior to Infinity War, all of the Marvel movies were definitely what I would call watchable. My fandom goes back, though, back to a time when successful film franchises about Marvel super-heroes was only a pipe dream. I waited impatiently for years to be able to watch The Avengers on the big screen, and so I was not, on the whole, disappointed when I finally was able to. And when I saw them all interact and band together to fight Thanos and his minions, I was in nerd heaven. I’m not going to go so far as to say it was a dream come true, but as a film guy, a comic book guy, and a story guy, I felt like Infinity War showed what is possible with enough creativity, vision and, let’s face it, money. But creativity first. No reason to be that cynical.
However, from these highest of highs, there is only one way to go. You may not share this opinion, but I feel there has been a drastic drop in quality of the Marvel movies since Infinity War/Endgame. I’m kind of lumping them in together becausethey are pretty much one story, and I enjoyed Endgame, and I’m glad that sort of blew everything up. because all good things and whatnot. Endgame was a love letter for all Fans of the MCU, but it did signal the end of an era. So does that make Infinity War the beginning of the end, or the end of the beginning?
First, a little more about history. Who is this Thanos guy, anyway? And what’s the deal with these stones everyone is so on about?
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For those who maybe still don’t know the history, in 1973, Marvel Comics writer Jim Starlin created Thanos, a nihilist from the planet Titan that worshiped the character Death, a skull-faced lady who ruled over the realm where all dead beings go. Over the years, Thanos tried to win Death’s love by bringing as many people over to her realm as possible, and in doing so, found himself in that realm at the hands of various Marvel heroes, usually Silver Surfer, Captain Mar-Vell and Adam Warlock. In 1990, Starlin took over the writing duties for the Silver Surfer comic and started a new arc that brought Thanos back to life. The reasoning for this resurrection was that Thanos promised Death that he was going to wipe out half the population of the universe, because apparently, people weren’t dying fast enough for her tastes. To do this, Thanos was going to need to up his power game, and thus began what in the comics was known as The Thanos Quest, a two-book series that saw him obtain the six Infinity Gems (as they are known in the comics. Still not sure why the MCU changed them to stones. Aren’t gems inherently cooler?) By the way, if you had any interest in Thanos and the infinity stones/gems, read Thanos Quest. It is pretty short and quite good.
The Infinity Gems had been around in Marvel Comics for awhile, but their potential was not explored much by the writers, or by those that wielded them, most of them being The Elders of the Universe (Fans of the movies would recognize Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster and Benicio Del Toro’s Collector as Elders.) It wasn’t until Thanos Quest that Starlin brought all the gems together to create the Infinity Gauntlet that they became something comic fans cared about. Once in possession of all the gems, Thanos gathered together some of his friends and family and made himself a fortress out in space. His entourage included Death, the devil Mephisto, his brother Starfox and his grand-daughter Nebula, who he really only kept around to torture. In fact, he used his vast powers to reduce Nebula to just a melty husk. And then, in issue #1 of the six-issue Infinity Gauntlet mini-series, in July of 1991, Thanos snapped his fingers and half of the population of the universe disappeared, as promised. But there was a problem: Death still wouldn't give him the time of day.
The major difference between the comic series Infinity Gauntlet and the movie that it inspired was that the comic was actually a twisted love story. Thanos was in love with Death, but once he became more powerful than her after obtaining the Gems, she didn’t feel like his equal, but rather just another one of his pawns. This, obviously, pissed Thanos off and a pissed-off god isn’t really a good thing for anyone. Maybe calling it a love story isn’t entirely accurate, because it was more like a high school crush, but whatever you want to call it, Thanos’ infatuation with Death was the driving force. He even created a paramour for himself, Terraxia, and made her instantly fall in love with him, which was a little weird, in retrospect.
With the fate of the universe hanging in the balance, Adam Warlock returned from the dead (maybe Death sent him back across the veil? I’m not sure it was ever covered, but that would be a good story point, wouldn’t it?) and gathered some of the universe’s remaining heroes to battle Thanos and take the Gauntlet. They obviously had no chance, but the battle was pretty intense, with Thanos brutally winning. While it was crazy for a comic fan to see so many heroes wasted so quickly, there was a very cool moment, like in the movie, where Thor almost beats him, only to be turned to glass and shattered. He and several of the other dispatched heroes are eventually brought back for the finale, but it is never really explained how he was un-shattered. It’s comics. Sometimes you have to just move, move, move.
Still, the battle with the heroes is simply a ruse because Warlock’s plan was to have Silver Surfer grab the Gauntlet off Thanos’ hand while he was distracted. In a very cool moment, again slightly mimicked in the movie, Captain America is the last hero standing, and as Thanos raises the Gauntlet to strike him down, the Surfer flies at him to snatch it. As you are reading the comic, the tension builds, panel-by-panel, and you see Surfer’s outstretched hand, only to turn the page and see that he misses the mark, Thanos ducks, and the whole gambit was for naught.
This is when stuff hits the fan, as a cadre of cosmic entities attack Thanos, including Galactus, Eon and Eternity, the living embodiment of all that is. Even Mephisto and Death join in the fight against Thanos.
Thanos makes short work of them as well, but while he leaves his body to take over Eternity’s position as the embodiment of everything, the burnt husk Nebula seizes the opportunity to take the Gauntlet from his physical form, restores herself, and takes over the mantle as the most powerful being in the universe.
\Her first order of business was to use the Time gem to roll the universe back 24 hours and restore everything that Thanos wiped out, which was an interesting move for a villain, but I guess a way for Sratlin to fix everything, since tehre was only one issue left. Eventually, Warlock and Thanos and a few others band together and are able to wrest the Gauntlet from Nebula and Warlock ends up with the thing. He eventually splits up the gems again, because no one person should wield such power. Thanos, on the final page of the story, and another aspect borrowed for the movie, retires to his garden to live a peaceful life. Until Marvel needed him for another saga.
That is a long-winded recap of the events of the Infinity Gauntlet story arc which was really just to point out that several aspects were, in fact, used in the movies, but a couple of key ones were not, and they might have helped lead us to where we are now. It’s also a pretty cool saga that was definitely ground-breaking at the time. You should probably read it.
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So, like these last two Avengers movies, this post is probably better off split in two. Thanks for reading, and tune in next time for my take on what was possibly the last great Marvel movie, Avengers: Infinity War. Meanwhile, you subscribe to my Substack for hopefully more regular posts, and also please check out my comic and my podcast for more fun and excitement. And let me know your thoughts on Thanos, Infinity Gems, the MCU, or life in general in the comments. Excelsior!
Great recap of Infinity Gauntlet/Saga Comics, one of my Fave Marvel Memories! Ron Lim! George Perez! Listen to our Jim Starlin Episode!
We may disagree about some First Phase MCU movies and which ones are good or bad, but leading up to these Avengers sequels was quite a ride and I was really digging it until post the "Saga" movies.
One part of the comic I wish was used but I am fine with the way the movie handled it was 'Death' not being a part of it. "Death" or Lady Death love story is a great one. NOT that there's anything wrong with the Nebula / Gamora story or the MCU vision overall. Death is one of my favorite DC and Marvel (and South Park) characters... The concept personified. Such a classic role no matter how depicted. Also would have liked to see Silver Surfer crash through to Benedict Cumberbatch's cool window but they didn't have the rights to that!
'That Being Said' MCU up to this point gives me the feels. And these movies aren't my favorites of the bunch by a long shot but at least they are consistent. Avengers 1 is still so fun, and I am sure I will do a re-watch soon of the sequels.
Mostly post-pandemic MCU films are Not-A-So-Good on the extremes, but some great highlights like Black Panther and GOTG V3. Hard to even track without looking at a list. The TV shows I have largely abandoned after 2 or 3 episodes (Moon Knight, Ms Marvel, Secret Invasion) because I just 'don't care' what happens.
The completionist in me will watch them all... but I was having more fun with Early MCU, Netflix Universe and Agents of Shield when it was fresh.
Complaining mostly about what I think are flaws but I agree I shouldn't shuffle these last two Avengers movies into the pig pen with Black Widow or Eternals. I'm better than that! Marvel is better than that!
Make Mine More Marvel,
You know where to find me.
Ping me with any questions.
Thanks to you for the read and for commenting (as always). You raise an interesting point about early MCU being more fun. Even though they had the limitless financial backing of Disney, there seemed to be a feeling among fans like, "How are they going to do that?" when it came to certain characters and storylines. Once that dissipated, it left a gaping "fun hole" in the subsequent movies. But I'll be exploring that more in Part II, so stay tuned, true believers!