Avengers: Infinity War

 

Avengers: Infinity War is a 2018 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the sequel to The Avengers (2012) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), and the 19th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the film features an ensemble cast including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Don Cheadle, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Josh Brolin, and Chris Pratt. In the film, the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy attempt to prevent Thanos from collecting the six all-powerful Infinity Stones as part of his quest to kill half of all life in the universe.

The film was announced in October 2014 as Avengers: Infinity War – Part 1. The Russo brothers came on board to direct in April 2015, and a month later Markus and McFeely had signed on to write the script for the film, which draws inspiration from Jim Starlin's 1991 comic book The Infinity Gauntlet and Jonathan Hickman's 2013 comic book Infinity. In 2016, Marvel shortened the title to Avengers: Infinity War. Filming began in January 2017 at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia, with a large cast consisting mostly of actors reprising their roles from previous MCU films, including Brolin as Thanos. The production lasted until July 2017, shooting back-to-back with a direct sequel, Avengers: Endgame (2019). Additional filming took place in Scotland, the Downtown Atlanta area, and New York City. With an estimated budget of $316–400 million, the film is one of the most expensive films ever made.

Avengers: Infinity War premiered in Los Angeles on April 23, 2018, and was released in the United States on April 27, as part of Phase Three of the MCU. The film received praise for Brolin's performance, visual effects, action sequences, and emotional weight, but the film was criticized for relying on previous MCU films for its story. The film was the fourth film and the first superhero film to gross over $2 billion worldwide, breaking numerous box office records, and becoming the highest-grossing film of 2018 and the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time both worldwide and in the United States and Canada. The film's visual effects were nominated at the 91st Academy Awards, 24th Critics' Choice Awards, and 72nd British Academy Film Awards. The sequel, Avengers: Endgame, was released in April 2019.

 

Plot

Having acquired the Power Stone–one of the six Infinity Stones–from the planet Xandar, Thanos and his lieutenants: Ebony Maw, Cull Obsidian, Proxima Midnight, and Corvus Glaive, intercept the spaceship carrying the survivors of Asgard's destruction.^{[N 1]} After subduing Thor, Thanos extracts the Space Stone from the Tesseract, overpowers the Hulk, and kills Loki. Thanos also kills Heimdall after he sends Hulk to Earth using the Bifröst. Thanos and his lieutenants leave, destroying the ship.

Hulk crash-lands in the Sanctum Sanctorum in New York City, reverting to the form of Bruce Banner. He warns Stephen Strange and Wong about Thanos' plan to destroy half of all life in the universe, and they recruit Tony Stark. Maw and Obsidian arrive to retrieve the Time Stone from Strange, drawing Peter Parker's attention. Maw is unable to take the Time Stone due to an enchantment and captures Strange instead. Stark and Parker sneak aboard Maw's spaceship while Wong stays behind to guard the Sanctum.

In Edinburgh, Midnight and Glaive ambush Wanda Maximoff and Vision to retrieve the Mind Stone in Vision's forehead. Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, and Sam Wilson rescue them and they take shelter with James Rhodes and Banner at the Avengers' compound. Vision asks Maximoff to destroy him and the Mind Stone to keep Thanos from retrieving it, but Maximoff refuses. Rogers suggests they travel to Wakanda, which he believes has the resources to remove the Stone without killing Vision.

The Guardians of the Galaxy respond to a distress call from the Asgardian ship and rescue Thor, who surmises that Thanos is going after the Reality Stone, which Taneleer Tivan possesses on Knowhere. Rocket, Groot, and Thor travel to Nidavellir to enlist the aid of Eitri in creating a powerful weapon–the battle-axe Stormbreaker–while Peter Quill, Gamora, Drax, and Mantis travel to Knowhere, and they find Thanos with the Reality Stone already in his possession. Thanos kidnaps Gamora, who sees the Soul Stone on Vormir to save Nebula from torture. On Vormir, the Stone's keeper, Red Skull, tells Thanos that he can only acquire it by sacrificing someone he loves. Thanos kills Gamora, earning the Stone.

Nebula escapes captivity and asks the remaining Guardians to meet her on Thanos' destroyed homeworld, Titan. Stark and Parker kill Maw and rescue Strange. Landing on Titan, they meet Quill, Drax, and Mantis. Strange uses the Time Stone to view millions of possible futures, seeing only one in which the Avengers win. The group formulates a plan to subdue Thanos and remove the Infinity Gauntlet, which he uses to safely house the Stones. Thanos appears and justifies his plans as necessary to guarantee the survival of a universe threatened by overpopulation. Nebula arrives soon after and helps the others subdue Thanos until she deduces that Thanos has killed Gamora. Enraged, Quill attacks Thanos, inadvertently allowing him to break the group's hold and overpower them. Thanos grievously wounds Stark, but spares him in exchange for the Time Stone, at Strange's request.

In Wakanda, Rogers reunites with Bucky Barnes before Thanos' army invades. The Avengers, along with T'Challa and the Wakandan forces, mount a defense while Shuri works to extract the Mind Stone from Vision. Hulk refuses to fight after losing to Thanos, so Banner fights in Stark's Hulkbuster armor. Thor, Rocket, and Groot arrive to reinforce the Avengers and together they kill Midnight, Obsidian, and Glaive. The invading army routes, but Shuri is unable to complete the extraction before Thanos arrives. Maximoff destroys the Mind Stone and Vision, but Thanos uses the Time Stone to reverse her actions and rips the repaired Mind Stone from Vision's forehead, killing him. Thor severely wounds Thanos with Stormbreaker, but Thanos activates the completed Gauntlet by snapping his fingers before teleporting away.

Half of all life across the universe disintegrates, including Barnes, T'Challa, Groot, Maximoff, Wilson, Mantis, Drax, Quill, Strange, Parker, Maria Hill, and Nick Fury, though Fury is able to send an emergency signal on a modified pager.^{[N 2]} Stark and Nebula remain stranded on Titan while Banner, M'Baku, Okoye, Rhodes, Rocket, Rogers, Romanoff, and Thor are left on the Wakandan battlefield. Meanwhile, Thanos watches a sunrise on a peaceful planet.

 

Captsin America

Iron Man

Cast

·         Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man:
The leader and benefactor of the Avengers who is a self-described genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist with electromechanical suits of armor of his own making. Co-director Joe Russo explained that Stark "senses this greater threat approaching, so he is doing everything in his power to keep the Earth safe". Downey added that Stark has smaller goals than in previous films.

·         Chris Hemsworth as Thor:
An Avenger and the king of Asgard, based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name. Joe Russo stated that Thor's storyline picks up after the events of Thor: Ragnarok (2017), which finds him in a "very profound... very interesting place" with "real emotional motivation". At the recommendation of Hemsworth, writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely consulted Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi and screenwriter Eric Pearson to help carry over the comedic and tragic elements of the re-toned Thor from that film. Joe Russo said that Thor has "the driving hero's arc of the movie which stands in direct opposition to Thanos' argument" and would have been the main protagonist of the film had Thor killed Thanos.

·         Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner / Hulk:
An Avenger and genius scientist who, because of exposure to gamma radiation, typically transforms into a monster when enraged or agitated. Banner spends the film trying to reintegrate with the Avengers and "impress upon everybody how dangerous Thanos is" Joe Russo felt the Hulk refusing to appear for much of the film was only partially because he was scared, but also because he realizes that "Banner only wants Hulk for fighting. I think he's had enough of saving Banner's ass". Russo added that this was "really reflective of the journey from Ragnarok... [where] these two characters are constantly in conflict with each other over control". Banner's appearance in the film continues a story arc for the character that was established in Thor: Ragnarok and concludes in Avengers: Endgame, with the difference between Hulk and Banner "starting to blur a little bit". Ruffalo described Hulk in Infinity War as having the mental capacity of a five-year-old.

·         Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America:
The fugitive leader of the non-regulation faction of Avengers. A World War II veteran, he was enhanced to the peak of human physicality by an experimental serum and frozen in suspended animation before waking up in the modern world. Joe Russo said after the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016), Rogers struggles with the conflict between his responsibility to himself and his responsibility to others. The character embodies the "spirit" of the comic book identity Nomad in the film, and receives new vibranium gauntlets from Shuri to replace his old shield. An early draft of the film had Rogers first appearing at the end of the film to save Vision from Corvus Glaive in Wakanda. Markus and McFeely were called "insane" for waiting that long to introduce Rogers into the film and ultimately conceded it was "not  satisfying" approach.

·         Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow:
A highly trained spy, member of Rogers' faction of Avengers, and former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Johansson said that Romanoff's situation following Captain America: Civil War has been "a dark time. I wouldn't say that my character has been particularly hopeful, but I think she's hardened even more than she probably was before."^[25]

·         Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Stephen Strange:
A former neurosurgeon who, after a car accident that led to a journey of healing, discovered the hidden world of magic and alternate dimensions and became a Master of the Mystic Arts. Markus and McFeely described Strange as "[ending] up being the reasonable adult in the room" with the "widest perspective available".Julian "JayFunk" Daniels once again assisted Cumberbatch with his finger-tutting movements.

·         Don Cheadle as James "Rhodey" Rhodes / War Machine:
An officer in the U.S. Air Force and Avenger who operates the War Machine armor.^[29] Following his paralysis during the events of Civil War, Rhodes is given an apparatus by Stark to walk again, although he is reluctant to don his War Machine armor and rejoin the Avengers due to his injury. Cheadle believed that Rhodes is "negotiating this reunion and his rejoining this team". He also explained that Rhodes' relationship with Stark "deepened" from his accident, saying, "I think Tony feels somewhat responsible and culpable in a way. But again, he's always had my back in a way that only he could really have".

·         Tom Holland as Peter Parker / Spider-Man:
A teenager and Stark's protégé who received spider-like abilities after being bitten by a radioactive spider. Downey helped coach Holland through his death scene, which was not as drawn out in the script. Anthony Russo said, Downey "kept driving: put more and more emotion into it, and just went up to Tom and said, 'You don't want to go because you're a child. And you're using your strength as Spider-Man to fight this.' ... And then that was the performance that came out".

·         Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa / Black Panther:
The king of the African nation of Wakanda who gained his enhanced strength by ingesting the Heart-Shaped Herb. Boseman, along with the other actors from Black Panther (2018) portraying Wakandans, improvised their war chants on set ahead of the battle in Wakanda. Despite both Black Panther and Infinity War filming at the same time, the Russos were not aware of the chants, as they had not yet seen footage from Black Panther, and felt the moment was "incredibly cool".

·         Paul Bettany as Vision:
An android and Avenger created using the artificial intelligence J.A.R.V.I.S., Ultron, and the Mind Stone. Anthony Russo called Vision "a living MacGuffin. Obviously, that raises the stakes because Vision's life is in danger, and his life is in conflict with Thanos' goals, so something's got to give".

·         Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch: A member of Rogers' faction of Avengers who can harness magic and engage in hypnosis and telekinesis.

·         Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / Falcon:
A member of Rogers' faction of Avengers and former pararescueman trained by the military in aerial combat using a specially designed wing pack. Mackie noted that Wilson has a grudge with other heroes like Iron Man and Black Panther after the events of Civil War.

·         Sebastian Stan as James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes / Winter Soldier:
An enhanced soldier and Rogers' ally and best friend who reemerged as a brainwashed assassin after being thought to have been killed in action during World War II.^[36] Barnes, who formerly went by Winter Soldier, is given the name White Wolf by the people of Wakanda, who helped remove his Hydra programming.

·         Tom Hiddleston as Loki: Thor's adopted brother, based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name.

·         Idris Elba as Heimdall: The all-seeing, all-hearing Asgardian and former sentry of the Bifröst Bridge, based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name.^[38]

·         Peter Dinklage as Eitri: King of the Dwarves of Nidavellir, and weaponsmith, based on the Norse mythological dwarf of the same name.

·         Benedict Wong as Wong: A Master of the Mystic Arts, tasked with protecting some of Kamar-Taj's most valuable relics and books.

·         Pom Klementieff as Mantis: A member of the Guardians of the Galaxy with empathic powers.

·         Karen Gillan as Nebula: An adopted daughter of Thanos who was raised with Gamora as siblings.

·         Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer:
A member of the Guardians and warrior in search of vengeance against Thanos for killing his family. At the end of each day of filming, Bautista would have to sit in a sauna to remove his makeup.

·         Zoe Saldana as Gamora: A member of the Guardians who is an orphan from an alien world and was subsequently raised by Thanos, and is seeking redemption for her past crimes.^[44] Ariana Greenblatt portrays a young Gamora.

·         Vin Diesel as Groot:
A member of the Guardians who is a tree-like humanoid. Executive producer James Gunn explained that Groot is still an adolescent in the film, in the same state of growth seen in one of the post-credit scenes in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017). Terry Notary provided motion capture for Groot, and said the character is "coming of age, so you'll see the teenager find a mentor to look up to and to model himself after".

·         Bradley Cooper as Rocket:
A member of the Guardians who is a genetically-engineered raccoon-based bounty hunter, mercenary, and master of weapons and battle tactics.^[49] Sean Gunn was again the stand-in for Rocket during filming, with his acting and expressions serving as motion reference for the character.

·         Gwyneth Paltrow as Virginia "Pepper" Potts:
Stark's fiancée and the CEO of Stark Industries. Downey felt that "Pepper remains the heart of the [Iron Man] story", which was not a focal point in some of the preceding films with Stark. Downey continued that "we wanted to get back to that reality. Not just for them, but let's really see how that can add to the something-worth-fighting-for of it all".

·         Benicio del Toro as Taneleer Tivan / The Collector: One of the Elders of the Universe who is an obsessive keeper of the largest collection of interstellar fauna, relics, and species of all manner in the galaxy.

·         Josh Brolin as Thanos:
An intergalactic warlord from Titan who seeks all six Infinity Stones to destroy half of all life for the sake of "re-balanc[ing] the universe". Producer Kevin Feige added that Thanos believes the universe is becoming over-populated, which led to the destruction of his home moon Titan and is something he vowed not to let happen again, and also said "you could almost go so far as to say he is the main character of" the film. McFeely shared this sentiment, describing the film as his "hero journey" in addition to being the film's protagonist, stating, "Part of that is the things that [mean] the most to him. We wanted to show that. It wasn't just power; it wasn't just an ideal; it was people". Brolin likened Thanos to "the Quasimodo of this time" and the novel Perfume, since Thanos was born deformed and considered a "freak" on Titan, while Joe Russo would reference The Godfather (1972) for Brolin at times, which Brolin felt helped "to emotionalize the whole thing". Brolin further added that he preferred playing Thanos over Cable in Deadpool 2 (2018) because of the amount of work that went into creating the character. Thanos does not wear armor for most of the film, which is symbolic of his growing power as he collects the Infinity Stones. In addition to voicing for the character, Brolin performed motion capture on set.

·         Chris Pratt as Peter Quill / Star-Lord:
The half-human, half-Celestial leader of the Guardians who was abducted from Earth as a child and raised by a group of alien thieves and smugglers called the Ravagers. Pratt described his role in the film as a "guest star" appearance and said "you get to be a little more vibrant; a little more irreverent; a little bit more colorful if you want it to be"