Avengers: Infinity War
Where does the MCU go from here?
by Phil Perich for the Capes and Lunatics Blog
According to the financial figures, it seems like all anyone saw or talked about this past weekend was the new Avengers: Infinity War movie. Now the big question is, where does the Marvel Cinematic Universe and it’s characters go from here? I’m going to speculate but be warned there are spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen the movie!
Who Takes Down Thanos?
As anyone who saw the movie this weekend knows, Thanos succeeded in his quest to possess all of the Infinity Stones and used them to make half the population of the universe disappear just as he did in the original Infinity Gauntlet Marvel comic miniseries.
But since Thanos’s victims include Spider-Man, Black Panther, and most of the Guardians of the Galaxy who all have been confirmed to be starring in sequels, it’s pretty much written in stone that all of the victims who vanished will return in next year’s still untitled Avengers 4.
But in what form will Thanos’s defeat arrive? In the Infinity Gauntlet miniseries Nebula was able to take the gauntlet from Thanos and nullify his power. Will Nebula be the one to stop Thanos and save or avenge her sister Gamora?
Introducing and Presenting…
Thanos’s downfall could present itself in the form of a new arrival to the MCU, Adam Warlock. Adam is the artificially created being who is most associated with the Infinity Gauntlet and stones next to Thanos. With the MCU set to go more cosmic with the introduction of more cosmic characters, could we see Adam Warlock appear to stop Thanos when none of our current heroes can? Adam has spent time on the world in the Soul Stone, could that be where he is currently residing?
And if Adam appears, will he create his Infinity Watch team to safeguard the stones as he did in the comics? We already have two of his teammates in the MCU in the form of Gamora and Drax.
Enemy of My Enemy
With Thanos’s mission completed, will he surrender the Infinity Stones willingly? Are his scheming ways behind him? Years before his death, the original Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell) was arch-enemies with the “mad” Titan.
For those who don’t know what the end credit scene meant, we are going to get the debut in March of the current Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers in the MCU. Will this Captain Marvel be the MCU Thanos’s number one arch enemy?
The Good, The Bad, and The Future
If the MCU follows the Infinity story arcs from the comics and we do get Adam Warlock, we could see Adam wrest the gauntlet from Thanos. When this happened in the comic books, Adam used the gauntlet to remove all good and evil from himself. The heroes of the Marvel Universe then had to first battle Adam’s evil double, the Magus, and later Adam’s good side the Goddess, who wanted to bring “enlightenment” to the universe.
And the minds behind the MCU have also stated they want to expand the cosmic side of the movie universe. We have already seen versions of the classic future versions of the Guardians of the Galaxy in the Guardians of the Galaxy 2. There are also rumors of one of the Earth Novas making a debut. Could we see an entirely cosmic “Infinity Crusade” with the just a large group of space heroes battling Thanos or another interstellar threat? Could we see further MCU adventures throughout space AND time?
So what do YOU think? Where do you think the Marvel Cinematic Universe is going and which characters would you like to see appear from the comics (I have my heart set on Quasar!)
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