A trailer for the start of production. Now that’s modern film marketing at its best if I’ve ever seen it. And yes, I’m as much a sucker for it as anyone. The hype has started for Avengers Infinity War, and Kevin Feige himself has confirmed casting and plot rumors.
In the past decade, the Marvel movies have woven together a pantheon of comic book characters like we’ve never seen before. Comic book plots are dense, convoluted, and downright long. Writers have so much back story to work from, it’s a wonder they can boil down and distill a character at all to a screen version. The films, from Iron Man to Captain America Civil War, have been some of the most anticipated blockbusters of movie history. Heart and humor, wit and action, and a focus on true characterization have complimented the big budget zeal.
Feige introduces a Marvel timeline that is already out of date.
Marvel’s Infinity War, the penultimate installment of the Avengers saga began filming a few weeks ago in Atlanta. Marvel head Kevin Fiege took to the camera and unleashed a blip of tantalizing footage from the set. In the “trailer,” he also confirmed what fans have been speculating since intergalactic overlord Thanos showed up at the end of the first Avengers film. The Guardians of the Galaxy misfits will team up with earth’s mightiest heroes in an epic slug it out battle to save…the world? The galaxy?
This movie will probably be the biggest A-list cast assembled ever (see what I did there). The sheer number of characters in Civil War was hard enough take in, but adding the equally star-studded Guardians group will blow some mind space. Throw in newcomers Doctor Strange and the yet unseen Captain Marvel, and I think I may get fangirl overload at some point. Bring it.
Don’t worry, Marvel’s pumping out plenty to fill the void until that day in 2018 when Infinity War opens. First up is Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2, Spiderman Homecoming, then Thor Ragnarok. Black Panther gets his stand alone, and then Infinity arrives. Ant-Man and the Wasp, the second installment of the surprisingly entertaining anti-hero will arrive shortly after Infinity War, making it the 20th film of the Marvel cinematic universe. Pretty hard to believe.
Infinity War is unprecedented in its scale. I just hope that doesn’t spread the script too thin. If writers aren’t careful they might leave viewers chasing kite tails of plot lines for the sake of name-dropping. Done well, this film could become more comic-like than any other: an explosion of favorite characters in a climactic battle that stretches across timelines and story arcs. Like that double page spread where everyone and their sidekick joins the battle. Let’s hope Marvel delivers.
