So You're Gonna See Avengers: Infinity War

The Avengers avenging. photo courtesy of variety.com.

An 18-movie, 10-year spanning Marvel Cinematic Universe TL;DR.

SPOILERS FOR ALL PREVIOUS MARVEL STUDIOS MOVIES. NO SPOILERS FOR INFINITY WAR.

THE BASICS

The Avengers stop fighting aliens in New York to pose for a sweet group shot. photo courtesy of youtube.com.

     The Avengers are a team of superheroes who come together to face Earth’s most dangerous threats. The roster includes Iron Man/Tony Stark, a billionaire who wears a technologically advanced metal suit, Hulk/Bruce Banner, a brilliant physicist who turns into a green rage monster when he gets angry, Thor, a powerful member of an alien race who has lightning powers, Captain America/Steve Rogers, a guy from the 40’s who gets enhanced abilities from a super soldier serum, Hawkeye/Clint Barton, a guy who shoots bows and arrows, and Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff, an elite secret agent. Along the way, the group picks up several new members and a variety of allies.

Thanos (Josh Brolin), the big bad villain of Avengers: Infinity War. photo courtesy of denofgeek.com.

     In Avengers: Infinity War, the group is challenged by Thanos, one of Marvel’s most formidable enemies. Directly or indirectly, Thanos has been behind the villains of the two previous Avenger movies, but now he’s looking to take matters into his own hands by collecting the six Infinity Stones. Each of the Stones are sources of monumental power, but together they make the wielder nearly invincible… which would be a bad sign for the Avengers. More on the Infinity Stones later.

MAJOR STORYLINES

IRON MAN

Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) with one of his many suits. photo courtesy of theverge.com.

     Before he was captured by the terrorist organization called “the Ten Rings” and invented the first Iron Man suit to escape, Tony was a total, self-absorbed jerk. After that point, he’s still sort of a jerk, but he’s got a conscience. As Iron Man, Tony’s journey is about self-acceptance and responsibility: first, he has to come to terms with his tumultuous relationship with his father, and second, he shoulders the burden of using his gifts to protect other people—and make up for his own mistakes. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, his dedication to protecting Earth from alien threats led him to accidentally create the evil robot Ultron, and the Avengers had to mop up the mess. In Captain America: Civil War, he pushed away many of his closest friends, putting himself in a vulnerable position for Infinity War.

War Machine (Don Cheadle) lies on the battlefield after facing "Team Cap." photo courtesy of geektyrant.com.

     WHERE WE LEFT THEM: Iron Man currently operates out of Avengers HQ in upstate New York, and he recently got engaged to Pepper Potts (the CEO of Stark Industries). His old bodyguard, Happy Hogan, and his pal War Machine/Col. James Rhodey, who wears a suit similar to the Iron Man suit, are probably close by. War Machine is learning to walk again after sustaining devastating injuries in Civil War.

HULK

Hulk (Mark Ruffalo; previously Edward Norton) prepares to smash things. photo courtesy of awn.com.

     The Hulk has it rough. He tends to hurt the people he loves when he turns into a giant, green, uncontrollable rage monster, so he keeps them at a distance. He left his old girlfriend Betty Ross high and dry, and he did the same to his more recent girlfriend, Black Widow. Bruce tries to manage his condition from within, but keeping the Hulk at bay is easier said than done. In Age of Ultron, he lost control and put thousands of civilians in danger. Feeling responsible, Bruce left the Avengers behind, and he spent an unprecedented two years as the Hulk before Thor could find a way to turn him back. Now he’s back in square one: unsure of whether he can control the Hulk at all.

Liv Tyler as Betty Ross in The Incredible Hulk. photo courtesy of marvelcinematicuniverse.wikia.com.

     WHERE WE LEFT THEM: Hulk is a passenger on board the last ship out of Asgard, along with Thor and the remaining Asgardians. Betty Ross hasn’t been seen since Bruce abandoned her way back in The Incredible Hulk, and General “Thunderbolt” Ross, who led the chase for Hulk, was last seen coordinating the U.N.’s effort to control the Avengers. Bruce’s old scientist associate, Dr. Sterns, developed a genetic mutation that has yet to be addressed.

THOR

Thor (Chris Hemsworth) wields his hammer, Mjolnir. photo courtesy of amazon.com.

     As the prince of Asgard, Thor juggles his duty to rule with his impulse to be on the front lines. At one time Thor was all too eager to take the throne, but ever since his father Odin gave him a lesson in humility, he’s been more concerned with protecting the people he loves. For a while, that was Jane Foster, a scientist on Earth, but they’ve broken up. Now, it’s his fellow Avengers and his perpetual frenemy/adopted brother, Loki. When Odin died, Thor returned to Asgard to deal with his long-lost evil sister Hela. To beat her, he had to sacrifice a lot of things: Mjolnir (his powerful hammer), his right eye, and Asgard itself. Now, Thor is the de facto king of the surviving Asgardians on their way to Earth.

Thor and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) have a complicated relationship. photo courtesy of marvelcinematicuniverse.wikia.com.

     WHERE WE LEFT THEM: Thor leads the last Asgardians on board their ship, but he’s on a collision course with Thanos’s flagship (putting everyone on board in serious danger). Loki and Hulk are also there, as well as Thor’s allies Korg (a rock-like creature), Valkyrie (a talented and frequently drunken warrior), and Heimdall (who can see all things). Jane Foster and her interns Darcy and Ian haven’t been seen since they helped Thor stop Malekith in Thor: The Dark World, and Dr. Selvig was last spotted in Age of Ultron, aiding Thor in deciphering his Infinity Stones vision. Lady Sif, one of Thor’s long-time Asgardian buddies, was absent for Thor: Ragnarok, so we don’t know what’s she’s been up to recently.

CAPTAIN AMERICA

Captain America (Chris Evans) with his trademark vibranium shield. photo courtesy of telegraph.co.uk.

     Steve Rogers gained his superpowers as the result of an experiment back in World War II. In the 40’s, he spent most of his time fighting an evil organization called HYDRA… until he crash-landed his plane into ice, which preserved his body in stasis for 70 years. In modern times, things still aren’t easy; Steve keeps coming in conflict with the institutions and allies he once trusted. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, he discovered that SHIELD (the secret organization he worked for) had been infiltrated by HYDRA, prompting him to dismantle both organizations in one fell swoop. In Civil War, he took a stand against the U.N.’s attempt to control the Avengers, which lost him the support of the government, the help of many of his friends, and his trusty shield (made of the indestructible metal vibranium). While Steve adjusts to life as a fugitive, he’s also been helping his old pal, Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier, who was brainwashed to be a HYDRA assassin until Steve set him on the road to recovery.

Cap faces off against Iron Man in Captain America: Civil War. photo courtesy of variety.com.

     WHERE WE LEFT THEM: Most recently, Steve rescued his allies from the Raft (super-criminal prison), where they had landed after choosing his side in Civil War. Among others, he saved his friend Falcon/Sam Wilson, an ex-military pilot who operates a high-tech wingsuit. His love interest/ex-SHIELD agent Sharon Carter was last seen saying goodbye to Steve in Civil War, and Bucky Barnes is recovering in Wakanda, having just been healed by Wakanda’s futuristic technology.

THE AVENGERS

The team takes down a HYDRA base. photo courtesy of collider.com.

     As a group, the Avengers’s story is about putting aside differences to face Earth’s most dangerous adversaries. They overlooked their internal disagreements to stop Loki’s invasion of Earth in The Avengers and to beat Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron. But their fractured relationships reached a breaking point in Civil War, where different Avengers (minus Thor and Hulk, who were in space) found themselves on opposite sides of the law. For Steve and Tony, the conflict was also personal; Tony found out that Steve’s friend Bucky had killed his parents back when Bucky was brainwashed by HYDRA. When Thanos comes to Earth in Infinity War, the group is at its lowest point.

Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) helps Cap escape in Captain America: Civil War. photo courtesy of popwrapped.com.

     WHERE WE LEFT THEM: Many of the secondary Avengers and their allies are scattered. Hawkeye/Clint Barton (who, by the way, has a family hidden on a secret farm) and Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff (who can manipulate reality and mess with people’s minds) were among those rescued from the Raft by Captain America. Black Widow is a fugitive after switching sides to help Steve escape toward the end of Civil War. Vision, a powerful android made of vibranium, still lived in the Avengers base with Tony as of Spider-Man: Homecoming, despite being separated from his gal Scarlet Witch. Nick Fury and Maria Hill, two of the leaders of SHIELD, haven’t been very visible since SHIELD and HYDRA collapsed in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. We last saw them lending a hand to the Avengers in Age of Ultron. Another SHIELD agent named Phil Coulson, died in The Avengers, but he’s since returned in a Marvel TV show, so it’s technically possible he could show up again.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

The Guardians face off against Peter's evil dad. photo courtesy of in.ign.com.

      The Guardians of the Galaxy are a group of super-powered misfits who protect the cosmos. There’s Star-Lord/Peter Quill (a human with fancy gadgets), Gamora (an alien modified to become a lethal assassin), Drax (a powerful alien), Rocket Raccoon (an artificially engineered talking raccoon who’s good with technology), Groot (a tree-like alien), and Mantis (an alien who can feel people’s emotions and put them to sleep). At their core, the Guardians movies are about the group learning to be a family. In Guardians of the Galaxy, the members started as jaded, self-centered outcasts, but the threat of Ronan the Accuser brought them together. In Vol. 2, external pressures put their bond to the test: the group navigated sharp disagreements, Star-Lord confronted his evil father, and Gamora reconciled with her sort-of-sister Nebula (who, like Gamora, was kidnapped by Thanos as a young girl and turned into a killing machine). You know, typical family things.

Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) with his trademark mask and twin blasters. photo courtesy of marvel.com.

     WHERE WE LEFT THEM: We last saw the Guardians of the Galaxy at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, after the group defeated Peter’s father. At that point Nebula left the group to track down Thanos and exact her revenge. Because Vol. 2 takes place several years before Infinity War, it’s actually been quite a while since we’ve seen what they’re up to.

ANT-MAN

It took Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) a while to get the hang of it. photo courtesy of amazon.com.

     Accomplished thief Scott Lang was fresh out of prison when a scientist named Hank Pym recruited him to be the new Ant-Man. Hank gave him a suit that uses a secret formula to shrink or grow the wearer at will. In Scott’s eyes, being Ant-Man represents a chance to set his record straight, which is important because Scott has a daughter, Cassie, and a new girlfriend, Hope van Dyne (Hank’s daughter). In Ant-Man, Scott used the suit to stop Darren Cross from exploiting the Ant-Man technology, though one bad guy got away with the secret formula. In Civil War, he picked Captain America’s side of the conflict, which got him imprisoned along with the rest of Cap’s crew.

Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) looks at the Wasp suit. photo courtesy of geektyrant.com.

     WHERE WE LEFT THEM: Ant-Man caught a break when Cap rescued him from the Raft, but we haven’t seen him since. Hank Pym was last seen giving the Wasp suit to Hope, kickstarting her superheroic ambitions. Ant-Man’s friend Luis is unaccounted for after the events of Ant-Man, and Hope’s mother, Janet, has been lost in the mysterious Quantum Realm since the 80’s.

DOCTOR STRANGE

Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) fights dark acolytes. photo courtesy of movieweb.com.

     Before he was a master of the mystic arts, Stephen Strange was a world-class surgeon and an insufferable egomaniac. But when he permanently injured both hands in a car accident, Strange was forced to look for help from unorthodox sources. His search led him to Kamar-Taj, where the Sorcerer Supreme known as the Ancient One taught him magic and some humility. With the help of a powerful relic known as the Eye of Agamotto (which houses the Time Stone!), the cloak of levitation, and some powerful new friends, Doctor Strange outwitted the interdimensional evil being known as Dormammu. Along the way, he revealed his new abilities to his on-again-off-again girlfriend Christine Palmer (also a doctor). Now he protects the Sanctum Sanctorum in New York, one of three Sanctums around the world that safeguard the earth from mystical threats—a mission that’s especially important since the death of the Ancient One in Doctor Strange left Earth more vulnerable to attack.

Doctor Strange (Benediction Currycomb) with the Eye of Agamotto and cloak of levitation. photo courtesy of vulture.com.

     WHERE WE LEFT THEM: Doctor Strange most recently helped Thor find Odin during Thor: Ragnarok. He spends his time honing his magic and keeping track of potential threats. His friend and fellow sorcerer Wong is around somewhere, and Christine Palmer probably isn’t far away, either. Karl Mordo, who helped train Stephen, turned his back on Strange and made it his mission to defeat his fellow sorcerers.

SPIDER-MAN

Spider-Man (Tom Holland) in his Stark Industries suit. photo courtesy of polygon.com.

     Peter Parker is your typical teenager/wall-crawling superhero. He just wants to use his abilities to help people, but when he joined “team Iron Man” in Civil War, his world got a lot more complicated. On one hand, he got a sweet tech upgrade. On the other, he’s been living in Tony Stark’s shadow ever since. Spider-Man: Homecoming was about Peter learning that heroism isn’t about any advanced suit—it’s about the hero inside it. After proving himself by defeating the Vulture/Adrian Toomes without any help from Iron Man, Peter turned down an offer to join the Avengers, choosing to forge his own path instead. He may not live in the Avengers HQ, but he’ll be a crucial ally to the team when Infinity War rolls around.

Peter Parker and Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon). photo courtesy of m.aceshowbiz.com.

     WHERE WE LEFT THEM: Spider-Man is currently chilling in Queens, going to school and being a hero on the side. His friend Ned Leeds knows he’s Spider-Man, Aunt May just found out, and his friend MJ is still in the dark. Meanwhile, the Vulture knows his secret identity, but has resisted revealing it to other inmates in prison.

BLACK PANTHER

Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) and T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) in Black Panther. photo courtesy of usatoday.com.

     As king of the isolated, technologically advanced nation of Wakanda, T’Challa is charged with protecting Wakanda’s people and legacy, but he often finds that doing what’s right is never cut and dry. When his father T’Chaka was killed during the events of Civil War, T’Challa’s desire for revenge blinded him, but he was able to put revenge aside and bring the perpetrator, Baron Zemo, to justice. In Black Panther, Erik Killmonger’s challenge to his reign helped T’Challa realize that Wakanda has the responsibility to help others in need, rather than protecting itself at all costs.

T'Challa's sister, Shuri (Letitia Wright), is said to be smarter than Tony Stark. photo courtesy of popsugar.com.

     WHERE WE LEFT THEM: T’Challa is busy promoting Wakanda’s international outreach. As far as we know, Nakia (his love interest and a Wakandan spy), Okoye (leader of the Dora Milaje elite bodyguard force), Shuri (T’Challa’s sister and a technical genius), and Ramonda (the Queen Mother) are hanging around Wakanda and/or serving Wakandan interests abroad. Other Wakandan players include M’Baku (the leader of the isolationist Jabari tribe), W’Kabi (a traitorous friend of T’Challa), and Everett Ross (a friendly CIA agent)… all of whom we haven’t seen since the battle in Black Panther.

DEAD PEOPLE

Peggy Carter's (Hayley Atwell) funeral. photo courtesy of marvelcinematicuniverse.wikia.com.

     Among the dead are Scarlet Witch’s brother, Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver (who was super-fast), Thor’s group of friends known as the Warriors Three, Thor’s parents Odin and Frigga, Cap’s old flame Peggy Carter, the original Groot (the new Groot is actually his child!), Star-Lord’s Ravager mentor Yondu, Doctor Strange’s mentor known as the Ancient One, and T’Challa’s father T’Chaka.

VILLAINS

Loki is Marvel's longest-running villain. photo courtesy of screengeek.net.

     Most of the villains within the Marvel Cinematic Universe are dead, but some are still around (or unaccounted for) at the time of Infinity War. Hulk’s rival, the Abomination, lives in a containment cell somewhere. General Ross, who was obsessed with capturing the Hulk, recently oversaw the U.N.’s effort to control the Avengers in Civil War. Justin Hammer, an enemy of Iron Man’s, is in prison. Loki’s with Thor on the Asgardian ship. Red Skull, one of Captain America’s old enemies, accidentally teleported himself somewhere into the cosmos at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger. Baron Zemo, who tried to tear the Avengers apart in Civil War, is currently imprisoned by a joint terrorist task force. Dormammu remains in the Dark Dimension after his plans to consume Earth were foiled by Dr. Strange. Karl Mordo is thinking up sinister plots on his way to becoming Doctor Strange’s archenemy. Ayesha, an enemy of the Guardians, occupies herself by creating a new weapon called “Adam” to defeat them. Vulture landed himself in prison after going toe-to-toe with Spider-Man. Thor: Ragnarok’s Grandmaster was last seen crash-landing back on Sakaar, trying to characterize the Sakaarian revolution as a “draw.” And, of course, Thanos is about to start his campaign against the Avengers, starting with Thor and his Asgardian pals.  

THE INFINITY STONES

Thor's vision of the Infinity Stones in Avengers: Age of Ultron. photo courtesy of marvelcinematicuniverse.wikia.com.

     The Infinity Stones are a set of six powerful, ancient gems that have different colors and different abilities. At different times and in different places, the Avengers and their allies have encountered each of the stones except for the orange Soul Stone, which has yet to be introduced.

     As things stand before Infinity War, the stones are scattered around the Universe. The blue Space Stone (which lets you teleport at will) was stolen by Loki on his way out of Asgard, so it can be found with the surviving Asgardians on board their ship. The yellow Mind Stone (which lets you control minds) was used to bring Vision to life, and it sits in his forehead. The red Reality Stone (which lets you manipulate reality) remains in the faraway vault of a character known as the Collector. The purple Power Stone (which gives you power) is on the planet Xandar. The Xandarians are a fairly civilized and strong people, so the Power Stone should be relatively safe in their keeping. The green Time Stone (which lets you control and manipulate time) is contained within the Eye of Agamotto, a relic protected and occasionally used by Dr. Strange. Thanos will attempt to mount the Stones in the Infinity Gauntlet, which allows the wearer to wield all six at once.

Watch the trailer here.