
fter a decade of building hype around the collection of six infinity MacGuffins, and a lot of doubt surrounding Thanos‘ ability to meet fandom’s expectation beyond that space chair he firmly planted himself upon, the Mad Titan finally decimated Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in Avengers: Infinity War. Whatever skepticism percolated in your brain as you walked out of the theater, in the moment, when Peter Parker ashed in the arms of Tony Stark, we were all balling at this impossible cliffhanger villain victory. What was all that fervor about the MCU’s antagonist problem? Solved? Malekith is still trash.
Five minutes into his big coming out party and Thanos was already slaying Asgardians and putting the Hulk in his corner. In a franchise built on protagonists persevering despite their failures, the gargantuan purple mo-cap monster delivered a catastrophic climax in which not only the costumed crusaders had to absorb, but the audience as well. The Russo Brothers twisted the knife even further when they closed the nightmare on a contented smile from the righteous maniac. Thanos won.
A year later, and we’re eagerly anticipating the big fix that will return Black Panther, Spider-Man, and the Guardians of the Galaxy to their billion dollar sequels. In a universe populated with Time Gems, Quantum Realms, and Captain Marvels, Phase 3 will not be the end of The Avengers. Duh. The mighty will return, and Thanos will have that smug smile wiped from his face. Of course, yes, we’re all worried about Steve Rogers. He sure does fetishize that sacrifice play.

























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