As expected, Avengers: Infinity War crushed it at the box office. Fans around the world were treated to an incredible experience as the first part of the closing chapter began. For ten years, Marvel Studios has thrilled and amazed audiences with expertly crafted tales of trials and tribulations. Fans have come to expect the best and it’s usually delivered. In this regard, Infinity War was no different. Nearly six years after first appearing in the original Avengers film, Thanos came to earth in search of the Infinity Stones and plans to wreck anything that got in his way. Much in the same way, I wrecked my prediction and preview column for Avengers: Infinity War and I thought it would be fun to take a victory lap. Warning: Spoilers Ahead!
Prior to the film coming out, I dropped an article here on The Marvel Report filled with my predictions and guesses as to what would happen in Avengers: Infinity War. The purpose of the article was to test my ability to follow the trail of hidden clues and eggs left by Marvel Studios over the course of a decade. All in all, I didn’t do too shabby with my predictions. Some of them were miserably wrong, but others I nailed. I got enough right that you could consider this a victory lap, but count on there being some potholes that will cause me to eat it along the way.
As I do with my sports columns, I thought it would be fun to come back and revisit my predictions in an article. I will take myself to task on the misses, but I plan to have a giant beach party over the hits. Life is a tad more fun when you hold yourself accountable for predictions and previews. Given that I plan to do this again for Avengers 4, it seems prudent to give it a test run before rolling it out on a large scale. So without further ado, let’s explore what went right and what went wrong when I last predicted.
The Soul Stone is NOT in Wakanda:
As predicted, Wakanda remains a truly special place. The Great Mound was NOT powered by an Infinity Stone. The true source of the Vibranium asteroid that struck Wakanda is still unknown in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but it is clear now that the source of this power is completely separate from anything related to Infinity Stones. While a great battle still took place on the soil of Wakanda, the motives for that assault were entirely different than seeking out the Soul Stone.
Thanos goes go Wakanda to take the Mind Stone from Vision.
This prediction was bang on, as well. That being said, it was a fairly easy call to make. The previews pretty much painted a picture of Vision in Wakanda. The enormity of the battle as well as the personnel involved in the preview made this an obvious pivotal moment in the film. Why else would there be such a pivotal moment unless we were talking about the transfer of power via possession of an Infinity Stone? Process of elimination tells us it’s the Mind Stone, as Vision is shown in Wakanda and Dr. Strange is not.
Loki is Thanos’ first victim.
So, this one didn’t go our way. The consolation prize here is that Loki was the second victim. I probably should have foreseen someone else dying first to set the mood, but Loki seemed like such a logical target for Thanos’ first killing of major characters. Loki may have been Thanos’ first victim if not for Heimdall’s summoning of dark magic to save the Hulk. The God of Mischief had a chance to survive the onslaught, but he opted to try and attack Thanos, leading to his unfortunate death.
Peter Dinklage will play the Dwarf King, Eitri, who will forge Stormbreaker for Thor.
While many people had Dinklage voicing one of the members of Thanos’ Black Order, set photos and previews showing Thor using a forge meant somebody had to play the role of Eitri. Dinklage seemed like the perfect choice and he pulled off the role flawlessly. My prediction also stated that Eitri would help Thor forge Stormbreaker and that’s exactly what ended up happening. While Thor helped bring about an end to Thanos’ invasion of Wakanda, he blew a golden opportunity to end Thanos’ life. Since Thanos escaped, Thor is going to have to wait for his chance at revenge. In other words, he will seek future success rather than instant gratification.
Thanos forces Thor to watch Loki’s death.
Though this prediction came true, it wasn’t the most difficult thing to prognosticate. We knew Thanos had intercepted Thor’s ship. We knew Thanos had Loki at spearpoint and had Thor by the head. Since it seemed obvious that Loki was going to die, it only made sense for Thor to be forced to watch his demise. Being forced to watch his brother die is just the icing on the cake for Thor, who already had to see Heimdall killed. These deaths drive Thor all the way out to Nidavellir to create Stormbreaker, the only weapon the Avengers currently have that can kill Thanos.
Thanos and Tony Stark will both go to Titan.
This prediction felt like a bit of a reach when just watching the previews. We had a defeated looking Tony on a planet with an orange-ish sky. It could have been another work or it could have still been Earth at dusk. Nonetheless, Titan was a featured setting throughout Avengers: Infinity War and it played a significant role in the gathering of Infinity Stones. In the interest of being fair, Stark was far from the only person who ended up on Titan. He was just the only one we predicted would be there, but we missed on the part where we said he would be alone. He was not; Dr. Strange had saved his life and he was surrounded by allies.
Thanos will use the Time Stone to retrieve the Soul Stone from Titan sometime in the past.
This one was just botched. The theory seemed like a good one at the time as it incorporated several secrets in the Marvel Universe. It was not meant to be, though. Thanos did end up using the Time Stone to retrieve another stone, but he did so with the Mind Stone, which Scarlet Witch had destroyed in front of him. Thanos simply wound back time to moments before she had destroyed the Mind Stone, dispensed of the Scarlet Witch threat, and then ripped the stone clean out of Vision’s head, seemingly killing him in the process.
The close of my prediction column asked some pretty important questions facing Avengers 4. In the spirit of keeping myself honest, I wanted to post those thoughts below. Some of them rely on predictions made for Avengers: Infinity War, but the majority of them come from the plot devices likely to be featured in Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel. Given the knowledge we have from the third Avengers flick, the preview and prediction column for the fourth film should be something special.
So what does this mean for Avengers 4? Set photos have already confirmed the use of uniforms from previous films and wardrobes from different eras. It was very recently announced that Cassie Lang, Scott Lang’s daughter, was cast by a 16 year old girl. Sounds to me that the next installment will be all about time travel. I know you’re thinking, “but Josh, if Thanos has the Time Stone, how can the Avengers possibly do this?” The quantum realm. The quantum realm can not only allow for time travel, but it can also be access by both Ant-Man and Captain Marvel. How coincidental that is with our next two movie releases, Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel. My final theory of this article, in true Marvel fashion, the time travel component of Avengers 4 will reset the MCU and end Phase Three, opening the door for all new possibilities in Phase Four.
The picture of what will happen at the end of Phase 3 is going to become much clearer following the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel. As the previews for the films have already shown, the quantum realm is going to play a role in Marvel moving forward. Thanos will also have to battle the MCU’s most powerful hero in Captain Marvel. I will be releasing a preview and predictions piece for Avengers: 4, but I am just going to have to dance around my living room on the success of these predictions. I hope you all enjoyed and I will be back soon with more Marvel-ous guesses.