Thanos

This past summer I really wanted to do a post on Thanos. It was mainly in response to his appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy and news that Thanos wasn't going to be the main villain in Age of Ultron.

Now this was before I knew about the confirmation the storyline of the Infinity Wars and the pretty much confirmation that the Avengers were going to face off with Thanos in Infinity Wars.

I personally think this is a fantastic idea. It builds up Thanos, and while I think Marvel is still suffering from horrible villains, I think they can make Thanos a formidable villain for the Avengers by the time Infinity Wars comes around.

The Infinity Wars is suppose to be a culmination of all the phases and the collection of all the Infinity Stones into the mess of the Infinity Wars.

But my question is, what does Marvel do with their cinematic universe after Thanos is defeated and this culmination is wrapped up?

The sentiment of my friend, and honestly me initially, says that that's where Marvel should call it a day.

Marvel is in a position that has never been done before, a position of a muti character franchise that is only picking up steam with every movie. With the exception of Iron Man 2, Marvel has not come out with a bad film.

From a financial position, there's no reason for Marvel to stop after Thanos. If the Avengers are still making record breaking numbers by the time Infinity Wars comes out, there is no reason Marvel shouldn't continue to make more movies. Its obvious people will go to those movie until they are not worth seeing anymore. Its a case of supply and demand. People are demanding more Avengers movies, make more. Financially, it makes sense.

But a part of me that wonders about storyline makes me initially think that they should call it a day after Thanos is defeated.

From what I understand, Thanos is a Titan of incredibly evil proportions and he is the Avengers ultimate foe. He's the top of the food chain, the main baddy, and again, it makes total sense for them to squeeze in three (Actually four) Avengers movie in order to defeat him.

Now its another thing if they don't actually kill or defeat him in Infinity Wars, but c'mon, are they really going to drag this guy out that long.

The point is, Thanos is going to be defeated by the time Infinity Wars is over.

Maybe you have the Infinity Wars, defeat Thanos and that's the end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, at least for a little bit. Give us a phenomenal ending, then give us a little bit of a break. Enough time for us to sit with what we just watched, and wet our appetites for more... if that's actually what we want. Again, Marvel finds itself in a position its never been in before. Its going to get to Infinity Wars. There's no question about it. All the movies in Phase Three would have to make absolutely zero dollars in order for Infinity Wars to not happen.

The most likely scenario is that fans will stick around for all the movies, up to Infinity Wars.

After that, I'm not sure.

A sad prediction I might have is that after Infinity Wars, a large portion of the people who love these comic book movies will not watch anymore, partly because there's a very good chance the quality of films may drop (I'm not saying its going to be there's a chance Phase 3 films may not be as appealing to the general movie going audience) and futhermore, there might just be a fatigue of Marvel Superheroes. Comic book fans, and hardcore fans of the movie will go to the films no matter what, but unfortunately, the rest of movie going audiences might be sick of the Avengers for a couple years and may need that break I was talking about.

My prediction, they won't move straight into Phase 4 after Infinity Wars. There will be people that will say they should, and they might, I don't think they should.

But what would Phase Four look like?

Here's a modest guess. I'm guessing Iron Man doesn't make it past Infinity Wars. Maybe he dies, maybe he retires, maybe he gets lost in another dimension. My guess is that they'll keep him alive and have him make a cameo in a future film, but I think RDJ and Disney both want to find a way to get Iron Man out. RDJ had other goals, Disney needs to spend money elsewhere.

What's more, I don't think Captain America is going to make it out. Now this, I could be wrong. It could be Thor who doesn't make it out of Infinity Wars, but with the reports that say Chris Evans wants to possibly find a way out of the role, I think there's a possibility he doesn't make it out of Infinity Wars as well. This leaves one of the top three, Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America, still alive with the Hulk. Bruce Banner needs to live. I'll explain why in a little bit.

Then you have the secondary characters in Nick Fury, Black Widow and Hawk Eye. By the time Infinity Wars is over, I'm guessing one of them will be dead, if we're being modest. Not retired, not gone, Dead. Dammit Joss Whedon, kill someone off already. Which also makes me think that Hawk Eye is going to die in Age of Ultron. If another one dies in Infinity Wars, my money is on Black Widow only because Sam Jackson is one hard actor to get rid of.

So in my theoretical world, all that's left of the original phase one Avengers is Thor/or Cap, Bruce Banner, and Nick Fury/ or Black Widow.

Then you have the characters introduced in Phase three and Age of Ultron, and there are a lot of them. Very few of them will remain as the main ensemble of the Avengers. Lots of them will be one off films like Guardians of the Galaxy. I'm after all is said and done, my guess is that the main Avengers will be the ones I've mentioned before, Black Panther, Captain Marvel and Doctor Strange will be floating around but he won't be apart of the team. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are a little more tricky as I don't see them having a huge role in the future of the universe but you never know. Chances are at least one of them won't make it past the Infinity War and I don't think they'll be apart of the main group. Unless they're smash hits in Age of Ultron but we'll see I guess.

But the important part is the loss of the main members. Especially Iron Man and the other top three person who is eliminated.

They won the Infinity War, but at what cost?

Then there's the question of the Hulk.

You could tell in the first movie, you can kind of tell (all based on conjecture that is) that Bruce Banner is not trusted with his Hulk abilities. At the very least, there is conflict a brewin with the Hulk. I think by the time Infinity Wars wraps up, Bruce Banner will turn into somewhat of a villain. Not a full fledged villain, but a conflict that the Avengers need to take care of.

Maybe leading into Planet Hulk down the road?

I wrote in my rant on the new Marvel line up that I thought Bruce Banner was going to die. Well the more I'm hearing about Age of Ultron and Phase 3, makes me back away from that idea. Apparently the Hulk is going to be important in Infinity Wars...

That doesn't mean he can't be thrown up into space at the end of Age of Ultron. He could always come back for a temporary alliance and then fuck everything up in Phase 4. If you can't tell, I want World War Hulk to be a thing. I think I want more for Mark Ruffalo to come back from space and desire revenge more than I want to see him make a tribe of Hulk people in Space but you get what I mean.

Whether it be the Hulk, or a new threat to humanity, the team will need to reassemble again, but with a totally new line up. A line up under the guidance of the surviving members sure, but the focus will mainly be on the new members.

The Phase Four movies will be picking up the pieces left by the defeat of Thanos. It will be dealing with loss, accepting new roles, and eventually forming a new team to defeat the forces coming to take up the mantle that Thanos left empty when he was defeated.

Like I said in my post on Spider-man coming to the Marvel Universe, this would be a perfect time to bring in Spider-man into the Avengers. Peter Parker becomes the unlikely poster boy for the Avengers, especially if Iron Man and Cap are lost in the Infinity Wars. Spider-man can be the human symbol for hope in this very bleak world that was left weak and beaten even though Thanos was defeated.

The Avengers brand can just keep being reinvented, ESPECIALLY if the movies in phase 3 are done well. ESPECIALLY if Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Ant-man are all done well.

I'm thinking about going back and watching Phase one of the Marvel movies and seeing how many of them are actually good. Not good in the sense that they create something good for the universe, just good movies in general. I remember enjoying all of them, with the exception of Iron Man 2, but in comparison with movies like The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy, does Phase one really hold up?

Random thoughts aside, I'd be one hundred percent down with Marvel recreating itself in Phase 4. Yes maybe having a wise mentor from Asgard or Captain America coming in here and there to check in, maybe becoming the new Nick Fury. Imagine it, new Spider-man leading the helm, Chadwick Boseman playing Black Panther, maybe butting heads, Captain Marvel kicking ass above them, maybe even Paul Rudd will stick around be the wise cracking jokester of the group. Can you imagine that Avengers film? But if Marvel decides to continue after Thanos is defeated, Give us something different. Shake things up, start over!

That is actually an outcome of Phase four that gets me very excited. It allows for new heroes to shine, its a logical step once Thanos is defeated.

This is all conjecture of course. I'm not a story exec at Marvel. I'm not Kevin Feige. I don't know if Spider-man is actually coming to Marvel, I don't know if they're going to continue after Infinity Wars and even then, I don't know if anybody is going to die between now and then. (not literally die, in the universe). Looking at how Marvel has done things so far, there's a very good chance all the current Avengers might live. I was thinking I was being modest with my predictions of the fates of the original team but thats a lot of people dying, and a lot of really good actors out of a job.

I'm not so worried about that as much as I am worried about Marvel going on well past the time that they should have stopped. I don't think that was any time in the past and I don't think its coming any time soon, but I think one day it will happen. Marvel just needs to recognize when that day comes. I don't know when it is, but I can keep theorizing until then.

But what do you think? Where do you think the Marvel Universe is headed? What do you think is going to happen after Thanos? Comment and Discuss below!

I'll leave you with this. Marvel gave us a teaser for Ant man today... but its ant size... Enjoy!