Earth’s mightiest heroes and their allies will join forces in an attempt to defeat the Mad Titan, Thanos, and his quest to end half the universe in the Marvel film “Avengers: Infinity War,” which premieres Friday.
After 10 years and more than 18 adaptations, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has created a movie world with a plethora of information, superheroes and villains that may be a handful for fans to digest.
With that being said, The Rider will provide several key points to keep in mind ahead of the release of “Avengers: Infinity War.”
THANOS
In the comics, Thanos is an Eternal, an evolutionary race of beings who possess greater powers and longer lifespans than humans. His motives to destroy a majority of the universe is to impress and court the embodiment of Death.
Although not much is known about his origin in the MCU, his motives are different.
He is from a planet named Titan that is no longer inhabited “because of things that he thought he could help prevent,” but was not allowed to do, according to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige.
All inhabitants from Thanos’ planet became extinct and the Mad Titan vowed to never let that happen again. He believes the rest of the universe is following the same path Titan did.
Basically, he wants to save one half of the universe by destroying the other.
It is also unknown exactly how strong Thanos is in the MCU, but he has been described as “the most powerful being in the universe” (2014’s “Guardians of the Galaxy”).
But how exactly does Thanos plan on destroying half the universe?
INFINITY STONES
In order to accomplish his mission, the Mad Titan will have to assemble the Infinity Gauntlet, an item used to channel the power of the six Infinity Stones.
The MCU describes the Infinity Stones as the most powerful artifacts in the universe that come from the remnants of the six singularities–space, mind, reality, time, power and soul–that existed prior to the Big Bang.
However, not everyone can hold an Infinity Stone in their hand. As seen in “Guardians of the Galaxy” and 2011’s “Captain America: The First Avenger,” a normal being can perish if it attempts to use a stone’s power.
The Infinity Stones can only be wielded by beings of extraordinary strength or by harnessing their power with certain items, such as Loki’s scepter (2012’s “Avengers”) or the Eye of Agamotto (2016’s “Doctor Strange”).
What are their powers?
The Space Stone can be used as an energy source to create weapons and/or to open portals from anywhere in the universe.
Essentially, the Space Stone can provide its users the ability to transport themselves, or an entire alien army, anywhere they please.
The Mind Stone can grant its wielders the ability to control the minds of other beings.
In 2015’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” the Mind Stone was also used to bring Vision to life and gave Scarlet Witch her powers of mind control, hallucinations, dream invasion and forced delusions.
The Power Stone is strong enough to annihilate entire planets.
It amplifies any strengths of its user and boosts the powers of the other Infinity Stones in the gauntlet, at least it does so in the comics.
The Time Stone can be used to see into the past and future, rewind and freeze time, as well as create time loops.
In the comics, the Time Stone allows its wielders to age or de-age anyone or anything they choose and, enhanced by the Power Stone, can grant them the ability to exist in all times simultaneously.
It is unknown if the MCU’s version of the Time Stone will grant the same power.
The Reality Stone was first introduced to the MCU in 2013’s “Thor: The Dark World” as the Aether. Its power is self-explanatory: the ability to control reality.
For instance, users can kill half of all living creatures in the universe with a snap of their fingers if they choose.
Although it has yet to make an appearance in the MCU, many fans have come up with different theories of the location of the Soul Stone and its powers.
If the MCU sticks to the comic version of its powers, the Soul Stone has the ability to capture and/or manipulate souls, as well as return them back to life.
THE BLACK ORDER
With an abundance of heroes ready to defend the universe, Thanos may need help collecting all six Infinity Stones.
As movie trailers have shown, Thanos’ Black Order, known as Cull Obsidian in the comics, will make an appearance in “Avengers: Infinity War.”
In the MCU, members of the Black Order are also referred to as the children of Thanos, a group that once contained Gamora (at one point his favorite daughter) and Nebula, two characters from the “Guardians of the Galaxy” who betrayed the Mad Titan.
The Black Order is a group of evil aliens who act as Thanos’ enforcers. It is composed of Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight, Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian.
Glaive owns a sharp, spearlike weapon that can cut through almost anything and can also, at least in the comics, make him immortal while holding it.
Midnight also uses a spearlike weapon. However, her spear turns into light and rarely misses its mark.
Maw’s abilities are different than his other group members as they focus on manipulation, infiltration and mind control.
Lastly, Obsidian, who is known as Black Dwarf in the comics, serves as the Black Order’s powerhouse and possesses brute strength and powerful skin.
HEROES’ WHEREABOUTS
“Captain America: Civil War” (2016) created a separation among some members of the Avengers. Captain America himself was last seen helping his Civil War team members–Falcon, Ant Man, Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch–escape prison.
While it is unknown where exactly all the mentioned characters are, it is safe to assume Falcon and Captain America are together, with Black Widow probably on their side.
Iron Man was last seen in “Spider-Man: Homecoming” (2017) about to propose to Pepper Potts. He is most likely still in the New Avengers Facility in upstate New York, alongside War Machine and, possibly, Vision and Scarlet Witch.
Spider-Man is still in Queens, New York, while Black Panther is in Wakanda, hiding Bucky.
Doctor Strange now serves as the master of the New York Sanctum.
The Guardians of the Galaxy are still traveling through space like Thor, Loki and Hulk, the latter which are making their way to Earth from millions of miles away.
Who knows where Stan Lee will pop up throughout the adventure.
Whether the Avengers and their allies will prevent Thanos from collecting all six Infinity Stones still remains a mystery. Nonetheless, Marvel fans only have to wait a few days to find out how the story unfolds.
Only one thing is certain, “it’s all been leading to this.”
