Film - Avengers: Infinity War

Destiny arrives as Kraig Taylor-Bryant takes a look at some of the characters in Avengers Infinity War (Editor's note to Thanos:- There are NO spoilers)...

So, I watched Infinity War, and this is definitely the kind of film that should not be spoiled for anyone. It’s so dark and questioning but I wanted to write a spoiler-free article, so I felt as if the best way to do this would be to focus on how the characters have developed leading into Infinity War, as there really isn’t much else to talk about without giving away the plot or the deaths of certain characters. So let’s start with the development of the original Avengers, and how they’ve changed leading into this film.

Starting off with Captain America. From his first film, as well as the first Avengers film, we can tell that he changes leading into the films that follow, such as Captain America Civil War and then of course, Infinity War. In Infinity War you can expect to see, not so much a soldier giving or taking orders as such, but simply a man who cares about his friends and will do anything to protect them. He starts to follow his own morals more than he does the government, or even members of the current official Avengers, as there are many moments in which he makes a choice that is to ‘not trade lives’, as always, setting a great example for kids. It’s also interesting how he has grown in being able to trust others. From the first Avengers film we see him starting off by trusting Nick Fury and starting to question his judgement when he finds out about Shield’s other contingency plans for defending the Earth. In Infinity War, you will see a man who truly doesn’t trust a government or the initiative anymore, he trusts his own judgement, and will protect his friends over anything else.

We also have the Hulk and his development through many films. The one we know from the Incredible Hulk film in 2008 clearly doesn’t like anyone, maybe he would hesitate in killing the ones who are no longer a threat to him, but that’s after he changes over the course of the film. There is, however, one thing that remains the same from the Incredible Hulk film, which is that the Hulk doesn’t have any friends; Bruce Banner has a love interest, but pretty much everyone throughout the Hulk film, hates him. But we see him develop also, as he starts by being out of control in the first Avengers film but, over time, becomes a little more controlled as the films progress. In the fight sequence towards the end of the first Avengers film, he starts to care a little more about fighting the enemy, and recognises who his allies are, although at this point he doesn’t truly realise the harm he’s causing whilst fighting, such as when he tears through an office building to kill a bunch of enemies in style, but from there he starts to get a little better. In Ragnarok, it’s a little more obvious when he is defending the people of Asgard from Hela and the demon that is unleashed on Asgard and foretold to destroy it. He fights both of these enemies without causing harm to the people unintentionally. He even gains a friend in Thor, as even Thor himself clearly prefers Banner in the first Avengers film and he sees the potential harm Hulk could cause rather than the asset he could be and, leading from this, he sees him more as a joy to fight than an actual friend. But after fighting together to protect the Asgardian people in Ragnarok, he’s clearly changed for the better, and in Infinity War, you will see some real emotions in Hulk, that completes his development by making him feel things about other characters.

Thor is another character that develops quite a bit across the films. He’s grown as a character from when we first meet him in the first Thor film, where he is almost like the Hulk in how he resolves issues such as their quarrel with Jotunheim (home of the frost giants). In the first fight of that film he goes there by choice to fight them with no goal other than to intimidate and threaten them, causing his own ‘act of war’ when he thought that a few frost giants trying and failing to steal something was. From this point he develops a little, though not completely as, in the first Avengers film, he cares so much about resolving issues with Loki and ensuring he is no longer a threat, more than how he harms those he could consider allies, as he easily thinks that keeping Tony away from Loki is best done with his hammer than by talking or negotiating. But as the film goes on, he then ends up fighting with them, much like the Hulk, and you will see this clearly in Infinity War when he first meets the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Loki is also a very significant character, as he definitely grows from being a man who seeks power or has the hunger for ruling over others. We see a lot of this in the first Thor film, as well as the first Avengers film. However, through Ragnarok, he still causes a bit of mischief but ends up choosing to help Asgard. At the same time, he still wants to be a leader of sorts and guides the arena warriors of Sakaar to protect Asgard and help his brother, which also shows that he does care about others more than actually ruling them, as well as showing that he does still care about his brother, which is still shown clearly in Avengers Infinity War.

Iron Man also develops a little more throughout the films. From the start of the mention of the Avengers initiative with the Iron Man films, it’s clear how self-absorbed Tony Stark is, and how bad he is at working with others. He also develops through the first Avengers film and starts to learn to follow the orders of others, such as when Captain America is giving out orders to all of them in the end fight sequence. This is also very clear in Captain America Civil War, as he agrees with the government, that the Avengers need to be controlled, when he sees the damage that the Avengers can really inflict without cooperating with the government. And we will start to see him as the same caring guy in Avengers Infinity War, through all the serious events that unravel throughout this film, and how he communicates with the Guardians after some difference of opinion, showing how much of a team player he has grown into.

As far as Hawkeye and Black Widow go, we see next to no character development from them leading into Infinity War, which I hope we start to see in the film that follows, so let’s move onto the Guardians of the Galaxy and how they have changed over time, both positively and negatively. 

One of the characters that seems to have developed a little poorly throughout Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and Infinity War from when we see him in the first Guardians film is Drax the Destroyer. He begins as this warrior with a vengeance for losing his family, but he starts to become a bit too much of a character for comedic purposes as we go into Guardians 2, and then that’s continued in this film in the scenes where he has the most lines. But alternatively, we also see that he has almost grown to care about the Guardians as if they are family and the humour kind of shows that he has grown to become a more positive character, which is still good, but it would be great to see him a little more seriously in a film such as Infinity War.

Partnerships such as Gamora and Peter Quill (Star Lord) and Groot with Rocket is pretty significant throughout Infinity War, as this film targets the emotions of fans of these relationships, and you will really see the feelings that these characters have for each other. These are relationships that have been built up from the first Guardians film onwards, such as seeing Groot’s connection with Rocket, and the feelings that Peter clearly has for Gamora, and you really see the climax of those in this film, and what these characters would be willing to do for each other. Whilst on the subject of Peter Quill and Gamora, Gomora’s interactions with Thanos in Infinity War are just perfect because, on many levels, Thanos is not the villain that anyone expected, we see a caring side as well as a monstrously evil side to him, and that dynamic of emotions almost sounds like it shouldn’t work, but it does, and both of those sides are most prominent when he is having this conversation with his daughter when he finally comes across her on screen, which was hinted after Guardians 1 when she is working for Ronan.

Speaking of Thanos, what’s most interesting with him about this film, is that it is constantly hinted to us that he is to be the big bad that is somehow even worse that Ronan, even more intimidating, so much so that a man like Ronan would work for him for a time. What Thanos has that Ronan doesn’t however, is a conscience, and that’s very surprising in a villain because we really don’t see that as often in the Marvel Universe or many mainstream films in general. I reckon when people walk into the cinema, or press play on their remote to watch this film for the first time, they may even find that they understand Thanos, and where he is coming from. The directors of Infinity War, the Russo brothers, did an incredible job with this character, and there are moments now after reflecting on this where I can almost see him as more of the protagonist of the film than the antagonist, and that’s what brings out a clear theme that there is more than one way to be a hero and it’s all about what you define as being one.

After walking out of the cinema for the first time, you might be wondering what I thought of Infinity overall. Well it’s definitely a film that needs to be watched more than once as the film progresses past the moments of reflection that you usually get time for in other Marvel movies. But from the first watch? The film was a wonderful sight to behold and will make many fans glad that they held off killing characters in the films leading up to this one. This film really doesn’t hold back, and there is no way of preparing for it.

Follow Kraig on Twitter @Kraigandhismac

Images - IMDb