Marvel's Phase Three

[Aperson]

What a film. What's even more surprising is how many Marvel tropes this one avoids using and even breaks. It doesn't even have a happy ending...

 

Watching every film before this is worth it I think, they do reference all the previous films quite a bit. Thor Ragnarok in particular directly leads into this film.

[bob]

Shall we have a specific spoiler thread?

[Hero-of-Time]

Got to see this last night. Absolutely amazing film from start to finish and totally loved up to the hype. I may go back and see it again tomorrow. I have no idea how they are going to top this with the final part next year.

One of the lads pointed this out during our discussion about the film on the way home.

Spoiler

What happened to Valkyrie after she escaped with Thor at the end of Ragnarok? She was on the ship with them, right? If so, that means she was killed with the rest of the crew which seems a bit odd. She was a big character in the film and then to be killed off screen in Infinity War is very weird.

 

[Eddage]

2 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Got to see this last night. Absolutely amazing film from start to finish and totally loved up to the hype. I may go back and see it again tomorrow. I have no idea how they are going to top this with the final part next year.

One of the lads pointed this out during our discussion about the film on the way home.

  Thor Ragnarok and Infinity War Spoilers (Hide contents)

What happened to Valkyrie after she escaped with Thor at the end of Ragnarok? She was on the ship with them, right? If so, that means she was killed with the rest of the crew which seems a bit odd. She was a big character in the film and then to be killed off screen in Infinity War is very weird.

 

 

Spoiler

It's a bit strange as it appears that they all die but then later in the movie Thor, when explaining to the Guardians about the stones Thanos already has, says that Thanos stole the space stone when he destroyed his ship and killed half of his people. So I guess it's possible that Valkyrie is still alive...

I absolutely loved this film, it gave me everyone that I wanted. I have now seen it four times and still want to see it again 

Edited April 29, 2018 by Eddage

[Julius]

Just got back from seeing the film for a second time (in IMAX - if you haven’t seen it in IMAX already, I can’t recommend that you do so enough; you’re quite literally missing out on 26% of the film otherwise!), and I can’t say much else from what I said before. I might try to go again a third time this week, if I can make the time for it.

I don’t know what else I’d honestly want to discuss, with or without spoiling the film, but I am curious about how you guys think Avengers 4 might go down next year? I think I’ve got a rough idea or two. 

I mentioned it before, but it’s worth saying again: this film completely recaptured the sense of awe and majesty that I had when I first saw Star Wars; it’s so well paced and executed, and the score is marvellous (no pun intended). Somewhat tragically, Silvestri is getting next-to-no recognition for his score elsewhere, so I’ll continue to sing his praises here. 

Also, if anyone’s a box office trivia/follower like I am, weekend estimates (actuals expected tomorrow afternoon) are really worth taking a mental note of. Infinity War has already broken numerous records - and has yet to release in China:

• ~ $250 million opening weekend domestically (i.e. in North America) is expected to just about beat the previous opening weekend record of $247 million, set by The Force Awakens in 2015. 

• ~ $630 million opening weekend worldwide blasts away the previous record of $541 million, set by The Fate of the Furious last year. 

• ~ $380 million opening weekend internationally is second only to The Fates of the Furious’ $443 million, but again, this was achieved without the film opening in China. 

Oh, yeah: and it made more at the box office in its opening weekend than Justice League did in its entire run last year domestically, and is only $30 million shy (probably less, considering that Disney always undercuts with their weekend estimates) of beating its entire worldwide run. 

Edited April 29, 2018 by Julius Caesar

[Julius]

An update on the weekend actuals and where that leaves Infinity War so far, from The Hollywood Reporter:

Quote

• Biggest Domestic Opening of All Time

Avengers: Infinity War earned $258.2 million in its first weekend, besting fellow Disney title Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($248 million). Sunday's estimate was $250 million, but thanks to a huge Sunday, the final gross was revised upward.

• Biggest Worldwide Opening of All Time 

The tentpole debuted to $382.7 million overseas for a global blastoff of $640.9 million — $100 million more than the previous record holder, Universal's The Fate of the Furious($541.9 million).

Thanks to a day-and-date debut in China — where Infinity War doesn't open until May 11 — Fate of the Furious still boasts the top international opening with $443.2 million (which included $184.9 million from the Middle Kingdom). Infinity War ranks as the No. 2 foreign bow of all time.

• Biggest Superhero Opening of All Time

Marvel's The Avengers was the previous record holder for top superhero launch in North America ($207.4 million), while Warner Bros. and DC's Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice($422.5 million) held the global crown.

• Biggest Saturday of All Time in North America

Fueled by word of mouth, Infinity War took in $83 million on Saturday, well ahead of the previous record holder, Universal's Jurassic World ($69.6 million). The latter had the advantage of opening in the heart of summer, when kids were out of school.

Infinity War's Friday haul was $106 million, the second-best showing ever behind Force Awakens ($119.1 million).

• Biggest Sunday of All Time in North America

Infinity War earned $69.2 million on Sunday, well ahead of Force Awakens ($60 million).

• Biggest Opening of All Time in Numerous Markets

Infinity War scored the highest debut ever in South Korea ($39.2 million), Mexico ($25.1 million), Brazil ($18.8 million), the Philippines ($12.5 million), Thailand ($10 million), Indonesia ($9.6 million) and Malaysia ($8.4 million). In India ($18.6 million), it was the biggest bow for a Western title ever and has already surpassed the entire runs of The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War. It also has already topped the first Avengers and Ultron in the Philippines.

• Other notable accomplishments

Infinity War was the No. 2 debut of all time in Australia ($23 million), behind Force Awakens.

Infinity War notched the best start for a superhero pic in France ($17.7 million), Germany ($14.7 million) and Spain ($8.3), while it was the second-best superhero showing in Italy ($11 million).

Leading all foreign markets with $42.2 million was the U.K./Ireland, where Infinity War now boasts the third-biggest launch of all time, including the biggest Saturday ever.

It’s absolutely nuts how well it’s performed considering the time of year that it released, and also because virtually no-one was predicting it to break TFA’s record by what is now such a clear margin. 

As has been the norm since the dawn of the blockbuster, Lucasfilm has congratulated Marvel Studios on their record-breaking accomplishments. 

With Avengers 4 and Episode IX releasing next year, it’s being widely touted that this record won’t stand for long, but we’ll just have to wait and see. It would definitely be awkward for Marvel to congratulate themselves next year in the event that Avengers 4 breaks the new record, though  

Edited May 1, 2018 by Julius Caesar

[MindFreak]

Well.. I saw it yesterday and really enjoyed it - mostly the first 1.5 hours or so but the rest was still enjoyable. I have some observations, though.

Spoiler

Well, first of all, I find the mass extinction incredibly weak, and unfortunately that is because of our real world movies. Spider-man Homecoming 2 is announced, Black Panther 2 is a natural way to go and such. Hence, I don't believe it for a second and unfortunately, that takes down the effect of the action in the movie. THere is no doubt in my mind that they will somehow revive all of those killed by Thanos and the infinity stones at that point - Gamora and Loke are dead, though, I believe that.

 

Then I didn't enjoy the final big fight against those hordes of monsters in the end that much. How did that purple goblin dude gain entry to the room where Vision was held? Why was Black Widow at the battlefield - she should be utterly useless against such monsters. Why don't Wakanda have some kind of automatic defence that could target the hole in the barrier with some gatling gun or explosives? And you can get through it by digging under it? Wow....

 

I did like Thanos and his plan. It is actually a noble cause. That's a good thing and makes him far more believable as a villain. However, why doesn't he just not create food for everyone? Or is that not in the power of the infinity stones? I find it a bit weird.

These points are just me nitpicking, I enjoyed it nonetheless. Now I want the second movie to come out asap - one year is a long time to wait for the second half of this movie!

[bob]

 

1 hour ago, Julius Caesar said:

It would definitely be awkward for Marvel to congratulate themselves next year in the event that Avengers 4 breaks the new record, though [emoji14] 

 

You're acting like another similarly huge and popular film isn't about to be released next week, and won't break the record before then...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 1, 2018 by bob

[Julius]

Also, poster:

Edited May 1, 2018 by Julius Caesar

[MindFreak]

That's a good trailer. I enjoyed Ant-Man as a movie but didn't like the hero at all. Will probably watch this on Netflix like I did the first.

[bob]

Trailer looks awesome. Antman as a concept is really cool, and I'm glad that it looks like they're having a good play around with what those powers could do. I wonder how much of a bump it's going to get from the first one just due to the IW boost, and people hoping for clues as to how IW2 turns out.

[Happenstance]

Just got back from the cinema. Thought Infinity War was brilliant! Can’t wait for Avengers 4 now.

[Cube]

Infinity War was brilliant.

 

In bad news, Ant-Man has been delayed by a month in the UK due to some people kicking a ball around in Russia.

[Julius]

2 hours ago, Cube said:

In bad news, Ant-Man has been delayed by a month in the UK due to some people kicking a ball around in Russia.

And The Incredibles II. And Jurassic World: The Lost Kingdom. 

If that’s really the reason, then it’s such an odd one, because, while I’m sure that there’s some overlap between the World Cup and Hollywood blockbuster audiences, there are obviously going to be those (read: at best, a large minority) who don’t care for the World Cup whatsoever, so it seems an odd move for that reason. 

However, Ant-Man and The Wasp would have been due for release on June 28th for us (based on previous MCU release dates in the U.K.; we typically get them a week earlier on the Thursday), and the England vs. Belgium game on that evening is at 19:00. Not only is there the rest of the day before that, but it’s not expected to be doing Infinity War numbers anyway, so it would have the weekend to recover from a potential “low figure”. 

But yeah, I understand why they’re doing it (even though I think it’s odd). I personally don’t mind a delay for these films (though I’m sure many will) - if we were talking about Avengers 4, Toy Story 4 or Captain Marvel, it would be a different story altogether - but it will be difficult to avoid spoilers for those wanting to go into the film without knowing anything. 

[BowserBasher]

Just seen Infinty War. Loved it. Amazing film. I actually didn’t realise the way this and the next one had been set out so I was going in blind. Made for a great viewing though. Can’t wait for the next one. 

Spoiler

What was the logo/icon that was sent on the phone at the very end. Didn’t recognise it.

 

[Londragon]

Just seen Infinty War. Loved it. Amazing film. I actually didn’t realise the way this and the next one had been set out so I was going in blind. Made for a great viewing though. Can’t wait for the next one. 
Spoiler What was the logo/icon that was sent on the phone at the very end. Didn’t recognise it.
 

Can’t do spoiler tags on my phone, so it’s for an upcoming Marvelous hero.


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

[Julius]

7 hours ago, BowserBasher said:

Just seen Infinty War. Loved it. Amazing film. I actually didn’t realise the way this and the next one had been set out so I was going in blind. Made for a great viewing though. Can’t wait for the next one. 

  After credits scene (Reveal hidden contents)

What was the logo/icon that was sent on the phone at the very end. Didn’t recognise it.

 

In case you’re still a little lost after @londragon‘s hint: 

Spoiler

Captain Marvel (AKA Carol Danvers)

She’ll be portrayed by Brie Larson in Captain Marvel next March in something of a prequel set in the 90s, before appearing in Avengers 4. Her presence could set up a lot of cosmic/sci-fi elements vastly different to that of the heroes we already have set up, so it’ll be interesting to see how and where she fits in (supposedly as the only one with an inkling as to how they can go about getting everyone back).

Hope that helps  

[BowserBasher]

Thanks @londragon and @Julius Caesar I had heard the title of that but never looked into it. 

[bob]

 

Pretty good round-up of the Marvel Universe so far.

 

One thing that stands out when watching that is the quality of the music - Black Sabbath from Iron Man, Run the Jewels from Black Panther, Led Zeppelin from Thor 3, the entire GOTG soundtracks, all the way to Ant Man and the Wasp theme, which i'm absolutely loving.

[Happenstance]

I love videos like that. Reminding me just how amazing this shared universe has been.

[Ronnie]

Enjoyed Infinity War a lot, but as with the vast majority of MCU films, it's pretty forgettable (apart from the last ten minutes). Fun and entertaining popcorn film though, I just doubt I'll remember anything about it in a few years time. I can't remember a thing about Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and I only watched that a few months ago lol

[Helmsly]

 

Edited May 8, 2018 by Helmsly

[Daft]

Infinity War was entertaining. But, that was not Thanos. Thanos is not an anti-hero. He is not trying to save the universe. And it really irks me that they can get away with changing a character so fundamentally and everyone's just dandy with it.

The run on from this, is that the story makes no fucking sense. If Thanos has the Infinity Gauntlet and can reshape reality then the issue of the universe's 'finite' resources because null and void. He could literally wish everyone a Big Mac if he really wanted. Why does killing half the universe make any sense at all? It doesn't.

This is a hangover from Thanos' real intentions and character in the comics; his unending crusade to woo Lady Death (the physical manifestation of Death). And the reason why killing half the universe makes sense there is because her brother is Eternity and they must exist together. The snap is the most cosmically overblown romantic gesture ever and its great. It makes no sense in the film.

 

Thanos is a nasty, cruel, unforgiving, mutant tyrant. Not whatever this crappy Disney villain was.

 

Watching these Marvel films is like one of your friends telling people your anecdotes but they've got the details all wrongs and they've forgetten why they were telling it in the first place. They're a bunch wish-washy, pseudo-emotive films with virtually no intelligent or memorable points to make.

 

Entertaining and pretty forgettable trash. Worth the price of admission but not really worth thinking about. But yeah, I enjoyed the ride a lot.

Edited May 8, 2018 by Daft

[Sméagol]

Looks like Thanos would have won the dance-off.

Edited May 9, 2018 by Sméagol

[Fused King]

Does anyone think that it might be Tony who will utter the famous 'With great power, comes great responsibility' line to Peter in Avengers 4?

Given that Stark is kind of Pete's male role model in the cinematic universe, and the line would suit Tony well right before he sacrifices himself or something...