Earlier today, we reported how the full title of Avengers 4 is being kept under guard because it would spoil aspects of Avengers: Infinity War. Now, thanks to some loose lips during the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 press tour, that title may have just been revealed and it’s going to raise the eyebrow of many comic book fans…while meaning pretty much nothing to most civilians.
In the interest of guarding you from potential spoilers, we’re going you a chance to opt out right now. If you’re interested in the possible Avengers 4 title, here you go.
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Speaking with the BBC’s Lizo Mzimba, Guardians of the Galaxy star Zoe Saldana (who plays Gamora in the films) was asked about the current status of the third Avengers movie, which will see the Guardians join the fray. And she says this:
We’re in the middle of it, I think that the Guardians just shot their part when it comes to Infinity War’s, like, the first part. And we all have to go back for Gauntlet later this year.
Unless Saldana is mistaken, she just revealed the title of the fourth Avengers movie: Avengers: Infinity Gauntlet. And yes, it’s entirely possible that she misspoke. However, this makes sense for a number of increasingly spoiler-y reasons.
The First Wave of Spoilers
First of all, it should be noted that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has revealed the bare minimum about the film over the past few days, saying of Avengers: Infinity War and its sequel “They’re two very different movies. That’s all I’ll say.” When asked if the title is a secret for spoiler reasons, he added “Yeah, for sure.”
And now we have a sketch of why he may have been so cautious. The Infinity Gauntlet is one of the most famous storylines in all of Marvel comics and if it’s the basis of the fourth Avengers movie, we have a vague idea of where the MCU status quo lies at the end of Infinity War.
This is where we’re going to stop dipping our toe into spoilers and start to fully submerge. Proceed with caution.
The Second Wave of Spoilers
In The Infinity Gauntlet, the villainous Thanos (played by Josh Brolin in the films) acquires all of the Infinity Gems (or Infinity Stones in the movies) and crafts the item of the title, which gives him god-like control over the entire universe. He wipes out millions of lives in the blink of an eye and generally becomes more of a menace than usual. Naturally, it’s up to the Avengers and their allies to engage him in one last desperate battle.
There have been many jokes about how Thanos tends to sit around on this throne and not do much in the MCU movies, but this certainly implies that he’ll be making up for lost time in Infinity War. If the second movie is the actual Infinity Gauntlet storyline, then part one will surely be about Thanos’ quest to round up the Infinity Stones from the various corners of the Marvel universe, presumably while the Avengers try to stop him. And if the second movie is titled Infinity Gauntlet, then we know where Infinity War ends – with the heroes defeated and unable to stop Thanos from reaching his goal.
The Third Wave of Spoilers
Interestingly, Feige says that the films that follow Avengers 4 will be very different than what came before. We’ll talk about more about this in a second, but here’s the quote:
We’ve been lucky that [contract expirations] haven’t factored in too much. We’ve had people under contract for certain films, then we’ve had new ideas and new directions like Civil War like we wanted to do, and we’ve been lucky enough to make new contracts. … Certainly, as we get to Infinity War there is a sense of a climax if not a conclusion to, by the time we’re at untitled Avengers 4, the 22 movies that will have encompassed the first three phases of the MCU. And what happens after that will be very different. I don’t know if it’s Phase 4, it might be a new thing.
Since Avengers 4 (Avengers: Infinity Gauntlet?) will involve a villain with the ability to rewrite reality, does this mean we’re looking at something of a soft reboot of the entire MCU? With contracts set to expire for many actors, this is golden opportunity to shake things up: retire Robert Downey Jr. and the rest of the first guard and bring in a set of fresh faces to carry the torch in the wake of a final, universe-shattering battle with Thanos.
But we still have some time to see if there’s any truth to that. Avengers: Infinity War is filming right now for a May 4, 2018 release date.
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