We are only a few days away from the premiere of Avengers: Endgame and as the release date approaches and we reach the end of this journey, we want to look back on everything that brought us here. We’ve watched these heroes struggle, grow, and save humanity over the last ten years and want to share some of our favorite moments of their stories. We will be going through each phase in order, covering every movie leading up to April 26. This time we bring you the direct prequel to the events of Endgame in the form of our thoughts on Avengers: Infinity War (2018). This movie was a massive crossover, spanning different planets, timelines and characters, all of which had been introduced in past Marvel movies.
Here are some of our favorite scenes, things that definitely made us cry and other moments from the movie!
Nicole:
Infinity War is one of those movies where I am still digesting everything a year later and every time I rewatch it there is something else I notice. It speaks to the brilliance of the Russo brothers and all of the actors that it never becomes old or worn out. In Infinity War we see all our heroes working to defeat Thanos though, not all in the same place at the same time. Bruce called Tony when he crash landed back on Earth in the Sanctum so that puts Bruce, Tony, Doctor Stephen Strange, Wong and then Peter Parker whose “spidey senses” started tingling in the same place. Then we have Wanda and Vision who were attacked and then helped by Captain America, Falcon, and Black Widow. Tony and his team travel into space without Wong who is left in charge of New York, while Captain America and his team head to Wakanda to meet up with T’Challa and the Dora Miljae. Finally, we have Thor who meets up with the Guardians of the Galaxy after Loki’s death and the destruction of the Asgardians. Thor, Rocket and Groot split from the Guardians to get Thor a new weapon because Mjölnir has been destroyed. Peter “Star Lord” Quill, Mantis, Drax and Gamora go to try and stop Thanos before he can get the stone from the collector and Thanos takes Gamora. Peter and the remaining Guardians meet up with Tony, Peter and Doctor Strange in space, while Thor, Rocket and Groot go to Earth and Wakanda to help Captain America and his team including Bucky Barnes who had been recovering in Wakanda.
The fight in Infinity War was not meant to be an ending battle, rather it was the lead in to the final battle in Endgame. On Vormir, Tony strikes Thanos, drawing blood and almost removing the gauntlet from his fist, but when Peter Quill realizes that Thanos had sacrificed Gamora for the Soul Stone, he broke from the plan out of intense grief. Doctor Strange gave up the Time Stone telling Tony that it was the only way for them to win. Meanwhile, in Wakanda, Shuri is trying to remove the Mind Stone from Vision without killing him but they run out of time and Vision is thrown into the fight. Thanos appears in the woods outside of Wakanda and a battle ensues between he and Thor. Just like Tony, Thor had him down and strikes him with his new weapon, Stormbreaker. Thor doesn’t go for the head shot though, he strikes him in the chest instead, and Thanos is able to snap his fingers fulfilling his plan of eliminating half of the universe.
The entirety of Infinity War is my favorite moment, as there was not on second of it that I did not enjoy. But if I were to pick a moment that twisted my heart more than others, it was when Doctor Strange disintegrated along with Peter Parker after Stephen told him that it was the only way. The naked grief on Tony’s face was more moving than any of the other moments in the movie. I had teared up in a few places prior to that, but THAT scene made me openly sob in the movie theater and has every time I’ve watched it since then.
Conny:
Sitting here today writing these lines, I just have to think of two things: how terrified I was last year around this time while I was getting ready to see this film, and how much it has changed my life – for the better, mostly. Going into the theater I was anxious, nauseous and so psyched up that I couldn’t even react properly for the first fifteen minutes or so. Which means there had already been several crucial and devastating scenes and deaths – namely Heimdall and Loki, that I completely blanked on. I just couldn’t compute all the feelings, which kind of shows how important the Marvel movies have become for me in these past eleven years.
Even though it hurt so much, I’ve seen Infinity War many, many times and that is due to the fact that as heartbreaking as it may be, it is also a masterpiece of cinema in its storytelling, emotionalizing an audience and uniting the strings of so many story lines and plots into one cumulative, epic tale. We meet our heroes in the separate spaces they’ve become accustomed to in the past movies, Thor in space, The Guardians there with him, Tony Stark on earth with his fiancée Pepper Potts, Steven Strange in New York with Wong, Scarlet Witch and Vision on the run and Captain America, Falcon and Black Widow coming to their rescue. Of course there are new locations like Wakanda, where not only T’Challa and his people are housed, but also where Bucky Barnes a.k.a. The Winter Soldier has taken refuge after the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016). All these characters stand united against a common enemy: the mad titan, Thanos, who was collected almost all of the Infinity Stones and is now on his mission to eliminate half of the lifeforms in the entire universe.
Infinity War is an emotional journey, a big rear-up before the final battle of our heroes in Avengers: Endgame. And while I went into Infinity War expecting Iron Man or Captain America to die, all the other deaths hit me extra hard instead. I remember actually yelling when my favorite character disintegrated. We weren’t ready for what was coming, and as heartbreaking as it is, this is the power of great storytelling.
I have a couple of favorite scenes in this film, as depressing as it may be overall, it also showcases so many great relationships and developments in the lives of these characters we’ve come to love. Of course I’m biased and have to say the Steve and Bucky reunion in Wakanda was one of my favorite parts, because it was great to see them both healthy, happy and together – even if it was just for a few seconds. I also loved seeing The Guardians with Thor, their humor and comedic timing worked perfectly together. Another favorite part was Tony fighting alongside Doctor Strange, Wong and later Peter Parker a.k.a. Spider-Man in the first fight-scene on earth. Obviously the battle in Wakanda was another impressive part, mainly due to the action sequences, but mostly because it gave us iconic scenes between Steve Rogers and Thor (the little exchange about the beard, also Groot’s introduction and Steve’s reaction) and Okoye fighting alongside of Natasha and later Wanda.
Honestly, just writing about this movie is bringing all my emotions back and as I’m typing this, I’m getting ready to see Endgame in about five hours. My stomach is in knots. I’m not ready to say goodbye.
Sarah:
I loved this movie for bringing so many of my favorites together in one film, but at the same time seeing their fate at the hand of Thanos was heartbreaking. The looks on the faces of the ones that were left behind, you couldn’t help but cry along with them. With so many characters together, they did an excellent job of telling the main story of battling Thanos and keeping the infinity stones from him while telling the character specific stories as well. My favorite part is when Wanda goes and helps the others battling in Wakanda, and Okoye asks, “why she was up there all this time.” Then there is also the fact that Wanda manages to stop Thanos’ plan momentarily by destroying Vision and the mind stone. There was just so much heartache in this movie from all the characters, and that is what drew me in, the many layers.
Mikayla:
I have SO much to say about this movie, this final piece of a 10 year long puzzle and so many favorite moments that having to pick one was near impossible. This movie was the beginning of the end and for me, it makes it a little hard to watch. The characters that I grew up with, the plot lines that sometimes hit too close to home in our world, the little snippets of family in between the chaos. Marvel has spent 10 years of putting together characters and piecing together story lines, woven so intimately along, and going into this movie last year, there were a lot of expectations. Marvel had taken on a huge project to put together a puzzle and now they were in the final moments of finishing it.
They had to put all their players on bases so they could knock it out of the park. Avengers: Infinity War left the audience with bases loaded, two outs and two strikes, and they did it brilliantly. As cliche as it sounds, the Avengers have to break apart to come back together. They are like magnets, being forced apart in their pain and frustration (i.e. the accords, the truth behind the Starks murder, the government, Hydra, SHIELD), but just the right force of nature will bring them springing back to each other stronger than ever.
The movie ends with Thanos wiping out half of the world’s population and devastating the heroes, but before that, the movie has some epic scenes: one of them being the fight between Steve, Natasha and Sam vs. Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive. When it feels hopeless for Wanda and Vision, the three of them manage to incapacitate two of the Children of Thanos, without a care that Vision was technically against them. All that mattered was their family was in danger.
This film left the Avengers feeling helpless and at loss, because in a sense, they have never lost. Now, they are backed into a corner and chomping at the bit to get their friends and family back. Avengers: Infinity War left the audience with the remaining characters, heartbroken and trying to figure out what to do as the Endgame finally comes into play.
Emelie:
This movie broke me. The first time I watched it, Loki’s death made me blank so much that I missed around 15 minutes of the movie following that scene, and I left the theater crying, walked right into the Disney store next door and started crying even harder seeing all the Avengers merch. Naturally, I saw it four more times in the theater after that. Despite all the emotional trauma Infinity War caused, it is a truly great movie. Marvel was right in describing it as “the most ambitious crossover event in history”, with it’s huge ensemble cast and a story line that has been in the making since the start back in 2008.
Two moments in this movie stand out to me, and give me chills every time I watch them. First, Cap emerging from the shadows in the train station in Edinburgh, and the nano-tech suit taking shape around Tony Stark as he walks toward Cull Obsidian and Ebony Maw. Both scenes instill a sense of hope and confidence in the face of an oncoming threat, and both characters carry that mantle so amazingly well.
Stay with Nerds and Beyond for more Marvel moments as we count down to Avengers: Endgame!