As the nineteenth film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Avengers: Infinity War is the biggest box office opening ever in film history. With an extensive cast featuring characters new and old, Infinity War offers arguably the MCU’s most successful movie to date.
Infinity War was released on April 27 in the United States. The film made $257 million in domestic sales (meaning in the United States and Canada), and has grossed a total of 1.6 billion globally. The film beat out another huge Disney franchise blockbuster, Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), to claim the title of biggest box office opener. This film is well on its way to possibly reaching $2 billion worldwide. The success of the film in terms of money is apparent, but the story the film relays is what makes people eager to see it.
Coming in with a run-time of 2 hours and 36 minutes, Infinity War is the MCU’s longest film yet, and it definitely packs in the action. The film as a whole provides many interconnected storylines between almost every MCU character that has appeared on screen and brings back the great actors, such as Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, and many others that make the characters come to life. It showcases not only the Avengers, but also the Guardians of the Galaxy, who bring a new perspective to the film. The ability to relay these complex storylines all into one cohesive film is an incredible accomplishment. “The combination of new groups of characters that we haven’t seen before, while still keeping the integrity of their individual personalities, was really amazing,” said Karenna Hall, a senior at Cleveland High School and mega Marvel fan.
All these interconnected storylines are faced with the same ultimate threat: Thanos, a villain in the Marvel universe who has only appeared in snippets of other MCU films. This new villain (played by Josh Brolin) is the culmination of everything that the MCU heroes have been dreading to face, but the character brings a depth to the film not yet seen. Thanos has more power than any other villain in the MCU, which makes him the scariest threat. However, there is more to him than his power, and Infinity War shows this deeper side to the character. “I was very impressed with Thanos as a villain,” said Hall. “He’s certainly the most sympathetic villain that we’ve seen in the MCU, which added great dynamic to the conflict.”
Infinity War is no doubt a huge cinematic blockbuster that carries excitement for the future of MCU films. With the successful release of Black Panther in February 2018, and with Avengers: Infinity War being a enormous hit, the future looks promising for the MCU. The company already has an extensive list of future films in the making and films to be released soon. The next MCU film to come out will be Ant-Man and the Wasp (July 2018), followed by the highly anticipated Captain Marvel (March 2019), the MCU’s first film to showcase a female title character. “Captain Marvel’s powers are supposed to be some of the strongest we’ve ever seen in the MCU,” said Hall. “Having the first female-led solo movie in the MCU be with Captain Marvel is a great choice.” An untitled ‘Avengers 4’ will also be released in May 2019, most likely following the events of Infinity War.
Avengers: Infinity War was a huge smash, captivating viewers with mind-blowing cinematography, a compelling story, and a spot-on cast. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has many films on their way, and they should not disappoint.
