The SPOILER filled "why is there not an Infinity War thread yet" thread - Keep it in here!

Do they plan on replacing the actors for the different characters once this ark is over? Will it be like a new beginning, or continuing just with another main story?

@horgen:

Black Panther is a must see.....would even have worked as a standalone superhero movie.

Really looking forward to ant-man and the wasp, the first movie was quite good.

I doubt that anyone not involved with Marvel or Disney really knows much about this, but I suspect that it's not just going to be a switching up of actors. At least, not for a while. For starters, while some actors have just been replaced (such as Terrence Howard and Edward Norton), I expect that the actors who are expected to be leaving have become so identified with the characters that they're playing that Marvel won't do a recast for a while. Like, with a Han Solo movie coming out, I'm sure you've probably heard lots of comments about how they just can't accept the new guy as Han Solo. To a lot of people, Han Solo IS Harrison Ford. And I think that Marvel knows this. Tony Stark IS Robert Downey Jr. Captain America IS Chris EVANS. Some characters just get recast, but I think the current Big Characters that are expected to go are going to be gone for a while. I think it's clear that the next "phase" of Marvel movies is going to mostly revolve around the new guys.

One day maybe. I am slow on these movies. I haven't seen either Winter Soldier or Civil War.

That makes more sense. I hope they keep the kid as Spiderman a little longer.

I guess I'm having Marvel fatigue... I hated Black Panther, I wanted to walk away from it midway through. Infinity War was okay at best. Sure it has awesome effects, some nice fights and a few jokes, but it just didn't "reach" me. Probably mostly because the stories get worse and the characters less interessting.

@horgen:

I'm sure they will keep Holland on.

The future looks like Guardians, Spider-Man, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Ant-Man/Wasp, etc., I'm ok with that.

@horgen: winter soldier was fantastic, at least imo

Don't forget Doctor Strange!

I feel like some characters that have been around from close to the beginning still have plenty of life in them. Bucky, for example, has had major character arks in more recent movies and it would be a waste to let him go so soon. From being a best friend to a villain, and barely now sinking in as an official Avenger, there's plenty of life left in him. There's been a rumor of a Black Widow movie and from the sounds of it that rumor might actually be coming true.

With that said, I think the new face of the Avengers will definitely be something like: Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Spider-Man, Ant-Man, Wasp and Captain Marvel.

I think characters like Black Widow and Bucky will stick around for a while longer, maybe they will perform as a reminder of the legacy of the first team. Even if Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and Hulk might not always be around anymore, characters like Black Widow will always be talking about older times to remind both the audiences and newer Avengers what the first crew was like.

That would be pretty cool. Though I am guessing she is one of the more boring heroes in Avengers.

I am undecided about Doctor Strange.

Boring? Sure she does not have any superpowers, she just kicks a lot of ass - it is undisputed that Black Widow might be a fan-favorite character in the series for many people. Fans have been wanting a Black Widow movie for many years. So if one came into reality, I think it would be a big success.

I suggest you watch more MCU movies. As evidence is shown in this thread, you missed out on many of the great ones.

Maybe some. Iron Man 2 and 3 worth watching? I want to watch them all, but damn, it is difficult to find time to do so.

If you got the time to watch all of them, I'd say do it.

Although if I were to give you my list of MCU essentials, here it is:

Iron Man

Marvel's The Avengers

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Guardians of the Galaxy

Captain America: Civil War

Doctor Strange

Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2

Spider-Man: Homecoming

Thor: Ragnarok

Black Panther

Avengers: Infinity War

Those are just among my own favorites within the MCU, although definitely watch others including the first Captain America movie, Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, etc. If you watch all of them, you will see more and more this umbrella narrative style. Hawkeye for example is introduced in the first Thor film, and Vision is first in Age of Ultron. The Reality Stone is in Thor: The Dark World, etc.

I hate, hate, hate this logic. The biggest problem is that it basically means we can't get any movies from a certain character once an actor leaves. Are you a huge Captain America fan? Wish they would make three Cap movies per year? Well, tough luck, cuz Chris Evans is leaving, so no more Cap films at all! Let's never mind that characters like Hulk and War Machine have been recast, let's never mind that X-Men recast basically its entire crop of characters. Hell, one of the biggest film properties in Hollywood has basically made a sport out of speculating who is going to be recast as the titular hero. The idea that one actor just is a character irks me to no end.

That being said, I would like to see a fresh take on some of these characters. One of my biggest disappointments in comics has been what Marvel recently did to its reboots of its popular characters (Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Wolverine, Spider-Man), basically saying "we tried something new, but now we're scrapping all that and going back to exactly the same thing we've been doing since 1961." I would love to see some of those new characters show up and replace the outgoing actors on the big screen.

It's hard for me to say because I just love comic book characters, so even the bad movies I'm willing to watch again and again. I would actually say for the most part you can pretty much skip any individual superhero's movie. I liked Thor 1+2, but they're not spectacular and pretty inconsequential to the overall plot (they do impact it, but not more than a couple of lines of dialogue can makeup for). Cap 1 is pretty forgettable. Most people think that Iron Man 2 and Hulk are among the worst of the bunch. I personally cannot stand Iron Man 3, but some people enjoy it. I'd say that the must-watch movies are Avengers, Avengers 2, Guardians of the Galaxy, Civil War, and Infinity War, and everything else is up to you to decide if it appeals to you or not. I'd almost put Guardians 2 here as well, but Drax just ruins that entire movie for me. God, I hate Drax.

How could you hate Drax and his laugh?

Missing those 4 movies then. I got Winter Soldier on blu-ray... Spiderman is coming. Hopefully they are all better than Justice League.

Lol well do you look at the ones you have seen on the level of Justice League? I don't think it will be that hard to be better than the DCEU.

Of the ones that you haven't seen yet, Civil War and Winter Soldier are among the best in the whole MCU. In many ways, I like Civil War a little more than Infinity War but they're both also very different types of movies. Civil War remains grounded with Earth without all the space and more out-there elements of the MCU. The fighting choreography is among the best in the series, in my opinion. One of the most impacting and memorable fight sequences in the entire MCU is in Civil War. There are multiple memorable fight/chase sequences here that are just impacting to that inner-comic fan and all these things make it one of the best comic book movies, period.

He's just a walking, talking joke. I could go in to all the poop and sex jokes in Guardians 2, the points where they completely kill dramatic moments, but to me the biggest example of Drax being too ridiculous is that scene in Infinity War where he claims to have mastered invisibility. It's literally like they took Charlie Sheen's brain and stuffed it inside of Dave Batista.

@theone86:

Let's say that you're given the job of continuing a long-going story, like Star Wars or something. You know that a lot of the actors playing the characters aren't going to be around for you to use for much longer. What do you do? Keep the core characters central to the story and then do a straight-up recast of someone as important as Luke Skywalker in the next movie? Or do you use the time you've got as a transitioning period to shift the focus to the new characters while you get Luke Skywalker out of the way (or push him into an increasingly smaller supporting role)?

If you've got the luxury of writing out a character THAT important, then you essentially write them out. Marvel has that luxury. They don't NEED to do a recast. Characters like Tony Stark have been hogging the spotlight and there are plenty of newer characters who need their time to shine.

War Machine and Hulk don't compare. They're supporting characters, while characters like Captain America and Iron Man are more like the glue holding the films together.

@theone86:

I don't know man, loved that invisibility scene, the whole audience was laughing. To me the movie was a great mix, and thankfully they kept the Thanos part serious, because it is.

Hmm.....a typical Marvel movie. Action and jokes. I like it but there were so many plot holes that I can't take give it high marks. They had several ways to stop Thanos but did not of it. Also we know movies are coming out for the major characters they erased so it hadn't any stakes at all.

I thought that scene was just stupid fun. But mostly it was his laugh that did it for me.

Because I like the DC universe as well. Their movies needs to improve though.

@jaydan:

I loved Winter Soldier (one of Marvel's best) but didn't care much for Civil War, a dissapointment for me. I probably should have given it a 2nd chance though.

Yeah, I really enjoyed the movie. But for was annoyed by Quill failing twice. The first time, I get and understand and can have empathy. But the second time, man, come on! Have some composure!

I can't praise a movie where the heroes give up.

Hulk is not a supporting character. And they recast James Bond all the time. He is the star of the franchise, pretty much the only character that is in every movie. It can be done. I agree that Iron Man and Cap have been hogging the spotlight, I'm just saying that if Downey had quit after Iron Man 2 and said eff the contract they could have recast him. People get too hung up on one actor being the character.

He was just voice acting though. Thanos was CG.

Hulk is pretty much a supporting character in the movies. Maybe not in the comics, but the movies? Yeah.

James Bond also doesn't really count, since those movies aren't all a direct single continuity as in the MCU or Star Wars or Lord of the Rings. They're more like different takes on James Bond, the same way that most of the Batman movies are a different take on Batman. Furthermore, James Bond movies are JAMES BOND movies, which means that James Bond MUST be there or else there isn't a movie. That's hardly the situation that Marvel is in, which is what I was getting at. Marvel doesn't NEED Iron Man, it's a huge cinematic universe with lots of characters to focus on.

I never said that Marvel couldn't recast the characters. I also never said that they won't. What I was saying was that there's zero reason to do something as drastic as a recast of one of the MCU's most iconic characters right now, when it's the perfect time to get the character out of the way and put the spotlight on the new guys. Will Iron Man be back eventually? I don't doubt it. But unless the Infinity Stones somehow provide a reason why Tony Stark is now a different guy, then I fully suspect that they're going to let the character rest for a while before bringing him back.

@theone86: RDJ is Ironman, you really can't recast him or replace him. It's like Ledger as the Joker, no other Joker will compare.

No other joker will compare if that is your mindset. There will be other jokers and I don't think it's fair to expect them to be Ledger's joker. That universe is done. As for Ironman................boring character that is made interesting by Downey.

@MrGeezer:Hulk is not a supporting character, his inclusion in the MCU has just been a wonky one with all the legal banter between Disney and Universal. Whether we accept it or not, the Edward Norton Hulk is an MCU movie; furthermore, Hulk was always featured and advertised as one of the main four Avengers in the first Avengers movie. I distinctively remember the marketing for the Avengers used the four main characters (Captain, Iron Man, Thor and Hulk) whereas the real supporting characters such as Hawkeye and Black Widow were mostly left out.

As far as re-castings go, I think it really depends on the character we are speaking of. If we're talking about characters that are heavy on prosthetic or CGI, it will be a lot easier for Disney to recast certain characters as the face of the actors were already hidden.

Then there are the characters that very much are represented by the faces of the actor (Captain, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, etc.) - I am pretty sure Disney would go through the lengths of offering the right $$$ to the actors to keep them around before they consider recasting them completely. Considering how much money the MCU is making and at times exceeding even Disney's expectations, they can DEFINITELY afford to keep an actor around.

@vfighter: Considering Heath Ledger's Joker is neither the first nor last Joker, I don't think that proves the point that a character like Tony Stark can't be re-casted.

@jaydan: No, Hulk is a supporting character. I'm not talking about legal banter, I'm talking about the actual role that he plays in the movies. Marketing doesn't mean a thing.

Also, actors are people. And money or not, actors very often turn down roles for reasons other than "I didn't get paid enough." Especially considering that some of these actors are likely already wealthy beyond belief and are already set for life, I think it's naive to think that just throwing money at actors is going to keep them on forever. That'd be like if McDonalds tried to hire a billionaire who long ago had a job as a fry cook. Even if they paid the guy $5 million an hour, do you think he'd take the job? At that point, he doesn't need the money. Taking the job depends on if he WANTS the job. The thing here is that these movies are NEVER going to end, but actors WILL just plain decide that they don't want to be playing Marvel Superheroes for the rest of their damn lives. Do you really want a MCU that is becoming increasingly less profitable because they keep wasting their money by throwing it at people who don't want to do the job any more? That's the point where if they don't need the character, they should ditch the character. And if they REALLY need the character, then yes, do a recast.

@LJS9502_basic: It's not just my mindset, he NAILED the role and owned the character. Of course there will be other Jokers, we already had one who failed horribly at it and is already being recast. It's Hollywood, they'll keep trying because they see $$$.

RDJ won't be recast, we'll just get a different version of Ironman, just look at the comics there are lots of different people who become some version of him.

Indeed, but I thought his voicing was perfect for the role however, I think he did a fantastic job at it.

@MrGeezer: No. What exactly constitutes a supporting character within the MCU? So is Hulk a supporting character in his own movie?

If you can say Tony Stark is one of the main characters in the series, is he a supporting character in Spider-Man: Homecoming? If a Black Widow movie does come into fruition, is she still a supporting character? From one movie to the next does the lead versus supporting actually rotate the spotlight on these characters? You can't just say Hulk is a supporting character when he has his own spotlight film and one of the main Avengers on the packaging standing right there next to Tony and Steve. You can't possibly say any singular character is just a supporting character in the context of the entire MCU. While it might be disputed that Tony and Steve are the heart of the MCU, they are not the leads at all times. The MCU is constantly shifting focus between characters. You can technically say any and all characters including the main ones, were at one point a supporting character.

I don't think you're getting the point of what I'm saying about giving these actors money. I get it that sometimes an actor is fatigued over a role or simply schedules don't match production times. What I am saying is not a pure bonehead tactic as you imply that Disney will just throw money at whichever actor to keep them, HOWEVER when it does come to Robert Downey Jr. or other actors that very much became the faces of certain characters, Disney will be willing to negotiate with them before they consider recasting.

We don't even know yet how Disney plans to roll certain characters in and out of the series because of aging actors. We don't even know if Disney plans to keep Iron Man's presence in the MCU for the next twenty films, or the ones after that. For all we know, the MCU might end up being one gigantic timeline and Iron Man's presence will only be relevant in the first ten years and everything after he's just a matter of legacy within the lore. We don't even know what the MCU plans to do yet or if they even plan to reboot characters in the first place. Knowing Disney, we know Disney preserves the classics and for all we know that might be the only reason why people remember Tony Stark forty years from now if Disney preserves the characters the same way they preserve Snow White and Peter Pan rather than constantly rebooting them. With the wealth of Marvel characters and lore that the MCU has yet to even scratch, forty years down the line if the MCU ran that far, I doubt rebooting characters will be all that necessary when there's just so much other story and content to explore.

It lived up to the hype and surpassed it. I freaking love Captain America so damn much and every scene he was in made the movie a million times better.

His Big Boss Beard and long hair made him even cooler.

The final fight scenes/ending stretch was VERY satisfying. They lasted a long time which was nice because if the final fight was like 2 minutes long, I would have been upset.

They built a huge story arc leading to this fight against Thanos and gave us a long battle which I am incredibly thankful for.

It was worth the wait.

Yeah, Hulk got exactly one Hulk movie nearly ten years ago, with no plans for another. Regardless, the point still stands that in the overall MCU Hulk hasn't really had much to do. Very few of these movies have been ABOUT Hulk. He's one of the most tragic and messed-up characters in these movies, but he's really only around to occasionally break stuff (or try to break stuff and not be able to). He's pushed to the sidelines.

Again, packaging on merchandise means not a single thing. Yes, someone like War Machine is definitely a supporting character in the MCU. Hawkeye is a supporting character in the MCU. But yes, the MCU has LOTS of supporting characters.

And yeah, obviously Disney is sometimes willing to spend more money to keep valuable actors, which is probably why Downey is still here now. I may be mistaken, but I'm under the impression that his original contractual obligations ended a while ago. My point is, they're going to have to recast him eventually (or scrap the character). The guy's not getting any younger. Even if they could hypothetically throw enough money at him to keep him doing this for the rest of his life, the reality is that there's going to come a point where he's too damn old to play an action star. Whether he's become one of the iconic faces of the MCU or not, the clock is ticking and it likely won't be that long before they have to ditch him anyway regardless of if he wants more money. If Disney is smart, this is why they ought to use a natural shake-up point in the story to shift the transition to other characters. They're playing the long game, they know Robert Downey Jr is getting old, and I'm sure they know that their money could be better spent than continually throwing buckets of money at him to keep him around when he's not going to be around THAT much longer anyway.

And yeah, your last paragraph sort of illustrates my point. If Disney NEEDED to keep Downey around, I'm sure they'd find a way to pony up enough cash to keep him on. But they DON'T need to keep him around, at least not in the capacity they have so far (it's possible they could keep him in William Hurt or Samuel L Jackson category and just have him occasionally show up for a scene or two in order to deliver a few lines). They don't need him, they have an ever-expanding roster of heroes to focus on, and decades of comic book stories to mine. Even if Downey was willing to do these movies for the rest of his life if Disney just kept throwing more money at him, it doesn't make any sense for Disney to just offer to keep throwing more money at him.

Anyone have thoughts on the route they will take to defeat Thanos? There really isn't a lot of ways to stop someone who can kill everybody with the snap of a finger. At least not any that would make sense.

@amillionhp:

I still think Nebula will play a big role in getting the gauntlet off of Thanos and reversing his actions. She's still alive.

@amillionhp: I didn’t read any of the comics but my understanding is that Captain Marvel chick will somehow reverse it. Apparently she is Over-Powered somehow.

Rumours also suggest Cap and Ironman will sacrifice themselves somehow to save everyone.

It seems like the avengers that died will come back to life and Cap/Iron man/Thor may have to die.

Another Rumor is Dr.Strange is somehow still alive/Astro Projection

@AFBrat77:

@stuff238:

Most of that will probably happen in some degree but i think the major reason they will be able to beat him at all is because he doesnt actually have all of the legit stones. Dont think Loki and Dr. Strange would just hand them over like they appeared to.

Not saying you're wrong, but Thanos used them and the stones certainly seemed to work.

@amillionhp: You're wrong, he has the actual stones.

@vfighter:

I didnt actually read the story line but if i remember right from what i heard, a similar thing occured with the Infinity Gauntlet in the comics. Although it was a different villian that had it, i believe the short and sweet explanation for his defeat was that he was given a fake gem.

Obviously the fake gems would still have to function at least temporarilly in order for the trick to work. While i'll admit Loki and Dr. Strange wouldnt be capable of pulling that off, they would be capable of doing that using the gems they had to enhance their abilities. I'll say definitely so if you figure the Reality stone was with the Collector and thus easy enough for them to slip in there and take it without him even knowing. That makes Reality, Space and Time under their control. Yeah, they can make fake gems off that.

Coincidentally, the Mind gem happends to be the last one Thanos obtained which is a significant point concerning things like trickery and deception because if any of this was attempted while he had that, then he would immediately see through it.

@amillionhp: Interesting theory. Could certainly be possible.

@SOedipus:

Thanks, i'm just trying to figure out possible ways they can win without it being totally ridiculous. Since the IG is basically the biggest automatic win button in comic book history, this is the only thing i could come up with.

The biggest problem with that is that it means that the heroes have the capability to create actual working Infinity Stones. Not only is there zero reason to believe that anyone in the MCU can do that, but it's also a cheap getaway for future plots. Heroes get into trouble? Well, just create a "fake" Infinity Stone. It also renders the Infinity Stones irrelevant. What's the point in acquiring one if you can just make a fake one that actually works? Someone might reply that creating a fake Infinity Stone requires an Infinity Stone in the first place. Well, just create a fake stone and hand it off to your buddy. Then it's two Infinity Stones against zero Infinity Stones.

It's a needlessly complicated scenario. I may be mistaken, but didn't Thanos give Loki the Mind Stone back in The Avengers? Well, what's the point if Loki can just make a fake Infinity Stone using a real Infinity Stone? If that were the case, it would have made far more sense for Thanos to just have Loki make a fake Mind Stone. That way, when Loki gets his ass kicked, Thanos still has the real Mind Stone.

I think that the far more likely scenario for the heroes winning involves using the REAL Infinity Stones to undo what Thanos did. As in, if the Infinity Stones can be used to erase half of the universe, then the Infinity Stones can be used to bring half of the universe back. I think that makes far more sense from a storytelling perspective. But that still would involve the Infinity Stones that Thanos got being the REAL Infinity Stones. If they actually end up solving this by saying, "the good guys gave away fake fully functional Infinity Stones that they created in order to trick Thanos", I'd actually be pissed off.

@MrGeezer:

Well, i was suggesting Loki contacted Dr. Strange who was able to do it using the three gems between them since his powers are not clearly defined and he's got access to an assortment of enchanted artifacts to use.

How else would they get the gems off Thanos if he has all of them?

Don't know, but I think that stealing Thanos' Big Giant Glove is a simpler solution than having Loki and Dr Strange make some fake fully functional Infinity Stones to swap out. When would Loki have contacted Dr Strange in order to make a fake stone anyway? And why? It's not as if Loki knew in advance that the Asgardian refugee ship was going to be attacked by Thanos.

The good guys already almost got the Infinity Gauntlet off of Thanos once, so I don't exactly think it's such an impossible scenario.

@MrGeezer:

Of course Loki knew Thanos was "coming". He may not know exactly when or how but he's definitely known from Avengers 1 who was behind everything and that he wants the stones. Dr. Strange already embarrassed him in Ragnarok so Loki does know him and what he's capable of. Honestly if you've read Thor in any measure you should kinda already know this is all Loki does is travel around talking to key people to set up plots. Loki took the Tesseract from Asgard and that is the Space Stone in case you didnt know. It is generally used as instant teleportation in the comics. So that explains how he met up with him just after getting it.

Remove the guantlet? Yeah, when he had two less stones. You think the next big budget Avengers movie's battle climax is going to revolve around repeating that over again? Thanos would just allow them to stroll up and attempt the same thing because why exactly?

In the comics i believe Thanos had an obsession over a Death God character and his ambitions were largely aimed at pleasing her. Through that, Mephisto was able to manipulate Thanos into giving them a chance in order to impress her and that is largely why the heroes were not instantly all killed in the first place. Neither of those characters exist in the cinematic universe. In any case, it doesnt make sense someone with the Mind gem can be manipulated anyway.

@amillionhp: When Bruce Banner arrived at Dr Strange's sanctum, Loki was dead and Dr Strange had no idea who Thanos is. Even supposing that Loki had teleported to Dr Strange's place sometime when he was off screen, do you really think that Dr Strange would just copy an Infinity Stone for some jerk he just met? Maybe if Loki had warned Strange about Thanos, but we already know that didn't happen. Strange didn't know anything about Thanos.

And again, it bears repeating that there's absolutely zero indication that Strange can copy an Infinity Stone. They can't just have the solution be something that they completely made up at the last minute with no prior indication to the audience. That's just bad writing. That's the equivalent of Superman II's "Super Cellophane S" scene.

Anyway, I'm not saying that they're going to pull Thanos' glove off. But it'd make a lot more sense for them to acquire the Infinity Stones through some means that no one knows about. Your prediction about the stones being fake is based on you not being able to see any way for the heroes to win, but it's the writers' jobs to come up with a solution that makes sense within the story. Not knowing how they do that doesn't make any particular prediction more plausible, that just means you don't know how they come up with a solution. I will say that the Infinity Stones being fake doesn't work either as it doesn't make sense within the story. If that was the direction the writers were going then they would have dropped SOME kind of hint that copying an Infinity Stone was actually within Dr Srange's powers. Marvel Studios has actually been pretty good about that. I don't recall the solution to any of the movies' conflicts being some completely new development that had never even been hinted at previously, and I very much doubt that they're going to do that for their biggest movie ever.

Just got home from watching it (yes, I know, I'm late) and I really enjoyed it. I feel like it delivered on its promises and Thanos is now my favourite MCU villain. I think they pulled it off quite nicely with Thanos being the exasperated wise (in his mind at least) father who had to do what he knew was right even know he knows he's going to be hated for it...was really enjoying the "bad ending" until they killed T'Chala and Parker...after that it was pretty much a "oh, ok...we're going to have a rewind/time-travel/whatever BS next movie where Thor/Stark/Rogers all die and the new kids get brought back". Still, quite an enjoyable movie that left me thinking about overpopulation XD