Can Someone Pass Me the Time Stone? I Need to Unsee 'Infinity Wars'…

The Russo brothers have returned to their director’s chairs and the Avengers have suited back up for the most ambitious superhero movie to date, The Avengers: Infinity Wars. When Thanos, an alien killing machine, seeks out the five infinity stones to wipe out half of all living things, the Marvel heroes split off into the universe to protect the remaining stones and put a stop to the villain’s plan. This isn’t the first time the Russos have rounded up Marvel’s heroes for an epic adventure.

Before Infinity Wars, the Russos were in charge of heading the continuation of Captains America’s adventures. Although supposedly the third installment of the Captain America series, the Russos’ Captain America: Civil War felt more like an Avengers sequel, gathering characters from various films to duel against one another. A hit among fans and in the box-office, Civil War must have signaled to Marvel that the Russos can combine superheroes into one mega movie.

Personally, I was as disappointed by Civil War as I now am by Infinity Wars. Both films contain characters who are driven more by sheer do-goodism than by well-developed motivations. Why is Spider-Man, for example, in either film? In both, Tony Stark calls him for help but then dismisses him and says he should go home. And in both films, Spider-Man is constantly trying to prove himself to Stark so he can join the Avengers. Why does he want to join so bad? I guess he thinks they’re cool?

And what’s up with Doctor Strange in Infinity Wars? He flat out tells Tony Stark that he would never give up the time stone to save Stark’s life and yet gives it up to Thanos without hesitation for that very reason. Doesn’t he realize that this decision could kill half of all living things? In one scene Strange has a vision of the future which reveals the one way the Avengers will beat Thanos. Was whatever that was the reason for his stupid decision?

Beyond their unclear motivations, many of the character’s powers make no sense. Just when you think you understand their limitations and abilities, the writers throw you off with a quick, lazy twist. When Spider-Man is suffocating in his tighties as he flies into space, Iron Man tosses a brand-new suit unto his back, saving his life and giving him new powers. In fact, Iron Man’s suits seem to be a catch-all cure for all half-baked problems concocted by the writers. When Bruce Banner can’t become the Hulk for no apparent reason in the most dire, most stressful moments in franchise history, he gets a super suit that makes him as good as the real thing. In a story where anything is possible, nothing becomes surprising.

In many ways, these issues are to be expected. The Avengers saga has gone a long way from its original six heroes to its now whopping 20 plus. Even within the 2 hour and 29 minute runtime, it seems nearly impossible to satisfactorily write and execute everyone’s storylines because the audience has no time to care about any one character before moving on to somebody to else. It makes you feel like a teenager in high school trying to find true love. This is not to say that the writers and the Russos don’t get A for effort in their attempts to rally this overstuffed cast of characters into some coherent narrative. It was a nice try, but wasn’t something worth trying to do.

Because we never have the time to get to care about these characters, their deaths lack emotional depth and the film likes to kill off its darlings without hesitation. I had barely gotten comfortable in my seat before Thanos choked Loki till his eyes bled. I guess I should feel sad? I almost cried when he died the first time in Thor 2, but this was too sudden for me to even care.

In fact, the film contains more scenes of brutal killing and torture than any other Marvel film I can think of. While some might deem this brave, it isn’t. Death and torture are cheap and quick ways to keep people interested. The Saw franchise has been doing this for over a decade. The ending for which the film is so famous is particularly gimmicky. Vision asks his girlfriend, Scarlett Witch, to kill him so the last infinity stone — which is planted in his head — could be destroyed, keeping Thanos from committing genocide. She does so, but lo and behold, thanks to Doctor Strange’s brilliant decision to give up the time stone, Thanos manages to turn back time, bringing Vision back to life so he kill him all over again and retrieve the final stone. Luckily, Thor has been spending the whole film building a magic axe to kill Thanos but he stabs the villain in the chest not the head, giving Thanos just enough to snap his fingers and spark the power of the infinity stones. Just like that, more half of the film’s main characters turn to ash.

Bold move, right?

No, not really. We’re talking about a franchise infamous for fake deaths. Some of these characters have to live for the sake of the franchise. Black Panther only had his first movie recently and it was a huge hit. No way he’s permanently dead. Same goes for Spider-Man. All the Guardians of the Galaxy who died by Thanos’ snap will ultimately live because their third movie has already been announced.

How can they live?

The writers already gave it away. The time stone clearly has the power to bring people back from the dead. I would bet money on the fact that this stone will be used to bring most of these characters back to life in Infinity Wars part 2. Maybe some new deaths are on the horizon but only for old characters who have been with us for over a decade. All these snap-of-the-finger deaths are just another example of how below the belt Marvel can get when it comes to tricking its fans.

And in my personal opinion, when you have to kill and resurrect your most beloved characters to keep people buying into the hype, it might be time to just drop dead.