About a year ago, Marvel Studios released Avengers: Endgame, which would become the highest grossing film to date. In anticipation of this film’s release, many YouTube film critics made videos dissecting their favorite scenes in the MCU and what made them so effective. These videos (brought together by the phrase “One Marvelous Scene”), covered a range of scenes from Killmonger challenging T’Challa for the throne in Black Panther to the fireworks funeral in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. II to Tony going up against Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War.
The playlist on YouTube has 165 videos, and none of them address the opening scene to Infinity War. For me, this is the best introduction in the MCU that sets the rest of the movie into motion perfectly. And it does this with just a few steps.
#1: Establish Key Characters
The whole point of MCU’s Phase 1 was to establish the heroes in their individual movies before bringing them together as the first team of Avengers. Tony Stark wants to make something of himself, but is held back by his father’s flawed past and his own self doubts. Steve Rogers wants to do right by his country and loved ones, but is constantly at odds with those in authority. Thor is the crowned prince of Asgard, but he struggles with whether or not this is truly his destiny.
But the interesting point relevant to Infinity War is when and how to introduce the primary antagonist. The first Avengers movie does this immediately, putting Loki in the opening scene and showing everyone how big a threat he could be. In contrast, the reveal of Black Panther’s antagonist was a slow build, introducing Erik Killmonger in the 2nd act but waiting to show what he wants and what he’s capable of until halfway through the movie, when he’s already in Wakanda.
Since MCU fans already know from previous movies and trailers that Thanos will clash with the Avengers in Infinity War, it’s important to establish his role as early as possible. And the movie does this with the attack on Asgardian refugees.
As the MCU title card plays out, we hear a distress call playing out and learn that a ship of refugees is under attack. In the opening shot, the call is cut off when The Sanctuary nukes the refugee ship. And in the next shot, we see Heimdall, wounded and on the floor, as Thanos’ spawn Ebony Maw delivers the opening monologue while walking over dead bodies as the ruined ship burns.
“Hear me, and rejoice. You have had the privilege of being saved by the great titan. You may think this is suffering. No. It is salvation. The universal scales, tipped towards balance because of your sacrifice. Smile, for even in death, you have become children of Thanos.”
The only ones we see standing during Maw’s monologue are Loki (former villain turned hero) and Thanos, standing triumphantly in his armor with a wounded Thor lying at his feet.
But it’s not enough to simply see Thanos killing people for personal gain. We also need to find out what he wants and how much of a threat he is to the Avengers. This brings us to the second thing the opening scene does.
#2: Set the Tone for the Story
Already, Infinity War has gone darker than previous MCU movies within the first minute. But something else that sets this film apart from its predecessors is that the focus is on the villain himself, Thanos. He has more screen time than any of the other characters, more than the Avengers and the Guardians.
For many superhero movies, especially in the MCU, this is a bold move. We have a whole host of heroes we’ve come to love over the course of seventeen movies and/or the comics, and Thanos is so much of a cold sociopath that setting him up as the film’s protagonist would fail under most circumstances. But the point of the Avengers movies is watching a legion of heroes come together as a team. As the Russo brothers point out in the Infinity War audio commentary, “viewing the film as Thanos’ “hero’s journey” was the only way they could figure out how to fit everyone in.” And since few things bring people together better than one goal, it makes sense for the movie to focus on the one who could destroy everything, Thanos.
So when you compare the beginning of Infinity War to the beginnings of other MCU movies, you can see how Infinity War would play out as Thanos’ hero’s journey. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. II opens with the Guardians protecting batteries from a giant tentacle alien, and Age of Ultron begins with the Avengers taking down HYDRA to recover Loki’s scepter. These openings are used to remind viewers who the heroes are and what they can do.
Infinity War follows in the footsteps of these movies by establishing Thanos’ goals and strength. He’s already got the power stone, and he’s already wiped out half of the Asgardian refugees in pursuit of the space stone. But it’s not until his fight with Hulk that everyone sees exactly what he’s capable of. Hulk is the strongest Avenger on the team, and Thanos beats him in a fight within minutes. He doesn’t even need to use the power stone to take him down. When the fight is over, the space stone is his for the taking. And as Bruce Banner notes after the fact, “he has the power and space stones, that already makes him the strongest creature in the whole universe.”
But by setting up Thanos as the hero of his own story who can’t be beaten, we still need to establish a weakness. If he doesn’t have one, then we lose tension by automatically assuming that the Avengers will lose. Which is why it’s important to note Loki’s final words before Thanos strangles him:
“You…will never be…a god.”
This jeer may seem fruitless, but Thanos’ reaction reveals that he’s not as godlike as he pretends to be. And on a subconscious level, he knows this.
Co-director Joe Russo commented that “[Thanos] doesn’t spend a lot of energy intentionally trying to murder people, unless they are in some way a threat to his agenda.” Even though he goes on to note that Tony Stark is the biggest threat to Thanos’ agenda, we see this foreshadowed with Thanos personally killing Loki. Just before this death, Loki attempted to trick Thanos by pretending to offer his services just before attempting to stab him. In the MCU as well as Norse mythology, Loki is famous for his ingenuity and resourcefulness, both of which he shares with Tony. So while Thanos is physically unbeatable, it is still possible to beat him with creative solutions, and he knows it.
Within one scene, we capture Thanos’ strength and weakness. He is difficult to beat in a fight, but not impossible. He is physically powerful, but that power amounts to nothing if he can be outwitted.
But even here, the opening to Infinity War is incomplete until it’s done one last thing.
#3: Establish Themes
Some of the MCU’s best movies use themes to add complexity to their stories. Captain America’s story explores patriotism and relationship to authority over the course of three movies. Guardians of the Galaxy has so far touched on the possibility of redemption and how complicated family relationships influence who you become. Black Panther challenges colonialism and asks questions concerning the responsibility of those with power and resources.
Infinity War touches on two themes: failure and sacrifice.
The theme of failure is first addressed when Thanos delivers his first lines:
“I know what it’s like to lose. To feel so desperately that you’re right, yet to fail nonetheless. It’s frightening, turns the legs to jelly. I ask you, to what end? Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same. And now it’s here, or should I say, I am.”
Even though Thanos is playing god to intimidate Loki into giving up the space stone, his words foreshadow the outcome of the Avengers’ efforts to stop him. And these words also hint at his own past. Later, when speaking to Doctor Strange, Thanos admits that he was unable to save his home planet from its own self-destruction. Even though his ideas wouldn’t have saved Titan, he still sees this as his own failure to do what he hoped to accomplish. So in response, he opts to inflict his will on others to confirm that he was right.
We see this mirrored in Thor’s actions throughout the movie. At the end of the opening, he’s already at rock bottom. His parents are dead, his siblings are dead, his best friends are either dead or missing, his home planet is destroyed, and half of his people have been wiped out under his watch. Even though Rocket correctly assumes that Thor is in no mental or emotional condition to fight Thanos, Thor insists that he has to avenge his people and destroy Thanos once and for all. But when the big moment comes, Thor doesn’t succeed. The titan still has enough strength in him to carry out his goal.
The second theme of sacrifice is introduced when Loki gives up the Tesseract to save Thor. Even though this is a ruse to distract Thanos, Loki just drops the stone to bring his brother back on his feet. From here on out, sacrifice crops up again and again as the Avengers make difficult decisions to stop Thanos from gathering the stones.
First we learn that Gamora knows the location of the soul stone, and she asks her boyfriend Quill to kill her before Thanos can torture the information out of her. Quill reluctantly agrees, but when the time comes for him to keep his promise, Thanos stops him and escapes with Gamora.
Next, Thanos reveals that he is holding Gamora’s estranged sister Nebula hostage to get Gamora to tell him the location of the soul stone. Gamora resists at first, but her sister’s screams become too much for her and she gives up the location to save Nebula.
Another difficult choice built up throughout the movie is whether or not Wanda should kill Vision. Vision has the mind stone embedded in his forehead, which literally serves as his source of life. The Avengers on Earth spend the second and third act of the movie attempting to reconfigure Vision’s programming so they can destroy the stone without losing their ally. But Thanos’ army is too much for them, and with time running out Wanda reluctantly destroys the stone—and with it her boyfriend—to stop Thanos. Alas, this sacrifice is in vain when Thanos brings Vision back just to rip the stone out of his head.
And finally, there’s Doctor Strange and Tony Stark. From the beginning of the movie, Strange stresses the importance of protecting the time stone at all costs. He doesn’t give it up under torture, and he tells Tony that he will let him and Spider-Man die if it means protecting the stone. But when Thanos is about to kill a wounded Tony, Strange trades the stone to spare his life.
The interesting thing about these storylines is who is alive and who is dead by the end of the movie. Loki gives up the space stone to save Thor, and Thor survives. Quill attempts to kill Gamora to stop Thanos, but both of them die. Gamora gives up the soul stone to save Nebula, and Nebula survives. Wanda destroys Vision to stop Thanos, but they both end up dead anyway. And finally, Doctor Strange gives up the time stone to save Tony, and Tony survives.
In every case where a life is given up for a stone, everyone involved ends up dead. But when a stone is given up to spare a life, the spared survive the snap. And the three spared characters—Thor, Nebula, and Tony—each play an important role in reversing Thanos’ snap. And all of this is foreshadowed by Loki giving up the space stone to save Thor at the beginning of the movie.
With that, all the pieces are put into place. Thanos is established into the story, the stakes are raised, and the themes are foreshadowed. So when Bruce Banner crashes into the sanctum and warns “Thanos is coming” in a frightened whisper, we are ready and eager to see how the rest of the movie will play out.
