New Synopsis for 'Avengers: Infinity War' Revealed
Ryan Parker
Now that the marketing campaign and promotional circuit for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is ramping down after the film's domestic and international releases, we're starting to get more details about the other films in Marvel's upcoming slate. While Spider-Man: Homecoming is the next film in the lineup set for release, some of the other upcoming films are arguably more highly anticipated (depending on who you ask). Thanks to a screencap from the magazine License Global by Reddit user ashtonknapp, we have a new synopsis for the hotly-anticipated Avengers: Infinity War has made its way online:
As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos. A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment – the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain.
While none of the information is necessarily "new," it does confirm some suspicions that we've had about the film, most notably the structure of the plot. As of now, the Infinity Stones are scattered all around the MCU. Just for refreshers, I'll give you a quick recap on where the stones are and who is currently in possession of them.
The Space Stone
The Space Stone, more commonly known in the MCU as the Tesseract, is currently in Asgard. At the end of the Avengers, Thor took it and Loki back to his own realm to his father, Odin, for safe keeping. That was all well and good, as the Tesseract was kept safe in Odin's vault for a brief time, but everything didn't turn out according to Thor's plan. As we now know, during the events of Thor: the Dark World, Loki faked his own death and been posing as Odin for four years, meaning that he is now in possession of the Space Stone again.
The Reality Stone
During the events of Thor: the Dark World, the Reality Stone, also known as the Aether, was used by the Malekith, leader of the Dark Elves, in their assault on London during the Convergence event. During the ensuing battle, Thor dispatched of Malekith and brought the Aether to the Collector for safekeeping. While it's still "safe" in his vault for the time being, we're betting that won't be the case for long.
The Power Stone
The Power Stone was featured prominently in the first Guardians of the Galaxy, and it was the sole reason the Guardians teamed up in the first place. During the course of the film, the orb containing the Power Stone changes hands multiple times, from the Guardians themselves, to the Collector, to Ronan the Accuser, and then ultimately, the Nova Corps. After the events of the film, Star-Lord comes to the conclusion that the Stone is too powerful to fall into the wrong hands, so he and the rest of the Guardians hand it over to the Nova Corps, and it currently resides in their vault on Xandar.
The Mind Stone
The Mind Stone was housed in Loki's staff during the events of the Avengers, making it the first Stone to physically be in the same location as another Infinity Stone (the Tesseract) at the same time. Fast forward to Avengers: Age of Ultron, where Ultron himself cracks the scepter and uses the Stone as the power source for his creation, the Vision. After Vision turns against his maker and subsequently helps defeat him, we know that the Mind Stone is currently lodged in Vision's forehead, which means it won't be too fun for him when Thanos decides he wants it more…
The Time Stone
Finally, the Time Stone is currently lodged inside of the Eye of Agamotto, in the possession of Doctor Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme. Strange used the power of the Time Stone to turn back time and reverse a lot of damage done in Hong Kong during Dormammu's attempted invasion of this dimension. Strange also used it to subsequently defeat Dormammu, trapping him in a time loop until he vowed to never return to earth in another attempt at global and dimensional subjugation. Proving that he has the mystical prowess necessary to harness the ancient artifact, the Time Stone is currently being housed in Strange's Sanctum Santorum in New York City.
Now I know what you're thinking: "What about the Soul Stone?" Well, we're not sure on that one. Many believe that it could be housed in Heimdall's sword and we'll see it make its debut appearance in the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok. Without going into the many other theories, the short version is that we have no idea where it is, which brings me back to my original point. The synopsis mentions that Thanos' goal is to collect all six Stones, meaning our theory about the film's structure will hold up. We have believed for months that the plot of Infinity War will revolve almost entirely around Thanos' search and subsequent acquisition of all six Infinity Stones. We believe that their power will only be fully unleashed in the currently untitled Avengers 4.
The last thing that I find noteworthy about the new synopsis is its implication of the circumstances under which Thanos makes his grand entrance. Currently, the Avengers have no idea that Thanos even exists. While we find it extremely likely that Thor is aware of Thanos and the threat that he poses to the safety of Midgard, along with the rest of the Universe, he hasn't divulged that information to the other Avengers. It's more than likely because Thor hasn't seen Thanos as a direct threat until now, and not that he's hiding anything from his teammates. However, if Thor isn't the one to break the news to the rest of the team, it will almost definitely be the Guardians of the Galaxy. It makes perfect sense for the Guardians to be the ones to tell the Avengers about the impending danger, as only a threat as big as the Mad Titan could possibly lure the Guardians to earth, especially after Quill reveals that he has never returned to earth since his mother died in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. If we had to guess, we would definitely have to say that the latter is more likely. What we do know for sure is that when Thanos does make his grand entrance, it will be nothing short of amazing. Well, other than the fact that he'll only be here to end all existence as we know it.
Avengers: Infinity War is set for release on May 4. 2018.
Tags: Age of Ultron, Avengers, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Infinity Stones, Infinity War, Thor: The Dark World
Ryan Parker Contributor - News Writer
When I was growing up, my dad gave me a box full of his old comic books, and that's where it all started. I grew up loving all things Marvel, and I spent my Saturdays reading old back issues and watching cartoons. I'm now proud to say that my childhood was well spent since I have a thorough command of useless knowledge about the Marvel Universe. I am currently a fourth year student studying Entertainment and Media Studies at the University of Georgia. Here at MCUExchange, I've worked on several short films in various roles ranging from producer to art director.
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