We already knew that ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ would simply be inspired by the comic book stories ‘Infinity Gauntlet’ and ‘Infinity War’ but like the majority of comic book movies, it would not be an exact adaptation and now that the trailer is out, that’s been confirmed as, among other deviations, the majority of this film takes place on Earth instead of the far reaches of space.
One of the major elements of the trailer is the “Battle for Wakanda” depicting Black Panther/King T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) and his entire army facing off against the invading forces of Thanos (Josh Brolin) and the Black Order. The Wakandan army is aided in their efforts by the Avengers, specifically Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson, now sporting blonde hair), the Hulk (CGI Mark Ruffalo), The Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and War Machine (Don Cheadle) as well as a newly unfrozen Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan). But will they be enough?
Or perhaps more importantly, why is Thanos targeting Wakanda specifically? We already know that this is the only place on Earth where the indestructible metal Vibranium can be found, but Thanos wouldn’t care about that. (Or would he?) So this mystical land must hold something else that the evil space conqueror needs. This leads to a popular fan theory: that Wakanda also conceals the powerful Soul Stone which Thanos needs to complete the Infinity Gauntlet which will give him ultimate power.
The fan theory connects the stone with Vibranium. In ancient times, a meteor crashed in Wakanda, resulting in the land yielding the indestructible metal, which has been used to create both Cap’s shield and Black Panther’s armor. In the ‘Black Panther’ trailer, T’Challa is shown entering a spirit realm to commune with “Panther Gods,” something that borrows from other films like ‘Doctor Strange’ and possibly ‘Ant-Man’. The Infinity Stones have been shown to warp reality and T’Challa’s spiritual journey could be a result of that.
This is, of course, just a theory for now, but it certainly makes sense. What do you think?
Directed by the Russo brothers from a script by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ in many ways represents the culmination of a decade-long effort by Marvel Studios. The film, which stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Pratt, Tom Holland, Karen Gillan, Paul Rudd, Chadwick Boseman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olson, Sebastian Stan, and too many others to count, is due to arrive in theaters on May 4, 2018.
