5 things standing between Avengers: Infinity War and total failure

Still from Avengers: Infinity War trailer (2018). Image via Marvel/Disney

The Infinity War trailer just dropped. It’s time for fans everywhere to start wondering whether Marvel is really going to pull this off.

Avengers: Infinity War is going to be big. It will have more characters than any Marvel movie before; it has been hyping the villain since the after credits scene in the first Avengers movie in 2012. Everything in the MCU has been building towards this movie. And that’s why there’s a decent chance that Infinity War is going to be a train wreck.

Bringing so many characters into a single movie promises to be a logistical nightmare. The simple necessity of weaving so many different narrative threads together could end up taking valuable screen time away from meaningful character moments. And as it stands, it seems incredibly likely that Infinity War will be over two and a half hours long — which means that if it’s a bad movie, it’s going to be a slog.

One thing’s for sure, Infinity War has to be different. We’re at the point now where many people (myself included) are beginning to get tired of the Marvel Movie Formula™, and Marvel is definitely aware of that. There’s a higher chance now for major characters to die permanently than ever before, either in Infinity War or the as-yet untitled part two. Since many major actors aren’t guaranteed to come back for more movies after the second part, Marvel can slaughter its characters left and right without impacting the sales on its future movies.

Marvel has promised that the MCU will be a very different place after it wraps up its Phase 3 movies. Which means that on top of some major character deaths, we might be looking at some wider, lasting consequences for Earth and the rest of the universe that could form the foundation for the new chapters to come. So far, Earth has made it out of its world-ending conflicts largely unscathed. Infinity War might very well leave some lasting scars.

There’s a lot at stake for this movie to do well, and a lot of reasons why it might not. Marvel has never attempted a movie on this scale before; in many ways, it will be a unique experiment whose results may influence more than just Phase 4. If Infinity War can pull off this kind of story, then we may see even more serial franchises follow its lead.

And hey, if the movie sucks, at least it’s guaranteed to be a wild ride.