Should Marvel have released Infinity War and Avengers 4 back to back?

Sorry Ant-Man and Captain Marvel, we’re patiently awaiting your movies. But we can’t help but be anxious to get to Avengers 4 right away.

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Avengers: Infinity War. Read at your own risk, and remember, Thanos demands your silence.

If you got out of the theater after seeing Avengers: Infinity War and didn’t start counting down the days ’til Avengers 4, I commend you for your patience. But for the rest of us, it’s going to be one painstakingly slow year before we find out what happens to our Avengers next.

We left Infinity War wondering, “Can the Russo brothers even do that? Are they allowed to make something so tragic and make us wait so long?” The answer is yes and yes, because they did that.

Sure, you might be saying that we can tie ourselves over with Ant-Man and the Wasp in July (which is already being pushed on us) and Captain Marvel coming out in 2019. But how much are those two really going to do to satisfy what we long to know so bad?

Then that begs the question, “shouldn’t they just have released both Avengers movies back to back so we wouldn’t have to wait?” And that’s where things get interesting.

Marvel looks to be taking full creative control over meticulously crafting a brilliant storyline over the course of the four movies (Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Captain Marvel and Avengers 4). Before Infinity War was released, we didn’t know for certain that the movie would end on a cliffhanger. The Russos can argue all they want that it’s a self-contained movie, but Avengers 4 is basically going to be Infinity War Part II no matter how much they try to defend it.

That puts Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel in an interesting spot that no other Marvel movie has been in before. Typically, some Marvel movies might stagger about on the timeline, but never have we had to jump back in the timeline to make sense of the oncoming movie. As one fan pointed out, it’s a remarkable comparison to Pitbull’s song “Back in Time” made for Men in Black 3 (“But to understand the future, we have to go back in time.”).

Right now, we’re left asking ourselves, “How are the Avengers going to bring their friends (and the other half of the universe) back?” Marvel will be creating something fantastic if those questions aren’t just answered in Avengers 4, but in Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel as well.

Think of it as a Sherlock Holmes mystery played out over the course of four movies. And we have two Sherlocks in the Avengers, so that should go along pretty well.

While it may not appeal to our impatience, it’ll be worth having those little “Oh!” moments in the theater when things start making sense. Will the Quantum Realm in Ant-Man and the Wasp somehow be one of the final parts necessary in Avengers 4? Will one of Captain Marvel’s superpowers prove to be the ultimate key to defeating Thanos once and for all?

By the time we’re done with both movies, the pieces will surely come together where we’ll know just enough coming into Avengers 4, but still encounter twists and turns that we didn’t expect.

So hold on to your horses for now. Good things come to those who wait. Plus, how impactful would Avengers 4 be if it came out three months after Infinity War? Marvel is playing a long game, and they love to make us suffer, but they know the payoff will be worth it.

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