He Who Wanders

With Avengers: Infinity War hitting theaters this April 26th, the hype is building more and more. Just the other day Marvel released a second trailer with more heroes, more villains, and more action. In just the first few days, the trailer has gained tens of millions of views on YouTube. The comic book nerd inside me is practically screaming with anticipation.

But will the movie truly live up to the hype? Should we keep expectations low? Here are a few reasons why Avengers: Infinity War may not be as great as we hope.

For starters, there are a lot of characters. 67 to be exact. That means the Russo brothers have an extremely limited time to introduce each character, illustrate how and why they are there, and then show what happens to them. As a result, many deep, complex characters might come across as shallow and flat. This is especially an issue for new characters like Thanos, Proxima Midnight, Corvus Glaive, Ebony Maw, and Black Dwarf who we know little to nothing about. Keeping track of each character will be hard enough. But understanding and empathizing with all of them will be next to impossible.

Another problem with the characters is that a lot of them are too similar. Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Star-Lord, Ant Man, and Spiderman are all quirky characters responsible for delivering witty one liners. Not to mention, Thor has gotten more humorous since his performance in Thor: Ragnarok. You can also create a list of other common descriptions such as arrogant, egocentric, good leader, always hopeful, doesn’t play well with others, and so on. In the end, it looks like the writers just copy pasted the characters. While each hero might be unique in his own movie, in Infinity War, they may just disappear in thecrowd.

But the biggest hurdle for Marvel is the anticipation. The Marvel Cinematic Universe truly started with the release of Iron Man in 2008. Since then each end credit scene has pushed the series closer and closer to Infinity War. When Thanos first appeared in the 2012 film The Avengers, fans all across the world exploded with joy. They knew their wildest dream would finally come true. All in all we’ve been waiting 10 years for that dream. Over that decade, our expectations have grown to impossible heights. For that reason alone, Avengers: Infinity War might disappoint.

So if Marvel wants to impress, they have to deliver the perfect movie. I have my fingers crossed, but I have a feeling they can do it.