Post date: Apr 25, 2018 7:09:10 PM
Every time I walk into the theater to see a Marvel movie, I say to myself, “This is it; this is going to be that one Marvel movie that everyone remembers as a bust.” Every time, I am proven wrong.
With Avengers: Infinity War, though, I just can’t shake the suspicion that this will truly be the one. Even with all the media hype and the incredulous stares that I elicit from my friends when I share my opinion, I won’t relent: there are just too many characters.
Based on the theatrical release poster, Avenger: Infinity War is set to star an impressive 23 member ensemble, not to mention at least a dozen supporting characters. If any other studio tried such an ambitious undertaking, they would be called insane. However, with the name “Marvel” attached to it, it is already being blindly heralded as the greatest crossover in history.
Even though I am a loyal fan, the film juggernaut that is Marvel has not completely pulled the wool over my eyes with this one. The thought of watching 23 heroes zip around screen is enough to make me queasy.
The real problem however, is for casual fans. While Marvel has always done a good job of keeping their films easy to follow, even without the background information provided from previous movies, Avengers: Infinity War is going to be too much. Audience members who have only seen each film once or who perhaps have missed a film here and there will be left asking a plethora of questions. “Wait, wasn’t she evil in the last film? Where did he come from? When did he gain that power?”
By pandering to their die-hard fans, Marvel is isolating another, substantial viewer base.
What’s more, the inclusion of several minor characters, such as Wong from Doctor Strange and Mantis from Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2, will leave the audience even more disoriented. As the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU, continues to grow, the Avengers franchise obviously will as well. But these minor characters simply do not have a place in an Avengers movie yet. They haven't had the time to develop and starring alongside 23 other heroes certainly won’t enable them to do so.
By no means a bad movie, Captain America: Civil War has already shown the dangers of jam-packing a movie with superheroes. Although it was exciting to see Hawkeye, Spiderman, and Ant-Man appear in the airport fight scene, their inclusion left the audience with more questions than answers. Since they did nothing to advance the plot, they seemed out of place.
Perhaps my biggest concern with Avengers: Infinity War, however, is that it will be too busy.
Over the course of the past few ensemble movies, fans have come to love the witty banter between characters and to watch them grow in relation to one other. Perhaps cliché, there is something undeniably exciting about rooting for a couple of ragtag misfits as they try to save a galaxy or watching a group of diametrically opposed ideologues set their differences aside for a common good. While cool fight scenes, which are all too plentiful in Avengers: Infinity War, certainly help to seal the deal, they were never the main focus.
Just think, Star Lord’s dance battle with Ronan the Accuser in Guardians of the Galaxy was certainly more entertaining than any intergalactic dogfight.
Captain America and Iron Man’s clash of wills will always be the highlight of The Avengers, not the Chitauri invasion of Manhattan.
I am afraid that with such a large cast, all of these quirks will be lost. The movie will get caught in its own grandeur, focusing on making a spectacle of itself. Being the culmination of over ten years of work, it will include too much information to follow enjoyably. This problem will inevitably be exacerbated by its need to set the stage for its unnamed sequel. There will be no room for the individual characters.
Although cynical in my predications, I will not stand on principle. Come next Thursday, I will gladly—of course only to validate my scorn—be sitting through a showing of Avengers: Infinity War.
--Michael Bachmann '20