The Avengers: Infinity War takes place two years after the Avengers were torn apart during the events of Captain America: Civil War, Thanos arrives on Earth to collect the Infinity Stones for a gauntlet that will allow him to bend reality to his will. The Avengers must join forces with the Guardians of the Galaxy to stop him before his onslaught of destruction puts an end to the universe.
The Avengers: Infinity War takes place two years after the Avengers were torn apart during the events of Captain America: Civil War, Thanos arrives on Earth to collect the Infinity Stones for a gauntlet that will allow him to bend reality to his will. The Avengers must join forces with the Guardians of the Galaxy to stop him before his onslaught of destruction puts an end to the universe.
Avengers: Infinity War is scheduled to have its world premiere on April 23, 2018 in Los Angeles, and is scheduled to be released in the United States on April 27, 2018, in IMAX and 3D. The sequel is set to be released on May 3, 2019.
Thanos and a very young GamoraThanos’ Black Order, Proxima Midnight, Ebony Maw, Corvus Glaive, Black Dwarf and Supergiant (not pictured) surrounds Loki.
“Let’s talk about this plan of yours… I think it’s good, except it sucks. So let me do the plan and that way, it might be really good.”
The best way would be to watch them in order of their release date. The films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have released in three phases. Which order did you watch the movies in?
Phase 1: Avengers Assembled
The Avengers Initiative (a.k.a Phase 1) was a secret project created by S.H.I.E.L.D. to create the Avengers, a collection of the most able individuals to defend Earth from imminent global threats; these individuals functioning as a response team to said threats which are too great for the forces of mankind to handle.
Phase Four will be the fourth part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe after Phase Three. Phase Four consists of an unknown number of films planned between 2019 and 2028.
All of the Infinity Stones have been scattered around the newly merged universe. The Guardians have started a quest to find them all.
The Avengers assembled after the Black Panther discovered that the Earth was affected by the incursions, a multiversal phenomena that caused the periodical collision between realities. In an attempt to stop the the latest incursion, the Illuminati assembled the Infinity Gauntlet.
Even though Captain America managed to prevent the incursion, all the gems shattered, with the exception of the Time Gem, which simply vanished.
The Time Gem unexpectedly returned some time later and transported the Avengers through time. During each time jump, the Gem returned more of the heroes back to the present until only Captain America remained, who was rescued by Iron Lad. Following a confrontation against Iron Lad and his future counterparts, Kang the Conqueror and Immortus, Captain America retrieved the Time Gem and used it to return to the present, though it vanished again afterwards.
Following the destruction of the entire Multiverse and its eventual restoration, the destroyed Infinity Gems were recreated and scattered across the universe. The Collector and the Grandmaster allied themselves with the Guardians of the Galaxy to find the stones, as they believed they held the key to learn more about the destruction and restoration of the universe.
This was because from the point of view of its inhabitants, this process occurred in a blink and went mostly unnoticed, and only powerful beings such as the Elders could sense traces of the mysterious re-ordering the cosmos had suffered.
The Space Gem (now colored blue) appeared mysteriously in a S.H.I.E.L.D. storage facility, with a failed attempt from Loki’s part to retrieve it resulting in the gem ending up in the hands of Wolverine.
The Power Gem (now colored purple) manifested in a giant-size in the desert planet of Xitaung, where it was found by the Nova Corps who are being assisted by The Guardians of the Galaxy.
Who is Ego the Living Planet? If you just watched Guardians of the Galaxy you know that Ego, played by Kurt Russell is Peter Quill aka Star Lord’s father. In the comics he has a similar origin as he explains in the movie, except he is not the father of any of the superheroes in the Guardians. (Unless this has been retconned. If so, let me know.)
So exactly who is he? What is he? Where did he come from? Keep reading for more answers…
I was digging around my old comic book archives looking for more stray trading cards and came across a few old issues of The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. These official handbooks were compiled character profiles that were assembled into issues before Marvel started publishing them in the large hardcover format.
I flipped through a few pages and landed right on Ego the Living Planet! I had been meaning to do a profile since watching Guardians of the Galaxy this weekend but this saved me a ton of time. I scanned the two Ego pages and posted them here. I don’t think Ego has really changed much since this was printed, but if it has then please let me know!
Guardians of the Galaxy manages to keep the heart and spirit of adventure from the prequel and inject a new level of weirdness into the sequel and it is 100% appreciated by this comic book fan.
I really loved this movie. When I said there is a new level of weirdness in Vol. 2, I meant it in the best way possible. In this movie we are literally walking around on a friggin Living Planet! Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 features the group who has now, through a series of adventures and misadventures, begun to mesh together as a tea
Ayesha of The Sovreignm and family. They lend out their special talents to others, in this movie a race of genetically perfect, super pretentious, gold skinned people called “The Sovereign”, to take on threats that would send other people running for the space hills.
That threat is a giant rainbow shooting, bug eyed tentacle monster that has been eating (?) some very expensive space batteries that the Sovereign use. The interesting part about this scene, which is right at the beginning of the movie, is that in most sci-fi movies a fight scene like this would usually be THE key scene in the film. It’s a scene that would usually be the end or mid movie climax that is meant to grab and hold your attention. In Guardians of the Galaxy it’s just a backdrop for baby Groot to dance to Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra.
Mantis has empathic powers and is able to transfer feelings to others as well as receive them.The music in this movie is just as good as the first with some nice cuts like Fox on the Run by Sweet, My Sweet Lord by George Harrison, and Southern Nights by Glen Campbell and Bring it on Home to Me by Sam Cooke. The highlights of the soundtrack for me were Brandy by Looking Glass and Father and Sons by Cat Stevens. It was amazing to see how “Brandy” was used to illustrate the longing and the calling of the sea to the vast ocean of space that called Ego the Living Planet (played by Kurt Russell) away from Peter Quill’s mother and how that same calling can and will affect Peter in all of his future relationships. It’s a powerful and nuanced moment that I can’t help but feel that is almost too deep for a movie that features a talking tree and raccoon and where almost every other main character is a different hue. But it fits. It fits perfectly. I didn’t think that that soundtrack was quite as powerful and striking as the Awesome Mix vol. 1 (Peter dancing to “Come and Get Your Love” is my favorite opening scene in all of the Marvel movies) but it still hit all the right notes right when it needed to.
Yondu gets his “fin” in Vol. 2.To be completely fair and objective despite the amazing visuals and banging soundtrack, the first act of this movie is a bit of a mess. It’snot unwatchable by any means (far from it actually), it just lacks direction. There isn’t that one thing that really advances the plot (like trying to constantly stay one step ahead of Ronan the Accuser and keep the Infinity Gem out of his hands) and it kind of meanders a bit between action set pieces and people sitting and talking. I’ll say this though, characters sitting and talking never gets boring because all the actors in this movie are all over the top interesting and the delivery of comedic lines are on point. When Ego finally lays bare his plans, that’s when things get REALLY get interesting. I won’t spoil anything here, but he reveals a critical plot point that elicited loud gasps of disbelief in my theater.
That’s all I can really say about this movie for now because the longer I talk about it the more I’ll want to reveal some spoilers! If you haven’t seen it, I definitely recommend going as soon as you can. It’s worth the full price of admission, especially if you were a fan of the prequel.
What did you think about the movie? Have you seen it yet? How many times have you seen it? Comment below and let me know.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Rating: 4.5/5
+ Amazing visuals and soundtrack.
+ Some truly touching and heartbreaking moments.
– Plot meanders a bit in the first 1/4 of the movie.
*make sure you stick around for all 5 post credit scenes…
Thor and the Recorder robot travel into the Black Galaxy and find that it is structured in an almost organic fashion, dubbed by the Recorder as a “Bio-Verse.” Following their navigation they come before Ego the living planet, who tells the two that it has been waiting for them.
Thor and the Rigellian Recorder have traveled into the “Bio-Verse” where they meet Ego the Living Planet. Wanting to have a dialogue with with the two visitors, Ego changes his environment to one that the two visitors find familiar, and creating a Asgardian themed Avatar to show them around, as well as give them a show of his vast powers.
Ego explains to Thor that he intends to beat Thor in combat, rationalizing if he can defeat the Thunder God, then nothing can stop him from taking over the world. Dissolving his avatar, Ego forms an army of anti-bodies to battle Thor and the Recorder. Forced with fighting these mindless drones and deal with Ego constantly shifting the planets shape. Fighting off the anti-bodies, Thor and the Recorder are then sucked into the arterized tunnels of Ego’s being.
This super detailed infographic breaks down all the major and minor threats in the MCU, from the movies, the Netflix and TV shows, right down to the One-Shots!
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team Guardians of the Galaxy, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is intended to be the sequel to 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy and the fifteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film is written and directed by James Gunn and stars an ensemble cast featuring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Sean Gunn, Glenn Close, Pom Klementieff, Elizabeth Debicki, Chris Sullivan, and Kurt Russell. In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the Guardians travel throughout the cosmos as they help Peter Quill learn more about his true parentage.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was officially announced at San Diego Comic-Con International 2014 before the theatrical release of the first film, along with Gunn’s involvement once again, with the title of the film revealed a year later in June 2015. The film began principal photography in February 2016 at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia, and concluded in June 2016.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is scheduled to be released on May 5, 2017, in 3D and IMAX.
*note– These are the Infinity Gems as they are represented within the comics, not within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The way the stones look and function has since been updated by Marvel; keep reading for details.
Adam Warlock tells the Avengers how Thanos created a synthetic Infinity Gem. – Avengers Annual #7 (1977)
In the third volume of the Silver Surfer title, the Surfer refers to the gems as “Soul Gems” for the first time. They are gathered by the Elders of the Universe, who intend to use their combined power to drain Galactus of his life force and then recreate the universe with themselves as the oldest beings in it (Galactus was the last survivor of the Universe that existed prior to the birth of the current Marvel Universe). This plot is thwarted by the Silver Surfer, and several Elders and the gems are lost in a black hole; Galactus consumes some of the other Elders.
The Soul “Jewel” is firmly planted in the forehead of Adam Warlock – The Power of Warlock #2 (August, 1972)
In a follow-up story, Galactus is poisoned by the Elders he consumed. Silver Surfer, Mr. Fantastic, and the Invisible Woman journey through the black hole to recover the gems. Invisible Woman becomes possessed by the sentient Soul Gem, awakening her evil Malice persona. She is later subdued, and the gems are used to remove the Elders from Galactus’ body. The Elders later reclaim the gems.
Each Gem is a small, smooth oval, and known by their respective powers. Each of the Gems represents a different characteristic of Existence and possessing any single Gem grants the possessor the ability to potentially command whatever aspect of Existence the Gem represents. The Gems are indestructible but not immutable. On two occasions one or more of the Gems have appeared in the form of deep pink spheres that were several feet in diameter.
The Mind, Reality, Power, Space, Time, Soul Gems housed in the Infinity Gauntlet.
On other occasions the gems have appeared in their normal shape but with different coloring (i.e. when the Soul Gem appeared to be red when worn by the Gardener). In the Ultraverse, the merged Gems, Nemesis, were once again separated after a climactic battle with Ultraforce and the Avengers. The Space, Power, Soul, and Mind gems morph into humanoid beings. The nature of these beings is not known, nor how these beings returned to their original forms.
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