“There was an idea…”
For the past decade, Marvel Studios and parent company
Disney have taken on an unprecedented cinematic journey. It began with the
release of their first film based on Marvel Comics, IRON MAN in May of 2008. It
was the first building block towards their heralded INFINITY WAR storyline,
with each one of their connected films building towards the ultimate showdown
between our heroic Avengers and the “Mad Titan” Thanos in his quest for the
mysterious and powerful Infinity Stones. After a decade of 17 films, $13.4
billion in box office revenue, and spinoffs into television, we’re finally
nearing the climax of the long-form story…and today Marvel gave us our first
look.
Today on Good Morning
America, the first trailer for AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR was released to the world,
and minutes later online (HERE).
Right away, something must be said about the extremely well thought-out
strategy behind this unveiling. Timing is everything, and Marvel/Disney decided
to release this first, much-anticipated look nearly a full week after
Thanksgiving (no distractions), the day after their rival company DC finished
up their epic (and very good) TV crossover series (no competition), and the day
before their own AGENTS OF SHIELD starts up again on TV (cross-promotion). This
was a perfectly executed, and beautifully thought-out plan.
The beginnings of the trailer brilliantly hark back to the
early days of the franchise, with a variation of the iconic monologue from Nick
Fury (Sam Jackson), explaining why the Avengers were originally assembled. The
monologue trades off lines between Fury, Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), Vision
(Paul Bettany), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson).
The familiar tunes of the theme from the first AVENGERS film (2012) is heard,
which drives home the long history at work here. The tone is ominous, and a far
cry from the zany fun that Marvel’s most recent film, THOR: RAGNORAK had.
Marvel has always given us a great balance of seriousness and comedy, and
that’s why fatigue or boredom has never set in with their films.
The trailer moves on with shots of our
team slowly coming together, including Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), and Dr. Strange
(Benedict Cumberbatch), with dialogue picked up by the expected arrival of
Thanos (Josh Brolin)…whom we’ve only seen in glimpses over the last 10 years.
Some other highlights include Thanos punching out Iron Man,
a bearded and world-weary Captain America (Chris Evans) leading a charge, Black
Panther (Chadwick Boseman) calling for a new shield for Cap, a new suit for
Spider-Man (Tom Holland), and that bastard Loki (Tom Hiddleston) with one of
the important pieces to the puzzle…
And finally, the closing shots…Thor meeting our beloved
Guardians of the Galaxy!
Overall the trailer shows some epic shots, and seems more
than worthy of the buildup we’ve been witnessing. It hypes up the film without giving away very much of the plot. When it comes to long-form
franchise building, this is how it’s done.
*
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR arrives May 4th, 2018. It
is directed by the Russo Brothers, who recently directed the Marvel films CIVIL
WAR (2016), and THE WINTER SOLDIER (2014).
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