How Infinity War Will Change The Mcu Forever

Everything in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has slowly been building up to the arrival of Thanos, and after years of waiting, Avengers: Infinity War is finally here. Which raises just one big question for superhero fans: now what? Of course, Marvel has already allegedly created a meticulous master plan that runs through the year 2028. But since they aren't telling anyone what they have in mind, we'll just have to look at the clues to figure out just how Infinity War will change the MCU forever. Expect departures The contractual obligations for many of the stars of the MCU end with Avengers: Infinity War. Rumors and reports have circulated for years that some of the MCU's biggest stars would be unwilling to renew, with Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, and Chris Hemsworth all stating at various times that they were planning to leave the MCU at the end of their contracts. Of course, people can change their minds, and being offered hundreds of millions of dollars often helps. But considering pretty much every Marvel superhero was killed in the Infinity Gauntlet comic book series that Infinity War is based on, it would seem like Marvel has been planning the perfect sendoff for the current version of the MCU - and the current lineup of stars - for years. While most are signed through the Infinity War follow-up in 2019's Avengers 4, chances are pretty good that Infinity War is at least the beginning of the end for everything you've known and loved about the MCU for the past decade. Expect new arrivals If the thought of losing your favorite superheros is a big ol' bummer, don't worry, because Marvel has plenty of other characters waiting in the wings for their closeup. Sure, some of the characters left in their stable may not be as famous as their current line-up, but be honest: had you ever heard of the Guardians of the Galaxy before they became the coolest thing in any universe? What about Doctor Strange, or Ant-Man, or even Iron Man? Yes, hard as it may be to remember now, but Iron Man was once considered a second string hero, and featuring him in his own solo film was regarded as a massive risk when the first Iron Man film came out a decade ago. So don't worry if you've never heard of Moon Knight, Brother Voodoo, or Shang-Chi, Master of Kung-Fu. Because given Marvel's track record, chances are they'll be your new favorite character before the final credits finish rolling. Expect more diversity The undeniable critical and commercial success of Black Panther should be enough to convince even the most doubtful cynic that after Infinity War, we should expect to see Marvel Studios doubling and tripling down on its commitment to diversity. Starring mostly actors of color, written and directed by people of color, Black Panther proved — if nothing else — there's no good reason to shy away from Marvel's collection of more diverse heroes. With the success of Black Panther, the highly anticipated Captain Marvel waiting in the wings, Avengers: Infinity War's ensemble cast featuring numerous people of color and women, the persistent whispers of a solo Black Widow movie, and a still largely untapped reserve of Marvel comics characters waiting for their names to be called, Marvel movie fans should expect to not only see more women heroes and heroes of color, but their real-life counterparts writing and directing. Expect more laughs Marvel movies are funny, and they'll continue to be funny. Though the Avengers franchise, which sits at the heart of the MCU, has been a deadly serious affair with deep real-world themes and moral debates, it's also been laced with all sorts of funny gags and light asides. [Sound of a body being repeatedly slammed into the ground] "Puny god." Unlike the DC Extended Universe, films in the MCU are actually fun to watch, and as films like Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor: Ragnarok have proven, the more audiences laugh, the more money they're likely to spend seeing it again. Thor: Ragnarok was even so fun that star Chris Hemsworth reportedly has been reconsidering his decision to leave the MCU. And all that added humor helped Thor: Ragnarok earn not just the most money of the three Thor films, but also the best reviews. In fact, one of the few criticisms of the movie was that it might have been too funny! Given the success of Ragnarok in revitalizing one of Marvel's key franchises, though, don't expect the laughs to stop any time soon, especially with Ant-Man and the Wasp and Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 already in the pipeline. The events of Infinity War may be sad, but chances are, Marvel has a plan to turn that frown upside down sooner rather than later. Expect more variety Maybe the biggest secret to Marvel's success is the fact that while they seem to be making superhero movies, they're actually making movies from all sorts of different genres that just happen to feature superheroes as the main characters. Think about it. Captain America: Winter Soldier was a classic, 70's style espionage movie. Guardians of the Galaxy was a space opera, while Doctor Strange and Thor: The Dark World were fantasy films. Ant-Man was a heist flick, while Ant-Man and the Wasp has been described as a romcom, and Spider-man: Homecoming was their take on the classic John Hughes high school dramedy. It's that non-formula formula that has worked so well for Marvel up until this point, so fans should expect to see more of the same - by expecting less of the same when it comes to Infinity War. Marvel isn't going to follow up their big smash em up epic action crossover with more of those. Instead, they're likely to branch out even further, picking characters that work well in different types of films. Want to see a Marvel western? They've got the Two-Gun Kid for that. A Marvel horror movie? How about Simon Garth, the Zombie? A Marvel war movie? Hello, John Kowalski! It sounds weird, but Marvel plays it safe by not playing it safe, so going forward, expect even more variety than we've gotten so far. Expect more space One of the corners of the Marvel Universe that has found nothing but success is the cosmos. Both Guardians of the Galaxy films were hits. And, like humor, the cosmic element added to Thor: Ragnarok was a key ingredient to turning around the franchise. While the first Avengers brought us an alien invasion, Avengers: Infinity War promises an even stronger attachment to Marvel's cosmic mythology than ever. With Quasar, Nova, Adam Warlock, Moondragon, and more, there are almost as many heroes among the stars as there are on Marvel's Earth. And the possible acquisition of Fox's properties opens even more doors. The Fantastic Four are cosmic explorers, and the Silver Surfer is the ultimate cosmic hero. Considering all the success Marvel has had in space, and the fact that its audience is now familiar enough with its cosmic mythology to not burden future films with extraneous explanations, there is no reason to think Marvel won't explore other far out franchises. Expect complete Annihilation So what will Marvel's next giant film crossover event be once Infinity War and Avengers 4 have come and gone? Well, if Marvel does use Infinity War and the acquisition of the Fantastic Four and the Silver Surfer as an excuse to launch even more cool outer space movies, the next logical step is complete Annihilation. That's because in the comics, while the Earth-bound heroes were all busy fighting each other with their Civil War thing, Marvel's space heroes were engaged in a galaxy-spanning Armageddon called Annihilation, with the Guardians of the Galaxy leading the way. With Infinity War bringing the alien menace to Earth, the next logical step for our heroes is to take that fight back into space. Of course, Marvel has plenty of other massive crossover storylines they could do instead, but given the popularity of their sci-fi franchises - and the space connections evident in 2019's Captain Marvel, which seems set to include the space war between the Kree and the Skrull - Annihilation seems like the safest bet. Expect the X-Men Finally, the acquisition of Fox would provide the MCU with the most obvious new direction. Now that the threat from without has been taken care of, what about the threat from within posed by the emergence of a mutant population hiding among us? With the Avengers potentially gone, who could possibly stand up to the danger of… The X-Men?! It's inevitable that the X-Men will play a major role in the MCU once Disney has rights to the characters, we just don't know yet how it will play out. Will Thanos use the reality-warping Infinity Gauntlet to somehow merge the MCU with Fox's X-Men universe? Or will the characters develop organically, with the X-Men franchise getting rebooted completely - like Spider-man was - so that the emergence of the mutant menace becomes the cornerstone of Marvel's next Phase, and beyond? However Marvel ends up bringing the X-Men into the MCU, once they are there, there's no question that they're going to be at the center of everything that follows - and not necessarily as heroes. Could the MCU follow the comics by having Cyclops become the big bad guy in a race war between humans and mutants? In a world without the Avengers as we know them, anything is possible. Thanks for watching! 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