STACK #166 Aug 2018

visit stack.com.au DVD & BD FEATURE WITH GREAT POWER ... Avengers: InfinityWar is the first of a two-part conclusion to Marvel’s cunningly crafted first three phases of unprecedented comic-to-screen film universe. STACK charts how the MCU got to this point. Words Alesha Kolbe

2008 Iron Man is released

It’s all been leading to this. Avengers: Infinity War is the culmination of 10 years’ worth of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, all evidently leading to a showdown with the Mad Titan Thanos and his apocalyptic Infinity Gauntlet. That’s all well and good – but what does any of it mean? We break it down for you, from the Infinity Stones and where they came from, to the interconnectedness of the MCU.

Who is Thanos? First teased during the post-credits scene at the end of The Avengers in 2012 – and back then played by an actor named Damion Poitier – the Mad Titan Thanos has now been fully fleshed-out and is portrayed by Josh Brolin. While you find out more about him and his plan in Avengers: Infinity War , Thanos is hell-bent on restoring balance to the universe by wiping out half of its population, teaming up with Ronan and Loki in order to get his hands on more of the Infinity Stones. His method of genocide is completely random, though, so it’s fair – right? Perfectly balanced, as all things should be. The first ‘official’ entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe introduces Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/ Iron Man; genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, superhero. The post-credits scene introduces Nick Fury and the Avengers Initiative, setting in motion the events that will comprise the next three phases of the MCU. 2011 the Thor post-credits scene Following Chris Hemsworth’s charming debut as Thor, God of Thunder, we are treated to yet another revealing post-credits scene, this time starring Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) as well as Director Fury. They’re making a fuss over an object known as the Tesseract – which in fact turns out to be the Space Stone, and the first Infinity Stone to show up in the MCU, whether we knew it at the time or not.

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AUGUST 2018

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