I love going to the movies!

[lunabee34]

So here's what I thought was going to happen in this movie:

1. Many characters will die, but
2. be resurrected in some way through a reset of some sort (probably in the following movie).
3. Steve will die to usher in either Cap!Bucky or Cap!Sam (with my heart's desire being Cap!Sam).
4. Pacing issues galore.
5. The cast will be too large for any real emotional connection to characters or character growth.

I am relieved to say that I was very pleasantly surprised by how the movie differed from my expectations. True, many characters died, but I am convinced that most of them will be restored in the following movie. The franchise is not going to end with half the universe staying dead.

Of course, the guessing game becomes which characters will be resurrected. I know there's some debate over whether only the people who died from Thanos snapping his fingers will be resurrected; I personally think that whatever time magic happens is going to go back far enough to save the Asgardian ship. Otherwise, Thor's the last Asgardian standing; I don't think he rescued his people just for all of them to die. So, I think Loki, Heimdall, Gamora, and Vision will be resurrected as well.

I think everyone's going to come back only for the gut-punch of the real, permanent death(s) to happen in the next movie. I think Tony's going to die in a blaze of sacrificial glory (possibly alongside Steve, ushering in the next Cap), and I think his death has been telegraphed from the beginning of the franchise. I think all the Avengers team movies have orbited around Tony and Steve; we get tons of plot and development about other characters, but I think the movies consistently focus on Tony and Steve as the protagonists. From the first Avengers movie, Tony is deeply scarred by the Chitauri invasion; he's obsessed with the idea of making the world safer and scared of fucking shit up worse with his powers while trying to do so. He's horrified enough by the collateral damage of his actions to sign the Accords but deeply worried that the world needs to give superheroes free rein if it's going to survive hence reinstalling the arc reactor. I think he's going to sacrifice himself in some way to ultimately end Thanos (maybe while holding hands with Steve ala Spike and Angel).

I had a hard time getting too worked up about the deaths in the movie because I'm convinced that most of them will be resurrected, but Peter's death was gutting. His fear and how much he wanted Tony to fix everything for him and that hug and then he disappears and Tony is devastated--I am tearing up now typing this. Man, that was an absolutely perfect scene. Poor Emma had a conniption in the theater during that scene, bless her.

I know it's not set in stone that all the characters will be resurrected, but I feel confident that most of them will be; that Strange is setting in motion the one plan necessary to defeat Thanos is pretty explicit in the movie. It's also clear that the plan needs Tony alive, or Strange wouldn't have bargained for his life.

I don't think the movie has pacing issues at all. Nothing moves too quickly; no parts seem bogged down or idling. I'm glad they broke the cast of characters into small groups to interact with each other rather than having one large group; that works way better than I had imagined. I feel like everyone gets to shine for at least a moment.

I really love Thor interacting with the Guardians. Their hero worship is really funny, and I like the way he connects with Groot and Rocket (Groot making the axe handle! sweet rabbit!). I love Tony and Strange snarking at each other; I will gladly read about a thousand fics of that. I adore Bucky and Steve's reunion and how chill Bucky seems; he seems happy and healed and okay now.

I very much like Wanda and Vision's relationship. We didn't get to spend too much time with them, but I feel like I got a good sense of how much they care about each other; my heart breaks for Wanda when she has to kill Vision. That was the other really emotional death scene for me.

I think Thanos is an excellent villain. He's absolutely, perfectly terrifying. I've seen some people saying the movie tries to make him sympathetic, but I completely disagree. I think the whole point is that he isn't and can't be sympathetic. He's like the Operative in Firefly; he's a true believer in his own bullshit. He heinously abuses even the people he thinks he loves. He's so morally bankrupt that he can't value the lives of his loved ones over his mission (unlike the Avengers who try to save each other). He's implacable and immovable. None of them can beat him. None of them have come up against an enemy that they can't beat, at least collectively if not on their own. Thanos is all of their nightmares come true; he's Tony's literal nightmare. Beating him will be like nothing they've ever done before.

Emma is convinced that Hulk is refusing to come out because he's never been beaten before and he's afraid. I'm not sure what I think, but that's a plausible explanation.

One more miscellaneous observation: I loved the way that the Guardians plus Earth contingency tag-team Thanos, all attacking at once to keep him off his guard rather than politely waiting their turns.

I can't believe we have to wait forever to see how this ends!