Almost 10 years in the making, and 19 movies later in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), we have Avengers: Infinity War! The hype generated prior to the release was unparalleled. But does it live up?

Yes, yes and yes!

So let’s get into it! This is a SPOILER FREE review!

“Every great villain is the hero of their own story”

Villains are seldom given sufficient backstory, at least not a satisfying one anyway. In Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos is not just a plot device for our hero’s….he is the plot of the story. And since we only saw glimpses of him in some of the previous Marvel movies, the choice to centralize Thanos was perfect.

“With all six stones, I can simply snap my fingers, they would all cease to exist. I call that mercy.” – Thanos

After all, when it comes to villains very few (if any) comes close to Thanos. So understanding him and his motivations turns out to be important. Infinity War does a fantastic job is making a Thanos relatable, even though we still consider him to be a maniac and psychopath and by the way, Josh Brolin was absolutely superb as Thanos!

One can think of Infinity War as a story told from the perspective of Thanos, it’s the culmination of his story. The next logical step is to converge the different Avengers plot lines together, culminating in an epic battle.

“Staying together is more important than how we stay together.” – Captain America

The conflict in Captain America: Civil War is evident right from the start. The Avengers are not a collective team anymore, and that’s a huge deal. Even though Civil War was in essence a culmination of the Captain America trilogy, it laid an important foundation for Infinity War.

“Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. Conflict breeds catastrophe.” – Vision

After Civil War, the Avengers are disconnected and dispersed. The power of the collective group is lost and that renders them vulnerable. It is for this reason that we as the audience get a feeling that our beloved hero(s) may not only not win….some may actually die.

The feeling of “not knowing” brings a new level of suspense that we are not accustomed to. Why should the good guys always win with very little if any losses? After all, that’s not how life actually works. So grounding the story in reality, even a superhero story, makes for a much more riveting viewing experience.

(And yes, we all knew that Superman would return after his death in “Batman v Superman”, so that doesn’t count.)

And yes, the next chapter may reverse some of the events in Infinity War, but we don’t really know for sure, do we? Even if that happens, I do believe there will be consequences for our beloved hero’s. And that makes the next movie so much more exciting!

The unique pairings of the various characters, coupled with the dialogue and character interaction was on point. The dark and gloomy backdrop is often broken up quick humour…lots of them actually, and that makes it entertaining. It is not always doom and gloom!

One criticism would however be the lack of dialogue from some some characters, Black Widow and Shiri come to mind.

But with a cast as large as we have seen, maybe that’s to be expected. At 2:40min running time, Avengers: Infinity War is already a stretch, so it’s granted that a lot of scenes remain on the cutting room floor.

We have become accustomed to Marvel’s post credit scenes and Avengers: Infinity War did not disappoint. Since this is a spoiler free post, I will not go into details, except to say that we can expect a new major character in Avengers 4…..perhaps the most powerful one of them all!

At the end there are a lot of questions that will have to be answered in the next installment (spoiler free, of course):

• What did Dr Strange see?
• What’s up with Hulk?
• Where are Hawkeye, Antman, Valkyrie?
• What happened to the Infinity Gauntlet after the snap?
• Which superhero’s will we see the last of in Avengers 4?

Marvel has delivered yet again. Avengers: Infinity War ranks at #2 of my all time favourite Marvel movies, 2nd only to Ironman, which started the MCU way back in 2008. Has it been that long? Maybe surprising to some, but Black Panther is my #3. So if you haven’t watched that, I strongly recommended it!

We will now have to wait for Avengers 4…the currently untitled final installment in the Avengers saga. Until then we can expect “Ant-Man and the Wasp” and “Captain Marvel” (wink wink). Judging by the last 2 Marvel movies, I am confident that the next 2 will not disappoint.

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Audiences across Africa assembled in cinemas this past weekend (April 27-29) to witness the unprecedented cinematic journey ten years in the making, delivering Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War not only to the top of the box office, but also into the record books.

The nineteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe took in nearly R24.6 million at the South African Box Office, with over 287k attendances for its opening weekend, including Thursday night previews. This debut ranks as the biggest industry opening weekend ever in South African Box Office history. Friday 27 April also saw Avengers: Infinity War take in over R8.4 million, the biggest industry opening day ever at the local box office.

Elsewhere on the continent, Avengers: Infinity War has become the biggest opening weekend of all time in West Africa with over N137.4 million. The film achieved the biggest April and second highest opening weekend (after Marvel Studios’ Black Panther) in East Africa with over kes 23.4 million.

Also in cinemas, Marvel Studios’ Black Panther continued its historic run at the South African Box Office with the film passing an unprecedented R105 million with nearly 1.4m attendances.

Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther are now in cinemas.