The MCU we know is fast concluding with the great event called “Infinity War.” There is so much that exists right now and would end along with phase 3. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Infinity War is the single-most awaited event of the 21st century so far. And we couldn’t wait to grab any hints, no matter how small they are.
The biggest source of anticipation is the arrival of Thanos. The world-destroying villain, who was only present in small scenes and post-credits so far, will be having a significant role in the upcoming movie. His plan includes assembling the Infinity stones in the Infinity Gauntlet, which would make him a threat our heroes could barely stand against.
But, will Thanos be fighting the fight himself? It seems unlikely since he is too big to be bothered by small threats. Thanos’s adopted children, Gamora and Nebula, have already left him. So, is he alone now? Far from it, and we got the confirmation at the recent D-23 event of Disney.
We were introduced to the Black Order of Thanos (now called the children of Thanos), who act as his lieutenants. These included Proxima Midnight, Corvus Glaive, Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian.
The Black Order was first introduced in 2013’s New Avengers #8. These “children” were galactic-level fighters who were assembled by Thanos to do his dirty work. In the comics, they were tasked to find the Infinity gems that were in possession of a secret group called “The Illuminati.” Another of their jobs in the comic books included finding and killing Thane, son of Thanos. They failed, of course, as Thane’s Inhuman abilities resurfaced and led to the mass-murder of an entire village. Thane later faced his sire after absorbing the Phoenix Force.
But wait, even The Black Order is not the actual fighter. They created genetically engineered armies called “Outriders” with a single purpose: make Thanos’s dream of destruction a reality. If you are excited about the Outriders and The Black Order, you can check them out in the 2015 animated film “New Frontiers.”
Of course, the speculations of new villains were alive for a while now. Two weeks ago, we spotted Benedict Cumberbatch shooting in Atlanta, the photos of which were recently released. In one of these pictures, Dr. Strange was seen fighting off some invisible force that was strong enough to bring him to his knees. Was it Thanos? Perhaps, since Dr. Strange once possessed of one of the Infinity stones (the Time Stone a.k.a Eye of Agamotto).
However, another photo showed him in battle with Tom Vaughan Lawlor. Now, we don’t know what character Lawlor plays, and he himself was reluctant to admit anything:
“I am. But it’s like I’m one of those ones where you go into a sentence to say something about it and hope you have a job at the end of the sentence. You sign so many documents and waivers and people ask you about it and you have to give the generic and boring ‘I can’t say too much about it’. But I am doing it and it’s really amazing and an amazing thing to be part of.”
“With social media, there’s so much potential for leaks so (Marvel) understandably want to micromanage things and make sure it goes out when they are ready. They didn’t know me so when I went over they were meeting me for the first time. They do background checks to make sure you’re not a white supremacist and they’re not hiring someone with weird baggage.”
However, sources suggest that he could be portraying Ebony Maw, one of the “children of Thanos.”
Another interesting thing we noticed in the new photos was an unlikely pair in New York: Dr. Strange and Spiderman. Both are the residents of New York, so perhaps that is where their team-up to stop Thanos would start. In fact, we even asked Tom Holland about the dynamics between the two:
“We’re good friends. We’re the Londoners and the New Yorkers.”
Joe Russo, the co-director, shared something similar:
“They both have a proximity to each other, if that’s a hint that I can give. Anybody who’s a Marvel fan would know that they both reside in the same city, and I think Tom and Benedict have a really wonderful chemistry and we wanted to exploit that.”
The upcoming movie, Avengers: Infinity War hits the theatre on May 3, 2018. Till then, here is the synopsis of the film:
“As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos. A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment – the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain”.
