Where Every Avenger Is At The Start Of Infinity War
Of course, all roads will lead to confronting Thanos on Earth in Avengers 3. With the biggest Marvel movie ever just a couple of weeks away, many fans won’t have time to rewatch all 18 MCU films at this point, and even then keeping track of the dozens of characters is a hard task. In order to keep score of what each major participant officially confirmed to be in Infinity War is up to before the film begins, here’s an easy guide.
Note that the info below includes story points from Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War Prelude comics, which fills in some of the gaps of what happened to many of the heroes after the events of Captain America: Civil War. The comics’ plot points may be generally accurate but also may not reflect the exact details as Infinity War will present them.
Captain America is a changed man in many ways. Steve Rogers surrendered his shield and became a fugitive as result of Captain America: Civil War (indeed, according to Spider-Man: Homecoming, it’s a common belief among the citizens of the MCU that Steve Rogers is now a “war criminal”). In the post-credits scene of Civil War, we saw Steve drop Bucky Barnes off in Wakanda. He has since gone off the grid; in the months since the Avengers broke apart, he’s formed an international strike team and continued seeking justice while avoiding the authorities. Infinity War Prelude shows the core unit of Team Cap taking on a terrorist group armed with Chitauri weapons in Syria.
Black Widow is with Steve Rogers, her closest ally. Natasha was originally in favor of all of the Avengers signing the Sokovia Accords but she turned on Team Iron Man after the airport battle in Berlin. She disappeared but reunited with Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson at some point after Rogers freed his fellow captured Team Cap members from The Raft. Privately, Natasha continues to nurse the pain of Bruce Banner turning his back on their romance in Age of Ultron, setting up their reunion in Avengers 3.
Falcon is with Rogers and Romanoff. Sam Wilson remains loyal to Steve, his best friend, especially after Rogers liberated him from The Raft. Sam’s loyalty and heroism will meet their greatest test against Thanos.
Bucky is in Wakanda, where he was placed in cryo-stasis so that Shuri could engineer a way to heal the former Winter Soldier’s mind from decades of Russian/Hydra brainwashing. In the end-credits scene of Black Panther, we see Bucky is awake and apparently cured. All that’s missing is for the man the Wakandans now call the “White Wolf” to receive a new Vibranium left arm.
Other members are following their own lives. Scarlet Witch is in hiding after she was freed from The Raft. Infinity War Prelude reveals that she has continued to pursue a romantic relationship with Vision. Hawkeye is retired (again) and has been allowed to return to his family on their farm after his stint as a prisoner in The Raft. He may, however, be under a form of house arrest. Ant-Man is back in San Francisco and also under house arrest after being freed from The Raft. We’ll learn much more about Scott Lang’s status in Ant-Man and the Wasp, which is set before the events of Infinity War.
WHAT HAPPENED TO TEAM IRON MAN AFTER CIVIL WAR
Iron Man has continued to be the public face of the Avengers and began mentoring Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man. He also publicly announced his engagement to Pepper Potts after Parker turned down Avengers membership in Homecoming. Stark seems to have had trouble finding new heroes to fill the ranks of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, however; Prelude showed him alone and fearing some great threat.
War Machine is regaining the use of his legs after he was injured during Civil War. James “Rhodey” Rhodes remains loyal to his best friend Tony Stark and will once again don his armor in Infinity War.
Vision has left the Avengers to join Wanda Maximoff in hiding according to Infinity War Prelude, with his powers (derived from the Mind Stone, which will make him a target of Thanos in Infinity War) giving him the ability to appear human. The last time Vision was mentioned in the MCU movies was in Homecoming when Stark noted Peter Parker would have a room in Avengers Compound next to the android had Spider-Man joined.
Spider-Man is staying local in Queens, New York as a friendly neighborhood web-slinger, although will soon go cosmic and don the new Iron Spider armor. In the meantime, his Aunt May discovered Peter’s secret identity at the end of Homecoming. Hopefully, Infinity War will address the fallout of that shocking moment.
THE STATE OF WAKANDA AT THE START OF INFINITY WAR
Black Panther opened up Wakanda to the world and offered other nations the benefits of their Vibranium technology and humanitarian aid. King T’Challa has also opened up Wakandan Humanitarian Outreach Centers in other countries, starting in Oakland, California. But he’s not the only returning character.
Shuri has been extremely busy since the events of Black Panther. She successfully healed Bucky Barnes’ mind and is spearheading the technological side of Wakanda’s international outreach. She also visited the United States for the first time but went Oakland instead of Disneyland or Coachella. Okoye remains the general of the Dora Milaje, defending Wakanda and the Royal Family while being skeptical of King T’Challa’s decision to open Wakanda up to the world. And M’Baku continues to lead the Jabari Tribe after aiding T’Challa in taking the kingdom back from Erik Killmonger.
THE REVENGERS ARE NOT IN A GOOD PLACE
In Thor: Ragnarok, the God of Thunder lost both his hammer Mjolnir and his right eye but gained a bunch of new allies dubbed the Revengers. When we last saw Thor, he became King but lost Asgard itself to Surtur when he deliberately caused Ragnarok in order to defeat his sister Hela, the Goddess of Death. Thor was leading the surviving Asgardian people to Earth in a spaceship when they were intercepted by Thanos in Ragnarok‘s mid-credits scene, spelling problems for the Revengers.
Lost after Age of Ultron, the Hulk was the Champion of Sakaar for two years when he reunited with Thor. After helping cause Ragnarok, Hulk/Banner are with Thor on the Asgardian ship. Valkyrie also joined with Thor to battle Hela and was on the Asgardian ship when Thanos arrived. Her status in Infinity War is a question mark as she has not been seen in the marketing for the film. Loki is also with his adoptive brother and secretly has the Space Stone in his possession, which he took from Odin’s Vault when he resurrected Surtur to destroy Asgard – something Thanos wants.
Along with the core Revengers, Heimdall stands with Thor, his king, on the Asgardian ship, but lost his purpose as guardian of the Bifrost when Asgard was destroyed. Korg and Meik are also with the Asgardians after their revolution successfully freed them from slavery on Sakaar.
Elsewhere, Doctor Strange is now protecting Earth as a Master of the Mystic Arts and is in possession of the Eye of Agamotto, aka the Time Stone. In Infinity War Prelude, Wong educates Strange on the Infinity Stones and where they are located across the universe. Wong remains librarian of Kamar-Taj, which suffered the loss of the Ancient One’s leadership and the defection of Baron Mordo after the events of Doctor Strange.
THE GUARDIANS HAVE BEEN SPACE AVENGERS FOR YEARS NOW
The Guardians of the Galaxy – Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Groot – have remained together throughout the years since the events of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, where they defeated Peter Quill’s father Ego. Groot has since grown from a baby into a teenager, and Mantis has joined their ranks as well. Vol. 2 took place only 4 months after Vol. 1, so the Guardians will have been up to quite a bit more in the years before Infinity War.
Also in space is Nebula, who refused her “sister” Gamora’s offer to join the Guardians in Vol. 2, choosing instead to continue her quest for revenge against Thanos. How Nebula is lured into the events of Infinity War is a big question to be answered. The Collector is still on Knowhere with the Aether, aka the Reality Stone in his possession, which makes him a target of Thanos.
But what’s of most interest on the cosmic side is the big bad. Thanos is the cause of Infinity War; the Mad Titan is taking it upon himself to collect the Infinity Stones and fulfill his quest to restore order to the universe by killing half of all living beings. Thanos has been called the lead character of Avengers 3, so we can expect to learn a lot about his backstory before the Avengers try and take him down. He was last seen attacking new Asgard, where he is presumably accompanied by the Black Order, also known as the Children of Thanos: Corvus Glave, Proxima Midnight, Ebony Maw, and Cull Obsidian. Like Gamora and Nebula, they are various powerful beings ‘raised’ by Thanos to be his deadly minions, and they will be working alongside the Mad Titan and helping him acquire the six Infinity Stones.
With all these pieces in place Avengers: Infinity War is set to be an epic unlike anything seen before. Let’s just hope the Avengers are ready for sacrifice.
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