Marvel's 'Infinity' Writer Reacts to 'Avengers: Infinity War' Trailer

One of the Marvel creators who most influenced the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War film finds a certain irony in the exuberant fan reactions to the film's latest trailer.

Jonathan Hickman wrote both Avengers and New Avengers from 2012 through both series' finales in the Secret Wars event series in 2015. His run included another major event titled Infinity. That event saw Thanos on a quest and coming to Earth at a time when the Avengers were at their weakest, a plot that should sound familiar to anyone who has been following the buildup to Avengers: Infinity War. Infinity was also the series where the Black Order and the Outriders first appeared. Both classes of Thanos' minions will also appear in Avengers: Infinity War.

Fans are incredibly excited about all of this, which led to a retrospective tweet from Hickman on the day the final Avengers: Infinity War trailer was released.

"When I was writing the Avengers comics I used to get shit because it wasn't like the movie Avengers," Hickman tweeted.

It's true. Speaking anecdotally, Hickman's run on the Avengers was appreciated by many, but many others fans cast it in a poor light by comparing it to the Avengers movies. Where the films featured a small, tightly knit family of Avengers, Hickman expanded the roster to include a score of Avengers split into several subteams. Some were Avengers veterans and some new recruits, as well as some brand new characters. Where the films traded in warm, quippy, Joss Whedonesque banter and conflicts and fight scenes inspired by classic superhero stories from the likes of Kurt Busiek and George Perez, Hickman and his collaborators brought a darkness to the Avengers, along with a cosmic scope, a plot heavy on the sci-fi elements, and layers of intrigue.

Now many of those elements introduced by Hickman have made their way into the Avengers film franchise with Infinity War. As Hickman illuminates with his statement, there's a certain unfortunate irony that what he brought to Avengers wasn't fully appreciated by fans until the movies helped give his work a new validity. Hopefully, those fans who may have been turned off by Hickman's take on the Avengers at first will revisit his work and find a new appreciation.

The relationship between the work of Marvel Comics and Marvel Studios is in an interesting place as the studio's output continues to increase. Most fans are likely to agree that it should be Marvel Studios racing to keep up with the ideas of Marvel Comics, as is the case in Avengers: Infinity War, rather than the Marvel Comics trying to force its creators to imitate the films.

Avengers: Infinity War on April 27th. Black Panther is now in theaters. Other upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Ant-Man and the Wasp on July 6th, Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.