'Avengers: Infinity War' Image Shows How Close Iron Man Was to Cutting off Thanos' Hand

The next stop on this train of Avengers: Infinity War fandom seems to be fans posting single images from the film, moments which offer lots of opportunity for examination and discussion of the deeper details and themes of Infinity War. One particular sequence that fans have been obsessing over is "The Battle of Titan," where Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man and some of The Guardians ambushed Thanos and nearly captured the Infinity Gauntlet. Today, we take a look at that scene a little more closely to see just how close Iron Man came to saving the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe!

Tony was few centimeters away from cutting Thanos' hand. The Gauntlet got in the way as seen from the sparks. from r/marvelstudios

These detailed images from Avengers: Infinity War's "Battle of Titan" scene show that Iron Man was indeed just a few inches off the mark from completely severing Thanos' arm (or maybe his head?) and ending the threat to the universe, once and for all. Lucky for Thanos, he had two distinct advantages:

1. A warrior's reflexes, developed in countless battles.
2. An actual gauntlet on his arm.

Thanks to those two things, Thanos was able to parry Iron Man's attack, and Tony Stark never really regained the element of surprise needed to have his subsequent attacks strike that close. We all know what happened as a result of Iron Man's failure — a massive burden that Tony Stark will likely carry with him into Avengers 4.

Multiple fan examinations and directorial insights have collectively revealed that Avengers: Infinity War's "Battle of Titan" sequence had a lot more in the way of intricate details than most fans initially thought. In addition to the moment captured above, we've seen close examination of how close Spider-Man was to getting the Inifinity Gauntlet, as well as the moment in the battle where Thanos used the individual power of the Soul Stone, along with a litany of other details that were packed into this pivotal, emotional, and visually epic sequence. Some fans are still traumatized by how close the MCU heroes came to stopping Thanos — and still so very angry at Star-Lord for blowing the plan.

Avengers: Infinity War is now available as a digital download and on Blu-ray and DVD. Ant-Man and the Wasp is now playing in theaters. Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019; Avengers 4 on May 3, 2019; Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5th, 2019. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has been delayed indefinitely.