Avengers: Infinity War boasts the biggest assemblage of characters in Marvel Studios‘ ten-year history — and the biggest body count.
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Massive spoilers to follow.
By the time Infinity War picks up — just moments after Thanos’ hulking ship confronted the Statesman in Thor: Ragnarok‘s mid-credits scene — at least half of the Asgardian refugees are dead, the result of the Sanctuary II’s assault on the unsuspecting ship.
We also come to learn Xandar, which housed one of the six Infinity Stones coveted by Thanos, has been obliterated. Thanos has obtained the Power Stone, making him even more of a threat — a threat immediately established as he effortlessly beats the Hulk into submission.
Asgardian warriors Thor and Heimdall lay helplessly amongst the wreckage as the Black Order assert their dominance.
It’s a grave situation, one made worse when Thanos demands he be presented with the Space Stone.
Heimdall and Loki
A defiant Heimdall manages to draw upon the power of the Bifrost, wielding its power to transport Hulk to Earth. For his efforts, Thanos impales Heimdall — killing him. Thor watches and screams, helplessly, as his friend dies.
Trickster Loki, wanting to save his own skin, offers his services and allegiance to Thanos.
But the son of Odin, in the name of loyalty to his brother, has one last trick up his sleeve as he nearly slices Thanos’ throat. The Mad Titan grips Loki by the throat, lifting him into the air, and strangles him to death.
Loki’s head shows visible damage — the kind you expect when the life of a being has been squeezed out by superhuman strength. His lifeless body drops with a thud.
“No resurrections this time,” Thanos says.
Upon departure, Thanos uses the Power Stone to obliterate the Statesman into nothingness.
The Collector?
The Guardians of the Galaxy — Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, and Mantis — return to the Collector’s museum on Knowhere to find the eccentric Taneleer Tivan helplessly pinned to the ground. Thanos has come to collect the Aether, better known as the Reality Stone.
The Collector claims he sold it and didn’t know what he possessed. He begs for mercy that doesn’t come.
Gamora drives her blade into Thanos, seemingly killing him, only to learn it was a ploy: Thanos, already in possession of the Reality Stone, uses its powers to warp the reality around the Guardians, revealing the fiery ruins of the Collector’s museum.
As he does, the Collector waves too-da-loo, similarly disappearing. The Collector we see is actually an illusion — leaving his exact fate unknown.
Considering the burning rubble that used to be the Collector’s prized collection, the charlatan is presumed dead.
The Black Order
Thanos’ pack of ferocious children — Proxima Midnight, Ebony Maw, Corvus Glaive, and Cull Obsidian — meet their apparent ends throughout Infinity War.
Ebony Maw is killed inside Thanos’ Q-Ship. A stowaway Spider-Man, borrowing an idea from the movie Aliens, plots to help Iron Man rescue a captured Doctor Strange by blowing a hole on the side of the ship — a hole that inhales Maw and spits him out into the unforgiving atmosphere of space. His lifeless and frozen body floats off into the cosmos.
Later, in Wakanda, Bruce Banner pilots the Hulkbuster armor, which he then uses to fight Cull Obsidian in hand-to-hand combat. Bruce then uses a detached Hulkbuster hand to rocket Cull Obsidian upwards, straight into Wakanda’s protective force field. Cull crashes into the shield and explodes.
Proxima Midnight goes one-on-three against Okoye, Black Widow, and Scarlet Witch. Wanda uses her abilities to fling Proxima into the air, directly into the path of a deadly rolling machine. The alien is obliterated by its spiky, rotating blades — leaving just blue blood behind.
Corvus Glaive, whose glaive possesses the ability to disrupt Vision’s morphing abilities, has Captain America on the ropes when the synthetic android gets his revenge — impaling Corvus on his own weapon, killing him.
Gamora
On Vormir, location of the Soul Stone, Thanos learns a sacrifice must be exchanged to unlock the prized jewel: “a soul for a soul.”
The warlord is accompanied by his adopted daughter, Gamora, who tells him he’s lost — he’ll never access the stone because there’s nothing he loves he can trade.
A tearful Thanos turns and grips Gamora. “I’m sorry, little one,” he says, meaning it.
He then throws Gamora off a tall cliff. Her broken body is seen below. Dead.
Vision
Thanos is coming for the Infinity Stones, one of which is embedded within Vision’s head.
Captain America decides to bring his allies to Wakanda, as it’s the only place on Earth containing those with the knowledge and the tools to possibly remove the Mind Stone from Vision without killing him.
Later, during their most desperate hour, Vision tells Wanda she must enact their last resort: she’s the only one with the power capable of revoking, and destroying, the Mind Stone.
She does so, regretfully, resulting in an explosion that destroys both Vision and the Mind Stone. Thanos, using the Time Stone, rewinds time and restores Vision — only to then pluck the Mind Stone out of Vision’s forehead, leaving Vision’s greyed and lifeless body in the dirt.
Bucky, T’Challa, Groot, Wanda, Falcon, Mantis, Drax, Star-Lord, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange
With all six Infinity Stones assembled, Thanos snaps his fingers.
In the blink of an eye, half of all life in the universe has been decimated. Earth’s mightiest heroes included.
Bucky collapses, turning to ash before he can hit the ground. T’Challa follows, turning into nothingness before Okoye’s eyes.
Then Groot. Wanda. Falcon. Gone.
On Titan, Mantis fades away. Drax becomes dust in the wind. Star-Lord can only say “oh, man,” before he’s gone, too.
A begging Spider-Man pleads not to go, but he goes all the same. Doctor Strange follows, leaving a defeated Tony behind with just Nebula for company.
They lost.
Maria Hill and Nick Fury
In its post-credits scene, Nick Fury and Maria Hill witness chaos and destruction as people around them are whisked away as lifeless dust in the wind.
Hill drifts away. Fury withdraws an old school beeper. He turns to dust. “Motherf—” he’s gone. His hand is the last to go, dropping the beeper. But a distress signal has already been sent.
End.
Avengers: Infinity War is now playing.
