With a film as big as Avengers: Infinity War there are bound to be a lot of Easter eggs and nods not just to previous films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but to Marvel’s long comic book history as well. And that includes Thor’s final act before the movie’s end.
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Warning! Major spoilers ahead for the end of Avengers: Infinity War. If you haven’t seen the movie yet and want to remain spoiler-free, you might want to stop reading right now. You’ve been warned!
There are several moments in Avengers: Infinity War fans of Marvel Comics will recognize. The Hulk/Bruce Banner crashing through the roof of Sanctum Sanctorum early in the film, for example, is straight out of the first issue of Jim Starlin’s Infinity Gauntlet — just substitute Hulk for Silver Surfer. However, one of the more stunning ones takes place at the end of Infinity War. As those who have seen the movie know, Thor spends nearly the entire film off Earth. After Thanos and his Black Order destroys the Asgardian life raft, Thor ends up with the Guardians of the Galaxy and ventures to Nidavellir to retrieve a weapon powerful enough to kill Thanos. Weapon in hand Thor, along with Groot and Rocket, head to Earth.
Thor uses the weapon — Stormbreaker — to slash his way through the Outriders, but it’s when Thanos arrives it’s a different game entirely. Having taken the Mind Stone from Vision, Thanos is ready to complete his plans. However, Thor has other plans. Dropping out of nowhere, Thor attacks Thanos. It’s a scene straight of Johnathan Hickman’s final issue of Infinity. At the end of Infinity, the heroes are battling Thanos and Thanos is winning. Thor arrives and tries to save the day striking the Mad Titan with his weapon. In both the comics and the movie, Thor delivers a mighty blow, but the outcomes vary.
In Infinity War, Thor is somewhat successful in that his strike seriously injures Thanos though he is still able to activate the Infinity Gauntlet, snap his fingers, and destroy half the universe. In Infinity, Thor’s strike barely phases Thanos. The Mad Titan largely just shoves him off. However, just because Thor is less successful in Infinity doesn’t mean things go well for Thanos. Instead of Thanos getting the victory, Ebony Maw manipulates Thane — Thanos’ secret Inhuman son — into putting Thanos into a state of living death by freezing them in amber.
Even with the two scenes having different outcomes — and Infinity War having different story elements than Infinity as well, though Infinity is one of the two key stories the film draws on — it’s still nice to see how the various comic book inspirations come together to create a cinematic event such as Avengers: Infinity War and with Avengers 4 coming next year, it will be interesting to see what other moments from Marvel Comics ends up being reimagined on the big screen.
Avengers: Infinity War is in theaters now.
What are some other Marvel Comics Easter eggs you spotted in Avengers: Infinity War? Let us know in the comments!
