Avengers: Infinity War was a traumatic experience for many fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and to help them cope, Marvel set up a therapy room at San Diego-Comic Con.
While Marvel Studios didn’t have a panel at the convention this year, they did set up shop offsite at The Experience complete with an experience they called the “Group Hug” and a safe space where people could gather to process all the loss in Infinity War, complete with Infinity War-themed inspirational posters and special merchandise. You can check out a look at the “Group Hug” space below.
Videos by ComicBook.com
At Comic-Con this weekend, @MarvelStudios had a special area for fans who are still trying to cope with the ending of #AvengersInfinityWar – it included encouraging posters and a room for #GroupHug therapy sessions!
(via @ErikDavis) pic.twitter.com/K49m2yfSML
— MCU News & Tweets (@MCU_Tweets) July 22, 2018
While the “therapy” room is something of a humorous setup, it’s also a nod to the very real impact Avengers: Infinity War had on fans. When Thanos snapped his fingers in the film, most of the MCU’s heroes were turned to ash, a move that stunned fans who didn’t expect the casualties to be so high or the scenes of the snapped characters disintegrating to be so moving. The death of Spider-Man/Peter Parker on Titan was one of the film’s especially emotional scenes that had fans vocally grieving on Twitter for weeks after the film’s release.
Even now, fans are still trying to figure ways that their favorite heroes can return in Avengers 4 or even may have somehow managed to cheat Thanos and death in the first place. Recently, a few fan theories about how Loki, one of Thanos’ earliest victims in Infinity War, may have survived. Both of those theories suggest that various elements of Loki’s appearance and actions during the film’s opening sequence hint that the Loki Thanos killed was merely an illusion.
However, fans might not just need the therapy room during this Comic-Con. Avengers 4 is set to open in theaters next spring and while many are hoping that the film will undo those traumatic deaths from Infinity War, co-writer on both films Christopher Markus doesn’t want fans to get too comfortable with that thought.
“[Avengers 4] doesn’t do what you think it does,” Markus said earlier this year. “It’s a different movie than you think it is…Also…[the deaths are] real. I just want to tell you it’s real, and the sooner you accept that, the sooner you will be able to move on to the next stage of grief.”
Did you check out Marvel’s “Group Hug” therapy session at SDCC? Let us know your experiences in the comments below!
Avengers: Infinity War and Ant-Man and the Wasp are now playing in theaters. Other upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5th, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.