By Monique
Winter Soldier, Black Widow, Captain America, Okoye, Black Panther and the Hulk are running with Wakanda’s forces through the Wakandan Savannah towards danger. (Photo credit: Marvel Studios)
I’ll be honest–I’ve watched the Avengers: Infinity War trailer and unlike a lot of folks, I just can’t muster up the excitement for this movie. Maybe it’s because I’ve been too spoiled by Black Panther. Maybe the film, like its poster, is just too crowded for my liking. Maybe I just don’t want to see some of these superheroes again, like Peter Quill. He’s definitely not my favorite guy in the MCU pantheon. Doctor Strange is also not my favorite for a myriad of racial and characterization reasons, but I’ll take him over Star Lord any day. Regardless of why, I’m just not into this movie. Call me a girl in the derogatory sense if you want to, I don’t care, ‘cause it’s not going to change my mind.
But, since I know I’m going to see this film anyways (as part of my big sister duties with my little brother), I do have some parts of the film I’m invested in. Just three things, actually.
1. Does Wakanda survive?
This is paramount to my wellbeing. I haven’t read any comic book analogues to this film, so I’ve been hearing mixed things on whether Wakanda bites the dust in this film. My thinking says that Wakanda can’t get destroyed because it’s Wakanda. It’s Vibranium central. How can a place that important and that good at subterfuge get destroyed?
I guess I should say it this way: I don’t want Wakanda to get destroyed. I don’t want to see T’Challa invite devastation into his home. He deserves better than the Avengers bringing their problems to him and being the harbingers of death that they usually are. If any group is the most villainous of the MCU, it’s gotta the be the Avengers. I know they’re heroes, but they’re also heroes that don’t understand the human cost of their daring-do. Like, how do you eat shwarma like nothing happened in the shop you just destroyed? Like, the person feeding them is also the same person’s who’ve livelihood they destroyed. Also, Captain America really ground my gears when he seemed hellbent on not understanding why Tony Stark was adamant about government oversight. Maybe if Cap met the dead kid’s mom instead, he’d also realize that they destroy more than they save.
2. How do Shuri and Peter get along?
Peter Holland and Letitia Wright already want this to happen, since they’re friends in real life and since they’ve been having a Twitter conversation loosely in character. It only makes sense that Marvel would think to put these two together, the only teenage superheroes in the entire MCU.
I’d love to have a film with just them figuring out their places within this pantheon of grown-ups, how they can collectively prank T’Challa, and how Shuri would experience serious culture shock traveling through New York with Peter as her tour guide. If someone told me Spider-Man: Homecoming 2 would be just Peter and Shuri running through Times Square, I’d be sold immediately.
3. Who deserves to become Captain America after Steve?
I know I railed on Cap in the above paragraphs, but I actually really love Captain America. He’s one of my favorite Avengers. But yeah, that last Captain America movie really annoyed me and sadly, I feel like Cap is not long for this world in Infinity War.
There’s been rumors of Cap ending his run soon, and of course, the only way to end his run is to die. I mean, technically he could simply retire, as he has done recently, allowing the Falcon to take over, but with the stakes as high as suggested in Infinity War, it only seems likely that Cap would die instead (if he dies, of course).
If Cap does bite the dust, then who takes over the mantle? I feel like the MCU is leaning towards Bucky taking it over, as he has done in the comics, but I would love for Marvel to give it to the Falcon, simply because the more diversity the better. Besides, I’d like to see Bucky remain in Wakanda. It seems to be suiting him well, since he looks the healthiest he’s looked since the 1940s. He also seems to love his new nickname “White Wolf,” and if we go back to the comics, White Wolf was T’Challa’s adoptive brother. Bucky’s certainly not his brother, but it seems like Bucky could definitely be a right hand for T’Challa later on.
What are you excited about when it comes to Avengers: Infinity War? Give your opinions in the comments section below!
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Julian 