Quote:
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In fact, I’ve been curious for months now why so much emphasis was being
placed by the filmmakers on who might die in this film and how it will
effect all the other films to come because I think people are forgetting
there is essentially a Part 2 coming out in a year that has already
been shot. The build up to this Avengers has made it seem like this is
the last entry, as they’ve barely mentioned the next installment. Let’s
not forget this Avengers was supposed to just be Part 1 of Infinity War
before it appeared as though audiences had had enough of the “two-part
finale” gimmick, since Hunger Games and some others didn’t do so hot,
and they decided to give it a different name, one that they still
haven’t made known yet. But the films were still shot together and I
think should be seen as one film especially considering the ending of
this one.
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The filmmakers focused so much on who would die because they think it is a huge dramatic point that will draw people into the movie. Who will die? Which superhero will die, like a fan would cry and wail “but they can’t die!!!” It isn’t any dramatic point at all, because

1. Superheros cannot die, ever. They are immortal.

2. It’s from a comic, where nobody ever dies, especially not the main characters, neither the supervillain, as he still has to be the antagonist, how can the story go on otherwise?
3. The filmmakers will want to milk this MCU for another 30 movies, hell, no matter how dumb and pathetic the story is, people seem to love it. For me a shocking sign how dumb your typical movie viewer has become and probably a bad precedent for dumbing down movies and we probably can expect that there won’t be any intelligent movies anymore with good story lines, as dumb and superficial is getting rewarded by the masses here and makes much more money.

So we do know that everybody that dies will be back. Dying and then getting revived might become the new normal. For me, Avengers held no surprise or anything of suspense or tension for me, I saw through it clear like a spy glass.

Nope, that is what BAD stories are. Stories that we don’t care about, the same as characters. Why would we care about somebody dying if they don’t die like we do, but just vanish for a while, but then are back? We would not fear death in real life if it was just like sleeping, you wake up again from it. Good stories have stakes, some things and decisions are final. If they are not, you can always undo everything, that makes a totally boring meaningless story.I guess this is normal, as it is a comic, a children’s story, that has no depth or sophistication. It is a variation on a simple theme that can never change.

Think about the original Star Wars, would it have worked when Obi-Wan Kenobi or Darth Vader or Yoda would have died and well, we knew they would be right back? Would their death been dramatic? Or meaningless, YAWN?

Now I understand that the makers need to focus on promoting this one as much as possible, all while not mentioning the other. If you say too much about the second part, audiences are going to become aware they are just getting half a film here, the one in which probably doesn’t have the most at stake, and some might just decide to skip it and watch it right before the real finale next summer. That’s why I was kinda surprised by the opening scene where both Loki and Heimdall die because even though I expected a death or two based on the filmmaker’s interviews, there were two already in the first 5 minutes of the movie. Then when Gamora died, I thought, well damn, at this rate they aren’t going to have anyone for Part 2. But that’s when I first knew the gig was up because I already know there is going to be Guardians of the Galaxy 3 and that she’s going to be in it. And then, just like you, once Tony Stark got impaled, and you could see the desperation in his eyes, only to have it completely undone 30 seconds later, makes you feel like a puppet on a string.

I told a friend before the movie that if one main Avenger has to die, I wanted it to be Stark for several reasons. One, he’s purely human and the most vulnerable. Two, he’s the oldest actor of the bunch and was the Avenger that started the universe 10 years ago, so he’s had plenty of screen time. And three, the character arc of seeing how selfish Tony Stark started out to finally seeing him give up his life for the cause (as he almost did at the end of the first Avengers) would be fitting and emotional. And yet, you still doubted they would kill off their biggest, most valuable player because once you do it, it’s done. There’s no coming back from that. So when it actually happened in he movie, the audience was truly shocked. I heard audible gasps at the prospect that Iron Man was taking his final breaths, not unlike Hans death in Force Awakens. So then to totally undo those genuine reactions that you’ve worked 10 years to obtain, completely undermines the audience. It’s the classic boy who cried wolf.

And that’s the problem I’ve always had with Superhero films. You knew they could never die or lose the battle, therefore there is simply no reason to fear anything. That’s why a show like Game of Thrones, that was clearly not afraid to kill anyone or everyone (but even it succumbed to the pressure of bringing Jon Snow back) appealed to so many people. Of course, I understand that it would clearly do this franchise a disservice to kill off the heroes you are there to see but they need to find that balance. So far, only three characters have really died in these 20 films. Yondu, Quicksilver and Agent Coulson, all minor characters. In fact, what did they actually do in this film? They actually brought back long dead characters like Red Skull! So when I see Gamora fall to her death, instead of feeling gutted, I think, “well, I bet when they get that soul stone back from Thanos, they can return it to Red Skull and get the sacrifice back. Guardians of Galaxy 3 is good to go.” And by the end of the film when literally half of the Avengers disappear, it doesn’t even feel like anyone died. I mean, we literally just saw how the Infinity Stones can turn back time when they negated Vision’s “first death” by Scarlett Witch. And not to venture off track too much, but clearly Doctor Strange saw 14 million outcomes with them “winning” only one, so he has implemented that one strategy. Otherwise, he would’ve never just given up his stone. But he literally said, “this is the only way.” I think audiences just didn’t put two and two together, and thought he meant it was the only way to save Tony’s life. I mean, if I’m wrong, I’m gonna call bullshit because if Strange just saw the only way they can defeat Thanos, why would he not go that route? But yeah, if anyone is going to die and stay dead (for a little while anyway) I always knew it wasn’t going to happen in Part 1.