Avengers: Infinity War

That said...I think with just a couple of changes in the Snap execution, the film would have delivered much more of an emotional punch. I found there choice of which characters to eradicate puzzling. Getting rid of both Black Panther and Spiderman pretty much took the wind out of the sails completely. With more films for both those characters already announced, there was just no way anyone was going to buy that any of the characters eradicated with the snap were permanently dead.

Here is how you fix it to make things a little more ambiguous... even though most comic fans know how this all plays out, casual viewers would have had much more doubt in their minds with these changes:

Wipe out Okoye instead of Black Panther - The dialogue already sets it up perfectly, so just have her fade away after he says the line about this not being the place to die. He could even look over his shoulder at his brother, who then also fades away. Would play into his struggles with vengeance that are already part of his character.

Spidey stays alive - Have his spider senses go off, after which he looks over at Mantis, and she fades away. Big reaction from Drax, who tends to lose everyone he ever cares about. Good motivation for him to double down on his mission to track and destroy Thanos. Drax lives.

Don't kill Quill - This one seemed obvious to me, since it was his ego that ended up foiling the plan that almost took down Thanos. His character dealing with the regret after the snap is a big missed opportunity. They eradicated almost the entire Guardians team. Big flag that the snap was a ruse, destroying any token of verisimilitude. With Gamora already down, wiping out both Groot and mantis would have been enough.

Lastly, but perhaps not quite as important - Wipe out one of the original Avengers, most likely Captain America. Would have been a huge gut punch, and with all the talk of rolling the team into a new lineup, would have been totally believable. I understand that Part II will probably feature deaths of some of the original characters, or at least roll them into new actors, but I for one would have been able to swallow the death of Cap more than either Spidey or Panther at this point. I think the Angers losing their moral guide post would have weakened them almost to the point of breaking, which would have been awesome story-wise.

That said...I think with just a couple of changes in the Snap execution, the film would have delivered much more of an emotional punch. I found there choice of which characters to eradicate puzzling. Getting rid of both Black Panther and Spiderman pretty much took the wind out of the sails completely. With more films for both those characters already announced, there was just no way anyone was going to buy that any of the characters eradicated with the snap were permanently dead.

Here is how you fix it to make things a little more ambiguous... even though most comic fans know how this all plays out, casual viewers would have had much more doubt in their minds with these changes:

Wipe out Okoye instead of Black Panther - The dialogue already sets it up perfectly, so just have her fade away after he says the line about this not being the place to die. He could even look over his shoulder at his brother, who then also fades away. Would play into his struggles with vengeance that are already part of his character.

Spidey stays alive - Have his spider senses go off, after which he looks over at Mantis, and she fades away. Big reaction from Drax, who tends to lose everyone he ever cares about. Good motivation for him to double down on his mission to track and destroy Thanos. Drax lives.

Don't kill Quill - This one seemed obvious to me, since it was his ego that ended up foiling the plan that almost took down Thanos. His character dealing with the regret after the snap is a big missed opportunity. They eradicated almost the entire Guardians team. Big flag that the snap was a ruse, destroying any token of verisimilitude. With Gamora already down, wiping out both Groot and mantis would have been enough.

Lastly, but perhaps not quite as important - Wipe out one of the original Avengers, most likely Captain America. Would have been a huge gut punch, and with all the talk of rolling the team into a new lineup, would have been totally believable. I understand that Part II will probably feature deaths of some of the original characters, or at least roll them into new actors, but I for one would have been able to swallow the death of Cap more than either Spidey or Panther at this point. I think the Angers losing their moral guide post would have weakened them almost to the point of breaking, which would have been awesome story-wise.

On the other hand, it also makes sense for such characters to die in the Snap if we're already expecting the Snap to eventually be undone and bring them back to life - also, the Phase 1 Avengers that survive the Snap are now more likely to die for real in the process of undoing the Snap.

On the other hand, it also makes sense for such characters to die in the Snap if we're already expecting the Snap to eventually be undone and bring them back to life - also, the Phase 1 Avengers that survive the Snap are now more likely to die for real in the process of undoing the Snap.

I get that. Not everyone knows about the lore of the comics though. My wife is a great example. She knows nothing about the comics these flicks were derived from, but she certainly recognized and called out that both Black Panther and Spiderman just released their first films, made a **** ton of money, and had more films slated in the future. No one is fooling die hard comic people, but according to the opening weekend box office numbers, I would surmise these films have a bit wider audience that just die hard comic fans. This film fooled exactly zero people.

I get that. Not everyone knows about the lore of the comics though. My wife is a great example. She knows nothing about the comics these flicks were derived from, but she certainly recognized and called out that both Black Panther and Spiderman just released their first films, made a **** ton of money, and had more films slated in the future. No one is fooling die hard comic people, but according to the opening weekend box office numbers, I would surmise these films have a bit wider audience that just die hard comic fans. This film fooled exactly zero people.

So?

So?

A coworker and I were talking about this the other day and while we both enjoyed the immediate impact of those characters' passing, the emotion was short-lived after realizing that some characters (particularly Black Panther) could in no way be removed from the MCU. My first reaction was positive because, remembering back, I really felt that the fight between Iron Man and Captain in Civil War was epic in action, but ended completely deflated, IMO. Instead, War Machine fell and after the build up in tension, was only injured? That felt like a bait and switch to me, so when characters in Infinity War began to pop, I was ecstatic that they had the nerve to off such high profile characters! Then it hit me upside the head with the reality that these characters are high profile. They cannot stay down. Not all of them.

I likened it to eating a Snickers when you're hungry. Sure, it may fill you up in the moment. But 20 minutes later you're going to be just as empty because it was a false sugar high. I can totally understand why that could be a factor in criticism for some. It was for me, at least. That's not to take away from the movie, just details that jump out from time to time.

A coworker and I were talking about this the other day and while we both enjoyed the immediate impact of those characters' passing, the emotion was short-lived after realizing that some characters (particularly Black Panther) could in no way be removed from the MCU. My first reaction was positive because, remembering back, I really felt that the fight between Iron Man and Captain in Civil War was epic in action, but ended completely deflated, IMO. Instead, War Machine fell and after the build up in tension, was only injured? That felt like a bait and switch to me, so when characters in Infinity War began to pop, I was ecstatic that they had the nerve to off such high profile characters! Then it hit me upside the head with the reality that these characters are high profile. They cannot stay down. Not all of them.

I likened it to eating a Snickers when you're hungry. Sure, it may fill you up in the moment. But 20 minutes later you're going to be just as empty because it was a false sugar high. I can totally understand why that could be a factor in criticism for some. It was for me, at least. That's not to take away from the movie, just details that jump out from time to time.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?t=15s&v=7L9io-b9Uew

https://m.youtube.com/watch?t=15s&v=7L9io-b9Uew

Mostly agree, the effect was lessened once you saw Black Panther go. It annoyed me for a while BUT then I someone here mentioned how even if they do come back they might be changed in some way, and it will still have an effect on those left behind, some of whom might sacrifice themselves to achieve their return. Also I started thinking... we all expect them all to come back. But what if they don't? Our expectations might be wrong. Some of them might not and then you'd get the tragedy of 'why that one and not the other one?'. (Probable answer: that one has a new movie coming out and the other one doesn't).

Can't agree that Captain America should have been killed off though. I think they're saving that for Part II. I don't mind if he does die but it would have sucked if he'd been killed off in a movie he was barely in. I think the next film is where the old guard die valiantly and the new line-up is shaped.

Mostly agree, the effect was lessened once you saw Black Panther go. It annoyed me for a while BUT then I someone here mentioned how even if they do come back they might be changed in some way, and it will still have an effect on those left behind, some of whom might sacrifice themselves to achieve their return. Also I started thinking... we all expect them all to come back. But what if they don't? Our expectations might be wrong. Some of them might not and then you'd get the tragedy of 'why that one and not the other one?'. (Probable answer: that one has a new movie coming out and the other one doesn't).

Can't agree that Captain America should have been killed off though. I think they're saving that for Part II. I don't mind if he does die but it would have sucked if he'd been killed off in a movie he was barely in. I think the next film is where the old guard die valiantly and the new line-up is shaped.