My Favorite Deaths in Avengers: Infinity War, Ranked
Spoilers, I guess.
But seriously, it's been two weeks. If you haven't seen the second highest-grossing film of 2018 yet, you'd have to be off the grid to avoid spoilers. Granted, I'm of the opinion that knowing which heroes get axed doesn't ruin this movie, but I don't know your life.
Last chance.
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Valkyrie?
This is the only death I disliked. At the end of Thor: Ragnarok, Thanos's ship loomed ominously over the spaceship containing Thor and the last of the Asgardians. You know, the one Valkyrie is on. Infinity War cold-opens with Thanos and his CGI muppets attacking Thor, surrounded by a bunch of dead Asgardians. Hulk and Heimdall play a role in the fight, but Valkyrie is mysteriously absent.
Anyway, some stuff happens, Thanos wins, and the ship blows up.
From the audience's perspective, and judging from the visuals, it appears all the Asgardians died when the ship explodes. There was no mention that half of the Asgardians were spared, as is Thanos's MO. Far as we know, Valkyrie died off-screen.
Or not, depending on how you look at it. In some schools of thought, her utter absence from the big screen all but guarantees she survived, somehow. Or, perhaps more accurately, Disney just didn't want to pay Tessa Thompson for a minor role in this movie.
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Loki
Another probable non-death, Loki apparently gets choked to death by Thanos after failing to trick the purple giant with an obvious ruse. Keep in mind this is a character who has "died" on-screen at least twice already. I'm pretty sure this one isn't going to stick, either.
If, for some reason, this isn't another trick, then it's one of the worst ways to kill off this character. Loki has spent four films building himself up as the ultimate trickster. He has contingency after contingency, and he always has an exit plan, especially when he is clearly outmatched.
So it's pretty out-of-character when he goes for something as direct and simple as trying to stab Thanos in the throat. There was no way he couldn't anticipate that his butter knife wasn't going to work. If he really did die here, then this is some awful writing. Or maybe he's just really bad at betraying people who aren't Thor.
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Vision
Vision's death was foreshadowed pretty early, when he was basically set up to make a heroic sacrifice. He even literally volunteered to take one for the team. His cold calculus mirrored Thanos's making tough choices for the greater good, minus the killing a bunch of innocent people part. And if it weren't for the rest of the Avengers opposing the idea of offing one of their own, the movie could've ended one hour in.
But the whole film is about a clash of ideals, where neither side is supposed to be fundamentally evil or wrong (although I really, really don't buy Thanos's side). And the good guys are steadfast about exhausting all other options before anyone decides to Optimus Prime themselves, which is, for the most part, a pretty good policy.
So it was great when Vision's sacrifice was in vain, both as a reversal of expectations and because it was a direct consequence of the good guys' unwillingness to make a tough decision. They pinned their hopes on Wakanda and waited until it was too late, and ultimately got punished for trying to save everyone.
Honestly, I could've seen the movie ending with the Mind Stone's destruction foiling Thanos's plan. It would've been a neat, bittersweet ending. I'm glad Disney didn't make that mistake.
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Gamora
This one hit hard, and not just because I like Zoe Saldana. It really drove home how little Gamora (and therefore, the audience) understood Thanos. It was much easier to think of him as a heartless, genocidal villain than a man willing to give up everything to fix what he perceives as a broken universe. Granted, his perception is skewed, and his fix is certainly questionable, but he's not just twirling his moustache while his army slaughters a bunch of innocents.
Gamora made a very realistic mistake in thinking that people who do despicable, even criminal acts are incapable of love. She immediately dismissed any notion her adoptive father actually loved her. This film's depiction of how Thanos treated young Gamora, and his vision of her after he ultimately completes his plan, planted the idea that maybe, just maybe, things could've turned out differently had their relationship been better.
Of course, this in no way makes Thanos a sympathetic villain. After all, I'm sure plenty of parents are in similar situations where their kids don't return their love. Difference is many of them don't throw their kids off a cliff.
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Heimdall
I liked this heroic sacrifice way more than Vision's, and I'm not just saying that because this one
actually accomplished something. Heimdall's death was surprisingly swift, brutal, and final. No monologue, no mercy.
Heimdall didn't get as much screen time as the main MCU heroes, but he was always doing important stuff, even when off-screen. Even though he's not really a main character, Heimdall matters enough that his death scene actually had weight to it.
As the first on-screen death of a named character in Infinity War (Loki doesn't count.), it opened the door to the possibility that some heroes won't have thick enough plot armor to survive this movie.
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Black Panther, Spider-Man, Winter Soldier, Scarlet Witch, Dr. Strange, Falcon, Every Guardian Except Rocket, Samuel L. Jackson
I did not expect a happy ending. The trailer drops a pretty big hint that the good guys weren't going to be winning this one, and I knew from following the film's production that it was going to be a two-parter.
That said, I didn't expect this ending. I thought we'd see all the combined heroes standing in a close group while the camera pans around them in a wide circle before making a final, valiant attack against Thanos. I expected many of those heroes to die during that struggle--glorious ends for glorious franchises. Knowing they were setting up the next Avengers, I expected that, at worst, this film would end on a vague hint of hope.
I did not expect such unceremonious deaths. No explosions, no blood, no fanfare. Just grim certainty. The kind that leaves an audience in stunned silence. The scene was executed so well that, for that moment, I could suspend my cynicism and believe these characters were well and truly gone.
But we all know that's not going to last. This is a comic book movie, and Disney wouldn't so easily kill off its most bankable characters. Don't be surprised when everyone gets wished back to life in the next Avengers movie, Dragon Ball style.
But seriously, it's been two weeks. If you haven't seen the second highest-grossing film of 2018 yet, you'd have to be off the grid to avoid spoilers. Granted, I'm of the opinion that knowing which heroes get axed doesn't ruin this movie, but I don't know your life.
Last chance.
------
 |
| Even Wong is in the poster. |
Anyway, some stuff happens, Thanos wins, and the ship blows up.
From the audience's perspective, and judging from the visuals, it appears all the Asgardians died when the ship explodes. There was no mention that half of the Asgardians were spared, as is Thanos's MO. Far as we know, Valkyrie died off-screen.
Or not, depending on how you look at it. In some schools of thought, her utter absence from the big screen all but guarantees she survived, somehow. Or, perhaps more accurately, Disney just didn't want to pay Tessa Thompson for a minor role in this movie.
------
Loki
Another probable non-death, Loki apparently gets choked to death by Thanos after failing to trick the purple giant with an obvious ruse. Keep in mind this is a character who has "died" on-screen at least twice already. I'm pretty sure this one isn't going to stick, either.
If, for some reason, this isn't another trick, then it's one of the worst ways to kill off this character. Loki has spent four films building himself up as the ultimate trickster. He has contingency after contingency, and he always has an exit plan, especially when he is clearly outmatched.
 |
| Never without a contingency plan. |
So it's pretty out-of-character when he goes for something as direct and simple as trying to stab Thanos in the throat. There was no way he couldn't anticipate that his butter knife wasn't going to work. If he really did die here, then this is some awful writing. Or maybe he's just really bad at betraying people who aren't Thor.
------
Vision
Vision's death was foreshadowed pretty early, when he was basically set up to make a heroic sacrifice. He even literally volunteered to take one for the team. His cold calculus mirrored Thanos's making tough choices for the greater good, minus the killing a bunch of innocent people part. And if it weren't for the rest of the Avengers opposing the idea of offing one of their own, the movie could've ended one hour in.
But the whole film is about a clash of ideals, where neither side is supposed to be fundamentally evil or wrong (although I really, really don't buy Thanos's side). And the good guys are steadfast about exhausting all other options before anyone decides to Optimus Prime themselves, which is, for the most part, a pretty good policy.
 |
| Practically the same. |
So it was great when Vision's sacrifice was in vain, both as a reversal of expectations and because it was a direct consequence of the good guys' unwillingness to make a tough decision. They pinned their hopes on Wakanda and waited until it was too late, and ultimately got punished for trying to save everyone.
Honestly, I could've seen the movie ending with the Mind Stone's destruction foiling Thanos's plan. It would've been a neat, bittersweet ending. I'm glad Disney didn't make that mistake.
------
Gamora
This one hit hard, and not just because I like Zoe Saldana. It really drove home how little Gamora (and therefore, the audience) understood Thanos. It was much easier to think of him as a heartless, genocidal villain than a man willing to give up everything to fix what he perceives as a broken universe. Granted, his perception is skewed, and his fix is certainly questionable, but he's not just twirling his moustache while his army slaughters a bunch of innocents.
Gamora made a very realistic mistake in thinking that people who do despicable, even criminal acts are incapable of love. She immediately dismissed any notion her adoptive father actually loved her. This film's depiction of how Thanos treated young Gamora, and his vision of her after he ultimately completes his plan, planted the idea that maybe, just maybe, things could've turned out differently had their relationship been better.
 |
| Touching, except for the genocide part |
Of course, this in no way makes Thanos a sympathetic villain. After all, I'm sure plenty of parents are in similar situations where their kids don't return their love. Difference is many of them don't throw their kids off a cliff.
------
Heimdall
I liked this heroic sacrifice way more than Vision's, and I'm not just saying that because this one
Heimdall didn't get as much screen time as the main MCU heroes, but he was always doing important stuff, even when off-screen. Even though he's not really a main character, Heimdall matters enough that his death scene actually had weight to it.
 |
| At least he probably saw it coming. |
As the first on-screen death of a named character in Infinity War (Loki doesn't count.), it opened the door to the possibility that some heroes won't have thick enough plot armor to survive this movie.
------
Black Panther, Spider-Man, Winter Soldier, Scarlet Witch, Dr. Strange, Falcon, Every Guardian Except Rocket, Samuel L. Jackson
I did not expect a happy ending. The trailer drops a pretty big hint that the good guys weren't going to be winning this one, and I knew from following the film's production that it was going to be a two-parter.
That said, I didn't expect this ending. I thought we'd see all the combined heroes standing in a close group while the camera pans around them in a wide circle before making a final, valiant attack against Thanos. I expected many of those heroes to die during that struggle--glorious ends for glorious franchises. Knowing they were setting up the next Avengers, I expected that, at worst, this film would end on a vague hint of hope.
 |
| I'm most sad about losing these guys. |
I did not expect such unceremonious deaths. No explosions, no blood, no fanfare. Just grim certainty. The kind that leaves an audience in stunned silence. The scene was executed so well that, for that moment, I could suspend my cynicism and believe these characters were well and truly gone.
But we all know that's not going to last. This is a comic book movie, and Disney wouldn't so easily kill off its most bankable characters. Don't be surprised when everyone gets wished back to life in the next Avengers movie, Dragon Ball style.
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