Spoilers ahead forAvengers: Infinity War
WhenAvengers: Infinity Warwas originally announced, it was going to beAvengers: Infinity War – Part IandAvengers: Infinity War – Part II. That later changed when it was decided thatAvengers 4would be released as its own movie rather than dubbing it the second part of one big story. Arguably this was just a savvy business decision after the recent multi-part movie,The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, had its second part bring in less money that the preceding installment. Either way,Infinity Warexists in that uncommon situation where it’s meant to be a film that can stand on its own, but also have a cliffhanger showing that the story we just watched isn’t finished yet.
Of course, that’s nothing new to movies. Even setting aside early serials, recent blockbusters haven’t shied away from a multi-part saga.The Lord of the RingsandThe Hobbitall have a continuing journey that doesn’t resolve until the last installment. TheStar Warssaga is ongoing and no one bats an eye whenThe Last Jediconcludes with the resistance in rebuilding mode and the First Order still standing. When Marty McFly rounds the corner inBack to the Future: Part II, we know that we’ll need to get him back to the 1985 in a route that will somehow take him through the Wild West. The story isn’t finished, but audiences don’t feel cheated.
And the reason they don’t feel cheated is that it’s possible to tell an ongoing storyanda complete story. Those examples I just provided all stand on their own. They have character arcs and rising and falling action. There’s conflict that’s ongoing, but there’s also conflict that gets resolved. InThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo has to learn that to be a ringbearer is to be alone. The Fellowship cannot continue because The One Ring will tear them apart. Frodo goes from someone who has to lean on a group of people to having to just lean on Samwise. Additionally, Aragorn has to learn that he’s strong enough to resist the One Ring and that he doesn’t have the same weakness as his ancestors. And characters like Gandalf and Boromir die sacrificing themselves for the good of the mission. There’s real stakes and real change even though the story—getting the ring to Mount Doom—continues.
Compare that toInfinity Warwhere the world has certainly changed (and set aside that it will probably be undone since these movies can’t inhabit a universe where half the population suddenly died), but the characters have remained the same. Thanos is the protagonist on a “hero’s journey” of sorts, but it’s a journey that doesn’t really challenge him or force him to change. At no point does Thanos ever have to reconsider his actions. His “moment of truth” is killing Gamora, and even that’s not much of a plot point because a serious connection was never built between the two characters. We know he cares about her, but he has to care more about his mission, so her death is automatically diminished in comparison to Thanos’ goal.
The problem withInfinity Waris that no one really has to change or even has time to change. Everyone is headed towards the same desire—save the world—and there’s very little room for character growth. For example, inSpider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man is technically trying to “save the world” by preventing Vulture from selling weapons, but his character arc is learning that he doesn’t need to be an Avenger to help people. His struggle isn’t to be a superhero, but learning about the responsibility and limitations of his powers in relation to his age and abilities. By the end of the movie, he’s a more confident Spider-Man, but one that has earned his suit rather than just having it handed to him.
InInfinity War, there’s no real change. We care about Spider-Man because we’ve grown to care about him over the course ofCaptain America: Civil WarandSpider-Man: Homecoming, but he, along with everybody else in the movie, has no arc. He’s the same guy at the beginning as he is at the end except now he’s “dead”. And there’s an emotional impact from that because ofTom Holland’s performance and the fact that it’s a sixteen-year-old who doesn’t want to die, but none of that comes from setup and payoff on a character.
The counter then becomes, “Well, it’s only half the story,” with the assumption thatInfinity Waritself is the setup andAvengers 4is the payoff. But if that’s the case, then we shouldn’t evaluateInfinity Warat all because it’s only half the story (you’ll also note that the “only half the story” people don’t seem to chime in when there’s positive comments on the movie, only negative ones). Except it’s a movie that’s supposed to stand on its own. Marvel always knew they would be splitting this story and that no one would go to a six-hour film. It’s not like the story randomly cut off in the middle. A conclusion was built in, but it’s an unsatisfying one.
As we’ve seen from other multi-part narratives, it’s possible for characters to grow and change even though the overarching narrative is incomplete. But in the case ofInfinity War, everything—from character development to inner conflicts—is just left hanging. The film is all plot and trying to move the ball forward on Thanos collecting Infinity Stones, which unfortunately shortchanged all the characters in the process. We know that multi-part stories can still have character development and growth.Infinity Warwas more concerned with Infinity Stones and “killing” half its cast.
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