History Fridge / AvengersInfinityWar

* Loki's attempt at assassinating Thanos with just a knife maybe seems out-off-character for him (especially after Hulk's defeat) but notice where was Loki trying to stab Thanos - the head. What if Loki knew that for him there is no hope to survive this situation because he already disappointed Thanos a few years ago in New York. Maybe the only reason for the assassination attempt was to send a secret message to Thor - to go for the head.

* Though the stones are in relation to the Avengers and co., Thanos isn't interested in the latter. Iron Man, Thor, Star Lord, Drax, Nebula and Gamora (at least) all want revenge on the mad titan, thus making it personal. Thanos will go through them to acquire the stones, but has no personal vendetta with them. This enforcs his protagonist status as MCU antagonists usually have grudges to settle and fail.

** Considering that Doctor Strange used the Eye of Agamotto to force Dormammu into {{Rage Quit}}ting, why didn't he try using it once during the fight with Thanos on Titan, even moreso knowing that Thanos still had an incomplete Infinity Gauntlet? Remember what the Doctor said about there only being one possible timeline out of nearly 14 million possibilities in which they win -- and he doesn't elaborate on what a "win" entails. Everything he did while on Titan, ranging from not telling his teammates about what to expect to not advising Star-Lord on not attacking Thanos or using the Time Stone at all in that fight and eventually handing it over to specifically ensure Iron Man's safety, was all part of the plan he had hoped to achieve in the long run; Thanos may succeed in wiping out half of existence in the short term, but Doctor Strange has reached [[TheChessmaster chessmaster]]-levels of strategy that will hopefully allow the rest of the Avengers to win in the long run. He wouldn't risk a single deviation provided that he can control his actions, entrusting the rest to whoever survives the snap.

** Speaking of that long-term planning, take note that Thanos took a page out of the original ''Infinity Gauntlet'' storyline and retired to a farm. With his mission complete, he might no longer have the urgency that drove him to acquire all the Infinity Stones in what was only a matter of hours or days. That urgency and aggression now belongs to the Avengers, whose ranks ''still'' include three individuals (Nebula, Iron Man and Thor) who, by Thanos' own admission, have come close to ''truly'' killing him, and that's still without factoring in Captain Marvel, whose greater power level (as per WordOfGod) will likely make their job going after him a lot easier.

*** Strange might also have known that, for the win to occur, the Avengers on Titan had to delay Thanos a specific amount of time, perhaps down to the nanosecond, for reasons not easy to explain. It is repeatedly stated that Thanos' culling is completely random, and with the Infinity Gauntlet allowing him the power to apply that across the whole universe, who knows what variables affect the outcome? If Thanos had performed the snap at any other time or place, heroes necessary to eventually defeat him may have been slain. No matter how many victories Thanos attains today, Strange and the Eye are assuring he meets defeat next [[{{Pun}} time.]]

** When Thanos claims the Time Stone, unlike any other time (including dealing with a literal Trickster God), asks, "No tricks?" This is partly because he respects Doctor Strange after their fight, but even still, Thanos hesitates after taking the offered stone and before placing it in the Gauntlet... there's a moment where he looks up and around as if wondering if he's making the right move. This will probably feed back in the future, where the decisions by Doctor Strange (to give up the Time Stone) and by Thanos (claiming the Time Stone without first killing the previous bearer) will come back to hurt Thanos.

*** Or it likely is the case where it is necessary to ensure that Stark survives into the next phase of the battle. A telling factor in this is that Stark took the fatal blow in the battle and by the end of the war, the entire Titan team save for Nebula had been removed from existence. This is likely no coincidence because outside of singling out Nebula because of her status as his daughter, Stark was likely supposed to have died or erased along with the rest of the Titan team. This meant that Strange's plan not only required him to give up the stone, but it also required Stark to survive into the next battle. This is telling in the concepts for the next film as it looks like Stark is going to be the one to gather the party and bring the Avengers back together.

** Perhaps Steve also feels given the level of threat they've faced, that everything Tony's done, from creating Ultron to signing the Sokovia Accords, was worth it to try and keep the Avengers together and strong. Of course, not all the Avengers together and Ultron could have possibly done anything against Thanos.

** The same goes for him getting a new weapon. His previous weapon, Mjolnir, was revealed to be a PowerLimiter, while Stormbreaker at least doesn't hinder his powers. Thor knows he can't and shouldn't hold back when dealing with Thanos.

** In Norse mythology Odin lost his eye to gain wisdom. Thor gaining prosthetic eye while pragmatic can symbolize his foolishness later.

** Wait, it gets even MORE meta than that! Thanos will obviously be coming back for Avengers 4, where all the damage he has caused will most likely be reversed. With two Thanos-centered movies, this basically means that at the end of Infinity War, Thanos effectively cut his own story arc in half!

* It was no coincidence that Heimdall sent Hulk to the Sanctum Sanctorum. Thor probably told Heimdall of a wizard on Earth who had made a fool out of Loki. Or Heimdall was keeping tabs on Odin during his exile and realized this Earth magician was keeping Odin off the radar. This is the kind of power Heimdall would be familiar with; if a message needed to be sent by the Hulk that Thanos was coming, Doctor Strange was the person who needed to hear it first.

* Gamora and Peter Parker :

** Also, both of them were almost shot by Starlord. In Gamora's case, Thanos is impressed and even forces Quill to do it (but of course bubble effect). On the other hand when Quill threats to kill Peter, Tony looks like he going to lose it and threats to kill Drax if Peter gets hurt.
* Loki's attempt at assassinating Thanos with just a knife maybe seems out-off-character for him (especially after Hulk's defeat) but notice where was Loki trying to stab Thanos - the head. What if Loki knew that for him there is no hope to survive this situation because he already disappointed Thanos few years ago in New York. Maybe the only reason for the assassination attempt was to send a secret message to Thor - to go for the head.

** On the JustEatGilligan page OnThisVeryWiki they discuss the idea of Doctor Strangedoing what Wong did to Cull Obsidian and opening and closing a portal around Thanos's hand with the Gauntlet on it as that took of Obsidian's hand. WordOfGod explained that Thanos's skin is too tough for that to work and we see throughout the movie how true that is as aside from Stormbreaker a cutting weapon designed to pierce skin absolutely nothing pierces Thanos's skin, even Tony throwing everything he had in his most powerful suit just lead to one drop of blood, Strange probably recognized that it wasn't worth trying.
* Steve and Tony never meet in the film since they still have a barrier set up between them from ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' and opt not to reach out to each other, building a bridge. Apparently, they haven't heeded T'Challa's speech from the end of ''Film/BlackPanther2018'' and the universe pays the price:

* Speaking of Aunt May, how is she going to react to Tony following Peter's death via Snap? Depending on how much she knows now about the "grant program", she might end up hating Tony for encouraging her nephew's activities as Spider-Man. (That is, assuming she doesn't already have a grudge against him for dragging him into the big fight in ''Civil War''.)
** ''Film/SpiderManFarFromHome'' reveals May was actually snapped along with Peter.

* What if Captain Marvel had gotten snapped too and been unable to answer Fury's pager?

* Who among the half of humanity perished in the finger snap? You could expect Aunt May and Ned to be worrying about Peter wondering if he was safe, but what if they were among the half dead? How many beloved MCU characters died without us knowing they were among the casualties?
** Assuming Aunt May is alive, she has lost her husband and young nephew in what we can assume is a very short timeline.
** Ned might be the worst of all of the characters facing UncertainDoom. Peter told him to cause a distraction so he could sneak off the bus, and if he’s alive, then he knows his best friend never returned and he has no clue why.
*** Based on the timeline we’ve been given, Ned, Peter, and their classmates would have been around ten the first time the Avengers assembled. He and Peter have grown up in a world where superheroes are considered a fact of life, and every single time, they’ve seen good conquer evil. For the first time, the people of earth are seeing what happens when TheBadGuyWins. An entire generation is learning in the most painful way possible that their heroes aren’t invincible.

*** [[spoiler: In fact ''Endgame'' shows that Strange giving up the Time Stone willingly was crucial to the plan. The Ancient One refuses to give Banner the Time Stone until she learns that Strange willingly gave the stone to Thanos.]]

* A line from ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'' is even more heartbreaking than it already was, when Rocket shot Gamora in the back so that she wouldn't go back to save Star-Lord from Ego, he remarks, "I'm sorry but I can only afford to lose one friend today." As of this movie Rocket loses all of his closest and only friends in the span of seemingly just one day.

* A line both fitting in with Doctor Strange going with the plan to beat Thanos having to result in unfortunate sacrifices also calls back to his origin movie. After he is traumatized from killing one of Kaecilius's zealots as it broke the Hippocratic oath, he argues with Mordo over whether it would be easy for Mordo to kill a person. ----->Mordo: Yes, without question.
-->Strange: What if there's another way.
-->Mordo: There is no other way.
-->Strange: You lack imagination.
** Come this movie and Strange recognizes that Mordo was right, sometimes in a tough difficult situation, there is no other way.

* Speaking of Aunt May, how is she going to react to Tony following Peter's death via snap? Depending on how much she knows now about the "grant program", she might end up hating Tony for encouraging his activities as Spider-Man. (That is, assuming she doesn't already have a grudge against him for dragging him into the big fight in ''Civil War''.)

* Depending on how much of the Marvel Universe is actually in the MCU, if he exists, there is a 50% chance that Thanos [[OhCrap just killed Galactus.]] Hi, Abraxas. Do other Cosmic entities count as alive, too?

* Thanos showing younger Gamora his weapon makes for a very creepy echo of a signature scene from [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014 Guardians of the Galaxy]] in which Groot gives a flower to a random girl of roughly the same age as younger Gamora.

* In hindsight, the stylistic similarities between ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' and the ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2 films]] (bright colors, weird costumes, wacky humor, etc.) make sense. Thor basically took a trip to the Guardians' neighborhood, which would lead him to meet the Guardians themselves.

** After finding out about Gamora's murder, why did Quill whack Thanos with his fists instead of using his gun to (try to) blast him into pieces like he did [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2 Ego]] after he found out about his mother's death? That's because back then, Quill had already made peace with his mother's death by the end of [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy the first movie]]. What Quill felt was TranquilFury, hence he simply wanted Ego to be gone as fast as possible. With Gamora however, her death is fresh news to him, so what he feels is UnstoppableRage, and he uses his fists as a means of catharsis. He wants Thanos to feel every blow and suffer for it.

* Tony's wish to start a family with Pepper was probably partially egged on by his interactions with Parker in Film/SpiderManHomecoming helping give him the faith to believe he can be a good, responsible father. This makes his inability to save Peter all the more heartbreaking.

* Why give Bruce the Hulkbuster armor to pilot? A few reasons. One, he helped design the Hulkbuster with Tony (As it was stated in Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron) so he'd be the next person after Tony to be familiar with it. Also, it's to give him some character development in as he started to enjoy using the armor to fight, he may fully accept the Hulk.

* After killing Loki, Thanos snarks "No resurrections this time." This reference to the fact that Loki has appeared to die twice before in the franchise seems like it only works on the meta level. But then again, after Loki's DisneyVillainDeath in ''Film/{{Thor}}'', he came back in ''[[Film/TheAvengers2012 The Avengers]]'' working for Thanos. What if he actually ''did'' die in ''Thor'' and Thanos--perhaps using the Mind Stone--''actually resurrected him''?

* Thanos mentions that he never taught his children to lie, implying it was so they couldn't keep secrets from him. In Guardians of the Galazy Vol 2, Quill makes fun of Nebula for being a bad liar; this is likely why.

* Thanos showing younger Gamora his weapon makes for a very creepy echo of a signature scene from [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy Guardians of the Galaxy]] in which Groot gives a flower to a random girl of roughly the same age as younger Gamora.

* Of the seven heroes who battle Thanos on Titan, five are dusted after he snaps his fingers, leaving Stark and Nebula completely alone on the planet. Is it simple rotten luck that this group, already reeling from Thanos having escaped them, lose well over half their members in his culling? Perhaps not: perhaps these seven people are the only living things in the ''entire universe'' whose fate was decided by Thanos rather than left to random chance. Thanos came very close to losing when Mantis put him to sleep and was furious after awakening; though he calmed down through winning his one-on-one duels with Strange and Stark, the frustration of that fight is probably still fresh in his mind, far more so than the CurbStompBattle he'd just delivered to the many heroes waiting for him in Wakanda. And so, still angry at the opponents he faced on Titan, he eliminates ''all'' of them -- all but Stark, whom he promised Strange he would spare, and Nebula, whose reasons for being spared we learn near the beginning of ''Endgame'': for one thing, despite how cruelly he treats her throughout this film, he is fond of her in his own twisted way, as he admits in his dying breath. For another thung, as Nebula explains before setting off with the Avengers before finding Thanos in his garden, he used to tell her at length about his hopes for his "grateful universe"; Thanos probably wants her, the person who knows more about his hopes and dreams than anyone else, to see what happens.

** Pay close attention to Tony's behaviour the moment he meets up with Strange. While Strange, Bruce and Wong speak seriously of Thanos, Tony gives a flippant, almost indifferent attitude. He shows a lack of respect towards his surroundings and “allows” people to contradict him. It’s far from a good first impression. To add insult to injury, he immediately starts ordering people about when the Black Order descend on the city. To someone who's not used to him, Tony comes across as a spoiled brat.

* When Thor explains that the Reality Stone was given to the Collector, Star-Lord replies that “only an idiot” would entrust such an artefact to him. Thor quickly counters that “a genius” would too. In Film/ThorRagnarok, Thor found out that Loki had been impersonating Odin, and as such ordered that the Collector have the Aether. This is another reason Thor gets confrontational with Star-Lord: he indirectly insulted Loki.

** Perhaps Steve has also realized, given the level of threat they've faced, that everything Tony's done, from creating Ultron to signing the Sokovia Accords, was worth it to try and keep the Avengers together and strong.

* Dr Strange takes a somewhat nonchalant but accepting outlook on his death. While this is partly due to his ThanatosGambit that he's set up so that the heroes can win in the long term, he other reason is that in his own film, he died an infinite number of times against Dormammu, and remembers each one of them. So naturally, one more death isn't gonna faze him.

** Cull Obsidian, the big, tough brute, gets out-thought by someone weaker than him and dies slamming into a shield that's even tougher than he is. He lost his hand earlier, and dies by the hand he removed from the Hulkbuster armor, which "replaces" the lost one. He liked using his grappling hook to pull people around, and dies because something pulled him around. ''[[UpToEleven And]]'' he's TheBigGuy of Thanos' Children, fighting who is ''normally'' TheBigGuy of the Avengers, but owing to Thanos' smackdown of Hulk at the beginning of the film, Cull has to settle for Banner... and probably wishes he hadn't.

* The cruel irony of Tony being traumatized by seeing the Chitauri ship on the other side of the portal in ''Film/Avengers2012'', and then spends so much of the next 6 years attempting to prepare for when it happens again, losing so much often because of the consequences of his own well meaning decisions, ending here with him being trapped in space after failing to stop the being that traumatized him, starting all of this in the first place, with seemingly no real way of getting back that he can know is just heartbreaking.

** On the flipside, [[AdultFear how many parents lost their children]]? Thanos stated he's EqualOpportunityEvil, so no one would be spared from the culling. Imagine an infant crumbling into dust in their parents' hands moments after being born. Or moments ''before''.

** Strange is also the one who ''didn't'' try to stop Quill. He saw all the futures where they threw everything at Thanos -- ''14 million plus,'' mind -- and thus there's no way he ''couldn't'' have known that Quill would lash out at Thanos in a rage, at least in some of them. And on the extremely-off chance that Quill's rage would have ruined their single chance, Strange would've done the sensible thing: prevent Quill from doing it, either with normal magic or with the Time Stone (if necessary). But he didn't... because [[MortonsFork the result was the same either way: Thanos would keep control of the gauntlet, or get control of it back, anyways.]]