There may have been four Easter Eggs for the Fantastic Four dropped in Avengers: Infinity War.

There are a lot of things I'm excited about with regard to Avengers: Endgame. But even more so, going forward I'm excited to see how Disney incorporates the Fantastic Four and the X-Men into the MCU. And of these two, I think I'm more excited by the prospect of having the Fantastic Four incorporated first, because I've kind of gotten my fill of the X-Men from various Fox properties like "The Gifted" and through poorly done representations (Quicksilver aside) of the various mutants on the silver screen since X2 landed in theaters in the early 2000's.

My beef with the Fox adaptations of the Fantastic Four (done in three separate movies) is that they made Doom a kind of comic-relief villain (and the Thing looked terrible). In the third adaptation, they also decided to continue with an origin story and origin stories always end up bad (and it once again lashed Doctor Doom to the origin of the Fantastic Four, which I don't like). I also felt that Michael B. Jordan played the role of Johnny Storm too serious. Johnny is an incredibly immature character, and you have to have an actor that is essentially a "Peter Pan" to kind of nail him right.

In a rewatch of Avengers: Infinity War, I discovered that there was at least one line that I thought could possibly be an Easter Egg for the fact that Disney was pursuing talks with Fox Studios in obtaining the rights to the Fantastic Four. So I did a google search and saw if other people had come up with any others and the following is my list:

1) When the battle with Thanos's minions gets started in New York, Tony Stark (while talking with Doctor Strange) refers to one of the bad guys as "that rocky thing there...." It could be just a way of describing something, or it could be a way to allude to The Thing.

2) During a lull in the fight on their way to meet Thanos, Draxx is trying out a new power, hoping that by staying perfectly still, he can turn invisible. It's very funny, and I think may be a call out to The Invisible Woman.

3) When Thor is forging Stormbreaker (his new weapon), he screams, "Flame On!" as he asks to get the works hot enough to do what he requires for the forge to work. I think this may be an Easter Egg for Johnny Storm, a.k.a., the Human Torch.

4) When we first see the Guardians, they're rocking out to "Rubberband Man" from the Spinners. This could allude to Mr. Fantastic, right? If you follow my logic, sure.

Anyway, the MCU should at least mention the country of Latveria (where Doctor Doom is from) even if it is a headline on a TV news report discussing the Latverian ambassador's outrage over something. With the MCU already having gone cosmic, it would be so easy to sneak the Silver Surfer in there as well. And if they introduce the Silver Surfer, then maybe we will finally get a peak at what Galactus has been up to, which will give us the next big bad for all the characters to team up against.

Let's talk about Tony Stark for a moment.

I know that everyone is talking about Avengers: Infinity War everywhere, but I honestly just wanted to talk about one more thing before I lay it to rest. And there is a spoiler warning here for those of you who have not seen it because it would ruin the movie for you if you read further. So please avoid this post if this is the case.

I have deep empathy and sorrowful feelings for Tony Stark. Yes, I know he's a fictional character, but this guy is one of the most beat up heroes that I have ever seen. In Civil War, he learned that his parents were murdered by the Winter Soldier and that his close friend knew about it and kept it from him on purpose. Then, he goes and starts this amazing friendship with a kid and then he starts talking to Pepper Potts about them having children only to have this kid, Peter Parker, killed in front of him. If that isn't a perfect reminder that he should never have kids, I don't know what is. And then (of course) there's the whole, "I failed to stop Thanos and now half the universe is dead because of it" thing that you just damn well know he's going to internalize all on his own. He's going to blame himself for the entirety of the Snapture, because that's what his character would do.

If HBO's The Leftovers taught any of us anything, it's that having a huge event like the Snapture suddenly "happen" will cause those who survive to have a "Guilty Remnant" kind of complex. They'll stand around and ask the eternal question: why was I spared? And why did this happen? Tony (for sure) is going to have these feelings, and I think it's going to go beyond any PTSD definition. I actually have no idea what happens with his character next. Right now he's broken, but pushed beyond that? Is there a classification for that? Insanity maybe.

Out of all the superhero survivors in the Avengers, I think Tony is the most beaten down, and the most likely to end up losing his mind. I just wonder what the implications of all that are going to be. For the record books and to any writer out there who is watching all of this play out, this is a perfect example of "torture your darlings" in action. But this particular story arc is extremely painful to watch.

My friend Tony Hale is a Marvel fanatic and all around fun guy and he's got some keen observations about the Infinity War aftermath which I'm sharing with you.

Okay, Avengers: Infinity War is now over. As for spoiler warnings, you should have seen it by now. If not, well you probably shouldn't read this post, because it's talking about the aftermath of said Infinity War.

Introduction (by me):
First off, Infinity War happened even if we want to say it didn't happen because of all the bad feels. Sometimes evil just wins, and Thanos owned the Avengers in a way that was more than just defeat. He broke the Avengers, probably summed up best with Captain America's last line in the movie as he realized what Thanos had just done and uttered, "Oh God." And we are all (every one of us that reads this blog) aware that Marvel and Disney are not just going to close the books on this one, because if they did, there would be worldwide outrage. As it stands there are support groups forming (I've been invited to one) where people are openly discussing and talking about the trauma caused by Infinity War. We know this isn't the end of the story though, even if it is breaking the fourth wall (like Deadpool). There is no way that cash cows like Spider-Man and Black Panther are staying dead. So accepting this fact, let's move forward and discuss not when or if it should indeed happen, but why it should happen.

Observations by Tony Hale:
Why should the events of Infinity War be reversible? This is an excellent question.

Look, Thanos won each infinity stone through force or sacrifice...all except the time stone, which he bargained for with Doctor Strange. The time stone was also in a protective bubble when he gained it, whereas all the other stones were touched barehanded...skin to stone per se. This was peculiar, and I doubt it was a random lens flare. Observe: earlier in the movie, Vision makes an off hand comment about the "entity" or "being" in the mind stone warning him. Could this imply that the stones have some intelligence to them? If we can agree that "yes" the stones do have an intelligence to them, then this is a big deal. Allow me to explain.

I think that this means the stones "choose" their wielders to some degree. If that's the case, then I think that it's possible that by not vanquishing the owner--Doctor Strange--that Thanos failed to truly gain power over the stone.

And while we are at it, let us consider Doctor Strange himself. The enigmatic Sorcerer Supreme said early on in the movie (inside the doughnut-shaped spaceship that channeled Prometheus in a big way) that he would, "not hesitate to sacrifice either Tony Stark or Peter Parker for the time stone." This seemed very harsh, and Doctor Strange said it with brutal conviction. I don't think he said it because he wanted to be an asshole to either Stark or Peter, but because he meant it in the bottom of his gut.  The time stone was far too valuable, and Doctor Strange was a good enough guy that he wanted them both to realize he didn't (ultimately) have their back.

However, all of this somehow goes out the window when Stark gets stabbed by Thanos and Thanos is just about to kill Stark. Strange stops him by offering up the time stone for Tony Stark's life. Thanos, always a man of his word, accepts the exchange and then disappears. When Stark asks Doctor Strange why he did that...Doctor Strange replies, "We are entering the end game now" and even later, "Tony, you must trust me, because this was the only way."

These are all fascinating events that I have pondered about all weekend. For one, it makes me think that it's possible that Doctor Strange still has control, to some degree, over the time stone, even though his body is "gone." Remember, Doctor Strange can project himself into the astral plane. If I'm right, then this could be the key to Thanos's downfall. I mean...it seems logical that Doctor Strange knows exactly what is happening, and that out of the fourteen million plus possibilities he saw using the time stone's power, that he has made a choice that put them on the correct path to being able to beat Thanos.

My observations regarding the Hulk in Infinity War

In our conversation, my friend Tony was disappointed by only one thing with Infinity War, and it was this: "Not enough Hulk."

So what was going on with that? I think the directors were doing two things. First off, they wanted to show how terrifying Thanos was by making the (arguably) most terrifying Avenger afraid to fight Thanos after he opens an ass-kicking clinic on him before the opening credits of the movie. But could there be another side to this?

Here's a theory that is less obvious that I came up with on my own: the Hulk has respect issues with Banner. See, Hulk just came from a place where he was loved and wanted. This taught Hulk an important lesson: that he isn't loved and wanted with the Avengers. Instead of showing him appreciation, they use him for his strength and then immediately try to send him away. Personally, I think that Banner needs to apologize to Hulk and tell him that he needs him before it's ever going to get better. I expect this to happen in the Avengers 4 next May.

So there you have it. Have any of you come up with observations about the movie that you'd care to share in the comments below?

This is a completely spoiler free discussion regarding my viewing of Avengers Infinity War.

I went to Avengers: Infinity War the first time this weekend (I'm going again on Saturday) last night with friends Brad Habegger and James Salmonsen (who flew in from Vancouver for a visit). The theater was packed, the show was sold out. One of the nice things about this particular theater in Utah is that they allow you to bring in whatever food you like. So we stopped in at Slapfish where I got a burger topped in lobster. It was really tasty. We also had a delightfully nerdy conversation about how Adam Warlock plays into the infinity stones (and story) in the comic books, and how Thanos (in one comic book) so triumphs over everyone else that he rips the head off of Ghost Rider and gazes into Ghost Rider's eyes for the penitent stare every morning (so that he can relive his memories in fondness). But at this point, you probably want to know if Infinity War was good, and I'll tell you that afterward...I thought it was the best superhero movie I've ever seen. Yeah, it was even better than anything Christopher Nolan ever dreamed up.

The stakes were high, but that wasn't a surprise. They really needed to be high for a film and a story that has been building for ten years. What did surprise me was how committed Marvel is to telling its story, and all of my predictions through all the blog posts didn't pan out in the way that I thought they would. And then, this isn't saying that the ending itself (of the movie) didn't start making me think over the nature of the infinity stones and that something else may be going on with one in particular. And I actually have no reason at all to think that there is something that could be up other than the fact that I want there to be something...anything really...to explain what I saw on the screen, and to provide an answer to the eternal question: what happens next?

Avengers: Infinity War is a work of brilliance. I'm glad it landed so solidly on its footing. But I think the title is misleading in that it's too straightforward. Yes, this is the Infinity War over the infinity stones and the fate of the universe. But more than that, it is Thanos's movie, just as Dr. Strange had his own movie and Captain America and so on and so forth. Thanos is the troubled epicenter of everything that is happening, and even before the opening credits, he establishes himself as a villain as great as Darth Vader. Guys, Disney somehow managed to pull off the impossible, bringing all of these big names together into one gigantic film. I'm just glad we only have to wait a year for the sequel. There are way too many questions circling in my head, even if the story itself, is entirely and definitively complete. Just to be clear, this is not a cliffhanger movie. So yeah...questions. I have so many.

I really hope Avengers: Infinity War does not suck.

The initial buzz for people who have seen Avengers: Infinity War is good, and this makes me happy because I've been arguing back and forth with my friend, Brad Habegger, because he says the Avengers movies have been terrible thus far, and he is not excited in the least to see Infinity War (we are going on Thursday night). So, in a way, this needs to be good or I lose all nerd cred for hyping these things up.

Personally, I enjoyed the first outing of the Avengers. It was good campy fun with Loki stirring the pot in a way that I had not expected. But the follow-up, called Avengers: Age of Ultron, left a lot of people kind of saying that it was a hot mess. I (personally) liked it a lot. Maybe my love for it was improved because I bought the 3D version of it on Blu-ray and was kind of blown away by it (I own a 3D television set). Anyway, with so much apparently going on in the Avengers: Infinity War movie (and with such an enormous cast), it seems like it could very easily go south the same as "We Are the World" is not actually a great song. Sorry if that criticism stings if you are a Lionel Ritchie fan, but "We Are the World" (both versions) have too many vocalists all singing one partial sentence that it is just not pleasing to listen to (the point of the song was to raise money for good causes which I totally agree with).

Anyway, people are saying in droves that Avengers: Infinity War was epic and satisfying and with many of those spine-tingling moments that we expect from big stories. People also say that it has a fantastic ending, and that Thanos is a good but sad villain. This pretty much rings true in the comic books too. I guess, because I'm a fan of these movies and these stories, that I hope that people don't go and see it because they feel that they HAVE TO SEE IT. On a movie/story of this scale, rattling the very pillars of what we consider pop culture, or downright shaking them down, it may be irksome to many that peer pressure will be relentless to go and watch it. I hope that this doesn't happen and that people will just go because they want to see how the story unfolds.

I also can't wait to see if I'm right about the location of the soulstone being in Wakanda. I have a friend coming from out of town just to watch this movie with me, and he's convinced that it isn't in Wakanda but in the possession of Adam Warlock (whom we saw hinted at briefly in Guardians of the Galaxy 2). I don't think so. I think it has to be in Wakanda. But I've been wrong before. I also can't wait to see if my "meta" thinking regarding the movie and the fact that the contracts are up for both Chris Helmsworth and Chris Evans and for Robert Downey Junior as well. Basically, I'm betting that all three of these characters are killed by Thanos, thereby thinning out the herd a bit and allowing Thanos to establish himself (pretty quickly) that he's the uber threat that he's meant to be. My friend from out of town doesn't think that Disney would kill these characters off because they are too popular. Well one of us is right, and we only have a day or so to wait to find out.

If you are someone that has been looking forward to this movie, I hope you have your tickets already. I'm hearing that they are either selling out or sold out through most of the country at this point. On Friday, I'll tell you all about it.

LOL the Lego Infinity War set just spoiled where the sixth and final infinity stone is and we were right all along.

Everyone on the internet that cared kinda/sorta believed that the last Infinity Stone, a.k.a., the Soul Stone, was going to be found in Wakanda (because the trailers for the movie are all lit up with a huge battle that takes place in Wakanda). But it wasn't ever said to be in Wakanda, and it didn't appear in Black Panther, as I discussed in an earlier post. And Lo and behold, it looks like it definitely is. Here's a picture of the Lego set in question, and I've circled the soul stone in blue paint so it's easy to spot contained in an alien drill which obviously removes it from the ground in Wakanda (that's why the ground is all cracked). 

So now the question is: how does all of this fit together? And for answering that question there are a hundred theories I've read. I'm going to single out one and just quote directly from him...my friend, Tony Hale, who lives over in Oregon. Earlier this week I sent him a message on Facebook about all of this stuff, and he responded with this theory:

"There is a problem with the locations of all the Infinity Stones, and it's this: it puts most of the stones on Earth. I actually think that Odin had the Soul Stone (and all of the other stones) at one point. Hence, the fake gauntlet in his treasury room. I also think Thanos gave Loki the mind stone so that he could put two of the stones near one another, namely the Tesseract (space stone) with the Mind Stone. In the comics, the writers hint that the stones are drawn to each other, and I think that Thanos wanted to get them all into play. So, I think he knew the gauntlet in Odin's treasury was fake, just like Odin obviously knew in addition to one other person: Hela.
    "So let me put it all together for you. When Odin worked with Hela to subvert the universe, he was actually collecting the stones. Partway through collecting them, he realized they were too dangerous together. So he left the Aether (the Reality Stone) with the elves. Odin also left the Power Stone with the remains of the destroyed ancient aliens, until Starlord stumbled across it. The aliens were one of the races destroyed along the way by Hela and Odin. The Mind Stone was never recovered (Thanos starts with it in his "possession"), and I think that Odin had not yet discovered it when he ended his search. The Time Stone (of course) was on Earth, which Odin learned after becoming deified by the Norse men and women. In this aspect, I think that Odin gave the gift of the Soul Stone to the people of Earth, who had deified him. In the comics, Thanos has a love affair with Death, but I think the MCU is not going to go as metaphysical with this character. Instead, they will use their already existing representation of Death in Hela. Well, Hela knew about the fake gauntlet, and she obviously wants to rule the universe. So she found someone devoted to her, filled him with the idea of the Gauntlet, and sent him to get it for her. That's what I think is going on."

It's a nice theory, but it leaves me a little wanting, because I think there are enough clues in Black Panther that the heart-shaped herb does indeed derive its power from the Soul Stone. And the Lego box has a picture of the Soul Stone being drilled from the ground by something heavy enough to crack the surface. Then of course there's the huge fight in Wakanda, which are not Norse people, so they couldn't have been the recipient of the Soul Stone. So yeah...maybe Tony is overthinking this? Maybe the Soul Stone just happened to be in a meteor of vibranium and crashed into the Earth millions of years ago, and it has yet to be extracted. That may end up being the sole explanation of all these questions about vibranium's seemingly endless powers to do fantastical things.

However, Tony does make me think that Hela may (in fact) not be dead and could have survived Asgard's destruction at the hands of Surtr. Maybe she has a role to play in all this to come.

One last piece of information: for those of you that are excited for Avengers: Infinity War, the release date has been moved up a week to Friday, April 27th for a worldwide simultaneous release. 

It's weird to think that the story of Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet is the ultimate ode to male violence at having been friend-zoned by a woman.

I read on io9 that Marvel's capstone movie, Avengers: Infinity War, is due to be released in late 2018. It seems like a long time away, but it really isn't for us older peeps. I (for one) feel like I take a nap and my rent's due again. That aside, in the new Avengers movie we finally get to see a lot of Thanos on screen...a bad guy that's been hinted at (and plugged) in almost every single movie featuring an Infinity Gem. It all started with Iron Man in 2008...that's ten years...and one hell of a project. I've got to hand it to Disney to have kept it all together through three different phases. And between now and then we still have a Doctor Strange movie, a second Guardians of the Galaxy, another Spider-Man movie (starring the incredibly cute Tom Holland), Thor: Ragnarok, and Black Panther. It blows my mind at the amount of maneuvering (and money) that all of this took in order to bring a dream of an entire superhero universe into reality.

When I think about the ultimate villain, Thanos, I also realize that (despite the copious quantities of action) the build-up of every single character thread ends with a powerful love story: that between Thanos and Lady Death (whom we have not seen). Here's a panel from the comic that explains what I'm talking about:

Or maybe (and more appropriately) Thanos is just an angry schmuck who ignores a woman's rejection of him to the point where he kills half the universe in a futile attempt to impress her. Just think about that for a moment. Thanos' story is the ultimate example of male frustration at having been "friend-zoned" by a woman he obviously wants to shag badly. I think it's a good story, but I'm sure social justice warriors on Facebook will point out the obvious in that "Thanos" (being a stand-in for the modern man) is owed nothing by "Lady Death" (a stand-in for the modern woman). They might also point out that the film is the ultimate testament to male violence, which we really can't argue with since Thanos does end up killing half the universe. Pretty terrible, right? But it makes for a good fiction.

All of this also makes me ask where Marvel (and Disney by extension) can possibly go after Thanos? How do you top saving an entire universe? The escalation seems a bit "problematic." I sure hope they don't decide to reboot everything, but then again, look at how many times Spider-Man got rebooted already. What was once old is new again and so on and so forth. Whatever happens, I'm sure that it will be entertaining. Disney rarely disappoints.