Thanks to the latest Avengers: Infinity War trailer, we've been able to begin piecing together the puzzle regarding what will set the cosmic events of the movie in place. First among them is the attack by Thanos on the Agardian ship currently housing all of the survivors from Ragnarok. The ship was last seen in the mid-credits scene of Thor: Ragnarok, where it was being dwarfed by the looming threat of a menacing ship a hundred times its size.
It didn't take a masters degree in Marvel Cinematic Universe studies to surmise that this menacing ship belonged to Thanos, and the Infinity War trailers seem to confirm that theory, showing the Asgardian survivors slaughtered by Thanos and his Black Order. But could such a gruesome scene have actually been foretold in 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron, before the plans for Ragnarok and Infinity Warwere even put in place?
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Avengers: Infinity War will be an incredibly busy film, moving from one character to the other, and from one corner of the universe to the next. But since the place we last saw Thor and Loki was apparently moments before their ship is besieged by Thanos and his forces, it seems likely that the attack on the Asgardian ship will take place early on in the film. In fact, there's a very strong chance this is the attack that will send the Hulk, who is also aboard the Asgardian ship, hurling to Earth, where he will crash into Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum and warn the Avengers of the threat that is coming for Earth.
It's an attack that, as we have also seen, will lead to Loki offering the Tesseract to Thanos, either in a bid to save his own life, or that of every Asgardian left alive on the ship. But by the look of things, there doesn't seem to be many survivors left. A brief glance shows us death and destruction everywhere. bodies surrounded by flames and covering the ground the Black Order walks on. A horrible and devastating sight, it's possible we've already witnessed the genocide of Asgard and its people, outside of the God of Thunder and his brother.
This very scene may very well be the one that was foretold in Joss Whedon's Avengers: Age of Ultron. As you might recall, when the Avengers first faced off against Ultron and the Maximoff twins, the Scarlet Witch warped the minds of Captain America, Black Widow and Thor. Each had a vision designed to take them out of the fight: Captain America saw an alternate life, Black Widow saw the past -- and Thor saw the future.
The God of Thunder saw himself in Asgard, where he was greeted a white-eyed Heimdall. When Thor asks him about his friend's eyes, the all-seeing gatekeeper replied, "They see everything. They see you leading us to Hel." Could it be that Heimdall's warning referred to the massacre of the Asgardians at the hands of Thanos and the Black Order? After all, Thor: Ragnarok ended with Thor becoming the new King of Asgard, leading his people to Earth. As King, Thor is responsible for the Asgardians and, under his watch, they come under attack. Perhaps Heimdall wasn't referring to the realm of Hel, but a more literal hell. After all, in Infinity War the ship is in flames, and the people inside are dead on its floor -- it's a truly hellish sight.
Thor's vision even showed the God of Thunder covered in lightning, a power he would come to possess in Ragnarok -- a power he used to help defeat Hela, the villain of the threequel. "See where your power leads us," the white-eyed Heimdall warned the vision-walking Thor. This power, which helped Thor assume leadership of Asgard, would start a chain of events that will lead to the death of many more Asgardians -- if not the entire race.
Of course, the master plan of the MCU is one that is often in flux, one movie and its reception always affecting what follows. We can't be certain that, back when Age of Ultron was produced in 2014 Marvel knew exactly how events would turn out, but it does appear as if, one way or another, Thor's vision was destined to become true.
Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Avengers: Infinity War stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Paul Bettany, Anthony Mackie, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Olsen, Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chadwick Boseman, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Tom Hiddleston, and Josh Brolin. The film hits theaters on April 27.
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