WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War, in theaters now.
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Avengers: Infinity War brought the full fury of Thanos to bear Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Although his plans eventually worked out how he envisioned, he still needed the help of a team of villains to scour the Earth looking for the Time Stone and the Mind Stone before he could fully assemble his much-vaunted Infinity Gauntlet. This team, the Black Order, are taken straight from the comics, though the movie depicts them as Thanos’ adopted children rather than simple subservient minions. But whilst they are incredibly powerful on the comic page, their roles within the film were, frankly, extremely disappointing.
There’s only one character out of the four members that has any depth to them at all: Ebony Maw. Tony Stark might refer to Maw as Squidward from Spongebob Squarepants, but the villain is no joke. After all, he actually manages to kidnap Doctor Strange and torture him in an attempt to get the Time Stone. Thanks to that intense "Shhh" scene that was used to introduce him in the trailer, we all expected a terrifying aspect to Maw. His power is his mind, not his strength, and that’s what makes him so frightening. So why did Marvel's heroes dispatch him so easily? He had so much potential for the future; his connection with Doctor Strange could have been played with in future story points, but instead he was killed off, blasted into space for the sake of a throwaway Aliens joke from Spider-Man and Iron Man.
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Disappointment in Maw's fate aside, Black Dwarf (or Cull Obsidian as he’s known in Infinity War) is actually the most disposable member of the Black Order. With next to no dialogue aside from the occasional grunt, Black Dwarf is essentially a large, resilient punching bag that occasionally hits back. Yes, his retractable hammer makes for a deadly weapon, but there’s nothing about the character that captures the audience’s imagination. His introduction in New York was more annoying than anything, especially since Ebony Maw was also present, immediately diminishing him to being just another hulking CGI figure for the heroes to eventually overwhelm.
His death isn’t exactly spectacular, either; he’s basically just dragged along the Wakandan force-field until he explodes like so many faceless minions in movies before this. A truly powerful character like Black Dwarf should intimidate audiences through his raw power. Even a semi comic-accurate death would have redeemed him; a massive hammer to the the head. In the comics, it was Ronan the Accuser who killed him. While Ronan isn't to be found in Infinity War, there was certainly another character wielding a massive hammer/axe who could have brought the character's big personal finale to life.
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Proxima Midnight’s spear is truly intimidating in the source material. It’s laced with a form of poison energy that latches onto her target once it’s been thrown, and is so powerful it can even force the Hulk to change back into Bruce Banner. Imagine if that had happened during the opening of the film -- that weapon, combined with the might of Thanos, would have made Banner's reluctance to transform more understandable.
And although Carrie Coon is an excellent actress, her talents were squandered, with lines taken from the book of stereotypical henchmen threats. Simply setting up a deeper fight against characters she comes across like Captain America or Black Widow would have helped bring an extra layer to her villainy. She’s a fierce fighter, handpicked by Thanos because of her hand-to-hand abilities, but during Infinity War, none of that is presented on-screen. Yes, she fought off Black Widow and Scarlet Witch simultaneously for a minute or two, but if her skills are truly impressive, she should have been able to dispatch the pair of them quite easily. But no, Scarlet Witch flings the alien warrior in front of one of the behemoth machines that dug their way underneath the Wakandan shield, killing her in yet another underwhelming death scene.
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Perhaps the biggest disappointment is Corvus Glaive. In the comics, he's armed with a blade that allows him to regenerate should he perish, making him a particularly threatening addition to the team. However, Infinity War didn’t take any time to explain the powers of the blade or Glaive’s backstory. (He originally betrayed his own planet, searching for a deeper understanding through working for Thanos.)
Even on a pure visual level, he's a disappointment, as the CGI of Corvus’ face just didn’t work. He has the potential to be as creepy as Ebony Maw if done right, but he was incredibly underwhelming. The only time he ever felt threatening was his attempts to rip the Mind Stone from the Vision’s head, and throughout the entire film that scene on the Scottish church seemed to be his only captivating moment.
In the end, Infinity War didn’t properly display the deadly nature of the Black Order at all, much less explain why they were worthy of serving Thanos. They’re forced into the conflict at the start, with no personal stakes in the battle at all. Simply playing up their own fear of Thanos could have been an interesting aspect to their internal journey; when Corvus betrayed Thanos in the comics, he killed himself rather than face punishment from the Mad Titan. But again, the move left us wanting.
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Obviously it’s difficult to match up to a terrifying villain that has been lurking in the shadows for the past ten years. But even setting up genuinely entertaining smaller conflicts within the larger fight would have gone a long way in strengthening the Black Order’s role in the film. Apart from Ebony Maw, they all felt more like boring video game villains that just get in the way before the final boss, and they all deserved better.
Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War stars Robert Downey Jr., Josh Brolin, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Olsen, Sebastian Stan, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Bettany, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Benedict Wong, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, Vin Diesel, Dave Bautista, Pom Klementieff, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Holland and Anthony Mackie. The film opens April 27.
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