Earth’s heroes have assembled one last time to take fans into the endgame in the hope to resurrect the fallen. With the final battle now upon us, here’s a quick recap of the key things to remember before you catch the screening of ‘Avengers: Endgame’ and bring this final chapter in the current Marvel Cinematic Universe to a fitting end.
Remember the Infinity Stones?
Going by the explanation given by Benicio Del Toro’s Collector in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ or even when Wong and Doctor Strange encounter Tony Stark and Bruce Banner during the events of Infinity War, the story recalls the Big Bang, which sent six elemental crystals across the universe. Each of these Infinity Stones control an aspect of existence: Space (blue), Reality (red), Power (purple), Soul (orange), Mind (yellow), and Time (green).
The Space Stone gives the user the power over space. It first appeared in ‘Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)’ and housed in the Tesseract, the stone appears over and over through the MCU, including ‘The Avengers’ and ‘Captain Marvel’. During the ‘Infinity War’, the Tesseract is shattered by Thanos and the Space stone finds its new home inside his Infinity Gauntlet.
The Mind Stone makes for great mind control. Loki’s sceptre housed it in 2012’s The Avengers before it eventually ends up in an android called Vision. The hero is killed when Thanos pries it out of his forehead during ‘Infinity War’.
The Reality Stone grants the user power to manipulate matter. We first saw it as Aether in ‘Thor: The Dark World’. The Asgardians give the stone to The Collector because apparently the Space Stone and Reality Stone couldn’t be stored in the same room on Asgard. We later see the Mad Titan grabbing the stone, before kidnapping Gamora.
The Power Stone bestows energy upon its holder. During Infinity War, we learn that Thanos has destroyed planet Xandar off — screen and obtained the stone after the Star Lord gave it to the Nova Corps for safekeeping.
The Time Stone grants its owner the power to shift through time. During the Infinity War, Doctor Strange is seen wearing the stone around his neck and uses its power to unravel the many possible futures of the war against the Mad Titan. He realises only one outcome will work in their favour and gives up the stone before disintegrating courtesy of Thanos’ snap.
The Soul Stone remains a mystery despite its appearance in ‘Infinity War’. Thanos sacrifices Gamora at the behest of the Red Skull to obtain the stone. In the comics, the stone would capture and control people’s souls. Could it be that all those who disappeared post the snap in the ‘Infinity War’ are trapped in the Soul Stone? One can only hope.
Where is Thanos with the Infinity Gauntlet now?
We saw post snap that the Infinity Gauntlet appeared badly damaged before Thanos wields the power of the Space stone and escapes Thor’s clutches.
A commentary by director Joe Russo on Infinity War’s home release saw him confirm that both the gauntlet and Thanos felt the effects of the snap.
“See there, with his Gauntlet and the arm, the power that it takes to use all six Stones is significant, and clearly damaged the Gauntlet and damaged Thanos permanently,” Russo says.
How bad is this damage can only be answered in ‘Endgame’.
What is Project Pegasus and why is it important?
We first got wind of Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S back in ‘Iron Man 2’, but it was only in ‘The Avengers’ when we first understood its importance in the MCU. Nick Fury is seen responding to a crisis at the Joint Dark Energy Mission facility in the Mohave Desert. The signage on the building calls the facility a joint effort between Nasa, S.H.I.E.L.D, and Project Pegasus. We further learn, the aforementioned triad are attempting to weaponise energy from the Tesseract — technically the Space stone.
Fast forward to ‘Captain Marvel’ and we discover that Carol Danvers’ mentor, Dr Wendy Lawson — a Kree scientist in disguise — is also working on Project Pegasus to create a Light-Speed drive to facilitate space travel at the speed of light. She wants to harness the power to help the members of the alien race, the Skrulls, and warp them into a galaxy far, far away.
Why Captain Marvel is key to everything
During her first cinematic outing, we saw Carol Danvers absorb the energy of the Light-Speed drive during a plane crash, thus giving her the power that is wielded by the Space stone.
At the end of the movie, we see Captain Marvel zoom off from Earth to help the Skrulls, but Nick Fury’s page sends her back to Earth in time to help the Avengers assemble one last time to bring back their fallen ones.
With the power of an Infinity Stone insider her, a weakened Thaos could certainly have found his match.
But, what about the Quantum Realm?
Ah, yes, the infamous Quantum Realm. What we know from Project EXODUS and the past run-ins with the Ant-Man, the Quantum Realm is essentially a parallel dimension where time and space function differently to Earth.
Essentially, if space and time are believed to be irrelevant in this realm, it could be possible that it opens the door to a parallel timeline within the fabric of the universe. One where Scott Lang can basically shrink down to and allow the Avengers to achieve that one outcome out of the 14,000,605 possible ones that Doctor Strange prophesies before he disintegrates. One that will result in victory.
Don’t miss it!
‘Avengers: Endgame’ screens in the UAE from April 24.
