What's Next?: Avengers 2

“AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!” A battle cry familiar with any self-respecting Marvel fan and a line many fans like myself were anxiously awaiting the “star-spangled man with a plan” to cry during this summer’s blockbuster. I think at least most of us can agree that Avengers provided many of us with great joy and satisfaction in its execution. The characters were well known prior to the film’s release. The heroes were each given a proper introduction in their own films save Black Widow and Hawkeye. I believe it helps the audience understand the plot better when they don’t have to spend any time learning who the characters are.

The Infinity Gauntlet, for those who don’t know, is a glove containing all 6 of the Infinity Gems: Time, Space, Soul, Reality, Power, and Mind. Long story short, these gems combined make one omnipotent. I’m talking absolute power over EVERYONE. To shorten the plot of an epic series, Thanos acquires all 6 gems from their respective owners and hilts them onto this gauntlet and takes out half of the universe to appease the girl he loves, who happens to be Lady Death. Yes, that means that Thanos loves death and will kill anyone any time anywhere to appease her, but like most of us geeks in high-school, no matter what he does she just doesn’t dig him. It took the entire remaining Marvel Universe, some ingenuity, and a huge amount of luck and timing to take the Mad Titan down.Now that the Avengers has been released, many fans have been wondering what the easter egg at the end of the movie means (no, not the restaurant one). For those who don’t know who the REAL mastermind was behind Loki, the mean-looking purple alien with the menacing smile and gleam in his eye is none other than Thanos, the Mad Titan. If we jump back to 1991 there was a huge 6-issue epic crossover called the Infinity Gauntlet which leads me to the subject of this article, who the heck is Thanos and what can we possibly expect in the undeniable Avengers sequel.

 This is the epic series that I believe to be the plot of the next Avengers, but I also believe that this story is too epic to be contained into one movie. The storyline will most likely be altered because that’s just what movie makers do: change your favorite story to the point where you throw popcorn at the screen. I was not, however disappointed in Joss Whedon’s execution of Avengers so I have high hopes for the sequel. The gems will most likely be the easter eggs at the end of each of our heroes’ next solo movies. Here is my take on who is going to possess what gem and in what movie:

 Mind: I believe Loki controlled the mind gem in the Avengers movie attesting to his control over several people and the blue hue to his staff

Power and Reality: Thor’s next opponents in his sequel are rumored to be the drop-dead gorgeous Enchantress and her strong-man sidekick the Executioner. The Enchantress will possess the reality gem to enhance her mystical powers and the Executioner will possess the power gem, making him a more than sufficient match for Thor.

Time: I believe that Baron Zemo will control the time gem and team up with Winter Soldier (formerly Bucky Barnes) to take on Cap. This is the only logical way that Captain America can fight an old enemy that would naturally be either too old to fight or dead.

Soul: I think it would be cool to have Iron Man finally face his arch-enemy the Mandarin. I think it would also be equally cool for the Mandarin to control Howard Stark’s soul and force Tony to face his father. Although not canon, I think it would make for an interesting plot.

Space: I believe that Thanos will start out with the space gem. After all, how will he be able to travel to the sites of each defeated enemy and acquire their gem?

This is all just speculation of a fellow geek and none of this is based on rumor or any official statement. If one looks closely in the movie Thor, the actual gauntlet can be seen in Odin’s treasure room. They may just ignore that easter egg, after all, Marvel is good at ignoring things that previously existed *cough* Toby Maguire, Thomas Jane, and Eric Bana *cough*.

-Rob FranzeseIt