Uh oh, @DonCheadle, is @MarkRuffalo going to get in trouble with @MarvelStudios now!? #InfinityWar #D23expo pic.twitter.com/WR5C1QCBTb
— Good Morning America (@GMA) July 16, 2017
Mark Ruffalo and Don Cheadle were chatting with Good Morning America when Ruffalo let slip some Avengers: Infinity War info that made my jaw drop.
Okay, so all of this has to be taken with a grain of salt, because Ruffalo and Cheadle are actors bound in blood to secretive Marvel contracts and chances are this could just be a kind of publicity skit. On the other hand, of all of the Marvel stable, Ruffalo has the most unassuming indie-I-don’t-give-a-fuck vibe and it’s possible he just innocently revealed a crazy big spoiler for the upcoming Avengers two-part galaxy-spanning epic.
How this all arose: Ruffalo was describing how Hulk and Thor will work together to save Asgard in Thor: Ragnarok. Ruffalo keeps wanting to “give [us] a little taste” of Ragnarok spoilers and keeps checking in with Cheadle about what he can say, with Cheadle cautioning him against saying too much. Eventually, Ruffalo goes with, “Let me just say this: Like every other Marvel movie, it doesn’t end well for the superheroes.”
This in and of itself is a fascinating tidbit to put to Ragnarok. Because while we expect Thor and Hulk will have some measure of success against the big bads, it sounds like there’s going to be a good bit of tragedy, too. Deaths and seeming-deaths at the end of Marvel movies are pretty commonplace by now, and considering that the D23 Avengers presentation showed Thor’s body floating in space and discovered by the Guardians of the Galaxy, this might be a clue as to how that epic battle goes south in the end.
When the interviewer agrees that in Marvel movies, someone always dies, Ruffalo responds, “Wait until you see this next one [Infinity War]. Everybody dies.”
Cheadle looks at him in seeming panic and exclaims, “Dude!!” Ruffalo then tries to back-peddle: “Not everybody. No. Can we rewind that part?” The interviewer tries to speed them past this, but Ruffalo says, “Am I in trouble?” to which Cheadle responds, “A little?” Ruffalo: “Is Barry going to be mad at me?” Cheadle: “Dude, I’d just move on.” Ruffalo then sits with his head in his hands while Cheadle attempts to, indeed, move them on.
Barring that this was some kind of publicity stunt, what does this mean for Infinity War? I’m tempted to err against the stunt angle because Cheadle looks legitimately panicked and Ruffalo regretful after he speaks. So, if “everybody dies” in Infinity Wars, whaaaaat. OK, first of all, this was likely some hyperbole in action. Probably several well-known characters die, but not “everybody.” And we knew this was going to be the case since the beginning—after all, you can’t have a dramatic two-part superhero war against a mad alien titan without some casualties.
Yet it also toys a lot with my emotions to hear that we’re probably going to be getting a ton of angst and on-screen deaths. I’d expected the normal loss of a beloved character or two (my money’s on my favorite, Steve Rogers, giving up the ghost and passing on his shield to Bucky or Sam), but I guess I hadn’t quite anticipated losing a majority of the Avengers and Avengers-adjacent heroes. I know that these are comic book movies and dead doesn’t always mean dead-dead, but still. It’s going to be a lot to take in.
Comicbook.com points out that if we really do lose a good chunk of the main cast, we shouldn’t be surprised:
After all, the MCU has teased a major calamity would be heading for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Tony Stark has a foreboding vision during Avengers: Age of Ultron which saw all of the Avengers dead. The crew appeared to have been slain under Thanos’ watch as their bodies were found in outer space on what appears to be an asteroid or piece of rocky debris. Avengers: Infinity War may make good on its promise to kill most of its heroes as a sucker-punch to fans before resurrecting those lucky enough to continue on in the MCU.
Yeah, that would be quite the sucker punch. Everybody’s dead, but then a few of them get resurrected, and also we meet some new standard-bearers like Captain Marvel. It’s fine, I’m fine, I’m not crying. God damn you, Ruffalo.
Who do you think might not be making the return trip from space?
(via Comicbook.com, image: screengrab)
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