10 Major Thoughts Coming Out Of Avengers: Infinity War
7. Several Major Characters Have Very Little To Do
Given the sheer volume of characters involved in Infinity War, it should come as no surprise that many of them aren't given enough screen-time to make a real impression. What is surprising, is that some of those that barely get a look-in have been regarded as cornerstones of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for years.
Despite Wakanda being the setting of most of the movie's third act and Black Panther still playing in theaters after earning over $1.3bn at the box office, T'Challa and company have little to do in the grand scheme of Infinity War. They turn up, they fight, get a couple of neat little hero moments in the process but not much of real significance actually happens until the very end of the movie.
Perhaps the most obvious example is that Captain America, the established leader of the Avengers, ultimately has very little impact on the overall narrative. Steve Rogers comes out of hiding, travels to Wakanda, fights in the climactic battle and gets his ass handed to him by Thanos. That's pretty much it. Even his reunion with Bucky, which provided the emotional through-line of all three of the character's solo movies, is glossed over in seconds.
Long-tenured characters like Black Widow and War Machine only appear in a handful of scenes, Nick Fury is relegated to a the post-credits and neither poor old Hawkeye or Ant-Man even get a look in. Obviously Infinity War had a lot of ground to cover narratively, but some of the names that were sidelined in favor of other characters still came as a surprise.