10 Marvel Comics You Must Read Before Phase 3

Film: Avengers: Infinity War - Part 1 (May 4, 2018)

Marvel’s company-wide bi-annual crossover events are extremely hit and miss. Thankfully, one of their more recent efforts, Jonathan Hickman's space opera Infinity, was very much a hit. A spiritual successor to The Infinity Gauntlet, Infinity finds the Avengers out in deep space, aligned with a multitude of planets to stop an advanced alien race called the Builders. Meanwhile on Earth, Thanos uses their absence as a chance to invade.

The two-pronged assault is exactly what Infinity War should use to deal with its massive slate of characters. In space, many of the heroes, mainly the Avengers and the Guardians confront this malicious alien race as they slowly push from the outer reaches towards Earth. Back on Earth, the remaining heroes, like the Defenders, Black Panther, and even the Inhumans, step in to defend against Thanos.

The villain roles would likely be reversed, with Thanos as the bigger threat with one of his lieutenants tying up the other heroes on Earth, but the story works. It manages a humongous group of heroes, multiple story-lines, and gives everyone something to do amidst an enthralling space epic, which is exactly what Infinity War should be angling to do.