Avengers: Infinity War: 10 Things That Must Happen
6. We Get One, Central Villain
There's been plenty of online speculation regarding Marvel's use of villains in Infinity War. In a film about every MCU hero joining forces, a lot of fans want the villains - Red Skull, Loki and even Ultron - to do the same. It may seem like a good idea on paper, but on film, it'll do more harm than good. Having a returning villain would not only undercut Thanos as the central antagonist, but it will reinforce that most prominent of Marvel stereotypes; dead characters don't stay dead.
For starters, Hugo Weaving has been iffy on the idea of playing Red Skull again and for all intents and purposes, his character is 6-feet under. The last time we saw Ultron, he was being executed by Vision, and director Joss Whedon has gone on record as saying "Ultron is really gone." Putting these logistics aside, Avengers: Infinity War is already a crowded movie, and attempting to shoehorn in another villain alongside Thanos could backfire drastically - Spider-Man 3, anyone?
Most Marvel movies have been building toward Thanos, toward the Infinity Stones, teasing us relentlessly for the past four years - the last thing we want to see is a done-and-dusted villain return, twirling their moustache and spouting rhetoric about how the Avengers couldn't defeat them.
Let's give Thanos his time in the spotlight, the time that he's been earning patiently over a myriad of post-credit scenes and brief cameos.