Avengers: Infinity War - 9 Reasons It's The Most Important Marvel Movie Yet
8. There's Genuine Peril
Marvel Studios
The MCU's quality has never been in doubt, but one thing it's always struggled with has been conveying a genuine sense of threat.
Most of these heroes have always felt invulnerable because of how instrumental they are to the MCU's architecture, but as soon as Loki's killed and Hulk's pummelled, it's clear that Thanos isn't here to play. His actions are contemptuous of a past that afforded these heroes little to no danger at all, and in smashing that old precedent, Infinity War takes on a truly terrifying form.
Not a moment goes by where the audience are allowed to feel safe, and while that makes the film a tenser and perhaps even a more uncomfortable watch, it's also completely refreshing. As much as it may pain us to say it, we want to see these characters be vulnerable, and when those moments of real pain occur, they're utterly devastating to watch.
Literally no one was safe in this film, and while that in itself may make Infinity War an emotionally exhaustive film, there's no denying it injected a real sense of urgency into its proceedings.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
