Over the last ten years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has had tremendous success
telling interwoven narratives spread across 18 films, earning it outlandish
global box office figures. The films have made it amply clear that the MCU is
not only arguably the most ambitious, but also one of the most wildly
successful studios out there. Now, with the release of ‘Avengers: Infinity
War’, which assembles a rather crowded roster of Marvel’s mightiest heroes to
fight Thanos, fans cannot contain their excitement of catching a glimpse of the
mad titan battle an army of superheroes. And if reports are to be believed,
Infinity War is really an introduction to the premise, with the story set to
finally conclude with the next Avengers instalment, scheduled for next May.
Not a spoiler really, but those who were
expecting to see a direct adaptation of the comic version into the film, are in
for some disappointment. Padmaja Sane, a hardcore fan of Captain America and
MCU, says, “Not many people know that in 1992, a six-issue series was released
under the title of ‘Infinity War’ as a direct sequel to ‘The Infinity
Gauntlet’. The latter tells the story of Thanos and his attempt to wipe out
half of the universe’s population using the Infinity Gems, only to be opposed
by a collection of powerful heroes. This story is continued in both, ‘The
Infinity War’ and 1993’s ‘The Infinity Crusade’. Sadly, Avengers: Infinity War’s
directorial team, the Russo brothers, had confirmed earlier that their movie
will not be a direct adaptation of these comics.”
While
the general rule of thumb in comic-to-movie adaptations is to stick as close to
the source material as possible, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has thus far
struck a sweet balance between honouring the comics and building an entirely
new world with original character arcs and stories. Hrishi Bhagat, another fan
of MCU, says, “From the ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ trailers it appears that
Thanos’s reason for assembling the Infinity Stones is the same as in the comics
but comic book fans will know that several vital elements are highly unlikely
to feature on the big screen. First, comic book Thanos is under the employ of
Mistress Death in his mission to erase half the universe, whereas Josh Brolin’s
villain appears to be riding solo in his venture.”
While
‘Avengers: Infinity War’ has been hogging most of the limelight, a few days ago
Sony finally offered fans their first full trailer of the upcoming Spider-Man spinoff
movie, ‘Venom’. The trailer finally revealed the full glory of Tom Hardy’s turn
as the titular villain, showing the symbiote completely overtaking Eddie Brock.
And unlike ‘Avengers: Infinity War’, ‘Venom’ seems to stay relatively more true
to the comics that it is based on. Stephanie D’Mello, an ardent fan of
Spider-Man comics, says, “The trailer confirmed rumours that the film would be
based on the ‘90s comic book miniseries ‘Venom: Lethal Protector’, with Riz
Ahmed playing the role of Dr Carlton Drake. The leader of the Life Foundation
takes a sample of the symbiote and uses it to make five different offspring,
known in the comics as Phage, Scream, Agony, Lasher and Riot. In the comics,
Spider-Man comes to Venom’s aid and helps his enemy defeat the new threats,
though at this point it’s unclear if the movie will be set in the Marvel
Cinematic Universe. There’s no way to know that until we get closer to the
release date of ‘Venom’.”
The
remainder of the year 2018 appears to be quite busy too, with ‘Deadpool 2’,
‘Venom’ and ‘Ant-man and the Wasp’ slated to release one after the other. While
it remains to be seen how accurate these films stay to the origin of their
story, if the trailers are anything to go by, it is certain that the films are
going to be a cinematic treat.