/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58967731/Screen_Shot_2017_11_30_at_8.32.33_AM.0.png)
Avengers: Infinity War is less than two months away, and we now know more about it than ever before.
[Warning: The following contains minor spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War.]
Entertainment Weekly unveiled its new Avengers: Infinity War issue this week, featuring 15 different covers and packing in an absurd amount of details into a three-page report. The magazine even managed to cram some interesting details into some 100-word photo descriptions.
No one has the time to go through it all. So we’ve collected the most important information we gathered and threw it all into this one story.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/10165743/BlackPanther596d2f0340b95.jpg)
Black Panther’s best character gets a big role in Avengers: Infinity War
It might be a little biased to declare the best Black Panther character as the one who made a fantastic Vine reference, but here we are.
Shuri, the younger sister of T’Challa and Wakanda’s technology whiz kid, will have an important role in Infinity War.
“Fans of Wakandan technology chief Shuri will be happy to know she’s a key part of [Avengers: Infinity War], seen here meeting with Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch and Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner,” according to Entertainment Weekly. You can see the corresponding still on the magazine’s website.
We know that Wakanda plays an important role in Infinity War. Entertainment Weekly suggests that as the country open’s its arms to the world, it has to learn to prepare itself — especially in wake of Thanos’ incoming attack. We’ve suspected for a while that Wakanda is home to the sixth and final Infinity Stone. That makes it Thanos’ new prime target. Having Shuri around to figure out how to harvest vibranium and defend her country will be of the utmost importance.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/10391389/Screen_Shot_2018_03_09_at_9.55.54_AM.png)
What’s going on with Thor and the Guardians?
The trailers for Avengers: Infinity War have teased a remarkable team up with Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy. All is not as it seems, though.
“The Guardians split up, with Gamora leading her own mission and Thor teaming with teen Groot and Rocket Raccoon on a quest of another nature,” Entertainment Weekly’s post reads. “Ultimately, all roads in Infinity War lead to one place ...”
The photo, seen on the magazine’s site, shows Rocket and Thor hanging out in the cockpit together. We know that both heroes end up on Wakanda, as we’ve seen Rocket running with Captain America in previous trailers and there’s a very cute conversation between Chris Evans (Captain America) and Chris Hemsworth (Thor) in another Entertainment Weekly section.
While Thor and Rocket help protect Wakanda from an army of dangerous creatures sent by Thanos to collect the Infinity Stone (probably), Gamora is probably on her way to take on big daddy Thanos.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/10391399/avengers.jpg)
What’s going on with the rest of the Avengers?
We know that a large portion of the Avengers and their friends end up in Wakanda, but what about everyone else?
Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Iron Man and Hulk are all hanging out together in different parts of the world, but what’s most important are the new suits we’re seeing. Spider-Man is sporting the golden Iron Spider suit that Tony Stark tried to give to him at the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Iron Man is wearing the Bleeding Edge (or Mark 37) suit that first made its debut in 2010 during a run of Invincible Iron Man.
Not much more can be said about these suits; you kind of just have to see them for yourself.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/10391149/spider_man_suit.jpg)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/10391159/iron_man_suit.jpg)
Who is the White Wolf?
The Winter Soldier is taking on a new name — and getting some fancy new armor to go with it.
“Sebastian Stan’s rehabilitated assassin now goes by White Wolf,” Entertainment Weekly’s description of a cover featuring Bucky and the Guardians of the Galaxy’s Mantis reads. “It’s intriguing to see a man whose memories were scrambled, wiped, and rebuilt paired with Pom Klementieff’s alien mind-reader.”
Winter Soldier’s new identity was teased during the final Black Panther post-credits scene, where a group of children were running around outside his rehabilitation home yelling about the “White Wolf.” Here’s a basic rundown from our explainer on the character:
In the Marvel Comics version of the Black Panther’s story, T’Challa has an older foster brother named Hunter, a child orphaned when his plane crashed in Wakanda, killing his parents, all before T’Challa was born. Despite Hunter being a foreigner — and white — King T’Chaka, T’Challa’s father, adopted him and raised him.
Hunter grew into a devout Wakandan patriot, despite his outsider status in the country, and T’Chaka appointed him to be the leader of the Hatut Zeraze, or “War Dogs,” Wakanda’s secret police and special forces. (In the Black Panther movie, Lupita Nyong’o’s Nakia is a member of the Hatut Zeraze.) As the leader of the War Dogs, he became known as the White Wolf.
A lot of the White Wolf’s character doesn’t seem easily transposed to Bucky — his family relationship to T’Challa, for example, or his sometimes antagonistic relationship with the Black Panther. But the idea of Bucky putting his martial skills to work as a Wakandan spymaster? Now there’s an interesting possibility. After all, Bucky’s essentially considered a war criminal in most other countries around the globe.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9780751/Screen_Shot_2017_11_30_at_9.44.38_AM.png)
We kind of know what happens to Loki
It’s been getting much easier to piece together what happened to Loki after the end of Thor: Ragnarok, but a new description from Entertainment Weekly confirms a few things.
“Before the end of Thor: Ragnarok, Tom Hiddleston’s Loki managed to pocket the blue Space Stone locked away in Asgard’s archive,” Entertainment Weekly explains. “This is the object Thanos sent him to retrieve in the original Avengers, and he not only failed — he lost the staff that contained the yellow Mind Stone (now giving life to Paul Bettany’s Vision). We know Thanos collects the Space Stone early in Infinity War, so Loki has likely settled his account. Partially.”
As we explained in an earlier post:
Remember that it appears as if Loki and Thor bump into Thanos’ ship during one of the post-credits scenes from Thor: Ragnarok, and a scene from an Infinity War trailer shows Loki offering up the Tesseract in what looks like fear. It’s very possible that Thanos forced Loki to give up the stone, and this is one of the acts that kicks off the conflict on Earth.
If Loki’s paid his debt, he should be OK ... but, Marvel Studios is going to start killing off superheroes and super villains. Loki may be one of the first to go.
Sorry, Tumblr.
If it feels like we can almost piece the entire move together, that’s because we can. The biggest surprises are sure to be deaths, of which we’re expecting quite a few. Hopefully the Russo brothers can figure out a way to keep us on our toes. Maybe they’ll actually turn Iron Man into a Gundam figure.
Avengers: Infinity War will be released on April 27.