Avengers: Infinity Crusade (Earth-199999.1)

Avengers: Infinity Crusade is an upcoming film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is the sequel to Avengers: Infinity War, the 22nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the tenth and final film in Phase 3. It is set to be released in May of 2019.

PLOT

Following the events of Infinity War, which saw Thanos achieve his goal of gathering all six Infinity Stones and with them wiping out half of all life in the universe with a snap of his fingers, the remaining Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy attempt to rebuild. In Wakanda, Thor leads what remains of the group that had been fighting to protect the Mind Stone and the Vision, which includes Rocket Raccoon, M'Baku, Okoye, War Machine, Black Widow, Captain America and Bruce Banner. Together, they return to Birnin Zana in Wakanda to regroup, taking the body of Vision with them. Meanwhile on Titan, Nebula commandeers a ship from Thanos' armada and takes a devastated Tony Stark back to Earth.

Meanwhile we see Clint Barton, retired after the events of Civil War, working on his front porch with his son while his daughter plays with his younger son and wife nearby. Clint hears a scream coming from his daughter, followed by a muffled "Clint," and turns to see his wife and baby turn to ash before his eyes. A moment later his son says he doesn't feel well, and Clint turns back to see the same thing happen to him. Cradling his daughter, Clint reaches into his pocket and pulls out a burner phone to call someone. We also see the post-credits scene from Ant-Man and the Wasp, where Hope van Dyne and Scott Lang return from their journey into the Quantum Realm to stop Ghost from undermining all reality. They no sooner arrive than they see Luis and his crew disappear into ash in front of their eyes. Startled, Hank Pym says they need to go to New York. Now.

On the ship from Titan, Nebula explains to Tony what had happened, but gets little in response. She questions why Doctor Strange had given Thanos the time stone willingly, but Tony's only reply is that it was the only way. As they approach Earth, Friday chimes in that he's receiving a call from Miss Potts. Tony tries to connect to her, only to find it is Happy on the other line. Tony asks where Pepper is, but Happy says that she was just vaporized in front of him. Tony puts down the phone, and breaks down crying. Nebula leaves him alone, and notes the debris field in Wakanda, saying that they should put down there.

Back in Wakanda, Thor's group takes stock of the situation. Thor and Rocket explain what Gamora had told them earlier, that Thanos' ultimate goal was to wipe out half of all life in the universe as an attempt to "restore-balance." Rocket suggets they head back to the Dwarven forge in Nidavellir to get more weapons like the one Thor now carries. Thor says that even if they could get back to Nidavellir, and even if they could make more weapons, there's no guarantee that Eitri survived the snap or that the Forge would still be working. Tony and Nebula arrive, with Rocket accusing Nebula of helping dear old dad. Tony vouches for her, and meets Steve for the first time in forever. There's no interaction between the two though, as Thor goes on to explain that they have no idea of the destructive capability of the Infinity Stones as a whole. Tony says that not as a whole...but individually. When Rhodey asks what he is planning, Tony says they need to head back to New York. Leaving M'Baku in charge of recovery in Wakanda, Okoye and Shuri accompany the group back to the Avengers Facility.

Back on his idyllic paradise planet, Thanos sits content, watching the sun rise over him. He glances down at the Infinity Gauntlet, blackened and somewhat charred from being overtaxed in the snap. However the Soul Stone, somehow having been transplanted into the central portion of the Gauntlet, continues to glow brightly. A voice, disembodied, remarks to Thanos that he has done well and served balance, but then asks what he will do now. Thanos smirks and says that maybe he will become a farmer. The voice replies that Thanos has become like a God, and that he should bask in the glory of his handiwork. He should receive the gratitude of a grateful universe. Thanos doubts that the universe will share in his vision. But...perhaps...a little bit of incognito appearances wouldn't be bad. He alters his appearance to that of a normal human being via the Reality Stone, and then opens a portal to another world using the Space Stone. He fails to notice the Orange Soul Stone glowing in addition to each one the individual stones as he uses them in turn.

Back on Earth, in the Avengers Facility, Stark goes to work assembling some of the pieces of some kind of technology. While he does, he also tells Happy to gather up some guy named Wong who lives in Greenwich village. He refuses to explain what he is doing. When Shuri starts geeking out over some of the tech in the building, Stark snaps at her, prompting Okoye to defend the Princess and, in her eyes, rightful ruler of Wakanda. Cap intervenes, saying that Tony needs to explain what plan he's got, before something else happens. Tony takes offense to this, assuming that Steve meant before he made things worse. Steve says that wasn't what he was going to say, but Tony goes after him again, saying that he wouldn't have died if Steve had...Cap asks who wouldn't have died, but Tony doesn't reply. He instead explains that each Infinity Stone gives off a certain bit of radiation when it is used. Chroniton particles for the time stone, low level gamma radiation for the space stone, etc. He had obtained data for this from the Tesseract Project for the Space Stone, Baron Strucker's files and the Vision's Construction for the Mind Stone, and from his own brief scans of the Time Stone while they were traveling to Titan and awaiting Thanos. Widow asks what about the other three stones. Tony' replies that recent Wakandan upgrades to his BARF technology will allow him to gain certain environmental factors from previous experiences with the Power and Reality Stones. Tony also says that they can view the Battle of New York and look for weaknesses in the Chitauri, in case Thanos decides to reuse them. If they can analyze all this data, then they can come up with a suitable counter to most of the Powers of the Infinity Gauntlet, banking that since Thanos has achieved his goal, he will likely rest to heal up. They comment that they have no counter to the Soul Stone, but Nebula chimes in that, she was present when Gamora told Thanos where the stone was, and will take them to Vormir to get information from it.

A man says that sounds like a good plan, and the group turn to see Thunderbolt Ross in the entryway, flanked by soldiers. The soldiers point guns at the Avengers and Ross says that as of right now they are being drafted into a response team to deal with this issue. Tony and the Avengers stand against Ross, but the General remains steadfast, saying he won't arrest them for violation of the Sokovia Accords but that they need to work together and under the supervision of the US government. Steve backs everyone down and they agree to get to started on Tony's "Pseudo-Gauntlet". Ross mentions that they've called in the experts to deal with this situation as well.

On Xandar, the transformed Thanos arrives to witness the rebuilding, both from the effects of the Snap as well as his siege of the Planet a week earlier. He hears his name being cursed by surviving members of the Nova Corps, and tries to argue with them about the aspects of balance in the universe. Corpsman Rhomann Dey argues back with him, and suspects something about the person he doesn't recognize. Accusing him of being an agent of Thanos, Dey tries to arrest him, only for Thanos to snap and reveal himself to the public. He begins to slaughter the Nova Corps in his anger, only to be interrupted by Captain Marvel. Carol Danvers comments that she had just returned from fighting with a Kree Legion against a recent Skrull attack, and that she received a call from her old boss. She's hear to ensure that Thanos is dealt with and loses the Infinity Gauntlet. Thanos and Danvers fight, and in his weakened state Marvel is able to go toe to toe with him. They battle to a stalemate until Thanos surreptitiously opens a portal and shoves her through it, sending her back to Earth. He then glances down at the Infinity Gauntlet, noting that it is not acting as it should, with each stone drawing its power from the Soul Stone instead of individually. He teleports himself back to Nidavellir to get a new Gauntlet made.

Back on Earth, Captain Marvel makes contact with someone at SHIELD, trying to get further information on the situation. Meanwhile Stark has set up the BARF technology and is using Rocket and Thor's memories to get data on the other two Infinity Stones. He gets a call from Happy saying he found Wong and that they are bringing him back. When Happy is asked Who's We?, we see that Happy has also picked up Hawkeye, Ant-Man, Wasp, Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne in addition to Wong. Bruce has a heart to heart with Natasha about their relationship, coming to the conclusion that whatever it was they had it seems to have faded with time. Bruce also converses with Ross, asking how Betty was doing, getting the information that she had married and had two kids last thing Ross knew. She didn't really talk to him that much anymore, even after his heart attack. Happy and his crew arrive, causing Ross to be incredulous at the arrival of Lang and Barton, given that they are supposed to be on house arrest. Barton simply tells Ross to put a sock in it. The original Avengers hook themselves up to the BARF technology, and take a look back at the Battle of New York, looking for any weaknesses in the Chitauri's attack patterns that could indicate an exploitable flaw. They also note the location of where the Space Stone opened a portal to. While in the battle, Tony sees Steve's leadership skills in saving people he had overlooked at one point. When they emerge from the BARF scene, Tony and Steve hash out everything that had happened in Civil War up to that point, and bury the hatchet. They continue to work on the Pseudo-Gauntlet.

Back at the Dwarven Forge, Thanos confronts Eitri, who explains that the Stones need a power source to work like any other element. Normally they would drain energy from around themselves, but absent that, they could feed on the life energy of the user. Using one stone by a powerful being was taxing enough. Using all six at ones is difficult in and of itself. Thanos says if that's true, than why wasn't he wiped out by overtaxing his own life force. Eitri cannot answer that, and Thanos in his anger kills him and destroys Nidavellir. Covered by a force barrier created by the Mind Stone, the voice from before eggs Thanos on to commit more death, to further bring balance to the Universe, but the voice of a child-like Gamora also chimes in, saying that life must be in balance to. Thanos agrees and snaps his fingers to restore a dead world. Deep in space, we see a small craft approaching the ruins of Asgard, as it rebuilds itself. Thanos also retreats to Titan.

Back on Earth the Pseudo-Gauntlet is been completed, but as our heroes prepare to depart to Vormir first, per the powers of the Bifrost from Stormbreaker, and per Nebula's instructions, Ross says that his specialist will take it from here. Captain Marvel enters the facility, flanked by Agent Phil Coulson. Incredulous to find Coulson alive, they aren't impressed by Danvers until she smacks Thor across the face and sends him hurtling through the room. Despite her orders, though, Coulson and Danvers agree that one person can't take down Thanos. Ross says that this is exactly the situation Danvers was trained for. Captain Marvel agrees, but that she also knows the value of teamwork. Ignoring Ross' pleas, and basically punching him out for opening his mouth one to many times, the group of Stark, Rhodey, Cap, Widow, Barton, Ant-Man, Wasp, Okoye, Nebula, Banner, Danvers and Thor depart for Vormir, leaving everyone else behind. Hank Pym notices the body of Vision lying on a table. He asks Shuri if they could get this guy working again, and she replies maybe in Wakanda they could. Coulson agrees to give them and Janet a lift, but Wong simply opens a portal.

Cut to Vormir, the heroes find the Stonekeeper to gain information on the Soul Stone. The Stonekeeper remarks to Captain America how bad he must feel, knowing that his vision of a nationless, cold future has come to pass. Cap doesn't respond, and the Stonekeeper is duty bound to reveal information about the Soul Stone, saying that the beings "killed" by Thanos were actually sent to the Soul Stone, which acts as a power source now for all the other Infinity Stones. As Thanos continues to use the Soul Stone, the souls within it grow weaker. But the Souls within might be saved, if the right sacrifice is made. Tony says that if it comes to it, he'll be more than willing to sacrifice it. Steve replies it won't come to that. They ask if they can destroy the Soul Stone, and the Stonekeeper replies yes, but that doing so may release a greater evil to the universe. Unable to come up with a counter to the Soul Stone, the group retreats to Titan to hopefully confront Thanos.

On Titan, Thanos is confronted by our heroes with their Pseudo-Gauntlet. The power of the weapon, combined with Thor and Captain Marvel is enough to put Thanos on his back heel, but our heroes are hesitant to destroy the Soul Stone outright, due to the Stonekeeper's warning. After a long battle he withdraws back to his paradise planet. Frustrated, the group realizes that chasing Thanos won't matter to them if he drains the life force from the beings in the Soul Stone. They resolve to destroy it the next time they confront Thanos, and Nebula accesses her memory banks to see if she knows where Thanos has retreated to.

Back on Earth, in Wakanda, Shuri and Hank Pym have rebuilt Vision from the memory files Tony Stark possessed. He is more aggressive, owning to a greater influence from the Ultron aspects of his personality, and he doesn't possess all of his powers from before, but he still stands as strong a hero as they have at the moment. They give him a Vibranium based Solar Gem to act as a power source and to shoot beams from his forehead. On his paradise planet, Thanos looks at the Gauntlet in frustration, and almost takes it off. It gives him great pain though, and he once again hears from the voices. The voice from before identifies itself by name, calling itself Mephisto. Mephisto claims to be the guardian of the Soul Stone; his domain lies within. He says that the Infinity Stones were meant to help create balance and sustain his world, as well as the universe at large. Thanos should not abandon this quest. The Stone require a being of pure willpower to use them fully. If Thanos abandons his quest, or if he doubts his cause, than the stones will merely choose another more worthy of the task. Thanos agrees, laying waste to his paradise planet and retreating to Parts Unknown. Just after that the Avengers teleport to the paradise planet, only to find it in ruins. Frustrated, they retreat back to Titan.

In Sanctuary, the old domain of Thanos, he begins rebuilding his Chitauri army to serve as his foot soldiers to conquer the universe and bring balance and peace forever lasting. The Gamora voice from before says that if Death is still his goal, then the Universe will still be out of balance. Mephisto chimes in that some scales must be tipped towards Death before true balance can be achieved. Thanos disagrees and decides to restore some life to the universe, snapping his fingers and restoring a few of those killed by the snap. By happenstance, Star-Lord, Strange, Spider-Man, Falcon, Black Panther, Groot and Bucky are restored to life, with Mantis, Drax, Wanda, Gamora and Fury still left dead. The Avengers on Titan are amazed by the return of the heroes, with Strange saying that this is the one chance that he was referring to. However, Earth will be in danger in this scenario, as the Chitauri will invade again. Spider-Man is sullen and has a brief talk about his death with Banner. The talk results in Spidey getting some measure of confidence back, and in Banner coming to an agreement with Hulk, and transforming back into him. Thor sends Spider-Man, Widow, Rhodey, Ant-Man, Wasp, Hawkeye and Okoye back to Earth to prep for the Invasion, while Stark, Strange, Cap, Thor, Star-Lord, Hulk, Danvers and Nebula will go after Thanos. They remember where Sanctuary is from the Battle of New York flashback, and travel there.

On Earth, our heroes scatter to various cities to fight the incoming Chitauri via transport from Wong, with invasions in New York, Wakanda, and Tokyo most notably. Some of the heroes die defending Earth, namely Black Widow, who dies laying down her life for Clint, thus clearing the "red in her ledger". Falcon dies heroically, flying down the maw of a Chitauri warship to take it down. Okoye dies protecting Shuri and T'Challa and Wakanda. On Sanctuary, the group take the Pseudo-Gauntlet and fight Thanos, but by now the Infinity Gauntlet has been restored to near full power, despite being used again and again. Thanos is more of a match for our heroes this time, defeating Star-Lord really quickly and ripping Nebula in half. At one point though he makes the mistake while fighting Hulk to rip Banner's consciousness (and, surprisingly enough, his body) out of the body of the Hulk. Without Banner's influence, the Hulk turns into a mindless rage monster that Thanos turns loose on the heroes. This only works temporarily, as Hulk then turns his attention to Thanos, requiring the Titan to expend great power in subduing him. The combined assault of the heroes eventually proves too much, and they manage to wrestle the Gauntlet away from him. Tony picks up the Gauntlet, and is treated to a Soul-Image of a Perfect Technological Paradise, himself and Pepper living happily with kids while the Monsters die away. He can achieve this all through the power of the Gauntlet, a voice tells him, tempting him with it. Tony is snapped out of his delusion before he can use the Gauntlet, though, by Cap, who takes the Gauntlet himself and is tempted by an idyllic life with Peggy Carter. They have a conversation about "one last dance", and Cap agrees to follow Peggy into the orange light of the Soul Stone. We hear Mephisto's voice cry out NO as back in reality, Cap uses the Gauntlet to kill himself, achieving the sacrifice the Stonekeeper prophecized. The souls contained within the Soul Stone are released, including Gamora, while Mephisto shrivels up into nothing. The Soul Stone is rendered inert until another sacrifice is made, and the other Infinity Stones are scattered to corners of the Universe following the Gauntlet's explosion. Thanos cries in rage and anguish and attacks, but Strange and Thor take the heroes, minus the Rage Monster Hulk, away to Earth, stranding Thanos with the Hulk on Sanctuary where the two start to fight it out.

With the Chitauri defeated and the world saved again, all of the Avengers, including Rogers, Natasha and Sam posthumously, are granted full pardons under the Sokovia Accords and Ross is dismissed from his post. A funeral is held for the dead heroes, with Tony giving the eulogy and Bucky in the audience. Afterwards Bucky is given Captain America's shield by Tony, the latter saying Cap would have wanted it this way. Stark and Barton retire for good, Clint to his farm again (and his restored family), with Stark retiring to marry Pepper (and saying they should name their first kid Steve.) T'Challa and Shuri return to rebuild Wakanda. The Guardians and Captain Marvel return to space. Banner agrees to teach again and resume research for the Avengers. Thor returns to space to find any survivors from his ship and resettle on the restored Asgard. Doctor Strange reunites with Wong and is told of a new threat to the Masters of the Mystic Arts from within. Spider-Man reunites with Aunt May, but is clearly traumatized by his death and resurrection. The new Avengers team (under the jurisdiction of Everett Ross under the Sokovia Accords) consists of Bucky as the new Captain America, War Machine, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Ant-Man and Wasp, with Spider-Man, Black Panther and Thor as stated reserve members (and the possibility for "tryouts" in the future). The film closes on the Avengers finally being called to Assemble to another adventure.

Post Credits Scene #1: Floating in the debris of Sanctuary, we see the seemingly lifeless body of the Hulk. The camera zooms in on his eyes, which open suddenly, followed by a roar.

Post Credits Scene #2: Hank and Janet are conversing about the Quantum Realm. Hank comments that there was another scientist he worked with in the seventies who conceived of alternate dimensions and attempting to travel between them. He lost track of him and his family though, and he wondered if they ever carried through with their plan to travel to something called the Negative Zone. Janet dismisses it as a fantastical fantasy.

Post Credits Scene #3: In an unnamed European country, we see a castle in a rainstorm and hear a story about the effects of the Snap and of the Avengers saving the day. A voice declares that such power over life and death should only belong to one man...it should only belong to Doom.

Post Credits Scene #4: On the Earth's Moon, Vision lands. He walks towards the camera and says "You Can come out." A voice asks how long Vision had known he was there, and Vision confesses for some time. He says that the voice could have helped them against Thanos. The voice replies it is not in his nature to intervene, merely to watch and record events as they happen. But something is coming that will test his resolve. Vision asks what could be worse than Thanos, and the camera pans back to reveal Uatu, who says that the Devourer of Worlds shall soon be upon them.