The Marvel Cinematic Universe did an outstanding job with the Infinity War movie, bringing together (almost) all fan-favorite superheroes together with such grace and impact! And though we are in love with it, there were certain aspects of the plot that deserved more attention to detail. Here are the 10 Avengers Infinity war plot holes that defy logic. Be advised though, that the following article is riddled with spoilers!
10. Not All Heroes Need Oxygen
If Guardians of the Galaxy movies have taught us anything, it’s that most planets are inhabitable by humans, with Star-Lord using his oxygenated mask only when traveling in space and not within the atmosphere of any planet. However, considering the lack of experience of our earthly heroes in space travel, we expected more caution.
It was understandable when Spiderman ran out of air while being dragged outside the atmosphere on the doughnut ship. So was seeing the issue get resolved when the Iron Spider suit (courtesy of Tony Stark) came to his rescue. The situation, however, became unrealistic when both removed their masks without hesitation, once secure inside the ship.
Plenty would argue that their tech tested the oxygen levels in their surroundings beforehand or since Strange was already breathing well inside, there was hardly any need for them to worry about such (minor) matters. Despite this, it wouldn’t have hurt to add a touch of basic human vulnerability to our human superheroes (or even mention it) – especially where Stark is concerned; he had panic attacks extending the length of an entire movie after his previous venture into space!
What’s weirder is when Strange was blasted off into space for more than an acceptable number of seconds and wasn’t hurt at all. Also, when the heroes landed on Titan, the gravitational pull was discussed but never the oxygen. The movies could learn a thing or two more from the comics, where Strange was responsible for casting a spell to let the characters breathe in space, and that too for limited periods.
9. Wakanda’s Scarce Resources
Being technologically advanced with huge reserves of vibranium, the Wakandans were expected to bring their best to fight off the alien invaders. True, the battle was mighty with perfectly timed moments and thrilling action sequences, but it lacked firepower.
With the protective dome providing the first line of defense, the rest was up to the small army of Black Panther, M’Baku, and our mighty Avengers. And though that did prove to be an entertaining team-up, it felt like the Avengers were set to lose from the beginning.
A few more gunships, tanks, aircraft, or even rhinos, and maybe at least the casualties could’ve been minimized. Seems like when Wakanda opened its doors to the rest of the world, it lent out or destroyed a whole lot of its warfare reserves. Or maybe it is indeed a rather small nation.
8. Superhero Equals Super Quick-Learner
Infinity War put two of our heroes in suits that were new to them. Banner, without Hulk to back him up, supported the Hulk-Buster armor; while Spiderman had his brand-new Iron Spider suit to explore. MCU has already revealed the learning curve associated with such suits, including several failed and painful attempts by Stark (played by Robert Downey Jr.)and even Parker in their respective superhero movies. But the case in Infinity War was quite the opposite.
We do witness Banner fiddling with the controls of the Hulk-Buster in the first few seconds of the movie, but soon after, he can pull off rather amazing feats for an amateur – including the demise of Cull Obsidian. Similarly, terming Spidey’s suit as being “insightful”, while having the spider legs activate on their own to save him, may have been acceptable; if it weren’t for the delightful performance of the suit throughout the film in the hands of yet another amateur.
True, bits and pieces of failed attempts or some vulnerability may have taken up precious seconds of the film but would have better supported the character arc of the superheroes.
7. We Don’t Trade (Important) Lives
The battle of Wakanda was inspired by a single person: Vision. Not destroying the Mind Stone (and Vision with it) when given the chance, ultimately cost the Avengers half the universe. But the trade had started way before that.
In attempting to separate Vision from the Mind Stone before destroying it, the Avengers put the lives of hundreds of Wakandan soldiers on the line. Captain America (played by Chris Evans) delivered his iconic dialogue:
“we don’t trade lives”,
to spark sentiment and convey solidarity, but failed to deliver considering that the Wakandans were being traded to buy time for a superhero to survive.
True, they were aware of the consequences and still chose to die serving a higher purpose, but then how were they any different from Vision when he suggested the same? Was it only because it was Vision’s better half who had to get her hands dirty in his blood? Don’t get me wrong, we adore our ever-evolving superhero couple and were heartbroken at their demise, but their story could have been better equipped.
Although several theories do suggest that destroying the Mind Stone may not have worked out well for the universe, they still do not undermine the hypocrisy and lack of a proper foundation for that epic battle.
6. Thor’s Unreliable Powers
Thor, the God of Lightning – who jump-started the heart of a frozen star and endured its full force, and who dug his ax into Thanos’ chest despite being up against all six Infinity Stones – was beaten down by Thanos at the start (who had a single Infinity Stone back then) and held captive in Ebony Maw’s metal prison. Doesn’t seem logical, does it?
Thor’s powers were lessened to a huge extent, because, well, the Avengers just had to lose the first fight for the story to progress. Otherwise, Thanos and the Black Order being higher up in the food chain made sense where human superheroes were concerned, but not where the opponent was a God who also happened to be a mighty warrior.
5. Dr. Strange’s Strange Constraint
The Master of the Mystic Arts has countless tricks up his sleeve. One of his greatest weapons, however, remains to be the Time Stone – which he used quite fervently despite several warnings in his solo movie, even trapping the villain in a timeless loop. Why not do the same now? True, he did peer into millions of future possibilities and (theoretically) played out a long game to ensure the Avengers’ success in the next film; but that was after they had reached Titan.
Using the Time Stone before that – at the beginning of the battle in New York or while stuck on the doughnut ship – may have given the Avengers a tactical advantage by reversing or freezing time to help plan a proper attack.
Another such issue revolves around the underuse of portals in battle. We did witness Wong cut off Cull Obsidian’s hand accidentally using a magic portal; why not do the same to the Gauntlet arm of Thanos, or maybe even his head? This would have provided the heroes with a much simpler, more effective, and more logical solution. However, considering that these portals must abide by certain laws, there is a chance that the above may not have been possible. But the fact that such laws haven’t been discussed previously makes the portal underuse a major plot hole.
4. Gamora’s (Not So) Great Decisions
Hardly anyone anticipated the Soul Stone to be linked to Gamora. Infinity War revealed that she had once been asked to locate the Soul Stone for her father and had burnt the map leading to it to ashes. Though no background has been presented as to the origin and accuracy of the map, let’s agree that it was a good decision on her part – though, one which marked the beginning of a script full of loopholes and illogical decision-making by the fiercest woman in the galaxy.
One such decision was to let Nebula, her murderously jealous sister, in on the map-burning secret, with whom she wasn’t even close back then! Though considering Nebula’s hatred for her father, it was expected that she would never spill the beans on Gamora, we all witnessed the torture that followed.
Another example of an illogical decision was Gamora going after Thanos in Knowhere. Despite being fully aware of the importance of the information she withheld and the consequences of her capture, she risked the universe to (apparently) land the final blow to Thanos, with just Quill and his (bubbling) gun as her ticket to death. And we all know how that turned out.
3. Thanos’ Inconsistency
For a mega-villain intent on getting all Infinity Stones and executing his plan without delay, Thanos was rather inconsistent when it came to the display of power. True, this made possible some of the most amazing action sequences in the MCU but didn’t do justice to the Mad Titan’s character.
Even without the Stones, Thanos was shown to be quite powerful – able to defeat Hulk within a matter of few seconds. And for a villain who doesn’t like to get his hands dirty unless necessary, Thanos has (unnecessarily) played along in a lot of fights. At Titan, fighting off the Avengers and Guardians should have been easy; defeating Iron Man with all his tech and tactics should have been a mere child’s play; while dismissing Captain America with all his strength should have been like flicking a fly.
But with the Stones at his disposal, Thanos’ powers were (supposed to be) endless. His charade at Knowhere with the Reality Stone was proof of this fact. And despite having a variety of Stones to choose and use from, Thanos only ever truly used the Power Stone; when in truth, the Reality Stone would have been a much more effective and efficient tool, worthy of the Titan’s merciful hand in battle.
2. Balancing the Scales
Halving the population of the universe to ensure there are fewer mouths to feed? Sure. Replenishing the resources of the planet to ensure there’s enough to go around? No, thanks.
Thanos has implemented this very ideology in setting the balance of the universe – even though with the all-powerful Infinity Gauntlet, solving all the universe’s issues of scarcity and uneven distribution of resources should have been a much simpler and more peaceful approach. Moreover, killing off half the universe would have set the scales in balance only temporarily since populations tend to grow fast, and Thanos’ ultimate plan wouldn’t have “saved” anyone, just stalled a universal extinction for a while longer.
This biggest plot hole has been justified by several theorists, suggesting that Thanos is, after all, a villain and a monster. Justifying his quest for vengeance and feeding his ego for what happened to his people, he’s forcing the universe to follow what he thinks is best. Another justification deals with the laws governing the use of Infinity Stones, and the fact that new matter cannot be created – which is why seasonal bouts of genocide may be required to keep the population in check (yeah, right).
Yet another justification is the lack of proper adaptation of the Infinity War comics, where Thanos’ plan made much sense considering he wasn’t responding to a Holy calling but trying to win over Lady Death. However, despite such justifications, the plot hole is rather glaring and annoying.
1. Creation of the Infinity Gauntlet: What, When, How?
We first glimpsed the Infinity Gauntlet in Thor’s debut movie (2011) in Odin’s Vault, which was later identified as a fake by Hela. We also know that before the events of the Infinity War and after the destruction of Asgard (2017), Thanos forced Eitri to “forge a weapon capable of harnessing the power of the Infinity Stones”, implying that it was the first of its kind. And Odin having a replica of it way back then does not add up with our current information.
Also, at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), we witness Thanos with the Gauntlet, setting out on his quest for the Infinity Stones. But the Gauntlet was only said to have been created after Asgard was destroyed two years later in Thor: Ragnarok (2017). The messed-up timing of the creation of the Infinity Gauntlet can be considered one of the greatest plot holes that almost destroyed the movie.
These were the 10 major Avengers Infinity War plot holes we discovered in the blockbuster movie, though here are a few honorable mentions:
- Black Order, who took down Asgardians and Hulk, was beaten up by human heroes.
- Gamora isn’t the last of her people – according to Thanos.
- Why call Captain Marvel now? It’s not like we haven’t needed her before.
Did you find any other plot holes worth sharing? Let us know in the comments below!
