We all felt our hearts miss a beat when Thanos was not defeated and when he snapped his fingers, knowing full well that half of the universe was merely moments away of becoming non-existent. But the question is whether the people, the avengers and other side characters who disappeared, were really chosen at random at all.
I feel there is a theory based on who was chosen to disappear based on forwarding the plot of the Avengers and whether there are many different ways of seeing this as something far more than just a random selection process.
This is Two Takes. And this is One Shot; an analysis of the moments when Thanos’ snapped his fingers in the Marvel Universe… and the trauma that followed.
We realise in the moments after the snap that many of the main characters disappear, with other characters being shown to have disappeared in other films after Thanos did what he set out to do.
Based on his own dark history of witnessing his own planet, Titan, crumble within, Thanos realised that the entirety of the universe was on the same path and so, collected the Infinity Stones that would let him live out his desired wish; of eliminating half of the universe so the other half could begin again without many problems, sustaining a better future. He wanted to re-balance the universe, and as much as he tried in the past (as we realise when Gamora relives her past of meeting Thanos for the first time as a child), his mark on the universe was not enough. Hence this plan, which in the end worked.
We understand why it was half of the universe because of Thanos’ maddening scheme, but why the characters that we have invested in all of these years? Let’s go through some of the main ones to see if there is a link.
There seems to be a great many losses but some characters seem to experience far more than others.
Take Steve Rogers and Tony Stark, to begin.
They have been at odds with each other for quite some time based on reasons that I have already explained in other episodes, and even though this turn of events has them working together, it delves deeper than that. Steve seems to lose more people he cares about in this future, like Falcon (who has finally found a new best buddy and finds some purpose in life by being part of the Avengers) and Bucky Barnes, who also has to start again in the future without being influenced by HYDRA, seems, for a while at least, to be able to start again. But to no avail.
Iron Man loses Peter Parker, his friend who he has taken a liking to (almost like family perhaps?), but we see further down the line that Tony and Pepper Potts have made some sort of living in the five years since Thanos’ act by having a family.
In that same time scale, we see Steve making the rounds on people we care about (even strangers in a meeting in a town hall for those grieving) but does not think about himself again…perhaps because it is too painful.
This shows the difference in loss and what people do with it.
Those that have a loss so great that they simply accept defeat was when Wanda disappeared when she realised Vision died twice. Once by his request by her hand, and then again by Thanos who reversed time to get the Mind Stone from Vision’s forehead. She accepted what was happening to her, hoping for the ending of her suffering. This differs from Spiderman, Peter Parker’s want to stay as he slowly disappeared; he was the only character to fight what was happening to him, to be able to have more time, exclaiming he didn’t want to go, that he felt strange and that he was scared. And who could blame him. Unlike Wanda who accepted oblivion, Peter did not want to go into the unknown.
The unknown could be labelled as death, nothingness or even another realm; we have no idea. But one version is what happens to Wasp and her father as they disappear whilst Ant man is stuck in the Quantum Realm; they didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye, stuck in different realms forever apart.
In another reference to realms is different realities, and from what we saw with Dr. Strange, when he was exploring the many differing realities where he only saw in one, that they defeat Thanos, did he accept his disappearance because he knew that to make that one reality come true, he would have to go. Of all of the choices that the Avengers and other characters have made up to that point, he knew they were on the right track. It was just unfortunate that he could not help them further.
And when it comes to outside help, we find Wakanda without a King once more, and SHIELD Nick Fury and Maria Hill, the faces of this protective organisation to have disappeared; meaning there will be no help from outside influential sources that have made an impact so far. And so, with disarray happening within this powerful allies with perhaps unlimited resources, they have their own problems to sort out, leaving the Avengers to work this out for themselves quite literally alone.
It wasn’t just the Avengers that suffered losses, the Guardians of the Galaxy suffered in various different ways. We find Mantis, finally free from slavery also being freed from this reality by disappearing. Drax did not get his vengeance for his dying family, and Peter Quill did not for Gamora’s death. Groot went with love in his heart, saying to Rocket how he was his ‘dad’ (this was revealed in a Tweet by one of the Directors). And so, whether or not there were good or bad feelings that lingered in one’s heart, this ending is non judgemental. However it does make me wonder whether their thoughts of vengeance, for Drax and Quill at least, were not strong enough to drive them to survive and thus not be chosen for the disappearing. But that theory seems to have holes in it.
The worst loss, I feel, is for Hawkeye. His whole family, the one thing he hid from everyone except Black Widow, up until the very end, disappeared before his very eyes. Everything he strove to protect and cherish until his very last breath gone in an instant. Therefore, his story arc, although not thoroughly explored or explained finds Hawkeye become Ronin in the streets of Tokyo killing targeted bad people with a vengeance. Killing to block out his own loss. And because Ronin actually means samurai without a lord or master, this fits him quite well. He is a wanderer, suffering in this reality and grieving in the most toxic way possible.
I believe, although this might be argued, is that the characters that we witness disappearing were chosen on purpose to propose emotional responses (not for just us, the audience, but with other characters too), as well as perhaps explore what happens after such trauma and how one deals with it. Whether its in a healthy outcome like Steve Rogers as he makes house-calls and listens to strangers as they talk about their trauma; or whether it turns one to choose a darker path much like Hawkeye into Ronin with no ending to their own suffering, and so, the only way is to make that internal suffering become external on the edge of a sword towards someone’s throat.
If this was the reality you were forced into, what would you do to survive? And would you survive at all, or just disappear?
Let me know your thoughts.
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