Needless to say, there are going to be spoilers in this article, so only proceed if you want to know some secrets.
One fun exercise that came with the first Avengers: Infinity War trailer was using quick scenes to connect the dots and solve mysteries that Marvel Cinematic Universe junkies were hoping to answer. Take, for example, the shot we saw of a confused Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) crash-landing in Doctor Strange's (Benedict Cumberbatch) Sanctum Sanctorum. Last we saw Banner, he and Thor were piloting a ship of Asgardians through space. Now, because of a visit to the set of Infinity War, we're able to share with you that Banner encounters Thanos (Josh Brolin), and he brings a warning back to his team as this adventure rolls along. Ruffalo spoke with CinemaBlend on the Infinity War set and elaborated:
Once again I think [Hulk is] trying to find his place in the line-up. He's having some difficulties integrating with the rest of the group, but he's also privy to some information that is essential for their survival. ... Banner knows probably more about Thanos than probably anybody, and he's really trying to impress on everybody how dangerous he is. It's a little bit of a Chicken Little [scenario]. He comes in screaming bloody murder... He's seen what damage [Thanos] can cause, and how powerful he is, and the entire group is in disarray, so he's also getting caught up on what's happened here and is trying to get them to transcend their differences and impress upon them how much danger they're actually facing.
From this insight, given to CinemaBlend on the set of Avengers: Infinity War, we can draw a number of conclusions. The first Thor: Ragnarok post-credits scene ends with Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) encountering a massive ship. We know that it's Thanos' ship, and we assume that he's after the Tesseract -- which Loki (Tom Hiddleston) stole from Asgard's vaults. If Hulk has seen the danger Thanos can bring, we must assume that the Mad titan decimated that ship, sending Thor hurtling through space -- where he'll encounter the Guardians of the Galaxy -- and plummeting Hulk down to Earth.
It also means that Thanos likely will have the Space Stone if and when he arrives on Earth.
I love the way Mark Ruffalo refers to Bruce Banner as a Chicken Little-type messenger in Avengers: Infinity War. In the first trailer, we see Banner in Wakanda with the Avengers, so we know that he's going to reunite with his former team. But having missed the Civil War, he's unaware of the discord he's coming back to. Hatchets will have to be buried quickly, because a bigger threat is coming, and he has a Gauntlet on his hand.
See a panicked Bruce Banner in that Avengers: Infinity War trailer.
Avengers: Infinity War will be in theaters on April 27. We will have PLENTY more from the set in the days and weeks to come. In the meantime, bookmark our Upcoming Marvel Movies guide to stay up to date on all of the latest MCU happenings.
