We’ve already established that Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War is going to be huge. It’s precisely because of this though that it can be difficult to keep track of where all of the Marvel characters will be at the beginning of this massive cinematic event, but don’t worry — ComingSoon.net has you covered. The following is a guide to help you remember just what each hero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was doing last time we saw them, and where they can be expected to be at the start of Infinity War.
Please note that this list will contain spoilers for Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and more. Readers proceed at your own risk.
To start things off, a bunch of heroes will be fresh out of prison at the beginning of the film. That may sound strange for them (what with them being heroes and all) and it is, but if you remember, there’s a reason for this — namely, at the end of Civil War, most of Captain America’s allies on his side of the conflict were imprisoned for war crimes due to their refusal to submit to the control of the United Nations like the heroes on Iron Man’s side did. This includes Scott Lang (Ant-Man), Clint Barton (Hawkeye), Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch), and Sam Wilson (Falcon), but not for long. They were broken out of the Raft prison by Captain America in the end, who felt guilty about landing them there in the first place.
Wanda, in particular, will be in a bad place because of her own guilty feelings about sparking the Civil War, and Scott may be back to square one with his family seeing as his entire character arc in his debut movie was about proving to them that he was no longer a criminal. He might have Wasp with him this time, but still that sucks. Not good at all, but for Clint this may have been something of a blessing in disguise as it made his announcement of retiring from being Hawkeye much easier so he could return to his family in peace.
In a way, Captain America will also be fresh out since he wasn’t detained, but he did have to break into the floating prison in order to free his allies. The last we saw of Cap, he was mentioned as being a war criminal in Spider-Man: Homecoming, so he’ll have a lot to overcome in order to get his reputation as a hero repaired in Infinity War.
Bucky Barnes (The Winter Soldier) is a different story, as he put himself in cryostasis in order to keep the world safe from himself until a cure could be found for his HYDRA-induced brainwashing. He’s currently resting in Wakanda, home to the protector king T’Challa the Black Panther. Speaking of which, Black Panther’s solo movie isn’t out yet, so it’s hard to say exactly where he’ll be by the end of that and at the beginning of Infinity War since a lot can happen to mix up the status quo in the MCU, but for now it should be known that T’Challa is right at home in Wakanda as its rightful defender in spite of his status as a fugitive in Civil War, and he is keeping an eye on Bucky as well as his own people to make sure that no one tries to bring harm to any of them.
On the flipside, Iron Man and his allies are in a relatively good place. Iron Man himself, as of Spider-Man: Homecoming, is getting married to his longtime on-again-off-again love Pepper Potts (who may or may not still have Extremis powers in Infinity War) and he’s mentoring Spider-Man as well. Speaking of which, Spidey has saved the day solo in his own movie earning him respect from the Avengers, and while he’s decided to hold off on officially joining their group for now until he has more experience as a hero, he’s certainly made a name for himself.
Rhodes (War Machine/The Iron Patriot) was partially paralyzed due to a nasty fall in Civil War, but thanks to a pair of exo-skeletal frames from Stark Industries, he’s on the path to recovery and is implied to be making good progress. He still has faith that he made the right decision to fight in the Civil War alongside Iron Man, and so he will likely be putting on his own suit again once.
The Vision, meanwhile, is watching over James Rhodes to make sure that he’s safe during his difficult return to good health. He’s doubtful of himself now that he made a mistake in allowing Rhodes to get hurt though, and he worries that he might make another harmful mistake.
Natasha Romanov (Black Widow) is a special case here because she switched sides, making her something of a traitor to Iron Man. She has been warned that the government will be coming after her, and the last time we saw, she was going on the run to evade capture. This is nothing particularly new for her as a super spy assassin, but it does put her in something of a predicament, and it makes her enemies of both Iron Man and Black Panther in particular, which could cause problems if they’re forced to work together in Infinity War.
That about does it for the Avengers who participated in the Civil War, but the MCU’s broader world contains other heroes that will also play into Infinity War. The Guardians of the Galaxy, for instance, have succeeded in saving the world twice and are roaming the galaxy looking for new adventures to be involved in. Groot is now a teenager again after aging up from his baby form, and Peter Quill (Star-Lord) is recovering from the deaths of his maniacal biological father, Ego, and his adopted father Yondu. Other than that, things are roughly normal for them, though Mantis has joined them and Gamora has made some progress towards making up with her longtime enemy of a sister, Nebula.
As an aside, The Ravagers have reunited and it appears that they will have a role to play in the future as well, though barely anything has been shown involving them thus far.
Doctor Strange has taken up the mantle of the Sorcerer Supreme and most recently was seen assisting Thor in finding Odin. He still has more to learn about magic, but he’s become much more powerful since his first steps into wizardry and is now certainly a force to be reckoned with.
Finally, Thor and Loki have made up and are now traveling through space with Valkyrie and the rest of Asgard’s citizens now that Asgard itself has exploded due to the events of Ragnarok. Joining them is Bruce Banner, a k.a. the Hulk, who is now seemingly trapped in his Hulk form for the time being, albeit with the capacity for sustained speech. They were last seen headed towards Earth to find a new home there, which might be somewhat difficult since the last time Loki was there pre-reformation, he tried to take over the entire planet. That might be ever so slightly difficult to forgive.
There you have it! Everyone who will be going up against Thanos in Infinity War accounted for. How they’ll all come together and what will happen when they do is anyone’s guess, but for now at least it’s nice to know that they’re all gearing up for it because it’s going to be one heck of a battle for Earth and every other planet when the time comes.
