Ok so the MCU is filled with hundreds and hundreds of amazing moments.
It's a franchise that truly deserves it's legendary status and it's difficult to not
marvel at all it's achievements which as of now are unmatched by any other studio.
Picking the moment that embodies all that it is is very difficult
but there's one scene that forever stands out in my mind as being absolutely perfect.
But why does it work so well and why is it that the moment
somehow gets better after multiple watches.
Well throughout this video we're gonna be breaking down exactly what makes this scene what it is,
as well as the storytelling behind it that just makes everything about this a complete knock out.
Now if you love the scene I'd massively appreciate the thumbs up button
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If you're new here then this is the Heavy Spoilers show, I'm your host Paul, aka your friendly
neighbourhood spoiler-man now lets get into why this scene in Avengers Infinity War is Perfect.
Ok so Thor arriving on Wakanda to save the heroes in their most desperate moment works on a number
of levels not only because of what happens after it but also because of what comes before.
Throughout the MCU Thor was always a hero to me that was way too over confident in his abilities.
In fact when we first meet him this great character flaw is the
thing that gets him cast out of Asgard and his first Solo movie is about him
proving that he's worthy of being the king that his father wants him to be.
Now for as self assured as he is, when we look back at the series,
Thor is also the person that has lost the most.
Before the events of him journeying to Wakanda not only did he lose his mother,
he also lost his father, sister, brother....well
adopted brother, home, best friend and half of all his people after Thanos' attack on his ship.
He's easily been on the most devastating arc in the entire series
but this loss also gave him a false perception of himself and what fate had decreed for him.
In Infinity War he even says that he's only alive because Fate wills it so.
Because he'd lost so much and yet always come out on top, he himself believes that the odds will
always be in his favour and even when he looks like he's done that he'll bounce back. This again
plays into his character flaw and self belief which we'll touch upon more later on in the video.
Now this line about fate plays massively into how well the movie is crafted and why it luls
us into a false sense of security so that the rug is pulled from under our feet come the final act.
What Infinity War does so well and why the snap feels so devastating
is because the movie tricks us into believing that the Avengers will win.
There's the aforementioned fate bit but beyond that there's several lines of
dialogue and motifs that lead us down the path to thinking that Thanos is done for.
After surviving the onslaught Thor sets out on a quest to get Stormbreaker a mythical
weapon of great power. If we look at cinametic conventions, most movies in the genre involve the
hero going out on a quest to get a macguffin that will help them to defeat the villain.
We're even told that Stormbreaker is a weapon which is the Thanos killing kind
so Thor going through the journey that he does in which he gains it at the end
makes us believe that he now has the power to stop the Mad Titan.
The movie also uses our expectations to make us think
that we know exactly the way that it's going to go.
In the franchise we've already seen the Avengers team up and defeat several villains and Thor
arriving on Wakanda perfectly mimics the scene from their first team up movie.
When we play them side by side we can see that the same stances,
way that the camera is used to portray movement and the music
are all deliberately chosen to lure us into a false sense of security.
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It's masterful filmaking and makes the twist a complete gut punch
as due to all this build up we were sure that the good guys were going to win.
Now why this scene also works incredibly well is immediate the build up to it.
Our heroes on Earth are facing insurmountable odds as the forces of Thanos swamp them and it
seems like all is lost. That is until the Bifrost shoots down with a bass sound that would crack
your subwoofer and Stormbreaker flies out of it. Within seconds the forces of Thanos are completely
decimated and when it returns to Thor's hand we see the hero once more standing there triumphant.
Throughout the film Thor has painted a sorry picture of himself
and he's very much been a character that's defeated and down on his luck. However his
return here shows that the character we know and love is back and he's ready to take Thanos.
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Now why this works so well is because throughout the film Thor has been going about things away
from Thanos. Rather than travelling to Nowhere to take him on with The Guardians
he travelled to nidivallir in order to get Stormbreaker.
I wouldn't necessarily call it cowardly but he wasn't really rushing to battle
and up until this point in the film the character hasn't had the action scenes that the others have.
He's been a shadow of his former self, almost wallowing in self pity
and on the verge of Bully Maguire asking him if he's gonna cry now.
However, here he's a complete opposite to that, rather than skirting around the edges
he's running head first to his opponents and completely wiping them in the process.
It's difficult to not get swept up in this moment and because of this scene you can't wait
until Thor finally beats the villain and rights the wrongs of all that have been done to him.
There is no way he can lose.
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However, calling back to our earlier point it's Thor's great character
flaw that is the reason why he does and why he also dooms the universe.
In the finale after Thanos has collected all of the Infinity Stones, we see Stormbreaker rushing
towards Thanos but rather than hitting him in the head, it goes into his chest.
Thor has the opportunity to kill him but rather than delivering a killing stroke he prefers to
gloat and rub it in Thanos' face that he won. This over confidence and need to boast is the
thing that has always been his downfall and just as we've seen before he fails because of it.
A moment that should be his greatest triumph is now his greatest failing
and we watch in Endgame as he has to wrestle with the fact that him taking this action
is what destroys not only half of all life in the universe but also his belief in himself.
That is exactly why his arrival on Wakanda is so perfect.
Beyond just being a cool entrance, that saves his friends from death, it has a
number of layers to it that perfectly show the good points and bad points of Thor's character.
Thor riding confidently into battle believing that fate wills him to win
is precisely why he ends up losing in the end and the scene is masterful in it's story telling.
Not only does it perfectly recapture the elements from earlier in the franchise
but it also uses them to make us believe that the film is going to go a certain way.
Us seeing the self assured, confident Thor here makes our confidence rise as well
as we as an audience believe that the heroes are gonna come through in the end.
However this high is what also makes the low of the snap even more devastating and the
movie perfectly uses this moment to prop up it's heroes so that they can fall even more.
Thor standing here confidently is a complete juxtaposition to how we catch
them in the final scenes and whereas he props himself up tall and proud,
cap slumps on the ground over the visions corpse, knowing that all is lost.
The dynamics of the film are complete opposite ends to each other
and the snap only feels so crushing to us because it follows on from this scene
in which we were celebrating the return of one of the best Avengers.
We watch as the hero goes on an arc of being defeated, to rising up,
only to be crushed again by the final twist and that is why this moment is so perfect.
It captures the character as he believes he's bounced back
which makes it all the more devastating when we see him lose. The music is perfect,
the timing of the scene is perfect and the fact that it bases itself heavily
on both the good and bad in Thor's character is what makes it astounding.
It also brings in several elements from earlier in the franchise and just gets you so hyped for
the climax of the film that it's difficult not to get swept up in it every time you watch it.
Thor arriving on Wakanda is one of my favorite scenes in any comic book and
I think it's gonna be a while before the MCU tops this in my eyes.
I'm still blown away by it to this day and that is why it's perfect.
Now obviously I'd love to hear your thoughts
on the moment so make sure you comment below and let me know.
We're running a competition right now and giving away 3 MCU box sets on the
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If you want something else to watch then make sure you check out our breakdown of the What
If Trailer which will be linked on screen now. We break down the
entire thing so it's definitely worth checking out if you wanna know more.
With that out the way thank you for sitting through the video,
I’ve been Paul and I’ll see you next time. Take care, Peace