On the weekend of April 27th, the last before our finals here on the Hilltop, Bradley students raced to Peoria movie theaters for a record breaking experience.
By its third week of showings, Marvel’s latest blockbuster and fourth installment of the series, “Avenger’s: Infinity War,” is ranked eighth on the list of highest grossing U.S. films, right behind “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” It is the fourth all-time highest grossing movie globally, following “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
This movie generated months of hype, and though the cast and crew are still supporting the anti-spoiler movement of #ThanosDemandsYourSilence, it is safe to say students believe it’s earned its reputation.
“I definitely think it lived up to the hype,” junior sports communications major Taylor Zabrocki said. “I think many people are disappointed with the ending, but from a storytelling perspective it was great because it perfectly sets up the next one as the last hurrah for the original Avengers.”
Zabrocki isn’t the only one who believes the movie was a success.
“[The movie] did an incredible job of taking a huge cast of enormous personalities and playing to each of their strengths on the screen and within the cast,” senior biology major Sam Gerbic said. “As much as I wanted it, we weren’t going to see the entirety of each Avenger or the movie would be 10 hours long. With that in mind, it was the new, novel dynamics between characters that I appreciated.”
Gerbic went on to say, however, that “the Avengers fan base alone is enough to make this movie more successful [than others].”
However, Avenger movies are not all Marvel has in store. Movies like “Deadpool 2” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp” will ensure all superhero fans are guaranteed to find something to cater to their interest this summer.
But they’re not the only heroes set to make an impact.
Gerbic believes “Solo: A Star Wars Story” could become a threat for “Infinity War”. After all, Marvel trails behind the Star Wars franchise in both U.S. and global box office rankings, and the fandom is among the most dedicated in the cinematic world.
Zabrocki agrees “Infinity War” will be “the movie of the summer overall,” but chooses “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” to be the true competition, with another hardcore fan base and a longstanding history of beloved characters and familiar plots.
While superheroes and action films seem to be dominant this summer, with “Ocean’s 8” and “Breaking In” joining the list, there’s also upcoming comedies and feel good films such as “Tag,” “Life of the Party,” “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” and “Incredibles 2” that can hope to mimic Marvel’s accomplishments.
A lineup as packed and star-studded as this summer’s make it possible “Infinity War” will have trouble holding its rank. Only time will tell if the fate of the Avengers, and their blockbuster success, has already been sealed.
This story is part of the Scout 2018 summer special issue. Read the full summer issue.
