Avengers: Infinity War is one of the biggest movies of all-time - and not just because of its impressive box office gross but also for its sheer number of characters and interconnecting storylines. It has been billed as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s culminating film, uniting the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes with the Guardians of the Galaxy for an ultimate showdown with the Mad Titan Thanos and his unwaveringly loyal Black Order.

In addition to bringing together virtually every major character in the shared universe, Infinity War also connects the dots between various story arcs, some that stem all the way back to the first Iron Man movie from 2008. While that presents many opportunities to provide closure to characters and stories that have been somewhat forgotten over time, it truly gives the filmmakers and producers the perfect tool to fix any and all plot holes that have plagued viewers. Unfortunately, that opens them up to new and potentially even more egregious plot holes as well.

  • This Page: Gamora’s Backstory & Heimdall’s Dark Magic

Created: Gamora Is Not The Last Surviving Zehoberi?

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thanos’ goal has been to wipe out half of all life in the universe, a goal that he finally reaches in Avengers: Infinity War. But, prior to the haunting snap, Thanos and his children would go planet to planet and slaughter half of the native population before moving on. It was just a more tedious way of accomplishing that same goal. And one planet he visited more than 20 years ago was Zen-Zehoberi - Gamora’s homeworld - which was shown in Infinity War when Thanos took a young Gamora and conscripted her into his loyal Black Order.

What’s interesting is that Thanos claims to have left half the population alive, which was also hinted at in Infinity War’s flashback sequence. However, that claim seems to contradict Gamora’s dossier from James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy. When she and the rest of the Guardians were arrested by the Nova Corps, their records and histories were shown on screen. For Gamora, her dossier said that she was the “last survivor of the Zehoberi people,” which doesn’t make sense if half of Zen-Zehoberi is still alive… and thriving. That doesn’t seem like something the Nova Corps would easily get wrong.

Fixed: Thor Arriving In The Avengers Via Dark Magic

One of the biggest plot holes from Joss Whedon’s The Avengers was how Thor managed to get to Earth. In Kenneth Branagh’s 2011 Thor film, Thor broke the Bifröst Bridge in order to thwart Loki’s plan of destroying Jotunheim with it. But, in doing so, Thor also destroyed the one thing that would let him travel to Earth again to see Jane Foster, something that Loki expressly mentions. Then, Thor suddenly showed up in The Avengers, with nothing more than a throwaway line about Odin using dark magic to explain Thor’s arrival on Earth.

And now, Marvel has finally filled that plot hole by showing just how someone is able to harness the power of the Bifröst to send someone far away without actually being in Asgard or using the Bridge. At the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War, Heimdall utters an incantation with his dying breath, asking his forefathers to let the dark magic flow through him one last time so that he could send the Hulk to the Sanctum Sanctorum in New York City. It was a small scene but one that satisfyingly fixed a long-standing plot hole in the MCU.

Created: When Did Thanos Get The Infinity Gauntlet

Marvel just can’t seem to get rid of one Infinity Gauntlet plot hole without creating another. The Infinity Gauntlet was first spotted in Odin’s Vault on Asgard in 2011’s Thor. But then, it was later seen again in the post-credits scene for Joss Whedon’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, in which Thanos puts on the Gauntlet and says, “Fine, I’ll do it myself.” That confused fans who thought that the Infinity Gauntlet was still safely secured on Asgard, but then Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige confirmed that there are actually two gloves in the MCU. Then, it was revealed in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok that the Gauntlet in Odin’s Vault was fake. So, Thanos had the real one the whole time, but when did he get it?

Thanos clearly had the Infinity Gauntlet years ago, but it’s implied that he had one made by the Dwarves on Nidavellir sometime around the events of Thor: Ragnarok, seeing as Thor tells King Eitri (Peter Dinklage) that the reason Asgard didn’t protect the Dwarves was because Asgard had been destroyed, something that happened in Thor 3. Of course, it’s possible that Thanos had visited Nidavellir sometime after Thor: The Dark World and before Age of Ultron when Loki was impersonating Odin and, therefore, had no inclination of protecting the other Nine Realms. But, not specifying when Thanos got the Gauntlet is a plot hole that can’t just be covered up by theories.

Fixed: The MCU’s Broken Timeline

Marvel Studios has done an exceptional job keeping the Marvel Cinematic Universe interconnected for all these years, but over time, they also inadvertently created a broken timeline that has become increasingly more prevalent throughout the MCU’s Phase 3. Little details from movies like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther have stretched that timeline, but what really opened the cracks was Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: Homecoming, which was said to take place eight years after the Battle of New York. But that didn’t fall in line with everything that we knew about the MCU. Avengers: Infinity War co-director Joe Russo even called it a “very incorrect eight years.”

Despite being jam-packed with interconnecting storylines, Avengers: Infinity War still found a moment to essentially retcon Homecoming’s eight years gaff by claiming the Battle of New York happened six years prior to Infinity War - as it is in real-time. Therefore, Homecoming only takes place four years after The Avengers, just as Anthony and Joe Russo’s Captain America: Civil War takes place two years before Avengers 3. Sure, it’s not an ideal fix, but retconning and confirming a proper timeline before the cinematic universe moves forward is an important fix for an otherwise perfectly-crafted shared universe.

Created: How Did Gamora Know About The Soul Stone?

The Soul Stone’s location was one of the most questioned topics leading into Avengers: Infinity War’s release. Fan theories about its whereabouts ranged anywhere from Heimdall having the Stone to Thanos having to travel back in time to get it. Each theory was plausible in one way or another, but none of them were true. It turns out that, in the end, the Stone was hidden on Vormir, and the Red Skull, of all people, was tasked with guiding would-be Stone keepers. The thing is, Thanos didn’t just happen across the Stone’s location; it seems that Gamora was the only person in the galaxy who knew where the Soul Stone actually was the whole time.

At some point prior to Infinity War, Gamora found a map leading to Soul Stone’s location on Vormir. She burned the map in order to prevent Thanos from getting to it and lied to him about it, but the question is, how and when did she find the map in the first place? Really, it’s all rather convenient that Gamora, of all people, knew the Stone’s location (which was chalked up to her finding a map in an unspecified time), and she just happened to be the person Thanos needed to sacrifice in order to be deemed worthy of the Stone.

More: The Many Unanswered Questions in Avengers: Infinity War

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