The Objectively Worst Decisions Made In 'Avengers: Infinity War'
Avengers: Infinity War is a massive, powerful film full of comedy, drama - and some pretty dumb movie decisions. Audiences may not have noticed anything amiss in the heat of watching the film, but when thinking back over the story, you start to see a few strange leaps in logic. Infinity War is not necessarily the worst Avengers movie, but the Avengers themselves could do a better job of not energy-blasting themselves in the foot at every available opportunity.
Sure, once Thanos acquires all the Infinity Stones, it's too late to stop him, but in more than a few instances, our favorite superheroes could have stepped up and stopped Thanos in his tracks. It's not helpful when characters forget their powers, let their emotions get in the way of their decision-making, or bank the fate of the universe on their lover's willingness to shoot them if things go poorly. Maybe we would make similar moves in those situations, but also, no, we wouldn't.
Not all terrible decisions are created equal, so let's try to nail down the worst moves in Avengers: Infinity War.
- 13,069 VOTES
Star-Lord Punches Thanos In The Face
Of all the dumb decisions in Infinity War, Star-Lord punching Thanos is one of the most egregious. Not only do his punches destroy all things, but they do virtually zero damage to Thanos himself. The team is mere seconds away from pulling the Infinity Gauntlet off Thanos's hands, but Star-Lord's feeble punches do just enough to put Mantis off-balance and give Thanos an opportunity to escape.
If Star-Lord had waited 60 seconds, he could have punched Thanos for days without any consequences. Sure, he's upset, but even the most rage-blinded person should see that punching Thanos in that exact moment is a bad idea. Again, just a minute later, Star-Lord's punches could have done way more damage. Oh, and half of everybody in the universe wouldn't die.
- 23,225 VOTES
Mantis And Nebula Immediately Tell Star-Lord That Thanos Killed Gamora
It's Star-Lord's fault for punching Thanos in the face before the Infinity Gauntlet was removed, but Mantis and Nebula share some blame for essentially goading him into it. Mantis apparently feels the need to state all of Thanos's emotions out loud - despite it being an incredibly tense moment where the ability to focus is important - and Nebula goes right ahead and translates Thanos's grief for Star-Lord.
It's fine to reveal those things at some point, but why couldn't they wait five minutes? The Guardians act as if they've already won despite the gauntlet still being on Thanos's hand. You'd think they'd be a little more disciplined after all these years.
- 32,952 VOTES
Gamora Pursues Thanos
Thanos is clearly looking for Gamora because she's the only person in the universe who knows the Soul Stone's location. So, what does Gamora do? She goes directly to where Thanos is rumored to be and tries to stab him. Predictably, her attempt fails, and Thanos kidnaps Gamora with virtually no effort.
If Gamora had stayed away or even found some way to either wipe her memory or - if necessary - incapacitate herself, Thanos would never have acquired the Soul Stone.
- 43,036 VOTES
Doctor Strange Doesn't Cut Off Thanos's Hand
Though the Avengers' plan to remove Thanos's Infinity Gauntlet on Titan nearly succeeds (if not for yet another dumb decision), the plan shouldn't have been necessary in the first place. We know Doctor Strange's teleportation ability comes with a way to slice people in half - so why didn't Strange cut off Thanos's Gauntlet hand?
Earlier in Infinity War, Wong slices off Cull Obsidian's arm using a portal, and Doctor Strange himself accidentally slices a taxicab in half. It may be complicated to trick Thanos's arm into a portal, but is it truly any more difficult than trying to pull the Infinity Gauntlet off his hand by sheer force?
- 52,883 VOTES
Thor Doesn't Aim Stormbreaker At The Gauntlet
Midway through Infinity War, Thor travels to Nidavellir with the sole purpose of creating a weapon that can kill Thanos - a smart move. What's not smart is that once Thor obtains his huge battleax, Stormbreaker, he doesn't use it to stop Thanos properly.
Thor stabs Thanos in the chest, says something epic, and pushes the blade in further. At some point, though, Thor should have focused on either the Infinity Gauntlet or Thanos's squishy head. Why didn't Thor use Stormbreaker to cut off Thanos's hand (removing the gauntlet) or Thanos's head (ending his life)? Taking out his gauntlet or head are the only ways to stop Thanos.
Maybe Thor didn't have any cool one-liners about hands.
- 62,445 VOTES
Black Widow And The Team Don't Kill Midnight And Glaive
The Avengers are against unnecessary slaying, but usually, that's because they deal with a lot of mentally unstable humans. But Thanos's foot soldiers, Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive, are freaky alien warlords hellbent on wiping out massive portions of life across the universe.
The team may not have known the full plan at the time, but they shouldn't have hesitated to wipe the invaders out, especially once that tractor beam activated to carry them away. Falcon already had his guns pulled - just start firing!
If they had been eliminated, the entire Wakanda battle would have been much more manageable, and Shuri would have had time to remove and destroy the Mind Stone.
