How soon can Thanos return?

Rating: 9/10 (30 April 2018)

Avengers: Infinity War was 10 years in the making. Every MCU movie since 2008 hinted at this eventual end game. The ultimate, cosmic showdown between the entire assembly of heroes, and an all powerful villain. Fans have been waiting for this, Marvel has been building up the MCU for this. Given the genocidal backstory, the challenge for Marvel though was to make a different kind of movie, yet remain faithful to it's brand of film-making, which it actually manages to do well.
So planets are destroyed, and Asgardians liquidated even before the movie begins, while much loved characters soon start getting killed off 5 minutes into the movie. At long last, a villain takes front and center in a Marvel movie. For the last 10 years, Thanos has sent his underlings to collect the Infinity Stones. This time round, he is doing it on his own. The best part about Infinity War is that it is more about Thanos and less about the Avengers and Guardians. Unlike the comics, where Thanos wanted to eradicate half of all life in the universe to win his love, Lady Death, in the MCU, Thanos has a Malthusian hangover. He passionately believes his actions are imperative to save the universe, and goes about doing what he needs to do, methodically, even though it extracts a terrible price on everybody, including himself.
Thanos: Daughter.
Gamora: Did you do it?
Thanos: Yes.
Gamora: What did it cost?
Thanos: ...Everything.
So how did the Russo brothers sprinkle the Marvel formula in a movie that is all about death and destruction? First of all, they spread the action across half a dozen locations across the universe- Wakanda, Knowhere, Vormir, Nidavellir, New York and Titan. Then they broke up the heroes into disparate groups, and allowed their emotional connects and comic timings to take over. Other than probably Thor, Iron Man and Dr.Strange, most of the other heroes get a raw deal in this 2.5 hour ensemble set up. Even then, for them, these roles are but their second skin, and they do a great job, as expected. The result is a massive thrill ride, with it's own emotive moments.
At the end though, even when severely wounded by Thor, Thanos snaps his fingers, and half the universe is obliterated. As far as the Avengers go, only the original core team (Captain America, iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, and I assume, Hawkeye) remains in existence. Come May 3rd 2019, will it be one last mission for them? Will the Infinity War duology be like the masterful Kill Bill series- the first one being all slam bang, the second a more intimate take? Who knows given that Captain Marvel is teased, and we have seen Adam Warlock last year. And as for those who seemingly no longer exist- Spiderman, Black Panther, Guardians etc- fret not. They all have sequels lined up in the next couple of years.
To sum up, Infinity War delivers a fantastic experience- on this scale, mixing action, imagination, humor and drama with a villain who you can almost sympathize with. The latter though is Infinity War's greatest triumph. I will need therapy to wait for Thanos's return.
Avengers Disassembled. For now.
9/10