Storying species extinction in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame

Abstract

This article places two Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films, Avengers: Infinity War () and Avengers: Endgame (), in dialogue with the Marvel comic books on which they are based. As this article demonstrates, in their depiction of Thanos and the partial species extinction event, the films deviate substantially from their source material to reflect a contemporary cultural interest and growing anxiety over the real-world threat of species extinction. However, as this article argues, Avengers: Infinity War’s and Avengers: Endgame’s ecocritical potential are limited, owing partly to the villain’s role in superhero films and comic books more broadly. Limits also owe to the anthropocentric viewpoint that underwrites much of superhero fiction. Superheroes may serve a conservative function as an upholder of the social order, but, as this article shows, in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, as well as films and television series in the MCU set thereafter, this function often comes at the detriment of the conservation of nature and species-other-than-human.