Avengers: Infinity War’s Ending Explained

Avengers: Infinity War is now out in the wild (well, depending on where you live) and all of its many secrets and surprises have been laid out for audiences to see.

Packed with all the usual staples of Marvel movies – humor, action, easter eggs, you name it – the film also makes an incredibly bold decision to end with an event that will have massive ramifications for the franchise moving forward. Yes, it’s a conclusion that not many will see coming and one that may wind up being a bit divisive.

Of course, we’re about to dive into spoiler territory here. As such, if you haven’t watched Infinity War yet, you might want to bookmark this page and return at a later date. If you’ve had the chance to catch it, though, or just don’t care, then join us as we dive into that jaw-dropping ending, which is sure to have fans talking for a long, long time.

Last chance to turn back…

As Infinity War draws to a close, Thanos has gotten his hands on all six Infinity Stones and while Thor attempts to kill him by driving Stormbreaker through his chest, the Mad Titan tells him he should’ve gone for the head. As the God of Thunder realizes his mistake, Thanos snaps his fingers and all of the sudden, half of all life in the universe is wiped out. We see heroes like Bucky and Spider-Man disintegrate before our very eyes, as people turn to dust in an instant.

It’s a shocking, and somewhat confusing climax, and one which isn’t fully explained, as the film ends pretty much right after that. But if you’d been paying attention, you’ll have remembered that near the start, Zoe Saldana’s Gamora revealed Thanos’ ultimate goal in Infinity War. “The entire time I knew him,” says the Mad Titan’s adoptive daughter, “he only ever had one goal… To wipe out half the universe. If he gets all the Infinity Stones, he can do it with a snap of his fingers.”

Of course, this will be very familiar to any fans of the comics. In The Infinity Gauntlet arc, Thanos does just that. When he gets his hands on all the Stones, or Gems as they’re called on the page, the villain snaps his fingers and halves the population of the universe – meaning that half of the human beings on Earth disappear in an instant. The only difference is, in the comics, he does it to impress the woman he loves. Here, that’s not the case.

Regardless, that’s what’s going on during the ending of the film. And while we don’t expect those heroes who were wiped out with the snap to stay dead for long, Thanos’ actions will certainly impact the MCU moving forward. It’s an incredibly bold way for Avengers: Infinity War to end, as well, and only has us that much more excited for Avenges 4.