Avengers: Infinity War (1998)

If Avengers: Infinity War was made 20 years earlier.

Directed By: Steven Spielberg

Plot
Having acquired the Power Stone, one of the six Infinity Stones, from the planet Xandar, Thanos and his lieutenants — Ebony Maw, Cull Obsidian, Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive — intercept a spaceship carrying the last survivors of Asgard. As they extract the Space Stone from the Tesseract, Thanos subdues Thor, overpowers Hulk and kills Heimdall and Loki; the former having sent the Hulk to Earth using the Bifröst before being killed. Thanos departs with his lieutenants and obliterates the ship.

Hulk crash-lands at the Sanctum Sanctorum in New York City, reverting to Bruce Banner. He warns Stephen Strange and Wong about Thanos' plan to kill half of all life in the universe; in response, Strange recruits Tony Stark. Maw and Obsidian arrive to retrieve the Time Stone from Strange, drawing the attention of Peter Parker. Maw captures Strange, but fails to take the Time Stone due to an enchantment. Stark and Parker pursue Maw's spaceship, Banner contacts Steve Rogers, and Wong stays behind to guard the Sanctum.

In Edinburgh, Midnight and Glaive ambush Wanda Maximoff and Vision in order to retrieve the Mind Stone in Vision's forehead. Rogers, Natasha Romanoff and Sam Wilson rescue them and take shelter with James Rhodes and Banner at the Avengers Facility. Vision offers to sacrifice himself by having Maximoff destroy the Mind Stone to keep Thanos from retrieving it, but Maximoff refuses. Rogers suggests they travel to Wakanda, which he believes has the resources to remove the stone without destroying Vision.

The Guardians of the Galaxy respond to a distress call from the Asgardian ship and rescue Thor, who surmises Thanos seeks the Reality Stone, which is in the possession of the Collector on Knowhere. Rocket and Groot accompany Thor to Nidavellir, where they and Eitri create Stormbreaker, a battle-axe capable of killing Thanos. On Knowhere, Peter Quill, Gamora, Drax and Mantis find Thanos with the Reality Stone already in his possession. Thanos kidnaps Gamora, his adopted daughter, who reveals the location of the Soul Stone to save her captive adopted sister Nebula from torture. Thanos and Gamora travel to Vormir, where Red Skull, keeper of the Soul Stone, informs him the stone can only be retrieved by sacrificing someone he loves. Thanos reluctantly kills Gamora, earning the stone.

Nebula escapes captivity and asks the remaining Guardians to meet her on Thanos' destroyed homeworld, Titan. Stark and Parker kill Maw and rescue Strange. Landing on Titan, they meet Quill, Drax and Mantis. The group forms a plan to remove Thanos' Infinity Gauntlet after Strange uses the Time Stone to view millions of possible futures, seeing only one in which Thanos loses. Thanos arrives, revealing his plans to be necessary to ensure the survival of a universe threatened by overpopulation. The group subdues him until Nebula deduces that Thanos has killed Gamora. Enraged, Quill attacks him, allowing Thanos to break the group's hold and overpower them. Stark is seriously wounded by Thanos, but is spared after Strange surrenders the Time Stone.

In Wakanda, Rogers reunites with Bucky Barnes before Thanos' army invades. The Avengers, alongside T'Challa and the Wakandan forces, mount a defense while Shuri works to extract the Mind Stone from Vision. Banner, unable to transform into the Hulk, fights in Stark's Hulkbuster armor. Thor, Rocket and Groot arrive to reinforce the Avengers; Midnight, Obsidian and Glaive are killed and their army is routed. Despite Maximoff's attempt to destroy the Mind Stone, Thanos arrives and reverts time to remove it from Vision's head, killing him.

Thor severely wounds Thanos, but Thanos activates the completed Infinity Gauntlet and teleports away. Half of all life across the universe disintegrates, including Barnes, T'Challa, Groot, Maximoff, Wilson, Mantis, Drax, Quill, Strange and Parker, as well as Maria Hill and Nick Fury, although Fury is able to transmit a signal first. Stark and Nebula remain on Titan while Banner, M'Baku, Okoye, Rhodes, Rocket, Rogers, Romanoff and Thor are left on the Wakandan battlefield. Meanwhile, Thanos watches a sunrise on another planet.

Cast

 * Michael Douglas as Tony Stark/Iron Man: The leader and benefactor of the Avengers, who is a self-described genius, billionaire, playboy and philanthropist with electromechanical suits of armor of his own making.
 * Dolph Lundgren as Thor: An Avenger and the king of Asgard, based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name.
 * Richard Gere as Bruce Banner/Hulk: An Avenger and a genius scientist who, because of exposure to gamma radiation, transforms into a monster when enraged or agitated.
 * Val Kilmer as Steve Rogers/Captain America: A fugitive superhero and leader of a faction of Avengers. A World War II veteran, he was enhanced to the peak of human physicality by an experimental serum and frozen in suspended animation before waking up in the modern world.
 * Uma Thurman as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow: A highly trained spy, a member of Rogers' faction of Avengers and a former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Stephen Strange: A former neurosurgeon who, after a car accident that led to a journey of healing, discovered the hidden world of magic and alternate dimensions, and became a Master of the Mystic Arts.
 * Ernie Hudson as James "Rhodey" Rhodes/War Machine: A colonel in the U.S. Air Force and Avenger who operates the War Machine armor.
 * Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man: A teenager and Stark's protegé who received spider-like abilities after being bitten by a genetically-modified spider.
 * Wesley Snipes as T'Challa/Black Panther: The king of the African nation of Wakanda, who gained his enhanced strength by ingesting the Heart-Shaped Herb.
 * Alan Rickman as Vision: An android and Avenger created using the artificial intelligence J.A.R.V.I.S., Ultron and the Mind Stone.
 * Eddie Murphy as Sam Wilson/Falcon: A member of Rogers' faction of Avengers and former pararescueman trained by the military in aerial combat, using a specially designed wing pack.
 * Christian Slater as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier: An enhanced soldier and Rogers' ally and best friend, who reemerged as a brainwashed assassin after being thought killed in action during World War II.
 * Ralph Fiennes as Loki: Thor's adopted brother, based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name.
 * Keith David as Heimdall: The all-seeing, all-hearing Asgardian former sentry of the Bifröst Bridge, based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name.
 * John Rhys-Davies as Eitri: King of the Dwarves of Nidavellir, and weaponsmith, based on the Norse mythological dwarf of the same name.
 * Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Wong: One of the Masters of the Mystic Arts, tasked with protecting some of Kamar-Taj's most valuable relics and books.
 * Joan Chen as Mantis: A member of the Guardians of the Galaxy with empathic powers.
 * Kate Beckinsale as Nebula: An adopted daughter of Thanos who was raised with Gamora as siblings.
 * Arnold Schwarzenegger as Drax the Destroyer: A member of the Guardians and warrior in search of vengeance against Thanos for killing his family.
 * Halle Berry as Gamora: A member of the Guardians, who is an orphan from an alien world and was subsequently raised by Thanos, and is seeking redemption for her past crimes.
 * Peter Cullen as Groot: A member of the Guardians who is a tree-like humanoid.
 * Joe Pesci as Rocket: A member of the Guardians who is a genetically-engineered raccoon-based bounty hunter and mercenary, and is a master of weapons and battle tactics.
 * Kim Basinger as Pepper Potts: Stark's fiancée and the CEO of Stark Industries.
 * David Bowie as Taneleer Tivan/The Collector: One of the Elders of the Universe, who is an obsessive keeper of the largest collection of interstellar fauna, relics, and species of all manner in the galaxy.
 * Tommy Lee Jones as Thanos: An intergalactic despot from Titan who longs to collect all six of the Infinity Stones in order to impose his will on all of reality, wanting to "re-balance the universe".
 * Brendan Fraser as Peter Quill/Star-Lord: The half-human, half-Celestial leader of the Guardians who was abducted from Earth as a child, and raised by a group of alien thieves and smugglers called the Ravagers.

Rating
Rated PG-13.