Spoilers ahead for Avengers: Infinity War. If you haven't seen the movie, turn away!
It's been a few weeks since Avengers: Infinity War arrived in theaters, and fans are still reeling from the emotional and unexpected ride. 10 years and 18 movies resulted in the massive ensemble project, and The Russo Brothers pulled no punches when killing off characters. Josh Brolin's Thanos was the film's protagonist, and audiences watched as he collected the Infinity Stones and brought an impending sense of dread. The acquisition of the Power Stone on Xandar was left off screen, to the dismay of the hardcore Guardians of the Galaxy fans out there. Now Joe Russo have explained this choice, saying:
Because we thought it'd be one too many- there's so many stones he has to collect and you get into a trap and we thought- we knew where it was in Guardians- so it was easy to deal with it off screen.
It looks like The Russo Brothers were concerned about cramming too much action in Infinity War. Since the directors were balancing such a massive cast and larger than life villain, they probably made the right call.
Joe Russo revealed the idea behind The Power Stone while speaking with a group of students at Iowa City High School-- where a student provided a transcription on Reddit. Ultimately Joe and his brother Anthony Russo had to show the Mad Titan seeking out and finding the other 5 Infinity Stones, in addition to balancing the plot lines around the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy. Infinity War ultimately clicked in at over two and a half hours, with plenty of scenes ending up on the cutting room floor.
While the Power Stone wasn't a major plot point in Infinity War, it was the big macguffin of James Gunn's first Guardians of the Galaxy movie. The quest to acquire the stone is what would unite the motley crew of heroes, as they teamed up to keep it out of the hands of Ronan. The end of the film saw the Nova Corps. (including Glenn Close and John C. Reilly's characters) protecting the stone. Too bad the big purple guy was eventually coming.
Guardians of the Galaxy fans were no doubt disappointed not to check back up on the Nova Core, especially since they were so noticeably absent from the film's sequel. Director James Gunn eventually cut Glenn Close's reappearance from Guardians 2, and now it's unclear if she'll ever come back into play. Since Thanos wiped out half of Xandar once he got the stone, and that was before his finger snap of death. Did Nova Prime and/or Rhomann Dey somehow make it through? We'll just have to wait and see.
Avengers: Infinity War is in theaters now. Be sure to check out our 2018 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
