Marvel released the trailer for the grandest extravaganza Avengers Infinity War that every comic-book fan cutting across camps have been waiting for. And it totally owned the internet. It broke the all-time record of the maximum number of viewings online in the first 24 hours of its release.

The trailer was visually captivating and emotionally immersive both at the same time. The scenes were epic and breathtaking which dazzled each one of us who stood speechless when it got over. The entertainment pundits believe that the movie can even break the box-office record of Avatar given the massive positive reception that the trailer has received.

But before the Infinity War, there is another Marvel movie which is going to be released in February. It is based on Black Panther or T’Challa who is the ruler of Wakanda. It is a critical link to the marquee event as the sixth Infinity gem (Soul gem) is expected to be hidden in the kingdom of Wakanda.

Well, the Avengers have a lot to worry about next year. Apart from the fact that fellow Avengers T’Challa aka Black Panther will be caught up in between two worlds as he tries to save his kingdom from the clutches of Erik Killmonger and Ulysses Klaue, there is still bigger fish to fry.

Earth’s mightiest heroes will soon face the legendary wrath of the Mad Titan Thanos and his eponymous Black Order as they come to Earth looking for the Infinity Stones. Thanos wants to rule all of creation and to do that he needs all six of the Infinity Stones.

The Russo brothers who are at the helm of MCU described Infinity War as a heist movie. Here’s what they said:

“With “Infinity War,” the biggest new element to the movie is Thanos and the fact that he’s entering the storytelling in a very bold, strong way, to the degree that he’s almost one of the leads. We’ve shaped an interesting narrative around him that in some ways leans heavily on a heist film in the fact that he’s going after the infinity stones in a much bolder, successful way than he has in the past. The entire movie has that energy of the bad guy being one step ahead of the heroes. We looked at a lot of movies that had that heist-style energy to them, and that brought some inspiration”.

The gems of Space, Power, Reality, Mind, Soul and Time are the six Infinity Stones in the Marvel Universe. Whichever being possesses all six will become a God-like being and rule all over the cosmos. Almost all the stones are on Earth (barring the Power Stone which is on the planet Xandar).

Out of six, two Infinity stones have been captured by Thanos – Space Stone and Power Stone. The Space Stone or Tesseract was the first Infinity gem used by Loki at the behest of Thanos to invade Earth along with chitauri army at the Battle of New York. It allows the user to open portals for interstellar teleportation, be omnipresent, or warp yourself in any part of the universe. It is clear that Loki stole it again and must have gifted it to the Mad Titan.

As far as Power Stone aka Orb is concerned which was first seen in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1, the Collector was given the responsibility to keep it but Peter Quill decided to send it to Nova Corps. Guess what, Thanos has destroyed the Nova Corps and retrieved Orb which grants the user god-like abilities.

Here’s how The Collector described the Infinity stones:

“Before creation itself, there were six singularities. Then the universe exploded into existence, and the remnants of these systems were forged into concentrated ingots… Infinity Stones.”

Thanos want to have a full collection but there’s just one problem – the Avengers stand between him and total control over the entire universe. Nothing stands in the Mad Titan’s way and no being has ever defeated the Avengers once they assemble. Who will win? Who will lose? Who will die? Who will live?

While the Marvel Studios are busy trying to figure out what happens next, DC Comics is already making millions with their engaging comic book arcs of recent times. DC has far outstripped Marvel in terms of comic-book sales for many seasons now.

DC Comics has been on a roll ever since the DC Rebirth event. Their sales have skyrocketed and have left the Marvel Comics industry far behind. They may not be doing well in the Hollywood area but their comic book sales are making more than triple the profit Marvel is. And now they have one more reason to feel proud of themselves.

DC Metals arc is the very definition of what happens when awesome writers and incredible artists join hands to give story arcs that are nothing short of fables of superhero fiction. The comic book arc sees Batman and co. at odds with beings from different universes.

As the Dark Knight is outgunned and outnumbered, he reveals a final trick up his sleeve. Batman pulls out a glove that looks eerily similar to Marvel’s Infinity Gauntlet.

But First Things First – What is DC Metals about?? DC released it’s Dark Nights: Metal arc a couple of months ago. The storyline involves a prophecy regarding the Batman himself – Batman is doomed to be the very reason for the end of the universe.

As Bruce Wayne tries his best to force this future into never happening, a demon Bat God from the Dark Universe appears (apparently in DC Comics lore, there are no more just 52 universes).

There are 52 perfect universe and infinite imperfect ones that make up the invisible dark universe) employs the Batmen of other dark universes that were destroyed due to their imperfection to make the prophecy a reality.

Batman is caught in a portal and trapped forever in a Dark Universe until Superman decides to enter the same portal and try and save Batman, and in turn, the mainstream universe. The dimension Batman is trapped since ages have turned his hair gray and damned him into eternal torment via his worst nightmares.

The nightmares include evil amalgamations of Superman and Lex Luthor, an evil Energy Superman, a superman-batman combination and scores of other evil combinations from different worlds. After having had enough of their crap – the old yet still strong Batman decides to use his trump card and get out.

The viewers are introduced to the kryptonite equipped Bat glove. Each knuckle in the Bat Glove contains a different colored Kryptonite. One can make his flesh get vaporized, one can make superman nauseous, and one can make him weak and vulnerable and so on.

His crazy plan succeeds. The evil Supermen back off and Superman and Batman successfully escape to the Dreamworld of Sandman.

What do you think about Batman’s version of the Infinity Gauntlet? Granted it does not possess any of the powers of the actual Gauntlet, it looks just as cool. Maybe in the next issue, DC will take another lesson from Avengers: Infinity War and turn Wonder Woman’s hair blonde like they did with Black Widow. Hey, who knows it might happen?!?!?

Dark Nights Metal #4 is already in stores.

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