Warning: contains spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War.

Another warning: we didn't correct any of Nicola's misconceptions. This is the raw, unvarnished reaction of someone who until now knew literally nothing about Marvel, the Avengers or "Thermal" the Mad Titan.

The Digital Spy movies department has been a wee bit obsessed with a film called Avengers: Infinity War recently. Apparently, it's kind of a big deal if you're into the superhero scene – which I'm not. At all. My field is Reality TV and factual entertainment, so the MCU (whatever that is) is just something I hear people talking about. It doesn't figure greatly in my life.

In fact, I actually thought Avengers was pronounced to rhyme with "scavengers".

I was also a bit lost by talk in the office of a gang called Guardians of the Galaxy. I was pretty sure I had seen that film but was a bit baffled as to why anyone would consider the depressed robot a superhero. Turns out, I'd actually seen Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy. Spoiler alert: these are two very different films.

Anyway, my point is that I have absolute zero knowledge of superheroes. As far as I'm concerned, when somebody mentions DC, I think of the skater trainers, not movies. Apologies for any offence.

Giphy

As the reviews came pouring in for Infinity War, film critics across the land declared that it wouldn't make sense if you hadn't seen the previous movies (I still have no idea how many there are – a fair few apparently?). Pah! Obviously, this was a challenge. How complicated could a film based on a comic be? The Beano had already been going for decades when I picked up my first copy.

So, then and there, I decided to make Infinity War my first ever superhero film and was determined to prove the world wrong.

Marvel Studios

Guys, I'll be honest here, I went in expecting to be pretty bored by Batman, Robin, Iron Man and whoever else was in the gang. And the title seemed to give away the plot. Infinity War? Clearly the superheroes would join forces to fight a powerful villain in a war everyone fears will go on for infinity. So predictable.

I was wrong. And when I walked out of the cinema, I kinda wished somebody in the office had given me a heads-up that this film was going to be brutal (thanks, guys!). I don't think I've felt that sad after watching a film since The Notebook.

Did the film work given the fact I didn't know the backstories of all these characters? Well, it worked well enough for me to shed a tear when a tree died. Yes, a TREE. (What was his name though? Froo? Didn't quite catch it.)

Disney

But did the movie actually make sense? Absolutely. I wasn't sure exactly why the Avengers had fallen out, but there had obviously been some kind of disagreement prior to this film and they hadn't all talked in a long time. I didn't know how far back they all went, but it's always nice when friends make up.

Especially when it's to stop the evil Thermal from killing half the population of the universe through the superpowers of infinity stones. Go team!

As for Thermal, I wasn't surprised his daughters had daddy issues. That alien has a very peculiar ideology – how did that happen? It doesn't matter. The best villains don't have motives – does anyone really know why Michael Myers wants to kill every relative he has?

Disney

Moving on to the actual Avengers. You don't have to be Einstein to figure this lot out. Iron Man is clearly the one with all the attitude, Spider-Man is the work-experience teenager and Thor is the Johnny Bravo of the series (ie muscles but ditzy and hilarious).

By the way, he's also my favourite character – not because of his looks but the way he unintentionally offends everyone like the "sweet rabbit" and his "friend the tree".

I'm looking forward to watching all the earlier films to find out everyone's backstory. Thor sounds like he's had it pretty tough over the years and I'd like to know what happened. Also, I'd like to know what went down between Hulk (Not the Angry Hulk, as I'd previously supposed) and Scarlett Johansson's character – I get the impression they used to date? Also, what's her character's name? She didn't mention it once. Neither did Chris Evans' character... Who *are* you people?

Marvel Studios

But back to the original question: did watching Infinity War without any prior knowledge about the characters ruin it for me? Not at all. Did George Lucas ruin Star Wars by making Episode IV his first film? Exactly.

Clearly I had a very different experience watching Infinity War to anyone who's seen the previous films. But whatever the critics think, I think it's actually an advantage. I really enjoyed getting to know these characters and now I get to take my pick from all the previous films.

Now, if you don't mind, I think I'm going to crack on with Guardian of the Galaxy episode one. I've fallen in love with that tree, the raccoon and the philosophical alien. Meanwhile, you've all got a long wait on your hands until the next Avengers film comes out...

So who's really had the last laugh here, film critics?

Avengers: Infinity War is in UK cinemas now. Book tickets here.

Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo; Screenplay: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely; Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Don Cheadle, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Josh Brolin, Chris Pratt Running time: 149 minutes; Certificate: 12A

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