Avengers: Infinity War opens

April 14, 2018

Marvel Studios stitched together a decade and twenty films into a single billion-dollar cinematic event in which half the universe vanished at a villain's snap. Audiences gasped in unison from Tokyo to Tegucigalpa. The franchise model, the cinematic universe, the post-credits scene: a Hollywood paradigm reached its peak watering hole, and the box office receipts proved it.