Marvel's Avengers 3: Civil War or Infinity Gauntlet?

Since mid-Phase 2, Marvel fans were fairly confident that the big bad for the Marvel Cinematic Universe would be the mad titan Thanos. After Guardians of the Galaxy's more-than-a-cameo Thanos, and Josh Brolin's Infinity Gauntlet at Comic-Con, we all imagined Thanos in Avengers 3, battling the Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Until today.

Today, an image from 9GAG spread like wildfire through the internet. It had fit movies into the slots outlined by Marvel. But this puzzle didn't finish where we thought it would- it paved the way to Civil War:

Civil War

SPOILER BELOW:

For those of you who haven't read the comics, I'll give you the rundown on Civil War: After an incident with the New Warriors that led to innocent deaths, the government suggested the Superhero Registration Act; an act in which all Superheroes must reveal their identities. Being a superhero would be a job, with pay and days off, etc. Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Hank Pym, and Jennifer Walters, and countless others were all for the plan, feeling that it would make the country a better place. Captain America led the resistance alongside Daredevil, Wolverine, Cyclops, Iron Fist, and more. There were some switches, though, like Invisible Woman and Peter Parker, who both started supporting the act, but left.

Why it Would Work

SPOILER BELOW:

Civil War itself isn't that confusing. The characters make it confusing sometimes, but the plot itself isn't. It'd be great for an audience that hasn't read the comics. Plus, if the new titles are real, Doctor Strange's introduction would be great for the movie, as he is important into getting to a key location. Another thing, Ant-Man is important. And he definitely has his own movie, which sort of nudges you in the direction. Not to mention the third Thor is supposedly called Ragnarok. Because it helps in this case, I'm going to assume Ragnarok means the Thor clone and not Asgardian Armageddon, who plays a semi-important in Civil War by killing Goliath, causing, Susan Storms's switch. Another movie that helps; Black Panther, technically a neutral in the war, but still important.

Why it Wouldn't Work

The Infinity Gauntlet/Thanos web has been under construction for a very long time. From the first time we saw Thanos, you could say it's been two years. From the first time we saw the Tesseract/Infinity Gems, you could say it's been three years. But something like this has been intricately woven. I would go as far as saying Marvel made the Avengers for this (sans Spider-Man), which means 2008; the year the first Iron Man film came out. 6 years of Infinity Gauntlet taunting. I don't think that Marvel would have all that buildup for a sidetrack of Civil War. A roller coaster goes up, then straight down. There's no straight track at the top that stalls the drop for 4 years. That was my not so subtle way of saying Civil War would screw up everything Marvel's been working toward.

But that's not the only issue! Spider-Man and Invisible Woman are really important to Civil War; Spider-Man arguably a bit more. But both these characters have different studios. Sony's got there hands tight around Spider-Man's neck, making sure he doesn't run off somewhere, and the Fantastic Four belong to Fox. They're not as flamboyant about their rights, but they're making a FF movie, and it really does change the comics. A three-way deals is pretty unlikely.

Finally, there's just generally a lot of characters. I highly doubt Marvel can bring in Iron Fist, Wasp, Goliath, Hercules, Daredevil, the Thunderbolts and a ton of others during the movie and expect the audience to follow them

Infinity Gauntlet

READ SPOILER:

The Infinity Gauntlet, for those of you who don't know, is a gauntlet that gets extreme powers when six stones are attached to it. It has been running on in the Marvel universe for some time now. The Tesseract is a stone. The orb from Guardians of the Galaxy is one. The Aether is another. In the comics, each stone had a specific "job"; the Reality Gem, Power Gem, Mind Gem, Soul Gem, Time Gem, and Space Gem. The Tesseract is the Space Gem and the Orb is the Power Gem. It is unknown what the Aether is. It's also possible that Loki's scepter holds a stone, most likely the Mind Gem because of it's ability to control minds. But basically, when Thanos got all the stones, he was overpowered to the extreme. He shattered Captain America's shield, destroyed half the universe, and even imprisoned every single Marvel superhero. But he overlooked his grandniece Nebula who stole the Gauntlet, and set time back 24 hours, undoing his work, and giving everyone another chance. In the end, it was Adam Warlock/Magus who wielded the Gauntlet.

Why it Would Work

Marvel has been building up for this for an incredibly long time, if you look at how many movies include easter eggs about this. It doesn't make sense that they would throw this away.

In addition to the logic behind it, if they do Civil War instead of the Infinity Gauntlet and plan on doing Infinity Gauntlet afterward, they could have a serious problem. Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, and a few others' contracts with Marvel expire after Avengers 3. Evans and Hemsworth do have their respective third movies, but they wouldn't fit a Marvel Universe event into a movie for a solo hero.

Again, the easter eggs. We have seen three (possibly four) gems on screen, Thanos, Adam Warlock in his cocoon, and many more. It just doesn't add up that all the hype would be cancelled or delayed.

And let's not forget Josh Brolin (Thanos) showed up wearing the Infinity Gauntlet to Comic Con.

Why it Wouldn't Work

The Infinity Gauntlet shares a few issues with Civil War when it comes to actually adapting it into a movie. The many characters that haven't been shown, and the conflicting studios. Although the Fantastic Four aren't prominent on the cover of Infinity Gauntlet, Spidey is. A tentative deal could be reached with Sony and Columbia, but I wouldn't guarantee it.

The Infinity Gauntlet might just be too big for a single movie. If the Avengers reconcile at the end of Civil War/Avengers 3, and not much is done in World War Hulk and the Inhumans, The Infinity Gauntlet could leak into Phase 4, with Phase 4 being the ultimate ending, completely for the Infinity Gauntlet, with 3-4 movies chronicling Thanos and the war.

But wait! Thor!

I have no idea what to make of the completed Infinity Gauntlet in Odin's collection from Thor:

I can't think of any way this is possible. Obviously, there had to be some displacement of the stones, but I have no idea who did it, how it happened, or what happened.

So what do you want for The Avengers 3, and how do you think the Infinity Gauntlet will play into the MCU?