This post contains frank discussion of the most crucial plot points of Avengers: Infinity War. If you’re looking for a spoiler-free, risk-free review, you can find it here. But if you’re about to wander into the article below it either means you have already seen the latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or you really, truly don’t mind knowing what’s to come. We’re going to give you once last chance to bail out but after this GIF, the gauntlets are coming off.
Almost everyone paying attention headed into Avengers: Infinity War knew some people were going to die. After all, the contracts are soon up on some major franchise stars. Plus you can’t tease a big bad villain like Josh Brolin’s Thanos for 13 movies without some kind of sacrifice from Earth’s mightiest heroes. Some comic-book aficionados with a passing familiarity with Thanos even suspected that his quest for the Infinity Gauntlet might end with him snapping his fingers and wiping out half of all existence. By the time Zoë Saldana’s Gamora mentioned it as a possibility a few times in the movie, hopefully the rest of you were prepared as well. Who died? Who survived? Who will probably return? We’ll get there.
But even those who smugly suspected they knew who might be toast in the movie (Chris Evans, the most reluctant actor in the M.C.U., was at the top of many death pools) were in for a surprise when some unexpected characters faded to ash just as the credits started to roll. Spider-Man??! No! We just got this one!
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Then again, as the credits rolled, maybe you had already figured out that most of the characters who crumbled after the Thanos snap already have sequel movies planned. What, you thought Disney was about to leave all of that potential Black Panther 2 money on the table by wiping out Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa? No way. And actually, the comic book aficionados will be the first to tell you that all that “death” in the final seconds of Infinity War wasn’t even the most intriguing part of the movie. It’s this line right here from Thanos to Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark.
What seems at first glance like a surface commentary on legacy, and whether Stark’s will outlive him, will strike some people as a hint that, not only did half the Marvel cast crumble to dust, they might have been wiped out of all existence. Which means the as-yet untitled Avengers 4 coming out in 2019 may not deal with the aftermath of a mass genocide, but, potentially, a completely alternate reality where characters like Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), T’Challa, etc. never existed at all. It’s ambitious, hardcore comic-book-y stuff, but Marvel has been prepping audiences for a swing this big for a decade now. To make sure we’re all ready for what’s to come, here’s a rundown of the deaths that may or may not stick after Infinity War.
WHO IS STILL ALIVE?
You’ll notice that all of the surviving heroes from Infinity War are pretty much the people we expect will be hanging up their capes and weapons by the end of Avengers 4. In other words, the core team of Iron Man (Downey), Captain America (Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) are all still in play with an added bonus of Don Cheadle’s Rhodey. Thanos is still around, too. Don’t forget. Will all of them survive Avengers 4? Oh most assuredly not. Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Nebula (Karen Gillan) are representing the Cosmic crew. Wong (Benedict Wong) was last seen scurrying off to guard the Sanctum Sanctorum. Okoye (Danai Gurira), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke, not pictured) are all holding it down for Wakanda. A tantalizing prospect is that if T’Challa was wiped out of all existence, someone like Shuri or M’Baku might be the new leader of Wakanda. Just chew on that idea while we consider the heroes who skipped the battle altogether.
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