Avengers: Infinity War is going to be an enormous event for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With the arrival of the Mad Titan Thanos, it’s almost guaranteed that some heroes aren’t going to make it out of the two-part showdown alive. Now we have some pretty significant confirmation of that from one of the film’s directors, Joe Russo:
“Everything is finite, right? Nothing can last forever. It’s cyclical. Some New Avengers in Phase Four are going to become prominent and then maybe some Avengers might not be around anymore. …I think you’ll see that the supporting Avengers are going to become primary Avengers.”
It’s been assumed that some of the newer characters will be pushed to the forefront and Russo looks to have made that a fact. The question is: Who will live and who will die? A lot of this may come down to behind-the-scenes issues more than story reasons; Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans are both getting paid substantially large paychecks for their roles as Iron Man and Captain America. Could we lose the two figureheads of The Avengers? Captain America certainly seems like a possibility, seeing as how both Bucky and Falcon have taken over as Cap in the comics. Iron Man even seems like a casualty at this point, seeing as how Don Cheadle‘s War Machine might usurp his mantle. Thor might be the most obvious target thanks to his next film featuring the subtitle “Ragnarok” which is the Norse version of the apocalypse, as well as the ability to pass down the powers of Thor through his hammer Mjolnir (though this hasn’t been shown in the films up to this point).
I don’t see Bruce Banner/The Hulk getting knocked off thanks to his more peripheral nature (and the fact that he hasn’t had a chance to shine in his own solo effort), and Hawkeye will probably stick around because audiences might riot if he leaves behind his adorable family from Avengers: Age of Ultron. Black Widow? Maybe, but killing her off will look bad in the long run as far as keeping the roster diversified is concerned.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is gearing up with Captain America: Civil War for an enormous change in the status quo. Marvel has never been afraid of taking risks and it sounds like Avengers: Infinity War could be the riskiest (read: most enticing) entry yet.
Need to brush up on your Avengers knowledge? Head over the Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki where you can assemble anything you need to know about Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
