If the last 12 months have taught audiences anything, it’s that Marvel have well and truly lost any of the previous reticence they may have had for killing off their fan favorites. From Killmonger, to Heimdall and the Warriors Three, there has been a very noticeable shift within the Marvel Cinematic Universe from repeatedly placing their main players in unconvincing peril, to just casually stabbing them or snapping their necks. So with Avengers 4 now almost within touching distance, which of the MCU’s main players are most likely to kick the bucket?
Sure. Avengers: Infinity War was hands-down the most emotional and heart-rending event that the company has subjected their fans to so far. But here’s the thing. All those heroes you love who allegedly just got turned to dust? They’re not dead. Yes, they’re not strutting around doing superhero stuff anymore, but the truth is that they’re merely imprisoned in the alternate reality created by the Infinity Gauntlet, most likely kicking seven shades of shit out of that asshole, Peter Quill…
No, my friends. Marvel have played the most fiendish of tricks on you. Because Avengers 4 will finally see some of these big characters dying. FOR REAL. All of the creative talent and actors involved in the forthcoming movie have teased it’s going to be infinitely more tragic than anything we’ve seen so far, as it sees the transition of last decade of the MCU into something new and exciting. Which spells bad news for some of the existing cast, who will have to be jettisoned to order to make room for new planned faces.
We sat down and ran a whole host of complicated algorithms and formulas, using evidence from all of the existing Marvel movies, and then we completely disregarded all of the bullshit that produced and essentially just went with our gut feelings for each character. Here’s what we came up with:
Captain America – DIES
Yep. We’re kicking things off with a bombshell. Chris Evans is already way over the original number of performances as Steve Rogers that his original Marvel contract stipulated. He’s trying to move into producing and directing his own projects, and the character was increasingly sidelined in Infinity War into little more than a super-powered punchbag.
His death will not only break up the existing Avengers team, allowing the foundation of a new lineup, but it will also free up Bucky Barnes or Sam to be the MCU’s new Captain America.
Iron Man – LIVES
The bookies have it as a straight fight between whether it’s Steve or Tony who die in Avengers 4, and we’re putting our money on Iron Man to live. Unlike Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr. isn’t trying to diversify into other creative areas, and seems happy to continue playing Tony Stark.
Pepper being pregnant teases a whole new narrative path for the future, and it would be far more gut-wrenching to see him trying to deal with Steve’s death, and reconcile his actions from Civil War.
Black Widow – LIVES
Hardly a surprise this one. Scarlett Johansson has been quietly hammering away at the Marvel suits for the last decade trying to get her own Black Widow movie, and now at the height of Hollywood’s push for female empowerment, it’s finally been announced.
Working off the assumption that this won’t be a prequel, although we’re as desperate to find out what happened back in Budapest as anyone else, she’ll survive Avengers 4 and be back for her own solo outing afterwards.
Thor – LIVES
Worry not, folks. The Odinson isn’t going anywhere fast. The huge success of Ragnarok, and the fact that the character has now essentially been rebooted and future-proofed mean that any plans Marvel might have had for him to be tragically killed off have been quickly shelved.
Aussie actor Chris Hemsworth clearly enjoys working with fellow antipodean Taika Waititi, and the fact that he’s just turned down a return to the Star Trek franchise indicates he’s going to be very busy with Thor work for the foreseeable future.
Hawkeye – DIES
Mysteriously absent from the events of Infinity War, Marvel fans had been hoping to see Clint Barton returning to the big screen in his alternate Ronin persona. And if rumors that an upcoming post-credit scene will see his entire family wiped out during ‘the snap’, then Avengers 4 may well see him adopting this vengeful persona.
But nothing would then be more tragic than seeing him save his family from the Soul Stone, only to die himself in the process. This would hit all the other Avengers hard, particularly Natasha, and be just the right level of tragedy that the likes of the Russo’s have been teasing.
Spider-Man – LIVES
Another easy one to call this, being as Tom Holland is currently working on the new Spider-Man movie sequel, Spider-Man: Far From Home, which is clearly set in the aftermath of Avengers 4.
Holland is right at the start of his MCU career, and is also integral to plans to integrate the new Sony Venom-verse into the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe. He’s in this for the long haul.
Scarlet Witch – LIVES
Elizabeth Olsen has quickly and steadily pushed Wanda Maximoff from a supporting player at the fringes of the franchise, up into a firm fan-favorite. She will be integral to the future of the Avengers movies, with the MCU version having barely scratched the surface of the character’s existing source material.
We already know from set photos that Avengers 4 will see her reuniting with dead brother Pietro, and she’s simply too complex and powerful a character to kill off at this point.
Hulk – DIES (KINDA….)
This was a really hard one for us to call, and in truth we essentially chickened out on committing either way. The bizarre manner in which Bruce Banner was treated in Infinity War seemed to suggest one of two things. Firstly it was that there is some huge plot reveal coming up for the good doctor, which some believe is that he’s actually Loki in disguise.
The other is that the studio simply don’t know what to do with him any more, and still aren’t prepared to risk another solo movie on him. So we reckon they’ll apparently kill Banner off in some huge display of self-sacrifice, whilst he secretly fakes his death to go off an live in quiet solitude. Again…
Vision – LIVES
We’re guessing that the Scarlet-Vision hookup has a fair few years left to run yet, and that Marvel won’t be killing the character off too soon. Paul Bettany is a founding member of the franchise, and has always made no secret of the fact he loves working for the studio. It may be that they leave Vision’s physical form dead, and being him back temporarily as an AI, but we definitely haven’t seen the last of him yet.
War Machine – DIES
Much like Han Solo, we’ve got a bad feeling about this one. Rhodey is a character that Marvel have always struggled to find a proper place for within the MCU. Vying for space in the Iron Man trilogy with Pepper and Happy, he remains a bit-player, providing occasional one-liners.
His loss wouldn’t really be that hard to deal with moving on, but it would provide an interesting narrative thread for both Vision and Tony to deal when in the wake of his death. Sorry buddy…..
Loki – DEAD
The overwhelming majority of Marvel fans steadfastly refuse to accept that Loki’s dead. No way. Absolutely not. He’s the god of frikkin’ mischief. A master of illusion. He’s pretending to be Hulk. Or Thor’s eyeball. HE’S NOT DEAD!!?!!!!!?
Only he is, and despite the fact that Tom Hiddleston has been seen on the set of Avengers 4, Marvel have finally cleared out their most successful villain of the franchise in order to make room for new antagonists. Hiddleston has only been seen in the scenes which will see the Avengers go back in time to the Battle Of New York.
We’re predicting that there will be some heavily emotional but temporary reunion with Thor, before it’s confirmed that the character has finally been killed off permanently. (Cries softly…)
Thanos – LIVES
With Loki now out of the picture, the way is clear for Thanos, the Mad Titan, to step up as the new most beloved recurring bad guy in the MCU. After all, much like the sneaky Asgardian, he’s a bad guy with good ideals. He’s misunderstood, I tells ya…
The most likely outcome for the big purple giant is that having ultimately lost control of the Infinity Stones, rather than taking an magical axe to the head, he’ll end up temporarily trapped himself inside the alternate realm of the Infinity Gauntlet. Maybe with be ghosts of his dead daughters…
What do you think of our predictions? Be sure to give us yours in the comments down below!