The end of Avengers: Infinity War wiped out pretty much every second generation hero and Guardian of the Galaxy, leaving only the original line-up of Avengers standing, alongside the odd ally like War Machine and Okoye as well as a token Guardian in Rocket. And, curiously, Nebula. Thanos’ other daughter didn’t get a great amount to do in the movie, but the fact that she survived her pa’s Finger Snap of Doom could mean she’ll have a much bigger role to play in Avengers 4.
This dovetails with the character’s arc in The Infinity Gauntlet comic book storyline, which Infinity War most resembled. After all, the film borrowed from the earlier parts of Nebula’s role in that comic, like the scene where she was horrendously tortured by Thanos, so it’s possible that Avengers 4 could adapt the extremely important role she plays in the climax of the Gauntlet story.
In short, Nebula gets hold of the Infinity Gauntlet herself in the comics. When Thanos is busy fighting the heroes on the astral plane, she seizes her chance and removes the super-powered glove from the Mad Titan’s hand. Now, with the power of the Infinity Gems (not Stones) at her disposal, she becomes an even more maniacal fiend than her father. In fact, the villain has to team up with the Avengers to bring Nebula down.
Will we see this in next May’s blockbuster, though? Well, it’s difficult to say, as the MCU Nebula is such a different character from the comic book Nebula. For one, Karen Gillan’s fan favorite is much less of a villain, so we’re not sure she’d be as dangerous with the Gauntlet as on the page. That said, she does have a lot of pent-up anger, though it’s mostly dedicated to destroying Thanos, so we don’t see her attempting universal domination.
However, even if Nebula doesn’t turn out to be the surprise big bad of Avengers 4, she could still well get hold of the Gauntlet, even for a brief period. Infinity War proved to lift more than we thought from the source material – including Thanos’ unlikely ending – so it’s certainly possible that there’s a bigger reason for Nebula’s survival at the end of the movie. After all, we can’t imagine it was just random.
