Okay, cards on the table – I was way off base with my predictions of who’d die in Avengers: Infinity War.
I figured Marvel Studios would be eager to cut down some of their most expensive stars, ones who’ve been stalwarts of the universe for the last decade. I assumed Stark was toast for sure, with Steve Rogers probably close behind. If you’d have whispered in my ear that by the end of the movie the death count would include all the Guardians of the Galaxy (except Rocket Raccoon), Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Bucky Barnes and freakin’ Spider-Man, I’d have thought you were certifiably insane. But hey, here we are, still wiping away the tears of having to watch Peter Parker croak before our very eyes.
We’ve all got questions we want answered after Infinity War, of course, and a very lucky high school in Iowa got to ask Joe Russo (a former student there) these questions directly. One of the most interesting was when he was asked about the deaths in the film and flipped it around to talking about who survived:
“It was great, something we knew we were going to do from the very beginning- one of the first things we knew we were going to end with. And we wanted the ramifications of the snap- to feel it as you watch it. So it wasn’t a plot cliffhanger to end the film, it was an emotional cliffhanger to go beyond the snap and like a horror film make you watch every character you love disappear.
That’s the catharsis and had we not done that we wouldn’t have the emotional reaction that we did… your imagination might not be as horrific as watching them go and watching the other characters watch them. Did anyone specifically notice who was left at the end?
[Various answers – coalescing around the original Avengers.]“Yes the original Avengers…interesting…the original Avengers.”
Now, given that my past predictions have been way off base, take this next one with a pinch of salt – but I’ve got a good feeling that Avengers 4 will show the original lineup of Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye getting the band back together in an attempt to set the universe right and reverse the ‘Snappening.’
Of course, all these characters are in pretty different places since Captain America: Civil War, most likely resulting in some tension and drama as they try to find their own grooves in the team again. If nothing else, though, we can be sure that this time, Tony Stark is going to die. Seriously, if he survives Avengers 4 I’ll eat my hat.
