Before the lights went down on April 27th, and Avengers: Infinity War began playing worldwide, Marvel fans were left mulling over just two questions: who lives? And who dies?
Turns out Joe and Anthony Russo had a very specific strategy in place leading up to Infinity War‘s release, as those members of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes who confronted Thanos and lived to tell the tale will be back for round two (read: Avengers 4) in order to tend to some unfinished business.
Moreover, it’s no accident that Doctor Strange’s bleak, 1-in-14 million forecast just so happened to involve Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America – three MCU heroes who are expected to retire soon after 2019. Only the initial Avengers remain, then, and Marvel boss Kevin Feige recently assured curious fans that this wasn’t a coincidence and is all part of a bigger plan to have just the original heroes left standing as we head into next May’s sequel.
I think for a film series that is going on 10 years and is gearing towards a conclusion with Avengers 4, which you don’t usually have in these kind of movies, you can sort of do the math. And realize it’s the original Avengers that are left.
He’s also of the belief that it would be foolish to make assumptions about Phase 4 of the MCU so early on, as Marvel Studios has only shared details of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Spider-Man: Far From Home and, to a lesser extent, the planned Eternals movie.
In short, there’s still much we don’t know about the MCU beyond 2019, but if nothing else, we can still take solace in the fact that Marvel’s OG Avengers will enjoy a much bigger spotlight during Avengers 4, which ought to please those bummed out by Black Widow and Cap’s meagre Infinity War screentime.
