8 Burning Questions We Have After Watching Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame is finally here and Marvel fans around the world are fleeing to theaters this weekend to witness the grand finale of the MCU as we know it. In more ways than you would expect, though, Endgame doesn't conclude the last chapter with a definitive period as much as a series of question marks. Obviously, this isn't the end of the franchise as a whole, just the Infinity Saga and Phase Three, so it leaves a lot of clues and ambiguities to be picked up by future movies. Due to the complex nature of its time travel plot, it also creates a lot of questions about plot logic and the internal consistency of the Marvel universe that aren't easily answered. Not to mention that we really want to know if we'll see many of our favorite characters again. So, with all that in mind, here are eight of the most pressing, burning questions that've been keeping us awake since we saw Avengers: Endgame. If you have some of your own that we haven't listed - and I'm sure you do - let us know in the comments. Are Gamora And Vision Really Dead? When it came to all the deaths by dusting in Avengers: Infinity War, we heavily suspected none of these demises would last. However, there was some gray area in those heroes that were killed by Thanos via normal means, like Loki, Gamora and Vision. As it happens, Endgame went so far as to use time travel trickery to resurrect Loki - at an earlier point in his timeline - but not Gamora and Vision. So are they really gone? Let's look at Gamora's chances first. It seemed like Thanos' favorite daughter was going to be brought back in the form of the 2014 version who travelled to the present and fought alongside the Avengers in the big final battle. However, she was nowhere to be seen as things wrapped up and a still-grieving Star-Lord was shown to be doing a life-sign search for her. He didn't get any results though, so it seems that she's gone at the moment. Although, it's still possible she'll be back in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. As for Vision, he surprisingly makes no such appearance in Endgame, as none of the past movies visited featured the character. At Tony Stark's funeral, Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch share a moment of reflection on the loved ones they've lost, though, which seemed to suggest that both Black Widow and Vision are gone for good. What puts this in doubt, however, is the upcoming WandaVision Disney Plus series. Maybe it'll be a prequel, though? Is Loki Alive Again? In the last question, I referenced how Endgame resurrected Loki, but is this strictly true? Well, let's examine what happens. When interfering with the events of The Avengers to get the Space and Mind Stone, Iron Man and Ant-Man accidentally cause the 2012-era Loki to escape with the Tesseract. We don't see him again for the rest of the movie though, which leaves this scene feeling like a promise to the audience that the God of Mischief is effectively alive again after his sacrifice in IW. As far as we understand the laws of time travel in the MCU, however, this isn't strictly true. Freeing Loki in 2012 must create a hugely different splintered timeline, one where the events of The Dark World and Ragnarok surely don't happen the same way and Loki never redeems himself. Not only can he not crossover with the main timeline - because he's living in a very different version of the MCU - but he also won't be quite the same Loki we've come to know. In this case, the Loki Disney Plus series doesn't cause too much of a hiccup, as reports say that'll be a prequel examining his early years. Can Black Widow Be Resurrected? Nope, I'm not done picking apart the deaths of the movie yet. As explained, the emotional context of Natasha's sacrifice in Endgame suggests this is it for the character. However, there could be a loophole here that allows for her resurrection. As we all know by now, the taking of the Soul Stone from Vormir requires a death. However, we don't know what happens if the Soul Stone is returned to Vormir. The phrase the Red Skull likes to use is "a soul for a soul." So, surely when the Stone's returned, you get the soul back that you exchanged it for in the first place, right? In this case, that'd be Black Widow? I also pointed out in a different article that there's already some doubt about Natasha's death. As she sacrificed herself, Hawkeye didn't kill her as Thanos did Gamora, yet he still got the Soul Stone. Maybe her fate isn't quite as permanent then because she was bold enough to die for the cause herself? After all, Red Skull did say the Stone "has a certain wisdom" in Infinity War, so it's possible that it can grant mercy in such a way. Black Widow's resurrection may already have happened off-screen, too, when Cap went back and returned the Stone. Old Steve didn't seem in a hurry to tell his friends everything he'd been up to, so maybe he has a pleasant surprise up his sleeve. Whatever happens chronologically, we can rest easy knowing that the Black Widow prequel movie is still on the way, which will explore Natasha's origins. Where Does Thor Go From Here? While Endgame seems to provide a definitive ending for Iron Man and (the original) Captain America, it leaves things open ended for Thor. This matches what we know about the actors' continued relationship with Marvel: Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans have now completed their contracts, but Chris Hemsworth seems up for more if the studio wants him. The movie sees Thor take his mother's advice to heart and decide to relinquish the role of king of New Asgard, appointing Valkyrie as his successor. He then hitches a ride into space with the Guardians on the Benatar. A hilarious scene follows where Quill and Thor get on each other's nerves again, as the latter renames the team the "Asgardians of the Galaxy." It's unclear whether this is just a final bit of comedy for the fun dynamic of Thor and the Guardians, or if it's a tease for the character sticking around the spaceship for Guardians 3. Seeing how popular pairing the God of Thunder up with the space heroes has been, Marvel might be open to that. Then again, Thor could easily overshadow the Guardians, so James Gunn might not want to use him. Alternatively, a Thor 4 may be on the way, as Tessa Thompson has revealed that a Taika Waititi-directed third sequel has been discussed. Is Spider-Man: Far From Home Really Set After Endgame? Ever since the first trailer for Spider-Man: Far From Home came out, we've been wondering whether the sequel follows Endgame or is actually a prequel to IW. If it was set afterwards, the trailers seemed to suggest the snap was reversed without much fuss, as Spidey was shown to be going on a fun vacation with his pals and Nick Fury was doing his thing. Having seen Endgame, we know that the fallout of the snap is still very messy. Peter's been resurrected five years later, as has Ned, apparently - they were both seen at school at the end of Endgame, suggesting they were both dusted. If FFH follows Endgame though, the same must be true of Peter's entire friendship circle, as they're all still school-age in the sequel. That seems a bit too convenient to be the case, though. But the case it is, at least according to what Sony's Amy Pascal said back in 2017. She revealed that FFH would pick up "a few minutes after Avengers 4 wraps as a story.” Now that we've seen the movie, it seems like a huge tonal shift to go from Peter reuniting with his friends and still dealing with existing in a totally different world to holidaying in Europe. Given this, it sounds like the sequel will mostly skip over the ramifications of his resurrection. Will Future Movies/TV Shows Explore The Aftermath Of The Snap's Reversal? The Russos promised us that the deaths of Infinity War wouldn't be neatly swept under the rug and they were right. The heroes could have taken the easy route and simply reversed the snap entirely in Endgame but, presumably to preserve the life of Tony's daughter Morgan, they brought back all the dead five years later. It was presented as a happy ending, but there's a lot to unpack in this new world. Will this be explored in future movies or even TV shows, though? For instance, bringing back 50% of the world's population five years after their deaths will cause enormous havoc in so many different ways, both in terms of resources and the emotional and social ramifications of this. There's a lot of potential to mine here, but it's arguably too dark and complicated for the movies to get into. Personally, I have a feeling it'll be skirted over. From the point of view of the individual filmmakers, for example, they'll want to tell their own story rather than be lumbered by picking up the pieces of Endgame. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. would be a prime place to explore the stuff the films are too busy to deal with, but it's been confirmed that season 6 of the ABC show will pick up a year after the events of season 5. This means that it may deal with the effects of half the population disappearing, but it won't get to touch on the results of them all coming back unless it runs for a further four seasons. What's Next For Hawkeye And Hulk? Of the original six Avengers, four of them are served some sort of ending in Endgame. Tony and Natasha get tragic, self-sacrificial ones. Captain America gets a happy one and Thor, as previously discussed, gets an open ended one. That means that Hulk and Hawkeye are left with their futures unclear. So, what could be next for the last of the OG Avengers? Well, Clint's got his happy ending in many ways as his family have been returned to him. However, remember that he's still been in a very dark place for the past half-decade, murdering his way through the world's criminal population. He expresses a lot of guilt for this in the movie, so we'd expect that there's some trauma for him to come, even if he's got his wife and kids by his side again. Speaking of his kid, Lyla Barton seems to be a dab hand with a bow and arrow, so she might end up taking after her dad. If she's the MCU stand-in for Kate Bishop, we could see Renner return to train up his protege. As for Hulk, Endgame put a button on the constant struggle between Banner and the other guy by merging the two into one. Likewise, his smashing days are seemingly over as his left arm was badly damaged by his use of the Infinity Gauntlet. All these signs and more point to this being the last we see of Hulk in the MCU, then. However, there's still the possibility that he could also come back as a mentor to the next Jade Giant. Could we see Amadeus Cho's Totally Awesome Hulk in the MCU maybe? When Will The Young Avengers Unite? Once you get past the headache-inducing time travel, one upside of the five year jump is that it leaves the door wide open for the next generation of heroes to emerge. Kevin Feige has confirmed that he's sowing the seeds for the Young Avengers in the MCU and that's patently clear in Avengers: Endgame. We've already mentioned that we could be in for a new Hawkeye and the teenage Cassie Lang could take after her dad and become Stature, too. Other next-gen heroes are implied as well. Morgan Stark could grow up to become, say, a version of Ironheart. And I just suggested Amadeus Cho could be in for an appearance as well. WandaVision is also set to see Scarlet Witch and Vision in happier times, which could mean Wiccan and Speed are on the way. In other words, there could soon be a lot of adolescent Avengers running around the MCU, so a proper Young Avengers team can't be far off. After all, We Got This Covered has previously reported that a movie based on the team is in development. If Marvel plans to set them up in other films first, though, this could still be some time away.