Avengers 4 will herald something of a fresh start for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as the Powers That Be switch gears for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and a direct sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming.
But beyond that, the film will also have the tough task of closing the book on a 10-year cinematic legacy. Yes, it almost goes without saying that Joe and Anthony Russo face a tall order if they’re to deliver a worthy follow-up to Infinity War, and that’s before we even factor the threequel’s devastating finale into the equation.
In case you missed it, Thanos won, basically, and wiped out half of all life in the universe. His mass genocide left only a few members of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes remaining, who are now expected to pull together their resources and save the world. Or, failing that, avenge it.
But even if they are able to somehow reverse the Mad Titan’s devastating actions, don’t count on all your favorite heroes surviving the whole ordeal. At least a few of them will be knocked off – in the interest of raising the stakes and all that – and in a recent interview with Screen Rant, producer Nate Moore revealed that we’ll be saying some farewells come next May.
“I think it’s an opportunity for us to bid a fond farewell to characters that we’ve come to know for a while, but to also then introduce characters who are going to feel completely new and hopefully surprising to both our core fans and fans of our movies who aren’t as well-versed in publishing.”
As for who may bite the dust? Well, that obviously remains unknown, but most people are predicting that Tony Stark will be amongst those to go. After all, there’s certainly precedent for Iron Man’s death, seeing as his character took on a mentor/surrogate father role for Spider-Man: Homecoming and beyond, not to mention the fact that he was stabbed through the torso by Thanos in Infinity War.
He’s been through worse, of course, and the cutting-edge tech at Stark Industries will probably allow Iron Man to make a full recovery. Still, given that foreboding prediction from Doctor Strange (“we’re in the endgame now”), many believe Tony Stark will be forced to pay the ultimate price so that the Marvel Cinematic Universe can continue.
That’s nothing more than innocent conjecture, of course, as the Russo Brothers will likely keep the Avengers 4 story on lockdown right up until the moment it’s ready to begin screening on May 3rd, 2019. But with Nate Moore now confirming that we’ll “bid farewell to characters that we’ve come to know for a while,” let the speculation commence!
