At the end of Avengers: Infinity War, the credits promised “Thanos will return.” But while Josh Brolin’s purple-tinted, gigantic villain will return in 2019’s Avengers 4, who else will be back? If you’ve seen Infinity War (and a lot of you have by now), you know it’s a bit of a mystery. Here come the spoilers!
In his quest to balance the universe, Thanos acquired all the infinity stones and zapped half the universe’s population, just as he threatened. Many of Marvel’s major heroes were among the vanished half of the population that just kind of … turned into piles of sand that then blew away.
So Avengers 4 has a major situation: No way are all those money-making Marvel heroes gone for good. But some of them probably have to bite the dust for sheer dramatic reasons (and because a few actors have talked publicly about moving on). We’ll have to wait to see exactly who’s taking early retirement, but for now, we can sum up what we know.
We’ll update this story as we learn more.
What’s the title of the Infinity War sequel?
The film is still being referred to as Avengers 4, or Untitled Avengers Movie. And there may be a spoiler-y reason why the title is being protected. When a fan on Twitter mentioned being scared about the title because it spoils Infinity War, directors Joe and Anthony Russo ominously said fans are right to be freaked out.
The first title guess we heard was Infinity Gauntlet, which would give away the fact that Thanos acquired all the magical infinity stones in Infinity War. But it’s fun to speculate on a more creative option: “Avengers 4: Black Panther Goes Bye-Bye Forever” (not happening). “Gee, The World Is Really Less Crowded These Days, Maybe Thanos Was Right”? “Avengers: Some Of Us Were Left Behind After The Rapture”? The possibilities are as infinite as the stones.
In early June 2018, news began to trickle out about another totally possible title: Fallen Heroes. This is according to a user on Reddit, but, I mean, it’s on the internet so you know it’s true, right?
Ready for yet another title rumor? In late June-early July 2019, fans began to speculate that the film will be called Avengers: End Game. Website Omega Underground found that title on the site of Avengers movie cinematographer Trent Opaloch. After the supposed title was reported, it was changed to Avengers 4 on Opaloch’s site. To get really geeky about it, it’s interesting that the initials EG as in End Game are alphabetically just one letter apiece removed from the FH rumor that was going around earlier. If the next rumor claims the film title is Avengers: D__ F___, we’ll know someone is having fun with us. (Avengers: Dead Forever? Avengers: Done Fooling? Avengers: Darn Funky? That last one should get a soundtrack from the late lamented Prince.)
When will Avengers 4 come out?
Officially, Avengers 4 is scheduled for a May 3, 2019, release in the US and April 26 in the UK, with no Australia release date known yet. But remember: Avengers: Infinity War was scheduled for a May 2018 date, and then Marvel moved it up one week for a late April global release. Maybe keep all of late April-early May 2019 free, just in case.
And as of late July 2018, rumors circulated that the film’s release date had been moved up. CBR notes that IMAX’s quarterly report lists the film’s release date as April, not May. While Disney and IMAX did not immediately respond to a request for comment, this would fit in with last year’s schedule juggling.
The film was shot back-to-back with Infinity War, beginning in August 2017 and with principal photography ending in January 2018. Filming was done in the Atlanta area. According to the Scottish newspaper The Daily Record, more scenes will be filmed in Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland, in July 2018, with reshoots coming later in the year.
The film is the fourth in a series, so if you want to watch all three previous Avengers films, check out 2012’s The Avengers, 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, and 2018’s new Avengers: Infinity War. Done with that? There are plenty of other Marvel movies to watch to soak up the various heroes’ backstories. Here’s our suggested order to watch them in.
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What we know about the plot
Well, Thanos will be back — the credits promised. He seemed pretty satisfied with his balancing of the universe, last seen resting at a nipa hut (the scene was shot at Banaue Rice Terraces in the Philippines), so it would seem the remaining Avengers will have to take the fight to him.
Some think we could look to the comic-book version of this story for how things might work out, but there are always deviations between the comics and the movies, so don’t expect an exact copy. Still, if things fall that way, expect major roles for Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch). Remember, Strange made an odd decision in Infinity War, handing over the time stone he said he would always protect. Is it because this was required for the one scenario in which he saw our heroes winning? He likely has the best idea of what’s about to go down.
Did you remember to stay in your seats after Infinity War ended to watch the post-credits scene? We break it down here, but it looks as if Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) successfully sent a message to Captain Marvel, based on the symbol shown on what looks like Fury’s pager. Brie Larson will play Captain Marvel in a March 2019 solo movie, and since that’s just a month or two before Avengers 4, it’s expected to set up some plot points.
In May 2018, ComicBook.com found a supposed synopsis for Avengers 4 in License Global. It seems to have been translated from the magazine’s native Italian, and it doesn’t exactly give away any huge spoilers, but it’s fun to read. “A culmination of 22 interconnected films, the fourth installment of the Avengers saga will draw audiences to witness the turning point of this epic journey,” the summary says. “Our beloved heroes will truly understand how fragile this reality is and the sacrifices that must be made to uphold it.” Naturally, it doesn’t say exactly what (or who) those sacrifices will be, but we have ideas.
Latest update: In June 2018, Chris Hemsworth, who plays Thor, told Esquire that Avengers 4 is “even more shocking” than Avengers: Infinity War. While he didn’t reveal any spoilers, the God of Thunder said that the film was another step forward in the series. “Each step we seem to take with these films, I’ve loved the fact that there’s been growth and evolution and it continues to surprise people,” he said.
Who’ll be dead to stay?
Here’s a list of who vanished, melty-sand style, thanks to Thanos eliminating half the population:
- Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan)
- Drax (Dave Bautista)
- Groot (Vin Diesel)
- Mantis (Pom Klementieff)
- Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen)
- Spider-Man (Tom Holland)
- Peter Quill (Chris Pratt)
- Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch)
- Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman)
- Falcon (Anthony Mackie)
Remaining to fight another day (as far as we know — we didn’t see these heroes vanish) are:
- Captain America (Chris Evans)
- Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.)
- Thor (Chris Hemsworth)
- Hulk (Mark Ruffalo)
- M’Baku (Winston Duke)
- Okoye (Danai Gurira)
- Rocket (Bradley Cooper)
- War Machine (Don Cheadle)
- Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson)
- Nebula (Karen Gillan)
Any of the vanished heroes are likely to return, at least for a while. Marvel would no sooner keep them all dead than let an intern feed hundred-dollar bills into a paper shredder: Too much money to lose.
Some we KNOW will be back — Black Panther and the Guardians of the Galaxy have additional movies planned, so T’Challa and Star-Lord aren’t going anywhere, though not all of the Wakandans and Guardians may make it through. Dave Bautista, who plays Guardian Drax the Destroyer, told Den of Geek he’s returning for both Avengers 4 and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, though he confirmed he doesn’t know how Drax will be back. (So technically, he could still die and be seen in flashback.)
The future might not be so bright for the big three — Captain America, Iron Man and Thor. Chris Evans has said he’s moving on after this film, and Downey and Hemsworth have also hinted at it. But we won’t know till we know, and besides, Marvel is famous for rebooting characters who’ve died/been frozen/hung up the uniform.
And as Infinity War watchers know, some characters died — or seemed to be dead — before Thanos did his thing. Heimdall (Idris Elba), Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and the Vision (Paul Bettany) are on a different level of death than the others, although again, dead doesn’t always mean forever in Marvel-land.
Actor Benicio del Toro, who plays The Collector, told Cinema Blend his character is still alive, though it’s unclear if he’s joking. But he later seemed to confirm this belief on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
And some characters are anyone’s guess. We didn’t see the fates of Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke) and Wong (Benedict Wong). Plus, Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), The Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) didn’t even appear, so we have no clue if they’ll show up in Avengers 4.
Fans have theories
With a year between movies, fans have plenty of time to think about what’s going to happen. Here are a few ideas, some more serious than others:
captain marvel and valkyrie are coming to save everybody’s ass in avengers 4
— nadine | iw spoilers (@vaIIkyrie) April 30, 2018
Avengers 4: Great Lakes, is just Squirrel Girl making friends with Thanos and convincing that people are all just the best. Then SG, Thanos, and (probably) Galactus have a picnic.
— Andrew Thaler (@DrAndrewThaler) April 30, 2018
Every character that dies in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ should return in ‘Avengers 4’ with a black costume and a mustache.
— Christopher Campbell (@thefilmcynic) April 30, 2018
Meet the cast (we think)
With death not likely to mean goodbye, here’s who you can expect to see in the next movie.
This piece was originally published on April 30, 2018, and is updated as news of the sequel rolls in.
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