Infinity War: Who Gon' Die?!
In light of Avengers: Infinity War being the movie that completely changes the game for the MCU, we’ve compiled our thoughts on who will not make it out alive. To add a twist to the usual formula, all 3 members here at The Twisted Cape have weighed in below and shared
Sam:
Am I anti-American? No. Do I think America will die? Its Captain certainly will. The values and strength of a nation can only last so long before something or someone comes to tear it down and strip it away, leaving the fighters and believers to come together in order to build something good and new, something that will once again instill strength into the nation in order to take it back. Captain America will pass during the events of Infinity War, but it is because, sadly, his era is over. But from the passing of a historical icon, hero, and soldier, the ones who surrounded him will gain his wisdom and strength to build and persevere past the insurmountable evils of the world.
Sometimes tragedy is needed to build, and Marvel is getting ready for their restructuring. Add “real world” factors into the MCU, and you get contracts that are now coming to an end, which means heroes have to go or evolve. I say evolve, because multiple people can have taken up the mantle of a particular hero and its icon, carried on its legacy, and made the values and characteristics contemporary. I believe that Cap will die during this next Avengers film, but from it we’ll get a new Avengers team, one where the mantle of Captain America may be taken up by another hero in Rogers’ stead and one where a new type of leader may have to step into place (Editor’s Note: Hopefully the next hero to hold Cap’s mantle is Rocket Raccoon - MC). Sadly, one of those heroes will not be Iron Man/Tony Stark/Robert Downey Jr. (Editor’s Note: Plot twist! It’ll be his secret half-brother Tony Stank instead - JR). Add “real world factor” instance #2 and you get another contract ending. What is interesting here, is that we have many who will carry on Captain America’s legacy after he passes. But will Peter Parker, mentor of Tony Stark, carry on his legacy (values, leadership style), or choose to walk his own path due to fundamental differences between their characters’ personalities?
It will be interesting to see how the rest of the world and the Avengers handle the deaths of certain heroes compared to others, but no doubt about it, Iron Man and Captain America will not survive Infinity War. In the wake of these men departing the MCU, real world social movements are going to bleed into further films by having more women-centric heroes and stories (Editor’s Note: It’ll be more fun too because… Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - MC). There are a lot of stories to be told throughout the MCU, and they sure as hell are not all about men. The death of these characters means a tonal shift for the MCU, and I’m very excited to see what ground it will lay for future phases to build upon.
Jesse:
Infinity War is almost upon us and rumors are abound as to key plot points, the location of the Soul Stone, and, probably most prominently, who’s going to survive this whole ordeal and who will die fighting the good fight. Seeing as Marvel-Kevin has already gone on record that if someone were to die during Infinity War or it’s sequel (whose title is being held secret due to spoiler reasons) (Editor’s Note: It’s because the next title is Avengers: Home Redesign - MC) then their character will remain dead, the odds are almost all but 100% that someone will die, and someone important at that (Editors Note: Most likely Stan Lee's character, which oddly enough may influence his real world character - SK).
Being the less emotional, more logical one of the group here, let’s use reasoning to guess at just who will perish. Off the bat there’s two logical choices: Iron Man and Captain America. Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans have been in the MCU the longest and have been in the largest number of movies so it makes sense that they would be the ones to leave first. Hell, Evans has already gone on record saying that he’s done being Cap after Avengers 4, so with Cap it’s not so much a matter of if he will die but rather when. Because he specifically stated Avengers 4 though, even if it were just to avoid spoilers, my money is that Cap dies in 4 and that we’ll be saying bye to Tony in Infinity War. Robert Downey Jr has also been in a state of contract negotiation since the beginning, with his contract barely getting renewed at times, which doesn’t bode well for his character. Either way they’re both doomed.
One thing that’s going to be driving a lot of plot elements though is the almighty dollar (Editors Note: Almighty dollar is more threatening than Ultron - SK). If Disney/Marvel don’t think they can capitalize on a character in another big budget movie then you bet they’re going to be out the door. Taking a look at the total gross domestic box office numbers for the US, adjusted for inflation of course, the lowest grossing movies in the MCU are The Incredible Hulk (no surprise there) and Ant-Man. I, like many other people, don’t really consider The Incredible Hulk to be proper MCU, especially since it didn’t even have any of the same actors, but there’s also the whole movie rights issue with Universal to consider. This could mean that Disney is willing to part with Bruce Banner just to avoid the hassle of dealing with all the legal issues surrounding the character.
Now we know going into this one that Ant-Man and Wasp will not be in Infinity War for reasons that will be explained in July’s Ant-Man and the Wasp, but that doesn’t mean that Marvel couldn’t have offed the characters in some last minute script changes (Editors Note: even though it's probably best they didn't add two more characters to the existing 1000 person casting list - SK). Granted I feel that this is a little unlikely but it wouldn’t surprise me. Depending on how Ant-Man and the Wasp does, their future in the MCU might be in more peril come Avengers 4.
If we’re looking at who I personally would like to see leave the MCU, my vote is Thor (Editor’s Note: I SAY THEE NAY - MC). The character never really resonated with me until Ragnarok and even then it seemed like a too little, too late situation.The box office numbers don’t seem to counter this point either: both of the first two Thor movies help to round out the bottom five lowest grossing movies in the MCU (in the US) with Ragnarok not even breaking the Top 10. Combine that with Hemsworth’s long tenure in the MCU already and I would not be surprised at all to see Thor leave us during Infinity War (Editors Note: Yeah, aight. He probably won't even SEE it coming - SK).
Mike:
10 years is an incredibly long time (Editors Note: Unless something dies at 10. Then it's “gone too soon” amiright - SK). We’ve been fortunate enough to have the MCU for a decade and have yet to lose any of our major heroes. That looks to change over the next 2 Avengers films. The trailers have become increasingly ominous, causing that feeling of dread in the pit of your stomach. You know something big is coming (Editors Note: Like Thanos’ sausage finger in baby Gamora’s hand - SK). Just like in the comic book world, big events generally mean big deaths. We know some characters are absolutely safe, but others… well, we know that’s not the case, so I’ve devised a list of the characters that I think we are most likely to lose to Thanos and the Black Order in Infinity War. Before I get started, this is all guesswork, assuming that characters with announced future movies are safe, so Spider-Man and Captain Marvel, you guys clearly are good to go.
First, I have to go with an obvious one: The Vision. He’s literally got an Infinity Stone lodged in his forehead. At that point, you may as well buy every billboard in New York, add giant arrows, and say “Thanos, Infinity Stone this way!” There are multiple ways he could be brought back, which has comic book precedent, since he’s an android after all, but Marvel Kevin has stated that dead is dead in this movie. This could prove to be a little emotional. Paul Bettany has been with us since Iron Man, which came out 10 years ago, while appearing as The Vision in 3 films including Infinity War. As one of my favorite Avengers of all time, this one hurts, but it may not be forever (Editors Note: What if he was repurposed as Jarvis again? You thought it was bad when Rhodes couldn't walk, imagine losing your body and going back to being AI. Suuucks.- SK).
Next I’m going to go with one that may not be popular. One of the biggest selling points of Infinity War is that we’re combining all of the corners of the MCU (except TV, which is a whole other thing for later). Sadly, putting the Guardians and the Avengers together may prove to be the end for a member of the Guardians. I think Drax may not survive the end here. He’s had a long standing feud with the minions of Thanos, due to the death of his family. He realized that Thanos is ultimately responsible and sees it as his duty to avenge their deaths. Drax has absolutely been a fan favorite over time, which may cause some of the emotional resonance in the movie for some of the Guardians. Plus it opens up a roster spot for Adam Warlock in GOTG Volume 3.
Finally, I’m going a little unexpected. Yes, we all know about that contract situations, but I don’t think that will play out until the still untitled Avengers 4 (whose title I suspect will be revealed at the end of the credits). No, I think we have the potential to lose Scarlet Witch. Wanda has been through some struggles through her tenure in the MCU. Her power level is extreme, which I believe Thanos or the Black Order will see as a threat and eliminate her as she’s attempting to defend Vision. It’ll provide that feeling that Thanos isn’t messing around and can kick the Avengers into high gear since they would need to avenge 2 of their fallen.
Those are our thoughts on who we think will not survive Infinity War, but again these are just our guesses/hopes. Do you agree with our thoughts? Who do you think will meet an unfortunate end in either Infinity War or Avengers 4? Join the discussion on any of our social media pages @thetwistedcape or send an email to thetwistedcape@gmail.com.