We’re a week out now from Avengers: Endgame hitting theaters. I can barely contain myself. My tickets are already purchased – I will be seeing it later than I’d like to thanks to the NFL Draft being in Nashville. So, that may mean you don’t hear much from me those few days.
Nonetheless, I’m anticipating a roller coaster of emotion. Given how Marvel has carefully woven this tale for the last 10+ years and where they’re rumored to go in the future, I’m going to take my best crack at predicting who is going to bite the dust in this movie. I should say, there will be no Endgame spoilers here. If you want to find that information, it’s out there. You do you. But, that ain’t me, chief.
Iron Man
From the jump, I thought Iron Man would be one of the characters to bite the dust. But, when you go back and watch the MCU….it seems like they could be building to Tony Stark simply walking away from it all. Between struggling with anxiety and the desire to start a family with Pepper, Stark is primed to take a hiatus from the MCU. I don’t know if they’ll leave things open-ended though. If they’re going to try and tug on our heart strings, there’s no easier way than by killing the man who kicked this whole universe off.
Verdict: R.I.P.
Hulk
They’re still developing this character. It’s pretty evident from the trailers and from the marketing campaign that we’re probably going to get some Professor Hulk action in Endgame. We may never get our solo Hulk movie with Mark Ruffalo, but it still feels like having the Hulk randomly show up just makes the movies feel bigger. I don’t think they’re going to mess with that dynamic. There’s a good thing going with Hulk’s sporadic appearances here.
Verdict: safe
Thor
Between Chris Hemsworth saying he’d like to continue playing Thor if they’ll have him, and the complete revitalization of the character in Thor: Ragnarok, I Just can’t see Marvel giving Thor the axe. There’s money on the table in more future Thor films. That said, Thor has been written to a point where he really has nothing to lose. So, maybe they do decide this is it for him and give him the big hero’s death. I don’t know – I still think there are more reasons to keep him alive than to kill him.
Verdict: safe
Captain America
He’s like….the one pure dude in the MCU. But, Chris Evans has stated he’s ready to move on from the vibranium shield. Plus, it would be super easy for them to past the mantle of Captain America off to Bucky or Falcon and keep the character alive in the MCU. I think that spells doom for Cap, but I expect the most epic of deaths.
Verdict: Dead. D-E-A-D
Wild cards
It ain’t just going to be nice and neat, tied up with a bow on top of it. Things just don’t work out that way. I will say that I think Spider-Man and Doctor Strange are the two absolute safe characters. Spider-Man has a movie coming out in July, and there’s reportedly a Doctor Strange sequel in the works. Who’s going to take the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme? Shuri could take over as Black Panther. You could shuffle around the members and still get a good Guardians of the Galaxy movie. But, if you’re planning a sequel for Doctor Strange, you need Doctor Strange. Just me spitballin’ here.
So, some of the surprise deaths – in case you can’t tell, I think could be Black Panther. I also think it’s possible that Drax or Starlord die. Rocket and Groot are too popular, but you could theoretically build the Guardians without a couple of the current members. Maybe Scarlet Witch or Black Widow get it? I don’t know, but I think it’s likely we get a death we aren’t expecting.
I also think there’s a possibility Marvel throws the biggest curveball of all at us and no one dies. Who’s expecting that? But, you still have ways of writing some of the characters off for a while – Thor goes back to Asgard, Iron Man steps down to deal with his issues, etc. etc.
What do you think, MCU fans? Make your predictions in the comments.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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