It’s been 10 years and 18 movies since Iron Man (2008) came out, and now MCU is approaching at the culmination of everything that has happened till now, as Kevin Feige puts it. Marvel Studios have managed to assemble a magnificent cast under one roof to create a mega comic-book event as part of phase 3. The Infinity war films are the most awaited superhero ensemble movies of the 21st century. Fans are ready to witness the grandest event called Infinity War.
Marvel Cinematic universe will systematically expand to over 70 comic-book characters who are likely to appear in Avengers Infinity War movies. The superheroes will be literally jostling for screen time and space. The Russo Brothers had earlier clarified that there will be new titles for the final two movies in phase 4 as they are two independent movies without any major inter-linkages. The first one is from Team Avengers perspective while the second one is entirely based on Thanos storyline.
The classic comic-book story will remain the same where Thanos first locate all the Infinity Stones. In Avengers 3, he will assemble all the gems and create an all-powerful Infinity gauntlet, cause a worldwide catastrophe and then in Avengers 4, the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy would join forces and fight the mad titan.
Here’s an entire roster of superheroes till now:
Iron Man:
Iron Man is a spoilt billionaire son turned superhero who joined “The Avengers” because it’s cool to save the world. He is the most popular Marvel superhero and in a way, the sole anchor of the entire MCU with other superheroes poured in as supporting characters. He is an overconfident, impulsive guy with the high-IQ. In Avengers, we saw how Iron Man saved the day by carrying missile on his shoulders away from Earth’s orbit. He could also travel space to access advanced alien technologies and return in time. He embraces his superhero identity with pride. He can learn and improvise on the go. Lastly, he is an MIT graduate who can hack anything on Earth.
Iron Man is most certainly going to die in Avengers 4 as Robert Downey Jr. has repeatedly said that he wants to go out before the character becomes a parody and now is a perfect time. It is possible that Harley Kenner is back to mourn the loss of his friend Tony Stark. It would be poetic to see Phase 3 ending with his death as it all started with Iron Man in 2008.
Captain America:
He is one of the most revered, principled and loved superhero of all times across the comic-book universe. He is also one of the most grounded superheroes who cares about people and his team. During the Battle of New York with Loki and his Chittauri army, he led the Avengers to victory followed by the threat of extinction from Ultron, he always stood his ground and put the interests of humanity and team first before himself. In the new poster, Steve Rogers is not in his usual attire of Captain America, he is wearing Nomad suit from comics.
He will take on the new alias Nomad which he adopted during 1970’s in Marvel comics. So he will be fighting against Thanos and his ruthless alien invaders but as someone else. He will definitely die and pass on the mantle to either Winter Soldier or Falcon. The recent casting call from Marvel is suggesting a funeral scene for major character’s death. It’s very likely Cap as he is an American hero who will attract people from all sides to his funeral. Here’s the description of casting call:
“Mourners: Looking for men and women over the age of 18, all ethnicities, to portray mourners. Especially looking for good character looks and expressive faces. This will be photo selected by the film’s directors! Size restrictions: Men no larger than 44 coat, women dress size 0-8. FOR NEW FACES ONLY! You cannot have worked on this project previously, or be booked on upcoming days. NO EXCEPTIONS!”
The Hulk:
In the past, there have been two independent Hulk movies, in the first one Eric Bana played the green monster while in the second one Edward Norton was “The Hulk”. Finally, Hulk was re-introduced into the MCU and Mark Ruffalo is our near perfect Bruce Banner/The Hulk. His next outing will be in Thor: Ragnarok and then in two Infinity war movies.
Winter Soldier and Falcon:
Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier was a close friend of Steve Rogers until he went rogue. He plotted against S.H.I.E.L.D, killed the father of Black Panther when he blew UN Building but then he joined Team Cap to fight against Tony Stark. He will survive Infinity War as actor Sebastian Stan signed a 9 movie deal and 2 Avengers will only take it to 4. Moreover, he the best replacement for Captain America who will most certainly die in Infinity War. He can don the mantle and take the character forward in Phase 4. But another contender for the same is Falcon.
Black Panther:
Black Panther made his debut in the Marvel cinematic universe in the Captain America Civil war, he is played by famous actor Chadwick Boseman. His native name is T’Challa, son of King Ta-Shaka, who lost his life at the hands of Winter Soldier during Civil War.
He is a brilliant strategist, scientist, tactician with a hybrid fighting style incorporating acrobatics and animal mimicry. He wears a suit made of vibranium (world’s strongest metal) which is used to make Captain America’s Shield as well. He is also called as “King of the dead” in latest Marvel comics, which gives him access to all the experiences and wealth of knowledge of the previous Black Panthers. And he will most certainly come alive out of Infinity War.
Thor and Loki:
Both of them share love-hate relationship (mostly hate) with one another, they fought in the Avengers and Thor: The Dark World but would come together for a while in Ragnarok against Hela. In the latest trailer, Loki is handing over Tesseract to the Mad Titan and turned on his brother again. Also, when Guardians are carrying Thor, they see a planet (Asgard) devastated in a huge battle which means Loki has been secretly working for Thanos all along. He joins Thor’s crew to defeat Hela only because Thanos asked him to do that. He is very likely playing both sides.
Spiderman:
In the new Spiderman franchise (Marvel-Sony JV), the popular actor Tom Holland has been cast as Peter Parker/Spiderman. It is based on “Spiderman Homecoming” storyline, the comic was launched in the 1990’s. The title is apt as it’s a coming-of-age High-school drama and he is actually coming back to his home – MCU. In the end, he got Iron Spider suit from Tony Stark and he is now part of the Avengers. Well, he will definitely survive Avengers Infinity War as he has a blockbuster solo franchise to take care.
Ant-Man and Wasp:
Paul Rudd who plays Ant-Man was introduced in a solo movie, then he came to Civil War and his upcoming movie is Ant-Man & Wasp with Evangeline Lily. Both of them will be seen in Avengers Infinity War and are definitely coming back for the third movie in Phase 4.
Vision and Scarlett Witch:
Both of them made a debut in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Scarlett Witch was a villain until she joined the good guys. Vision is created by Tony Stark who has a vibranium-laced body and a synthetic soul. He was programmed by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner using J.A.R.V.I.S codes, activated by the mind-gem hidden inside the Loki Scepter. He is not really an AI, he is more a Cybernetic creature who yearns to be more human.
In the end, she will survive but Vision may not which opens up exciting possibilities for her character arc.
Dr. Strange:
He is a world-famous surgeon turned master sorcerer whose life changed when he found the ancient one after he crippled his hands in an accident. Dr. Stephen Vincent Strange (created by Ditko and Lee in 1963) is searching for meaning in his life, exploring different possibilities that could determine his fate. He spent years trying to find a miracle treatment that would fix his predicament, eventually wound up at Tibet. Consequently, he shunned conventional medicine and embraced sorcery and mysticism, joined the order.
He will survive due to two reasons. Firstly, he is one of the most powerful characters of MCU and secondly Dr. Strange 2 is expected in Phase 4.
Hawkeye and Black Widow:
Hawkeye and Black Widow are two Avengers without superhero abilities but are highly skilled fighters. Hawkeye will definitely die, but it would be a great shame if Black Widow’s entire tenure in MCU goes by without a solo movie. In Phase 4, Marvel would probably consider it and for that, she will be kept alive.
Guardians of the Galaxy:
The Guardians including Star Lord, Gamora, Raccoon, Drax, Groot, Mantis, and Nebula will be seen in Infinity war but without Yondu. GOTG Vol. 3 has been announced and is likely to come out in 2020 after Phase 3 is over. Hence, the main team of Guardians will probably survive Thanos fury.
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