Which Marvel Characters Died Offscreen in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’?
In an interview with The Huffington Post, the Russo brothers confirmed the fates of certain characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe who didn’t appear in Avengers: Infinity War. It should be noted that this article contains major spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War (and Avengers 4 to a lesser extent). If you haven’t yet seen the film (why wouldn’t you at this point?), please go watch it before reading further.
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There’s been a lot of talk about the characters we witness crumble to death after Thanos snapped his fingers at the end of the film, but what about the ones who sat the film out, or were in the movie but weren’t explicitly shown living or dying in the last scene of the film? The Russos provided some answers – and deliberately chose to be vague about the fates of certain characters.
Let’s start off with who died.
Confirmed Deaths
The two big characters from previous films confirmed to have snuffed it are Betty Ross and Lady Sif. Not that this is any surprise; Betty Ross (Liv Tyler) was last seen in The Incredible Hulk, acting opposite Edward Norton before Marvel replaced him with Mark Ruffalo. Aside from General Ross showing up in two of Marvel’s Phase 3 movies (Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War), there have been little connections to the only standalone movie about the Hulk since the character joined the Avengers.
Despite rumours that Liv Tyler was on the set of Infinity War, it seemed unlikely that the Russos would bring her back into the fold, considering the burgeoning romance between Bruce Banner and Black Widow in Avengers: Age of Ultron (which this movie alluded to, but seemed to indicate that that ship had sailed).
It’s no surprise that Lady Sif has been killed off either. She wasn’t in Thor: Ragnarok due to Jamie Alexander’s scheduling issues, and it’s very likely that she would have just been killed off with the rest of the Warriors Three anyway. It would seem that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has no further need for her with Valkyrie around, so it’s not surprising she’s been wiped from existence.
Oh, and if you were wondering, Matt Damon’s character in Thor: Ragnarok was also killed by the snap, presuming that he hadn’t been killed by Thanos earlier when the Sanctuary II boarded the Asgardian refugee ship. In a separate interview with Uproxx, they mentioned that the S.H.I.E.L.D. operative who played Galaga in the original Avengers was offed as well.
Now for the less-depressing part of this article: who survived.
Confirmed Survivors
The only two characters in the MCU officially confirmed to still be alive by the Russos are Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) and Howard the Duck (Seth Green), randomly.
That Aunt May is safe isn’t really too much of a surprise. Any Spider-Man film needs Aunt May in it, and considering that the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming is slated to arrive in 2019, we know that May will be there and very much alive. Of course, anyone killed by the Infinity Gauntlet could very well be brought back to life in Avengers 4, but Aunt May is supposed to provide that grounded presence in Peter Parker’s life. It would be a little bit harder to do that if May had actually experienced death and then come back to life.
I have absolutely no idea why the Russos specifically thought Howard the Duck had to survive. I really hope there isn’t a Howard the Duck movie on the horizon, but I imagine that they were just amused by the idea that amidst all this chaos, this suave duck with an appetite for a drink is still out there in the galaxy just doing his thing.
In addition, it was previously revealed that Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) survived in an Q&A session with the directors at an Iowa high school. (Rumor has it that there was a deleted scene showing her leading the half of Asgard that survived Thanos’s attack to safety; perhaps they didn’t want to include it out of fear that it would distract from Thor’s story arc in this movie.) Thompson has teased her involvement in Avengers 4, and she was outright spotted near the set during filming. Furthermore, Infinity War executive producer and Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy director James Gunn confirmed that Kraglin Obfonteri (played by his brother, Sean Gunn) survived “The Snappening” as well, and that there are plans for him.
To get into Avengers 4 spoilers, there are a few things we know about from what’s leaked out. Winter Soldier/White Wolf actor Sebastian Stan indicated that Michael Douglas’s Hank Pym, Michelle Pfeiffer’s Janet Van Dyne, and Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury will be fighting alongside him in Avengers 4, which confirms that they’ll survive Ant-Man and the Wasp and indirectly confirms that resurrections are not off the table for characters that aren’t the leads of their respective franchises.
Recently, Gwyneth Paltrow accidentally spoiled her part in Avengers 4 by noting that not only does Pepper Potts survive, but she and Tony Stark have a kid. Jon Favreau recently confirmed at the premiere of Solo: A Star Wars Story that he’d return as Happy Hogan for the finale of this leg of the overarching story of the MCU. More on the Iron Man side of the MCU, Ty Simpkins is confirmed to return as Harvey Keener, the kid that Tony helped and was helped by in Iron Man 3.
Finally, set photos of Avengers 4 show Ant-Man and Hawkeye (possibly using his Ronin persona now) alive and well and in new costumes, indicating that they were not victims of Thanos. So that’s approximately 4 deaths confirmed and 11 characters that survived without the need for resurrection, as far as we can tell – not quite “perfectly-balanced”, but not every character that died with the activation of the Infinity Gauntlet needs to be characters that we know. But even still, there are a number of characters who the Russos refused to be drawn on regarding their fate – mostly because explaining whether they were killed or not are spoilers in and of themselves.
Fates Uncertain
First is Shuri. While she appeared in Infinity War, the last we saw of her was when she attempted to stop Corvus Glaive from killing the Vision to get the Mind Stone. The Russos weren’t willing to comment on her fate, but they have mentioned Shuri as a possible candidate to hold the title of Black Panther in T’Challa’s absence (she is, after all, the second of T’Chaka’s two heirs), so it’s likely that she is in Avengers 4 and they aren’t willing to say anything about her role yet.
Possibly the most interesting character mentioned is Jane Foster. The directors wouldn’t be drawn on whether or not Thor’s love interest, played by Natalie Portman, had been killed or not. This is particularly interesting, given that Jane hasn’t appeared in a Marvel film since Thor: The Dark World in 2013. When Thor: Ragnarok came around, the only mention of Jane Foster happened near the beginning, when Thor told Loki that they mutually broke up. It seems likely that Portman would have initially signed on to do a trilogy of films when she was first hired, but it seemed that Marvel weren’t bothered about bringing her back once she indicated that she wasn’t interested in doing a third film.
Perhaps the reason why is that Thor’s future is a bit up in the air at the moment. With the trilogy over, Chris Hemsworth isn’t signed on to any other movies as Thor after Avengers 4. If Marvel did decide to do a Thor 4 (something more likely to happen with the acclaim Ragnarok received), then they would presumably contemplate bringing Jane back as a love interest. Portman has since changed her tune on the possibility of returning after initially dismissing the idea. Portman’s newfound enthusiasm for returning incidentally follows the comic book version of her character assuming the title of Thor after Thor was deemed unworthy to wield Mjolnir for a time, so having Jane Foster adopt the God of Thunder’s set of powers is also something that could be on the table and might be something Portman would be interested in.
Strangely, they also wouldn’t be drawn on Peter Parker’s best friend Ned, for spoilers. It’s puzzling why they would reveal that Aunt May was still alive, but not Ned. Perhaps we’ll understand why in the next Spider-Man or Avengers film. If Ned did die and was then resurrected in Avengers 4, that’s probably going to be a topic of discussion between him and Peter in the Spider-Man sequel.
Unsurprisingly, the fates of Korg and Miek have also been left ambiguous. Kevin Feige has previously said he has “big plans” for the two Thor: Ragnarok supporting characters, and they would surely be candidates to return if there was a fourth Thor film.
The Russos haven’t confirmed if Nakia is dead or not, but they did offer a reason as to why she wasn’t in Wakanda for Infinity War: apparently, she was away on an undercover mission. Presumably T’Challa wasn’t eager to bring her back, knowing that Thanos and his army would show up at his front door looking for the Infinity Stones.
That’s all we know so far. Who do you think survived the events of Avengers: Infinity War? Let us know in the comments.
Avengers: Infinity War is playing in theaters now.
Josh is a huge a fan of Star Wars, superheroes and video games. He spends most of his time wondering who would win in a fight between Boba Fett and Star Lord.
