Avengers 4 Could End The Future Of The MCU
With Avengers 4 on the way, we’re close to the end of the Infinity War storyline, and with that comes the potential departure of some of the original cast members. Since Marvel’s marketing strategy has been treating the deaths in Infinity War as somewhat superficial (Spider-Man), we’re expecting to see someone kick the bucket for real in the franchise’s 22nd installment. But they can’t just die, that wouldn’t be any fun. Their deaths have to leave a lasting impact on the future of the MCU universe as a whole, and since Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel are going to be the primary ones carrying said future, they have to be affected too. But how exactly?
Iron Man
Iron Man’s death would probably have the biggest impact on the MCU compared to the other characters. As the first Avenger to appear on screen, he’s had time to form some kind of relationship (as rocky as said relationships might be) with nearly everyone, namely with Spider-Man and Doctor Strange--as far as the new Avengers go, of course.
Tony and Strange didn’t see eye to eye at all when they first met, but by the end of Infinity War, Strange did something he told Tony he would never do and sacrificed the time stone to save Tony’s life. Granted, Strange did this because it was presumably the only way to secure the “positive” future he foresaw, but you’d have to imagine there’d be some semblance of respect if he also saw Tony sacrificing himself to save everyone in this same future, enough for him to want to support the Avenger’s efforts after everything is said and done.
As far as Spider-Man goes, to see the reverse of what we saw between him and Tony in Infinity War after Thanos snapped his fingers would be pretty powerful. If Tony is somehow able to save Peter and Peter is unable to return the favor, that’s going to make him feel some type of way. Considering their mentor-student relationship, it’s possible Tony’s death would have Peter thinking that its Uncle Ben all over again. It’s hard to say which direction he would go in with that kind of grief. He could either pour more of himself into being Spider-Man or have his performance as Spider-Man severely weakened. Either way, he’d be dealing with it in future movies.
Captain America
In some way, shape, or form, the Steve Rodgers version of Cap is leaving the MCU. Chris Evans has been talking way too much about his need to leave the role, which, if he’s in a Hugh Jackman kind of position, is understandable since the training necessary to keep his chiseled body is probably tiring. Still, the death of Captain America would hit the rest of the Avengers like a truck. It would be like witnessing the death of justice.
Once everything with Thanos has settled, however, there is a possibility of a new Captain America taking over. We currently have two different characters in the MCU who’ve taken up the mantle in the comics: Falcon and…Bucky (sadly). It’s doubtful that we’ll get new Captain America movies featuring one of these two in the role, but guest appearances aren’t off the table.
Black Panther seems to have a great deal of respect for Cap, so his death may be what gives T'challa the idea to officially join the Avengers.
Black Widow’s had a close relationship with Steve as well, and considering that she’s scheduled to get her own movie in the near future, it’s not out of the question to think that it would address his potential death in some way. Yes, the movie has reports of taking place before any of the Avengers' films, but how it goes about doing that is still up in the air. It could be a flashback-styled movie for all we know at this point.
Hawkeye
Hawkeye has held down the more human element of the MCU since his appearance in Thor. He understood that even without the hammer, the God of Thunder was the God of Thunder and was just going to continue beating down on whoever SHIELD sent at him. To further emphasize his “regular guy” schtick, he’s the only hero in the MCU who actually has a family and a somewhat regular life. He’s also openly admitted that he’s just a guy with a bow and arrow.
Considering his absence in Infinity War, it would make sense that he have an appearance in Avengers 4 since, you know, he’s an O.G. Avenger. However, because of what he is, it’s easy to see him getting killed in the final battle. Hawkeye represents everything each of the Avengers wants for themselves: a life away from all the chaos. Seeing him go down could have all sorts of lasting repercussions, but the main one that comes to mind would be instilling doubt in the heroes that they could ever achieve and hold onto what he had.
It would be interesting to see how the original Avengers handle something like this if they appear in future installments. Heck, it would interesting to see how they handle it if it’s just contained in Avengers 4. There’s also the possibility that his death would play out similarly to how Phil Coulson's did in the original Avengers movie. Kind of ironic that the death of the most normal guys can end up triggering the most important events.
Thanos
Thanos has been around since the first Avengers film. Sure, he only made cameo appearances back then, but to say that he hasn’t had as big of an impact on the MCU as the other characters would be silly. In a way, as the villain, he’s shaped the MCU as we know it, and his death would pretty much bring about the entire purpose of this discussion--the end the MCU’s story, or the overarching story at least.
Marvel has said that they were probably never going to organize a project as big as Infinity War again. So, keeping that in mind, it’s possible that once Thanos goes down, we’ll never get another villain to bring together the MCU the way he did. No more interwoven plots between films that lead to some spectacular conclusion. It’s kind of sad to think about. That doesn’t necessarily mean that villains like Galactus won’t make a future appearance, just that their threat won’t be epic as Thanos’ was. Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios, doesn’t even know if they’re going be calling phase 4, “phase 4.” It may just be called something else entirely. If Thanos does take the current form of the MCU down with him, it’s hard to imagine future installments being as fun as they’ve been these past ten years. That’s not to say that the standalone films haven’t been as enjoyable, or that joint films between the heroes at the level of Civil War are off the table. It’s just been a fun ride seeing all these movies lead up to the onscreen event we got in Infinity War. Still, it took a decade to get to where we are now, so even if Marvel does come out and definitively say that they’re done with the phase-style storytelling, they could change their minds.
