Avengers Ruminations

After the shocking excitement of "Infinity War," I had to jot down some thoughts, predictions, ponderings, and Marvel fan fiction of sorts.

Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you've seen "Avengers: Infinity War" at least once by now. The disposition of the fallen heroes is certainly not as terminal as it seems, with upcoming "Guardians of the Galaxy 3," "Black Panther 2," "Spider-Man: Far from Home," and "Dr. Strange 2". It's foolish to kill off some of the MCEU's most profitable characters, and who doesn't love Tom Holland? Brilliant casting move.

No, the next Avengers film will add the most powerful of all in Captain Marvel (solo movie in February 2019), who will be the Superman of the Marvel universe. We also might be treated to an appearance by Adam Warlock, who was teased at the end of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2."

So what will become of the MCEU after the devastation at the hands of Thanos? Well, I'll tell you my hypothesis, which is ever-evolving (isn't that the fun of it all?). My original hypothesis was that the vanished were actually the survivors. Makes sense, as they are the new characters driving new, profitable franchises. It would be a great twist and an easy out for the massive contracts of Thor, Hulk, Captain, Iron Man, Black Widow, War Machine, Rocket Raccoon. However, it's not going to be that easy, although it would have caused an uproar among fanboys and girls worldwide. I still like that version of things.

Assuming there isn't a massive twist, our survivors are all long-standing members, so this is an opportunity to say goodbye to them without sharing too much screentime with the young bucks. It's a proper sendoff into the sunset, and although some of them will certainly find their characters killed off, some will simply disappear, never to be seen again. Until the character is rebooted.

Here's the skinny. The rumored title of the next Avengers film follows two narratives, and I could be wrong on both counts, but one is "Avengers: Endgame" and another is "Avengers: F__ H___" which could be Fallen Heroes, or Final Hour, or Finding Hawkeye (not likely). Endgame seems to be the prevailing theory, so we'll go with that. Dr. Strange told Iron Man that they were in the Endgame, so it's on.

Gamora, Vision, and Loki are dead. Sorry guys, they aren't coming back. Iron Man was left on Titan with Nebula, so he is obviously the last hope for half the universe, so the two of them will chase down Thanos and try to get the Infinity Gauntlet back, and turn back the hands of time to save all their friends. Their mission will coincide with the Earth mission where Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, War Machine, and Rocket Raccoon will find Hawkeye, who has evolved into a new hero named Ronin (I'm pretty excited to see how this goes).

Where I'm uncertain is how Captain Marvel and potentially Adam Warlock will fit in with this narrative, they may be the third storyline, taking the supernatural approach and enlisting the help of the Nova Corp. in some mission in the vast reaches of space, no doubt linking up with Iron Man and Nebula.

Here's what's going to happen, and I'll lay it out in two ways. Who will die, and what the climactic sequences simply need to be in order to work effectively.

Who will die? Several of our heroes won't be returning. Among the fallen heroes, I predict Captain America, Iron Man, War Machine, Nebula, and possibly Ant-Man. I say the last one based on how the franchise might evolve, and I see the Wasp as a stronger addition to the New Avengers, and the death of Ant-Man could be an emotional tear-jerker.

Captain America will sacrifice himself to save the Avengers on Earth while Iron Man will make the ultimate sacrifice to save the universe in acquiring the soul stone. This means that what he loves most must be sacrificed, and it's either going to be himself (although how that will help things I'm not sure), or Pepper Potts and her unborn child... This could get super tragic, as it should because it's the end of the initial arc of the original Avengers.

Thanos will be found and defeated, time will be turned back, and life will continue to exist as if nothing happened in the first place. But whether the Avengers or half of humanity will have any after-effects remains to be seen. What's more certain is that we will enter a new age with a new core of heroes ready to take on new adventures.

This leads us to the New Avengers. Assuming all of the perished return, Dr. Strange will take up the role of leader in Tony Stark's stead. Black Widow and Hawkeye will retire, as will Nick Fury. Where SHIELD falls in the role of the new generation remains uncertain, but there will be a presence in future films as it's sort of the foundation of the organization and its funding.

Steven Strange will be surrounded by Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Falcon, Winter Soldier (the new Captain America), Scarlet Witch, The Wasp, and Spider-Man. Great new team which will grow and shrink over the coming decades. Where is Thor? He'll leave Earth conveniently to rebuild Asgaard, and the Guardians will return to their adventures in the cosmos. Where's Hulk? That leaves me a little befuddled. A solo franchise hasn't been announced, and Ruffalo has been with the group for quite awhile, so he might be ready to hang up the purple stretchy pants.

The key things to keep an eye on will be the deaths of Iron Man and Captain America, which are beyond inevitable. Also, how powerful will Captain Marvel be? We'll find out in February. There is the distinct possibility that making her too much like Superman will destroy the credibility of the universe, but Marvel has done a nice job with Thor and Hulk (and Scarlet Witch) in making their powers fallible and their personalities human-like. My wild card is Ronin. He's going to emerge as a fan favorite and will give Jeremy Renner a nice send-off

We'll see what happens, but what's clear is that Kevin Feige and his team are in control of this vehicle. "Dr. Strange," "Black Panther," "Captain Marvel," "Guardians" and "Spider-Man" will lead us into a new era of superhero excitement. Watch out, DC.