Let's Unpack That Wild "Avengers: Infinity War" Ending Together

The credits clearly told us that Thanos will return, and though codirector Joe Russo has said Infinity War and Avengers 4 don't form "a true two-parter," he did confirm they're narratively connected.

In the meantime, we only have solo movies featuring Ant-Man (absent from Infinity War) and Captain Marvel (brand new to the Marvel-verse and also absent from Infinity War except for that quick nod in the post-credits scene).

None of the "dead" Avengers have solo movies coming out in the year between Infinity War and Avengers 4 (Spider-Man's second solo film comes out right after Avengers 4, but it's unclear when that will take place, and it's entirely possible it could be set before the events of Infinity War) — but it's almost certainly not because they're dead forever. It's likely a strategic choice to add to our collective agony, build hype, and make us theorize for a full year — which, of course, we will.

Some central, and even recently introduced, Marvel heroes died in this movie. But very few of them are likely to stay dead. It feels safe to assume all the major players who died in that single attack — Black Panther (his first film grossed over a billion dollars); Spider-Man (Homecoming was a hit); Bucky (aka the almost certainly future Captain America); Groot (HE CANNOT DIE AGAIN); Doctor Strange (he's only had one solo movie); and Star-Lord (there's no Guardians movie without Peter Quill, and a third one is coming in 2020) — will be brought back in the next Avengers movie.

Unfortunately, the Time Stone expert, Doctor Strange, turned to dust. So it's very likely that even if the Avengers get the Time Stone back from Thanos, either no one's gonna know how to use it, or Wong will inform them that there are some additional rules about using the Time Stone that will prevent a quick fix.

We also don't really know exactly how the Time Stone works in tandem with the other Stones. But Strange did tell Tony that of all the 14,000,605 alternate futures he saw, the one that Infinity War ended with was always "the only way."

This is a mysterious new Infinity Stone, and it doesn't work like the others. As Red Skull explained on Vormir in Infinity War, the Soul Stone holds "a special place" among the Infinity Stones and has "a certain wisdom." It requires a sacrifice to possess it, and we haven't seen Thanos wield just the Soul Stone yet. We don't really even know what it does. It might be the key to bringing back our dead faves, way moreso than the Time Stone.

AND the Avengers might need to possess all the Infinity Stones to reverse the genocide that Thanos committed. There are a lot of variables, like how they'll wield all of them. Thanos's Infinity Gauntlet looked pretty wrecked at the end of Infinity War after he used it to, ya know, kill half the universe. He might need to go to Nidavellir and make Sad Peter Dinklage give him the original mold.

The remaining Avengers could also do the same and try to make a competing Infinity Gauntlet of their own to hold the Stones. There's also Stormbreaker, Thor's new axe, which might have the ability to wield the Stones — it did hold up against them during that final scene when Thor stabbed Thanos.

If everyone who died in Infinity War comes back, the stakes are going to feel too low, possibly for the rest of the Avengers series. One or two people will have to stay dead, or someone major will have to die in their place.

My bet is that Gamora will stay dead at least until the third Guardians movie in 2020 to spice things up; Loki will stay dead but fulfill Tom Hiddleston's reported six-film contract (Infinity War is his fifth) with some sort of flashback in a future Avengers or unannounced solo Thor movie; Heimdall (Idris Elba) has reached the end of his supporting character arc; and Vision (Paul Bettany) is probably truly dead but will return in some form thanks to Shuri copying at least a part of his brilliant synthetic mind.

The first Avengers movie helped establish the group's tone and dynamic — it was by far the funnest. Age of Ultron tested their mettle and commitment to each other and their collective cause. Then Captain America: Civil War tore them apart. Infinity War is the reckoning that reminded them what's truly at stake, and Avengers 4 will reunite and revive them (or most of them, depending on who survives). A major death would give them even more perspective and a stronger long-term bond.

The fourth Avengers movie will mark the end of Phase 3 and the beginning of Phase 4 in the expansive Marvel Universe. Marvel's already confirmed that it won't be announcing any of the Phase 4 movies until after Avengers 4 is released — or it'd clearly give away who does and doesn't make it out alive.

With no idea who will be back, and therefore who's getting solo movies in Phase 4, Marvel's breathing new life and anticipation into the fandom. Plus, if they do end up destroying the Infinity Stones in Avengers 4 — which have been the franchise's cinematic connective tissue for years — it opens up a ton of narrative possibilities for the remaining Avengers movies and their corresponding stand-alone films.