Readers, be warned! This article contains MAJOR Avengers: Infinity War SPOILERS!
A number of characters perished in Avengers: Infinity War, and quite a few of those deaths were left shrouded in mystery. But during a recent interview with Huffington Post, directors Joe and Anthony Russo lifted the shroud – at least a little bit.
Thanos started killing almost the second Infinity War began. With the support of his adopted children, the Black Order, he immediately finished off Loki, Heimdall, and multiple Asgardians. After that, he tossed Gamora from a cliff to get the Soul Stone and crushed Vision's skull to get the Mind Stone.
Once he gathered the six Infinity Stones, the supervillain snapped his fingers and wiped out half of the universe’s living creatures. With that split-second movement, he reduced Black Panther, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, the Winter Soldier, Scarlet Witch, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, and every Guardians of the Galaxy member except Rocket Raccoon to ash right before our eyes.
But let’s get back to the movie’s unexplained deaths. The Russo Brothers revealed what happened to some of the characters we’d been wondering about, including whether they actually died. First, they confirmed that Howard the Duck and Aunt May were still alive and safe at the movie’s conclusion, Unfortunately, Betty Ross, Lady Sif, and the Asgardian actor Matt Damon played in Thor: Ragnarok weren’t as lucky.
However, the directors declined to go into what happened to Shuri, Nakia, Jane Foster, Ned, Korg, and Miek, explaining that if they did, future events in the MCU events could be spoiled.
We were glad to hear that Seth Green's anthropomorphic duck wasn’t obliterated, because we loved his cameos in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Also, the survival of Spider-Man’s Aunt Mae (Marisa Tomei) may lead to a heartbreaking conversation between her and Tony Stark in Avengers 4.
Bruce Banner’s ex (Liv Tyler) since The Incredible Hulk, but rumors seemed to hint that she would make a comeback, either in Infinity War or its untitled sequel. Her death took place off-screen, so maybe we should no longer expect to see her in the May 3, 2019 release. In addition, her father, Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt), might have a change of heart about Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
It was no surprise that Sif (Jamie Alexander) was a victim of Thanos' finger snap. The absence of Thor’s bestie in Ragnarok left many of us scratching our heads. Now that we know she's dead, we might be able to turn our attention from the question of what she was doing as Hela wreaked havoc on Asgard. It's also not surprising that Damon's actor from the Taika Waititi flick also succumbed. His appearance was nothing more than a fun cameo; it never really felt like anything else.
On the other hand, we were surprised that the Infinity War directors stopped short at revealing the fate of the renowned astrophysicist played by Natalie Portman. Like Sif, she didn't appear in Ragnarok, but we learned that she and the God of Thunder were no longer an item. At that point, it was safe to assume that her role in the MCU was over. But now, that doesn’t appear to be the case.
Last year, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige teased that the studio had exciting plans for Thor's new pals, Korg, Miek, Shuri, and Nakia. After their collective non-appearance in Infinity War, they might just play key roles in the sequel.
The same could hold true the Wakandan undercover agent played by Lupita Nyong'o, who was also conspicuously absent in Marvel’s superhero extravaganza. Joe Russo explained that the character was on missions during the events that took place during Infinity War.
Letitia Wright made an appearance in Infinity War as Black Panther’s sister, but we didn’t know whether she survived Thanos’ finger snap. But with T'Challa out of the picture, she may be the next in line for the Wakandan throne, and that would set her up as a key player in the next movie.
The Russos didn’t go into what happened to Ned (Jacob Batalon) for fear of spoiling Avengers 4, but it seems unlikely that he’ll have a significant role in the sequel. Even if it turned out that he was reduced to a pile of ash, it's hard to believe that his tragic death would have that big an impact on the overall plot. But you never know; maybe the directors came up with a way to surprise us!
