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FEATURE: 5 Things We Want to See in AVENGERS 4 (And 5 Things We Don’t)

There are few movies that are more anticipated than Avengers 4, especially after the universe-shaking events of Infinity War. The film will serve as both an ending and a new beginning for the Marvel Cinematic Universe; it will provide a conclusion for the current story, while laying the groundwork down for future films.

Marvel has been super vague on what will happen in Avengers 4, for very good reason. In fact, we don’t even know the title of the movie yet. Unsurprisingly, that hasn’t stopped fans from speculating and theorizing what will happen. Here, we’ll list five things that we want to see in the film, and five things that we don’t.

By the way, we’ll be going into SPOILERS for Infinity War, so if you haven’t seen the movie yet for some reason, you may want to stop right here.

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5 Things We Want to See
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Gamora’s Resurrection

Gamora had a crucial role to play in Infinity War, as her relationship with Thanos is at the heart of the movie. (In fact, she had more screentime than any other hero.) Alas, this resulted in one of the movie’s most tragic deaths, as Gamora was sacrificed by Thanos in order to acquire the Soul Stone. While Gamora is expected to return for at least Avengers 4, no one has confirmed that she’s actually being resurrected.
Personally, if there is any pre-Snap death that should be undone, it should be Gamora. I understand why she died and how it affects the movie as a whole, but to me, she’s one of the most fascinating characters in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. There’s plenty more they could do with her. (I’m also a big Zoe Saldana fan, so I may be a bit biased.) Taking a page from the comics and having her in the Soul World would be a good way to bring her back.

End of an Era

Avengers 4 has an awful lot riding on it, but most significantly, it will provide closure for much of the MCU and its heroes. Original actors’ contracts are up, and Marvel is planning to introduce many new characters. While we won’t know exactly what the new MCU will look like for a while, the studio has a real opportunity to bring closure at a time when that’s rare for the genre. Most franchises focus on beginning or continuing current stories, but effectively ending them? That doesn’t happen often.
My hope is that Avengers 4 will properly tie up loose ends and bring everything to a good conclusion. That can be very difficult for a franchise with 20+ movies and 11 years’ worth of material. Infinity War began that process, but the end is still to come. It’s a staggering task to achieve, but if anyone can do it, it’s Marvel. (On that note, I would be very down with Avengers 4 being 3 hours long or so.)

Keep Thor Alive

Thor has struggled to keep the spotlight in the MCU for a while, but that all changed with Thor: Ragnarok, which completely deconstructed the character and his world. This continued in Infinity War, where Thor is widely considered to be the most memorable character of the film. And in a movie with two dozen superheroes, that’s impressive. Unfortunately, Chris Hemsworth’s contract is now up, and Marvel hasn’t announced any plans to renew it.
If any original member should return after Avengers 4, it’s Thor. The character is better than ever after his rebirth, and there’s plenty more to do. Having him die in Avengers 4 would feel like a waste of potential. They don’t even have to do more solo Thor movies if they want to keep it at a trilogy. They can have him recur in other movies, like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 or even a Valkyrie solo film. Either way, Thor is at his best right now, and it’d be ideal to see his story continue.

Thanos’ Story

Thanos had a truly phenomenal story arc in Infinity War, where he emerged as arguably the best MCU villain ever. He went on his conquest to collect the Infinity Stones and wipe out half the universe’s population. In fact, he was willing to do whatever it took to succeed, which led to even more tragic consequences. Thanos wound up getting exactly what he wanted. So, what’s next?
I’m very interested in seeing what Thanos will do in Avengers 4 now that he has met his goal. With the Avengers looking to undo the Snap, how will he respond? Can he still use the Infinity Gauntlet or any of the Stones? Will he continue to be a compelling villain with a compelling motivation? These questions and more will surely be answered. But, like the rest of the MCU, I hope they give his story a strong conclusion.

RIP Tony Stark….and Steve Rogers

With Avengers 4 expected to offer finality for its classic characters, at least one original Avenger is expected to bite the dust. The most popular choices have been the MCU’s two biggest faces, Iron Man and Captain America. Both actors’ contracts are up; Robert Downey Jr. has been lining up new franchise films, while Chris Evans has been vocal about his desire to move on. So, why not kill both characters?
Avengers 4 will surely focus on Stark and Rogers’ relationship, and having the two sacrifice themselves together would bring things full circle. They are both dedicated to protecting Earth and its people, and their methods have brought them into conflict on several occasions. But having them work together one last time would be an epic and emotional conclusion to their stories.
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5 Things We DON’T Want to See
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A Bad Movie

This one is pretty self-explanatory. Can you imagine waiting years for a movie like Avengers 4, only for it to be bad? Marvel would never hear the end of it. As I said before, the stakes are really high for this movie to deliver, given its intentions to close out the current iteration of the MCU, follow up on Infinity War, and so much more. Obviously, whether or not a movie is good/bad is subjective. But imagine if, somehow, this movie gets bad reviews and poor box office.
Fortunately, I don’t think this will be any real concern. In my opinion at least, Marvel has never made a bad movie. The closest they’ve gotten was Thor: The Dark World, and even that I thought was OK. And that movie was five years ago; almost every movie since has been fantastic. And these movies keep getting bigger and bigger at the box office. So, I’m confident that in terms of quality, Avengers 4 will be another winner.

Loki Lives…Again

Tom Hiddleston’s Loki was one of the first casualties in Infinity War. He made an attempt to kill Thanos after pledging his “allegiance,” but that didn’t work out. Thanos proceeded to crush Loki’s neck in one of the most brutal deaths in the MCU. Despite a seemingly definitive death, fans have convinced themselves that Loki faked his demise once again.
I’ll go ahead and be real. I hate the idea of Loki coming back again. He’s already faked his death twice, and how he died in Infinity War truly felt like the end. I mean, Thanos said “No resurrections this time” for a reason. They need to allow the character to rest and shift the focus to new characters. Another resurrection would feel redundant, and it would only contribute to Marvel’s past tendency of not keeping major characters dead. They’re already going to undo a lot of deaths in Avengers 4, so if Loki’s is undone too, it’ll be frustrating.

No More Deaths

Speaking of deaths, we saw half the universe fade away in Infinity War, but a lot of heroes are still around. These include Rocket, Ant-Man, and the original Avengers. Surely they will work together to bring back the deceased half, but that doesn’t mean everybody should make it out alive.
A popular theory has been that the surviving Avengers will sacrifice themselves to undo Thanos’ actions, and that is how their story ends. Personally, I like the idea of at least some Avengers dying to save the universe. But if everyone lives to see another day, then that will make the stakes feel smaller. I’m sure the Russo brothers and Marvel understand this, and more people will die in Avengers 4. But if they don’t, I’ll be disappointed.

Forced X-Men/Fantastic Four Crossover

This opinion may be controversial, but whatever. With Disney in the process of acquiring Fox, it’s only a matter of time for the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Deadpool to join the MCU. Kevin Feige has talked about not being in a hurry to bring them in, especially since the deal isn’t even done yet. Basically, Feige is focused on the studio’s slate for 2019 and beginning Phase 4, so any crossovers won’t happen for a while. And that should still stick.
Regardless of when the deal closes, Avengers 4 shouldn’t go out of its way to bring in the X-Men or Fantastic Four. The film is already packed with pre-existing MCU characters, hoping to create a satisfying conclusion. If they just throw in Wolverine and Human Torch and Deadpool out of nowhere, it’d make the movie feel even more crowded. They can bring the characters into the MCU down the line, but Avengers 4 should focus on ending what it has now.

Cheap Explanation for Resurrections

Infinity War shocked audiences by having Thanos succeed in wiping out half the universe. This resulted in the deaths of many beloved heroes, such as Spider-Man, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, and most of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Obviously, these deaths aren’t going to stick, and they will be undone by the time Avengers 4 ends. However, there has to be a good reason to explain it.
One challenge for Avengers 4 will be to properly explain how the Avengers can undo the Snap. It would be easy to either gloss over it or to create an overly convoluted explanation for why everyone can be resurrected. It’d have to be easy enough for audiences to understand, but not too easy. And it’d have to make sense within what we know about the Infinity Stones already. Again, I trust the Russos and team to succeed here, but it can still go either way.
Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter at @WOBAMEnt.

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of WOBAM! Entertainment.