By Katelyn Massarelli
Viewer discretion is advised. Consider this your spoiler alert.
The words of the wise Dr. Strange still echo in the back of my mind. “We’re in the end game now.”
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) threw viewers a curveball at the end of Avengers: Infinity War. Some of the most poignant characters to the story line were killed off in Thanos’ pursuit of the six infinity stones in his attempt to erase half the population of the universe. The villain successfully killed off half of humanity including prominent heroes across the MCU.
Now, Marvel fans, including me, are in countdown mode waiting for Avengers: End Game, the newest installment that will answer all of the most prominent questions that linger. The movie follows the release of the newest MCU film Captain Marvel, the origin story of Carol Danvers.
MCU fans were left with so many questions after the fate of so many Marvel characters. Leading up to the release on April 26, here’s a few of my predictions for what we can expect in the newest Avengers movie.
The Big Chris Evans Question
Will Captain America survive to see another Avengers installment? Yes, but let me explain. Chris Evans’ contract is up, and I have many ideas about how Steve Rogers, our beloved first Avenger, will meet his impending doom by the end of the movie.
In the comics, Captain America originally was set to die in the Civil War storyline. That wasn’t true in the movies, but his death had an interesting twist. The Captain America title was taken over by Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier and Steve Rogers’ childhood best friend from Brooklyn.
My prediction is that Barnes will assume his best friend’s title and rid himself of his past as Hydra’s – a villainous group created during World War II – experiment and Winter Soldier.
I’ll discuss this rumor of time travel that gets brought up when discussing End Game in more depth later, but I think Steve Rogers will get the send-off he deserves. The first Captain America shows Rogers’ plane nose diving into the ocean. As he does, he makes a date with his best girl Peggy Carter, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.
Rogers will finally get his dance with Carter.
Are the Dead All Departed?
As I’ve said, heroes like Scarlet Witch, Black Panther, Groot, Nick Fury and more died in Avengers: Infinity War. There’s a big difference between those that died in the end and those that died throughout the movie.
Some characters were pure collateral damage in Thanos’ path to retrieving all the infinity stones. Thanos’ killed Loki, Thor’s brother, in pursuit of the Tesseract. He killed his favorite daughter Gamora to have the Soul stone and pulled the Mind stone from Vision’s head.
Many people died long before Thanos snapped his fingers. The takeaway here is that not everyone who died may be coming back to life. The ones who became ash are the ones that are definitely coming back to life. We already know that Peter Parker has to come back for Spiderman: Far From Home. By the way, thanks Marvel for spoiling that one.
The big concern I have is that the ones who died before the snap won’t come back. Part of me is very split on this because some of these characters can easily be put to bed, but characters like Gamora, who carries the Guardians of the Galaxy movie plot, makes me wonder where the future of the MCU goes from here.
Possibilities of Time Travel
As I’ve brought up before, I predicted Steve Rogers will finally get his dance with Peggy Carter. It’s very possible that what is left of the MCU heroes will travel back in time to right the wrongs during Infinity Wars, maybe even go further back.
Viewers would travel back in time with the original Avengers and some of the newer heroes introduced later on in the MCU allowing them to go further into their back stories.
The big problem is I’m not sure how this would advance the plot. Yes, we can go back into their back stories further, but how will this help us stop Thanos? The MCU could completely turn back time to stop Thanos, but Marvel has a chance to really let the superheros redeem themselves.
Let the past be the past and let’s figure out how we right Thanos’ wrongs.
Will Goose & Monica Return?
Goose the Flerken was the key to my heart in Captain Marvel, and so was Monica Rambeau, Carol Danvers friend’s daughter. A lot has happened in the decades since Captain Marvel took off to help Skrulls find their home. For all we know that little Flerken Goose could be long gone, but Monica is a grown woman now.
Whether it be in Avengers: End Game or not, Monica and Flerkens are coming back to play a bigger part in the MCU. End Game is bound to change up the MCU heroes lineup and that is predicted in the comics.
Rambeau plays a huge role in the comics as the leader of the Avengers at one point. She also assumed the title of Captain Marvel for a time, but has gone by different aliases such as Photon, Pulsar and Spectrum.
Thano’s Fate In the MCU
This super villain that claimed half the universe’s population is a hard piece to crack. If there is anyone who can kill Thanos it’s a bunch of super heroes stuck on the grief of their closest allies and friends.
Thanos is meeting his fate by the end of this next installment of Avengers and we’ll all let out that gratifying sigh of relief when it happens. It’s time for Thanos to meet his end and it will take the entire team to bring him down no matter the costs.
I’m predicting Nebula from Guardians of the Galaxy will be the one to deliver the final blow. Nebula is one of Thanos’ many children across the universe and Gamora’s sister. Like everyone, Nebula mourned the loss of her sister when Thanos killed her for the Soul stone.
Thanos is the one who took pieces of her literally limb by limb. He’s tortured her mentally and physically and I can’t wait to see it come back and hit him in the worst moment.
I’m of course expecting Captain Marvel to do her own serious damage as the newest addition to this parade of heroes ready to save the universe. But in the end, I’m expecting it all to come down to the one Thanos hurt the most.
No matter what, Marvel is going to bring it. Whatever it takes, I’ll be first in line at my local AMC.
Katelyn Massarelli can be reached at katelyn.massarelli@theminaretonline.com
