GregHowley.com

We've got a year to go until we know what's up with the rest of the Infinity War story. But just a couple weeks after the movie's release, speculation and rumors are already crazy. I thought it would be fun to examine the things we know need to happen, the things that people are guessing will happen, and the things that I think should happen.

Bring Out Your Dead!

First off, we know that Spider-Man, Black Panther, Scarlet Witch, Winter Soldier, Star-Lord, Drax, Groot, Mantis, Nick Fury, and Maria Hill will be returning from the dead. While it's possible that only some of them will, it makes most sense that they'd all be in the same boat because they all went the same way. I've got two theories on how this might happen.

Theory 1: The Soul Stone

Twice in the movie, Thanos found himself in a strange place without explanation. First when he first gained the Soul Stone, and second immediately after snapping his fingers and doing the thing. The second time, he saw young Gamora. I'm guessing that this was Gamora's soul, which was trapped inside the soul stone when he killed her. If this is the way characters are resurrected, we can say goodbye to Loki and Heimdall, as they died before Thanos got that particular stone. I'm also not sure how disintegrated characters are supposed to get their bodies back along with their souls, but this is comics, and I suppose things don't need to make any sense.

Theory 2: Time Travel

The other theory involves time travel. Perhaps Nebula gets ahold of the gauntlet like in the comics and uses the time stone. But here's the thing - the gauntlet looked kind of burnt out at the end. Perhaps they need to go back to Peter Dinklage and have him make another gauntlet?

Here's one theory I like - maybe because it feels so much like Days of Future Past. We come back to a time ten years after the end of the previous movie. This gives us time to explore all the consequences of Thanos's actions, which may not be quite as rosy as he'd imagined. Tony and Pepper have a kid, and Tony, together with Bruce Banner and Hank Pym, (who I think is confirmed for the film) have just completed work on a time machine. The remaining Avengers travel back to that time in Sokovia when Captain America fought Crossbones. That was the event that led to the Sokovia accords. By changing the events of that day, they can make it so that the Sokovia Accords never happened.

But honestly, this exact scenario is pretty unlikely, since it doesn't directly involve Captain Marvel, although - Ooo! Imagine her traveling back with them to something like the battle of New York! They could all fly through the portal together to confront Thanos before he ever got the gauntlet! Then none of those heroes ever return, and all the heroes who initially "died" are the only ones actually still alive! I just thought of this theory as I was typing, and at least that last bit of it feels likely. Let's see - that would mean that Tony Stark, Thor, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, Natasha Romonov, and Rhodey die. Hmm - I feel like Black Widow, Thor, and Hulk will probably live. This would also mean that the next Guardians of the Galaxy movie is minus Rocket Raccoon. Farewell, sweet Rabbit!

New Characters

This next Avengers film will also need to reintroduce Ant-Man, the Wasp, and Hawkeye. Perhaps Clint and Scott lost their families and thus their reasons for sitting out. Come to think of it, the characters are all separate, which allows them to do the whole meet-up-over-the-course-of-the-movie thing that Marvel seems to like to do so much. The crew in Wakanda, Tony alone on Titan (boy is he going to have an emotional time of it), and Captain Marvel coming from wherever.

Who else might show up? Valkyrie? Lady Sif? Wong? Here are three of my favorite ideas, whether or not they're correct. First, Kraglin. Remember that dude from Guardians of the Galaxy 2 who ended up with Yondu's fin? Yeah - he was hilarious, and he'd be pretty potent if he ever learned how to control that arrow. Second, Mordo. He was set up as a pretty good villain at the end of Dr. Strange, and it really seemed like there'd be a Dr. Strange sequel. But no announcement of one. Maybe there still will be? Or maybe Mordo appears in Avengers 4. Third, Rescue. Who? Rescue is Pepper Potts in Iron Man armor. They've gone to the trouble to include her in the film - why not throw some armor on her and have her help?

Along with Kraglin, you'd also want the rest of the Ravager gang. Sylvester Stallone's Stakar Ogord, Michelle Yeoh's Aleta Ogord, and... wait. I just looked up those names on IMDB. Holy cow, they're related? Married, most likely? Huh. Never knew that.

Wouldn't it be cool if they randomly introduced another new character nobody is expecting? Hiroyuki Sanada is on the list, and I was theorizing that they'd have him play Adam Warlock, who was teased in the Guardians of the Galaxy 2 post-credits scene, but what if he's playing somebody totally new like Nova or Beta Ray Bill? How cool would it be if they brought in Squirrel Girl? Personally, I'd love Miss Marvel, but with Captain Marvel just now appearing, I suppose that could be confusing to some viewers.

An Unexpected Returning Character

This one is legit confirmed. So I was looking over the IMDB listing for Avengers 4, and I happened across the name Ty Simpkins. Who?? I looked into it, and... remember that random kid in Iron Man 3 who Tony met with and discussed PTSD stuff and the whole "we're connected" joke? He's going to be in the next Avengers movie. Now, there's no guarantee that he'll be playing the same role, but... he'll probably be in the same role.

Thanos Will Return

I've been focusing on how the heroes might get their dead friends back and introduce the new ones we know are coming. But Thanos is going to have to be a significant part of the movie as well. Thor and Captain Marvel should be fairly capable of defeating Thanos, at least if he's without the infinity gauntlet. But we still need some kind of redemption/resolution for Bruce/Hulk's problem, and we'll need to figure out what's up with The Vision. I just read his Wikipedia page and learned a few things. There's a storyline in which he's nearly killed and comes back grey and emotionless. It seems like this would be a perfect fit for the current MCU storyline. He eventually regains his emotions and goes on to have romantic relationships with Mantis and with Captain Marvel? Weird.

All the speculation aside, there's really no telling what might happen in the next Avengers movie. We'll get at least some kind of hint when the film's title is finally released. I'm also excited to see what the after-credits sequence on a movie like this might be - it's sure to reveal something big. Only one thing's for sure - Rocket is going to steal Bucky's arm.