Avengers: Infinity War - what the ending means for Avengers 4

Marvel's ensured that fans will be lining up to see the conclusion to this epic MCU narrative

*WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR*

Marvel’s self-proclaimed “most ambitious crossover event in history” wasn’t kidding when it promised its cinematic universe would never be the same again.

The box office is certainly responding in full force, with Avengers: Infinity War already earning an incredible $106 million in previews alone, including $39 million from Thursday screenings, making it the second-biggest opening day of all time in the US, right behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Could anything ever top such an epic contribution to the superhero genre? Well, the plausible contender here happens to be Avengers 4, a follow-up to Infinity War and a promised conclusion to the MCU’s current narrative.

Certainly, where Infinity War left us off pretty much ensures the crowds will be flocking back to cinemas to see such a sudden cliffhanger resolved. But what exactly can we expect? One more word of warning: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD.

Thanos’ successful eradication of half of all existence, achieving his grand plan to bring balance to the universe, has already hinted at its own impermanence: can there really be such peril at the loss of Black Panther, Spider-Man, and the Guardians of the Galaxy when they’re all gearing up for future sequels?

So our concerns with Avengers 4 are less whether we’ll ever see these characters again and more precisely how our remaining Avengers will bring them back.

The Time Stone certainly seems like the obvious choice, since we’ve already seen Thanos use it to reverse Scarlet Witch’s destruction of the Mind Stone, but consider this: Thanos has fled with all the Stones and a Gauntlet that now seems destroyed and fairly unusable. Are we even so sure the Infinity Stones themselves were left unspoiled by his actions?

What if there’s another way around it? There seems to be a major hint tucked neatly within the current release schedule of Marvel films: next up is Ant-Man and the Wasp, out in UK cinemas 6 July. Then comes Captain Marvel, who we saw Nick Fury page during the post-credits scene, with a release date of 8 March 2019, and finally Avengers 4 is out 3 May 2019.

It was during Ant-Man that we were first introduced to the Quantum Realm, an alternate dimension where space and time are irrelevant; Dr. Hank Pym initially gained access to it and Janet van Dyne, the original Wasp, has been lost in it for decades. Even Ant-Man himself nearly became trapped before altering his suit’s mechanisms to escape.

The trailer for Ant-Man and the Wasp hints at a return to the Quantum Realm. Couple that with the fact Michelle Pfeiffer has been slated to appear as Janet and there’s a clear suggestion Ant-Man and the new Wasp, Janet’s daughter Hope, will make a rescue attempt.

It’s also been heavily hinted that Captain Marvel will somehow involve the Quantum Realm. Kevin Feige stated that Captain Marvel is the MCU’s “most powerful hero by far”, so it could be she’s the only hero who’d be able to successfully navigate the Quantum Realm and manipulate it to turn back time – or even cross different dimensions to rescue each of the missing heroes.

A theory backed up by an army of set photos that’s seen the Avengers suited up in their classic costumes from the 2012 film, alongside a few other time-traversing shots. Or is there another surprise hiding up the MCU’s sleeve?

Avengers: Infinity War is out now.

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