Avengers: Infinity War is set to hit theaters in a couple of weeks, and fans are going insane with suspense. The theories about what might happen in this movie have been rampant since Captain America: Civil War split the Avengers into two. Who would live, who would die? How close would the movie come to representing the comic storyline? With every bit of news and new bit of footage, fans were presented with more evidence of what to expect. We know that this won’t be a straight adaptation of the comic storyline, but we don’t know exactly what to expect beyond a few cryptic warnings about a lot of characters dying and the title of Avengers 4 being something that we should all be afraid of.
Because of the mystery surrounding the movie and the massive fandom that the MCU has attracted, the internet has been cooking up all kinds of theories about what exactly might happen in the movie to our favorite characters. From deaths to cameo appearances, we have collected some of those theories here for you. Some of these are a bit of a stretch, others are nearly a guarantee. Read on and see some of our favorite Avengers: Infinity War fan theories about each main character!
20 IRON MAN
There isn’t a ton that is known about Avengers: Infinity War, but one thing that has been confirmed is that someone -- in fact, probably a number of people -- will die during the course of the movie. One of the heroes that people think might not make it through the film is Iron Man. Tony Stark has always been one of the most popular characters in the MCU, so it would certainly show that the stakes of this conflict are higher than ever been before.
Tony’s death would also open up the role of Iron Man for a new character.
In the comics, Riri Williams has become Iron Man, and some fans believe that Shuri from Black Panther could be the MCU’s version of Riri. Others seem convinced that the boy from Iron Man 3 will make an appearance, either as Iron Lad or as the next Iron Man.
19 CAPTAIN AMERICA
Another character whose death seems not only possible, but likely, is Captain America. As the first American superhero, Cap has always been as much of a symbol as he has been a man. The death of Captain America would truly shake the foundations of the group -- and let’s not forget that Tony already had visions of Cap’s death during Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Cap has died before; in the comics, he died right after the events of the super hero Civil War. The MCU could be trying to reflect that same timing with a death occurring early on in Avengers: Infinity War. The one thing that keeps some people skeptical is that Chris Evans is signed on for Avengers 4. It is possible that he could die and appear in a vision or flashback in Avengers 4, but whatever happens in Avengers 4 will obviously depend on Infinity War.
18 HULK
The Hulk is one character whose future is entirely uncertain, but we do know a few details. Fans have gathered from Thor: Ragnarok that every time Bruce transforms into the Hulk, he stays transformed longer. We also know that Bruce is in his normal human form and inside the Hulkbuster Iron Man armor, and that he’s going to transform into the Hulk while inside said armor, effectively meaning that Hulk is Hulk-busting out of the Hulkbuster.
We’ve heard from Kevin Feige and Mark Ruffalo that Hulk is on a three-movie story arc that started in Thor: Ragnarok and will end in Avengers 4. What if Hulk transforms in Avengers: Infinity War and can’t transform back? What if Thanos causes some personal tragedy for the Hulk -- say, killing Betty Ross -- that sends Hulk on the warpath? What if Avengers 4 is actually Avengers: World War Hulk? Cool theory, right?
17 THOR
Thor is one of the most powerful beings in the MCU, at least as far as our heroes go. He’s a literal god of thunder, able to control, summon, and manipulate the forces of electricity to insane levels of effectiveness. We’ve seen him wipe out entire armies with a few swings of his hammer.
He can catch the Hulk’s punches and send Hulk flying with punches of his own.
So what kind of statement would it make to kill off Thor? His hammer has been shattered, his eye has been lost, and Asgard has been destroyed. Could death be next on the menu? Some think he’ll ultimately found the floating city of New Asgard as he does in the comics. There’s no reason this couldn’t also happen before Thor dies, but one thing is for sure -- we don’t feel great about his chances.
16 MANTIS
Mantis is a character that we haven’t seen much of, but people don’t expect to see much more of her. Her empathy-based powers don’t seem to have much of a use unless she gets more training and experience and learns new ways to use them. Many fans think that she is going to die, as her death wouldn’t have a huge impact on the MCU as a whole, but would raise the stakes for the conflict of the movie.
Another possibility is that she uses her powers of empathy to influence Thanos ever so slightly, distracting him just enough for the Avengers to get the Gauntlet, or maybe finding out a character weakness that could be exploited. Honestly, though, we don’t expect to see Mantis showing up in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3.
15 NICK FURY
There is no confirmation of Nick Fury appearing in Avengers: Infinity War, but there have been rumors circling around that Samuel L. Jackson’s make-up artist and body double were on the set of the film. This has lead to speculations that perhaps we’ll see more Nick Fury than we’ve been told. The last time we saw Nick was in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and since S.H.I.E.L.D. has been mostly disbanded, Nick doesn’t have the resources he once did. Or does he?
Could Nick reveal that he’s kept a massive group of S.H.I.E.L.D. sleeper agents in hiding around the globe?
We already know that Coulson and his group still operate and have extensive resources, so it’s not impossible. Some people also think that Nick could sacrifice himself for the team, much like Coulson did in The Avengers. Still, no one really knows if he’ll appear in the first place.
14 VISION
This is basically confirmed already: we know from trailers that Vision will lose the Mind Stone. But what exactly does this mean? After all, Ultron operated independently of the Mind Stone, and so has Jarvis. There’s nothing saying that Vision needs the Mind Stone to live, but maybe he needs it for his powers. He’d obviously lose the ability to blast any energy out of the Stone. Perhaps he’d also lose his ability to fly or phase through matter.
Or maybe he will die. That seems like the easiest thing, and we already know that several Marvel heroes will be on the chopping block. Once again, Vision is one of the most powerful heroes in the MCU right now; while we haven’t seen very much of him, killing him off would up the ante in the next movie.
13 SCARLET WITCH
Once Thanos gets the Mind Stone from Vision, it’s anyone’s guess what he’ll be able to do with it. The Mind Stone has been used by Loki to brainwash people, by the Avengers to close the space portal made by the Tesseract, by Von Strucker to empower Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, by Tony to build Ultron (whose AI was designed based on adding certain protocols to the coding pulled from the Mind Stone), and by Ultron and Thor to build the Vision.
With such a wide array of uses, the Mind Stone is clearly quite powerful, but seeing as it is seems directly responsible for Scarlet Witch’s powers, it is possible that she will find herself powerless at a certain point in the movie. As another extremely powerful hero, losing her magical abilities would be unfortunate, indeed.
12 WAR MACHINE
Seeing as War Machine was paralyzed from the waist down after Captain America: Civil War, it makes sense that Thanos would use this against him. War Machine would be rendered ineffective without working armor -- for that matter, so would Tony. Another theory is that Thanos may use the mind stone to turn friends against each other at some point, maybe using War Machine to kill Tony.
It would be particularly devastating for Rhodey to kill his best friend.
And of course, as a secondary character who hasn’t had his own movie, he’s another character that many expect to be on the chopping block in this movie. They have said that the MCU will look completely different after this movie; eliminating a ton of heroes is one way to do that.
11 FALCON
In the comics, Captain America is a name that has been taken by several different people. Most often, Steve Rogers has used the title, but Sam Wilson, aka The Falcon, has also been Captain America in the comics.
Because of this, many fans are speculating that Falcon, who first appeared in Captain America: The Winter Soldier as a sidekick to Captain America and later joined the Avengers at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron, may become the MCU’s next Captain America. It would be a bit of a jump for the character, though, who is on the run from the law after breaking out of prison with Cap’s other allies. Could he really be given the mantle of Captain America after that? Or is he another hero that will fall victim to Thanos genocidal urges?
10 SPIDER-MAN
We saw the Iron Spider suit at the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming, so when we saw Peter in the armor in the trailers, the assumption in everyone’s mind was that he will officially join the Avengers in the upcoming movie.
Of course, it could be that Tony just needs to give him the better suit in order for the teenager to stand a chance in the battles ahead.
Another fan theory is that Avengers: Infinity War will directly influence the events of the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel, not only in shaping the universe itself, but by introducing new characters. One major player in many of Spider-Man’s adventure is Norman Osborn, aka the Green Goblin. Fans have fingers crossed that they’ll see him in the Avengers: Infinity War.
9 ANT-MAN AND THE WASP
Fans have been curious about what role Ant-Man and Wasp might play in Avengers: Infinity War, as their skill set isn’t one that seems particularly helpful when facing Thanos himself. Aside from helping in battle as Giant-Man, perhaps there’s some way that going subatomic could be useful in the films.
Fans speculate that perhaps going within an Infinity Stone will allow Ant-Man and Wasp to cause some kind of effect on the greater universe that allows the Avengers to defeat Thanos. Of course, if something like this does happen, it will almost certainly have unforeseen consequences, as well. This whole scenario is pretty unlikely, but we do know that both Ant-Man and Wasp will survive this movie, so we can at least be comfortable in that.
8 DOCTOR STRANGE
Dr. Strange is seen at the mercy of one of Thanos’s Black Order in one of the trailers, and knowing that he has the Time Stone, we have to imagine that means that Thanos is successful in retrieving the Stone from the doctor. What this means for the MCU is anyone’s guess. Some have theorized that Thanos will displace several heroes throughout their own timelines.
Perhaps we’ll see a Captain America before he ever got the Super Soldier serum, or a Tony who still has the original, toxic arc reactor in his chest.
We know that Dr. Strange will survive this movie, as he has a sequel announced, so we can be confident that his abilities exceed the time stone itself and are still quite a force to reckon with. He’ll be integral to the defeat of Thanos in the end.
7 BUCKY BARNES
Another candidate to take on the Captain America title after the (what some fans assume to be inevitable) death of Steve Rogers is Bucky Barnes. He’s actually the character who took on the title after Steve’s death in the comics, so this is who most fans assume will inherit the suit and shield in the MCU. However, seeing as Bucky was just renamed White Wolf, no one is quite sure if Marvel would bother rebranding him again so rapidly.
One idea we've seen is what if BOTH Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson became Captain America? The next movie could be called Captain Americas. Just an idea. Of course, there’s no real guarantee that he’ll even survive the movie. Perhaps both he and Rogers will die together at the end of the line.
6 GROOT
Groot is a character that fans love, and we’re positive that he’ll be back for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. However, he was at his most powerful in Guardians of the Galaxy, when he was a towering tree, capable of growing to nearly any size and nearly indestructible. When we last saw him in the post credits scenes of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, Groot had aged to a teenager -- which was fortunate, since he’d been mostly useless as a toddler.
We don’t know what age he’ll be at the start of Avengers: Infinity War, but fans theorize that Dr. Strange might use the Time Stone to age him up to his previous size and give him more of a fighting edge for the movie. It wouldn’t make much of a difference, really, but any little bit helps.
5 NEBULA
Nebula’s role in the Infinity Gauntlet comic arc is huge. She’s resurrected by Thanos as an undead version of her former self and stands at his side, a seemingly mindless slave to her father. Eventually, she manages to take control of the Gauntlet and it is in this moment that the heroes are able to finally defeat Thanos and ultimately get the gauntlet back under control.
Will this happen in the movies? Some fans certainly think so, but perhaps it won’t happen in quite the same way.
An undead zombified version of Nebula would be a bit darker than the MCU films tend to go, but maybe she’ll still find herself as the core of the plan to defeat Thanos and save the universe. She’s been a fan favorite character, but her arc is tied entirely to Thanos, so we don’t expect her to survive past Avengers: Infinity War.
4 STAR-LORD
Avengers: Infinity War will see a number of leaders coming together to fight a common threat. We have Iron Man, the leader of the Avengers; Steve Rogers, the leader of the Secret Avengers; Black Panther, the king of Wakanda; Thor, the ruler of Asgard; and finally, Peter Quill, the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Compared to the rest, Peter Quill is way out of place. He doesn’t really have the nobility or intelligence of the rest of the leaders on the list, and so his contributions to this fight are something of a question in the minds of fans.
Perhaps, they theorize, his celestial abilities didn’t die when Ego did at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. After all, his genes wouldn’t have fundamentally altered. Maybe his celestial ancestry will be important to this fight.
3 BLACK PANTHER
We already know that a large battle sequence will occur in Wakanda -- there’s an iconic image of several of our favorite MCU heroes running towards the camera with the Wakandan army behind them. What exactly this battle is over is still unknown, but it’s a fairly safe guess that the giant mound of vibranium that fell from the sky long ago houses the soul stone.
This would explain the connection to the souls of T’Challa’s ancestors, the Black Panther abilities, and the special properties inherent to vibranium.
If this is the case, one has to wonder what effect the removal of the Soul Stone might have on the vibranium technology in Wakanda. In any case, Black Panther will continue fighting after this movie, so we can rest assured he’ll survive this fight. The bigger question is what shape Wakanda will be in afterwards.
2 FANTASTIC FOUR, X-MEN, AND THE DEFENDERS
This theory has been dispelled time and time again and yet some fans will not let go, assuming that Marvel may just be playing things that close to the chest. And, you know what? Maybe that is a possibility, but it’s an unlikely possibility at best. It would require a level of secrecy that is rarely seen on such a large-scale production as this; the fact that we know as little as we do is impressive.
Still, some fans are convinced that Marvel has planned an appearance by the Fantastic Four or X-Men in Avengers: Infinity War and/or Avengers 4. While there is little chance of that happening, slightly more likely (but still not expected) would be an appearance by the Netflix heroes. The MCU universe is huge as is, and there just isn’t room to shovel more heroes into it, but some people aren’t convinced.
1 CAPTAIN MARVEL
This last theory also has to do with a potential cameo appearance, but this time, it’s a hero that we know the MCU has the rights to. Captain Marvel, one of Marvel’s more cosmic-based superheroes, has a movie due out in between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4. We haven’t seen anything of her yet in the MCU, but Marvel has had a tendency to introduce characters in other movies before giving them larger roles (or movies of their own, in the case of Spider-Man and Black Panther).
Could Captain Marvel swoop in to save the day?
It would be a great way to raise interest in the character prior to her own movie release. We haven’t heard much of anything about Captain Marvel so far, so we don’t expect this, but it’s definitely more likely than the X-Men or Fantastic Four.