Infinity War- What Comes Next?

So Infinity War just happened and it ended... well, it has a pretty tough ending.

Being that the movie has a record breaking opening weekend, I'm not overly concerned about spoiling.  But if you haven't had a chance to see it yet and you are still wanting to avoid knowledge of the movie, well here is your warning.














Are we good now?  Great.

So Thanos succeeds.  He wipes out half of existence which includes Winter Soldier, Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Star-Lord, Mantis, Drax, Groot, Black Panther, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Maria Hill and Nick Fury.  Thanos already killed half of the remaining Asgardians (including Loki), Gamora and the Vision.  The remaining heroes are Captain America, Black Widow, Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, War Machine, Okoye, M'Baku and Rocket Raccoon.  Captain Marvel's survival is implied.  We are unsure about the status of Hawkeye, Shuri, Ant-Man, the Wasp, Wong, Sharon Carter, Valkyrie, Kraglin and all of the TV characters.

So what comes next?  Well I've got complete confidence that Marvel has something incredible worked up.  I've long felt that the Russo Brothers and Markus/McFeely are the movie equivalent to Claremont and Byrne on X-Men.  Just perfect creators that can elevate existing characters.

But, a year is a long time to wait.  Being a fan I've got to get my own theories out there.  Here's my general pitch.  None of these are spoilers, I have no inside information other than the source material.  Based on Infinity War this is how I expect the still unnamed Avengers 5 to go down (take this with a huge dose of "How I'd Make the Movie").

So the movie opens with the remaining heroes stabilizing Earth.  Cap checks in with Wakanda where Shuri has assumed control with the assistance of M'Baku and Okoye.  Okoye asks Cap to bring their king back, Cap doesn't think it is possible.  Cap allows Shuri to keep the Vision's body.

War Machine checks in with S.H.I.E.L.D. who gives his disapproval for the decision to release Helmut Zemo and deputize him as the leader of the Thunderbolts, a team of interim heroes.  Hawkeye comes to Black Widow, revealing that his entire family has disappeared and he will do whatever it takes to get them back.  Banner checks in with Wong who must remain with the Sanctum Sanctorum while Strange is absent.  Wong says something cryptic to Banner about his Hulk problem before saying something more cryptic, alluding to a message from Doctor Strange.

Cut to Thor and Rocket who took Stormbreaker to Titan to get the Dragon Balls, or stones, and bring everybody back.  They find Thanos and start fighting him until Tony Stark reveals himself.  The two have been living together since the last movie, Thanos allowed Stark to try to use the gauntlet to reverse his culling knowing it would not work that way.  Thor tries convincing a resigned, defeated Stark to come with him.  Stark asks if Pepper is still alive, Thor refuses to answer.  Rocket just stuns Stark.  Thanos allows Thor to take the Gauntlet, Thor references cutting his head off.  Thanos shrugs off the suggestion saying that there may be a time where they need his knowledge.  Nebula comes with them to Earth, she asks Thor for possession of the Soul Stone.  Thanos remains alone, enjoying his victory while he still can, but alludes to knowing that the brave heroes will never entirely succeed.

Back on Earth Captain Marvel introduces herself to present day Captain America, saying she's dealt with this before (somehow, haven't seen her movie yet).   Ant-Man and the Wasp also arrive and explain they discovered a way to cross over to the afterlife through the microverse (somehow, their movie hasn't come out yet).  The heroes return from space and they all are contacted by Doctor Strange from the afterlife, saying he has a plan to return people to Earth.

In the afterlife we see the heroes who died defending civilians who disappeared against villains and monsters that also disappeared.  They explore the afterlife with Scarlet Witch finding Quicksilver and Vision.  The Guardians are on a journey to find Gamora.

Through a combination of Captain Marvel, Stormbreaker, the microverse, Stark engineering the Infinity Gauntlet (somehow) and Strange from the other side a team of heroes including Cap, Thor, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Hulk, Captain Marvel, Ant-Man, Wasp and Nebula cross over.

The heroes are unable to return everyone and end up having to make some difficult decisions.  Wanda chooses to stay with her family as Hawkeye stays with his.  Thor cannot bear to return to witness more death and destruction.  Winter Soldier refuses to return, having finally found some peace.  Seeing Peggy Carter, Cap stays too.

Iron Man, Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel lead Spider-Man, Falcon, Maria Hill, Black Panther and as many civilians as possible.  The Guardians find Gamora, but they need to convince Star-Lord to leave his mother.  In the end Iron Man (and maybe Nick Fury) sacrifice themselves to save the mortals that want to be saved.  The Gauntlet stays in the afterlife.

Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange, Black Widow, Ant-Man, The Wasp, Black Panther, Spider-Man, Falcon, Hulk and the Guardians return to existence.  We see glimpses of the heroes who did not crossover and where they ended up.  Cap is with Bucky and Sharon, Stark is with Pepper, Thor is with Asgard, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are with their family and Hawkeye is with his.  They have a happiness that they were never allowed to have in life.

The movie ends with a montage of Strange returning to the Sanctum Sanctorum, discovering that something happened to the sorcerers of the other Sanctums.  Spidey returns to Aunt May.  The Guardians go back into space to meet up with Kraglin who is in trouble.  Black Panther returns to Wakanda, the Wakandans have varied reactions to his presence.  Banner accepts not being the Hulk anymore (don't really know where this subplot goes).  Ant-Man and the Wasp return to their adventures from the still unreleased sequel.  War Machine is appointed as the new head of S.H.I.E.L.D. and he meets up with Falcon and Captain Marvel.  War Machine then meets with Black Widow who does not know where she fits in this new world and regrets not staying behind with the other Avengers.  As the new head of S.H.I.E.L.D., he sets Natasha free to do whatever she feels that she needs to do.

Post-Credit sequence has Zemo meeting with his team of Thunderbolts and calls them to disappear now that the heroes are back, their time will come later.
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Now I don't think the movie will go that way exactly.  It could be all about giving Thanos his comeuppance.  There are many subplots I brushed over (Banner and Hulk) and continuity issues with my own predictions (I know I shouldn't treat S.H.I.E.L.D. as an active public organization, but I feel it will get back to that point).  But I think we will get something to this effect.  It won't be about killing off the characters whose contracts are up, it should be about acceptance and a satisfying end.  It would be interesting if Avengers 4 explores the peace that ongoing heroes are constantly denied.  And with the ending of Infinity War not feeling satisfying in terms of the usual Marvel victory, I think we will get something meaningful in the next one.

So after this movie, where does Marvel go?  Well, I've naturally got ideas on that too.