Avengers: Infinity War has arrived and now that we know how it ends (tragically!), it’s clear that this is very much the first half of a story that will be concluded in next year’s still untitled Avengers 4. The difficult part about trying to predict how Avengers 4 will resolve the Infinity War conflict is that the comics really don’t offer us a ton of clues. Infinity War draws from the 1991 comic crossover event Infinity Gauntlet, but about the only thing the two stories really have in common is Thanos wiping out half of the universe. The way in which this is all resolved in the comics is very convoluted and even brings in the Eternals at one point, so although screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely will bring in bits and pieces from Infinity Gauntlet, there’s no way we can rely on it to tell us what’s going to happen in Avengers 4.
So while we endure the excruciating year-long wait between now and when Avengers 4 releases, here are the biggest questions from Infinity War we hope get answered.
12.Where Were Hawkeye and Ant-Man?
The two most prominent Avengers missing from Infinity War’s marketing blitz were Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye and Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man. Many fans (myself included) just assumed this was a deliberate decision on Marvel’s part and that they were doing it so as to not spoil a big moment in the film for both characters. As it turns out, the reason for their absence was much more straightforward: they’re simply not in the movie. While Rhodey (Don Cheadle) does briefly explain their absence to the other Avengers at one point, it’s still surprising that both characters are completely absent.
As such, we have no idea if either character is still alive or wiped out by the Infinity Gauntlet. With Hawkeye specifically, I think there’s a great opportunity to have him adopt the Ronin identity in the next film with Clint having seen his entire family disintegrate in front of him and Ant-Man would no doubt be an asset in reversing what Thanos has done. Hopefully the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp will provide some more answers.
Marvel Studios