Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Avengers: Infinity War
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Once upon a time it was called Avengers: Infinity War - Part 2, but now the title of Avengers 4 is one of the biggest mysteries of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige and directors Anthony and Joe Russo deliberately walked back from the idea of Avengers 3 and 4 being two halves of a two-parter, but in the wake of Avengers: Infinity War’s shocking ending, Avengers 4 has a big mess to clean up.
To recap, Infinity War ends with the Avengers failing to stop Thanos in his mission to collect the Infinity Stones. Loki, Heimdall, Gamora and Vision are killed along the way, and when Thanos’ snaps his fingers using the Infinity Gauntlet, half of all life in the universe is wiped out - including a huge swathe of superheroes. When the dust settles, only the original Avengers are left, along with a few extras - including Rocket, Nebula, Okoye and M’Baku.
Naturally things can’t stay that way - not least because next year’s releases include Spider-Man: Homecoming 2, and Spider-Man was one of the characters erased from existence. Our original theory for Avengers 4’s title was Avengers: Endgame, based primarily on Doctor Strange’s emphatic line, “We’re in the endgame now.” However, the Russos recently blew that theory out of the water by telling Uproxx that Avengers 4’s title isn’t ever spoken during Infinity War. They also said that the closest guess they’ve seen so far is Avengers: Forever.
An obvious place to look would be in Marvel Comics, since Avengers: Infinity War shares its title with a comic book event, and its plot is loosely based on the crossover series The Infinity Gauntlet. However, both Russo brothers have insisted that Avengers 4 is an original story, with Joe Russo stating:
Based on the set photos we’ve seen so far, it seems almost certain that Avengers 4 will involve time travel in some capacity, which would explain why Avengers: Forever was a near hit to the movie’s real title. Based on what’s been eliminated, here are our current guesses for what Avengers 4’s secret title could be.
“I don’t think there are any comics that correlate to it. I think we’re in pretty fresh territory with Avengers 4. If anything, I think it’s interesting after to go back and look at some of the Marvel films and view them through a different lens. But I can’t think of any comics in particular that would have value.”
Avengers Forever
Avengers 4Ever
Avengers Reassemble
Avengers: Time War
Avengers: Eternity War
Avengers: Infinity Crusade
The Avengers Return
Avengers: Age of Thanos
4vengers (please, no…)
Do you have your own theories about Avengers 4’s title? Let us know in the comments!
More: What The Title of Avengers 4 Definitely ISN’T
- Ant-Man 2 Release Date: 2018-07-06 captain marvel Release Date: 2019-03-08 spider-man homecoming 2 Release Date: 2019-07-02 The Avengers 4 Release Date: 2019-04-26