Everything You Need to Know Before Watching ‘Avengers: Endgame’

A recap of what has happened and speculation about what is to come.

Avengers: Endgame releases on 26 April and for Marvel fans, it definitely is the end of an era. The film marks the end of phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and brings to a close a saga that was spread over 11 years and 22 films. Phew, what a long journey.

So before the film hits theatres, here’s a quick recap of what has happened up till Avengers: Infinity War plus some interesting theories on what can we look forward to in Avengers: Endgame.

The Story So Far...

Avengers: Infinity War saw the rise of mighty super-villain Thanos who wished to collect all the Infinity Stones, so that he could be the most powerful being in the universe.

But what exactly is an Infinity Stone?

Infinity Stones are six immensely powerful objects tied to different aspects of the universe. When they’re brought together, they can literally end the world.

Too busy to read? Listen to this instead.

Thanos’ main goal was to wipe out half the population of the universe because according to him, his home planet of Titan was once a beautiful place teeming with life — too much life, actually, which is what resulted in its downfall. Too many mouths to feed, not enough resources.

For Thanos, the logic is simple. If you eliminate half of all life, there will be plenty more for those who remain. So that’s what he wants.

The Avengers Assemble for Battle

The Avengers band together to stop Thanos from executing his mad scheme.

At the time, Captain America and Iron Man are no longer on talking terms after everything that went down between them during Captain America: Civil War. Something about betraying friends and all that. The two characters fight separate battles in different universes and don’t meet even once during Avengers: Infinity War.

It is revealed that Gamora who is a Guardian is the daughter of Thanos, and was made to sacrifice her life in order to get the Soul stone. Another Guardian, Peter Quill (played by Chris Pratt), aka Star Lord, falls in love with her.

During the big showdown on Titan, a few superheroes, namely Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Spider Man, place Thanos in a strong hold where they are trying to get the Infinity Gauntlet out of his hand. They nearly succeed in getting the Infinity Gauntlet when Peter attacks Thanos upon finding out about the death of his beloved. This breaks the hold that the other heroes have got on the Mad Titan and the Infinity Gauntlet returns to Thanos’ possession. Amateur move, brother.

It’s the End of the World as We Know It

Thanos transports himself to the battlefield of Wakanda where his army is battling with other Avengers. Thor makes a spectacular entry in his new avatar and fights off the entire army and severely wounds Thanos.

But that wasn’t enough to kill him, Thanos smiles and says “You should have gone for the head,” and with a snap of his fingers, erases half the population of the universe. Many heroes from the battlefield of Wakanda, those who were stuck in Titan, and even Nick Fury who was in New York were presumably turned into dust.

If you stuck around for the post-credits scene, you’d have got a glimpse of Nick Fury paging his old friend Captain Marvel for help.

That’s where Avengers: Infinity War ends and where we assume Avengers: Endgame will pick up.

Who Dies in Avengers: Infinity War?

Here’s a complete list of the fallen heroes who were obliterated by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War.

1. Black Panther
2. Spider-Man
3. Doctor Strange
4. Winter Soldier
5. Falcon
6. Scarlet Witch
7. Guardians of the Galaxy, (everyone except Rocket)
8. Nick Fury and Maria Hill
9. Shuri
10. Hope Pym, Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne
11. Vision

Wait. Who’s Left?

1. Iron Man
2. Captain America
3. Thor
4. Black Widow
5. Hulk
6. War Machine
7. Rocket
8. Nebula
9. Ant Man
10. Hawkeye

So What’s the Deal With Avengers: Endgame?

Here are some fan theories that might just offer clues for Avengers: Endgame.

1. Captain Marvel Will Really Come in Handy for Defeating Thanos

This is one of the most probable theories out there considering we know that Nick Fury attempts to contact Captain Marvel moments before he turns to dust thanks to Thanos and his fingers. It’s possible that she uses her Cosmic Awareness to restore reality to a point before Thanos got control of the Infinity Gauntlet. This would mean that all the superheroes who had died in Infinity War could come back to life to defeat Thanos in Avengers: Endgame.

2. Loki Is Not Dead

One of my favourite villains in the MCU is Loki, the God of Mischief and Thor’s evil half-brother. Loki has ‘died’ and been resurrected on multiple occasions in the previous films, which has led fans to believe that his death in the opening scene of Avengers: Infinity War was orchestrated in a way so as to mislead viewers and that he will end up being the main villain in Avengers: Endgame.

3. Shuri Will Bring a Version of Vision Back

In the heat of the battle in Wakanda amid Infinity War, we see Black Panther’s sister Shuri working diligently to remap the neural system between Vision and the Mind Stone. She fades to dust before she can complete the activity

But this is Shuri, Princess of Wakanda and the pioneer of the Wakandan Design Group we’re talking about. She's a technological genius so we’re inclined to believe that she'll be around to make Vision active again by utilising a saved map of his neural system, which would enable her to re-make his artificial intelligence. Clearly without the Mind Stone, he won't be the same Vision. Yet, despite everything he'll be back and that is better than being... dead.

Avengers: Endgame is set to hit theatres on 26 April 2019