Avengers: Infinity War comes out tomorrow (with some early showings tonight), and I think there's one thing that's bearing on all Marvel fans' minds.
What's the cliffhanger everyone's talking about? Now, granted, it's no surprise that there's a cliffhanger. With another as-yet-untitled Avengers film coming to us in 2019, it's logical that Marvel would leave us wanting more. The question remains, though, what is it? Is it some big reveal, the death of a character, or something else? Let's break down what we know so far about the film. One interesting tidbit that was revealed a couple of months ago was that Thor is set to have a major role in this film, more so than he has had in previous Avengers movies. We know that Chris Evans as Captain America is done after Infinity War's sequel. Without a doubt, this movie will feature tons of death and destruction, which leads us to the first possibility for this cliffhanger: is an Avenger going to die? 
Nerdist did a very specific breakdown of the odds for the death of each character in Infinity War. (Potential spoilers ahead!) The only two characters to get a 100% certainty for death? Captain America and Hawkeye.
"But wait!" you say. "Chris Evans is signed on until Avengers 4!" Correct, and according to his New York Times interview, he has shot some scenes for the next Avengers movie. Nonetheless, this doesn't guarantee his survival in Infinity War. Clearly, Cap's going to kick the bucket at some point in this two-part tale, but a death in Infinity War is up for debate. Disney certainly has a way of keeping major plot points out of our hands (The Last Jedi, anyone?), and the whole "I'm signed on for Avengers 4" play reeks of this characteristic. Cap's role in Avengers 4 could be as simple as a flashback scene. Hawkeye's death is mere speculation at this point, but the best argument for the validity of the notion is his notable absence from any Infinity War trailers thus far. But is an Avenger's death a true "cliffhanger"? For someone as central to the MCU as Captain America, possibly. But it would likely go along with some devastating defeat for the Avengers before the end of the film. 
Again, it's an obvious idea, but to constitute a major cliffhanger, this has got to be bad. Like, I'm thinking we won't just see one or two Avengers die, but potentially several, perhaps near the end of the movie. You can bet your bottom dollar that we'll see cities leveled, but a great cliffhanger needs to bear some emotional weight for the characters.
Does this have something to do with Thor's character arc in the film? We all know that scene by now where Thor is getting his head literally squeezed by Thanos. Thor's death is possible if not unlikely, though I'm guessing Thor's development in this film will lend some emotional weight to the story. Perhaps we'll see some major act of selfless sacrifice on Thor's part, a character trait that he has lacked to some extent in the Avengers movies we have seen so far. On the other hand, this cliffhanger may have nothing to do with Thor at all. Perhaps Thanos does some sinister deed that will force a tough choice on the Avengers, or we might get some big revelation about one or more of the characters. Anything is up for grabs at this point, and the slim amount of footage we've seen so far only makes speculating harder. In any case, answers will finally come this week. Until I see it on the 27th, though, no spoilers! If you haven't seen the film, feel free to leave your theories in the comments!
"Superheroes" is an occasional blog series that takes an in-depth look at today's superhero films and comics.
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