(Note: This post contains massive spoilers for both “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” so read on at your own risk!)
The Marvel Cinematic Universe was gutted by the events of “Avengers: Infinity War” and the arrival of Thanos, a villain so strong even the combined might of nearly every MCU superhero couldn’t stop him.
You know what happened by now: Despite a valiant effort to stop Thanos (Josh Brolin), the Avengers and their allies failed. The Mad Titan collected all six Infinity Stones on his Infinity Gauntlet, and with a snap his fingers used their united power to erase half of all life in the universe. All because Thanos believes mass murder on a cosmic scale will rid the universe of its problems and free the survivors to create sustainable utopias.
That’s not how the heroes (or audiences) saw it though. Cue Peter Parker’s “Mr. Stark, I don’t feel so good,” and fans worldwide agreeing wholeheartedly as a huge number of their favorite heroes dissolved into ash.
How huge? As if millions-of-sequels-suddenly-cried-out-in-terror-and-were-suddenly-silenced huge.
The good news is that the Soul World is totally a confirmed thing in “Avengers: Infinity War” according to directors Joe and Anthony Russo — so the chances are pretty good those heroes aren’t going to be dust forever.
Here’s everyone lost to Thanos’ finger snap, from “Infinity War” through “Ant-Man and the Wasp.”
Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan)
Captain America’s best friend Bucky was among the first to disappear in Wakanda, which is especially a bummer given how hard he fought to reclaim his life and identity after being brainwashed by HYDRA to become the Winter Soldier.
T’Challa, the Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman)
Wakanda’s king vanished as he helped Okoye up, apparently leaving the nation without a king, again.
Wanda Maximoff, Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen)
Adding insult to injury, seconds after losing Vision when Thanos pulled the Mind Stone from his head, killing him, Wanda fades to dust mid-mourning.
Sam Wilson, Falcon (Anthony Mackie)
Captain America’s buddy Sam has been coming into his own as an Avenger across the last few movies he’s appeared in, but despite being a major force in the Battle of Wakanda, in the end, the coin-flip of Thanos’ snap got him.
Groot (Vin Diesel)
Groot’s end is the second-most heartbreaking in “Infinity War,” thanks to his hugely emotional moment as he vanished in front of Rocket Raccoon, but we didn’t know the full extent of the gut-punch until “Guardians of the Galaxy” director James Gunn shared what the final “I am Groot” meant on Twitter.
Peter Quill, Star-Lord (Chris Pratt)
His anger at what Thanos did to Gamora wasn’t enough to keep Star-Lord from fading away after the battle on Titan — but if there’s a Soul Realm hidden inside the Soul Stone, Peter and Gamora might be reunited.
Drax (Dave Bautista)
Most of the Guardians of the Galaxy vanished after the finger snap, including Drax, whose death is even more tragic because Thanos killed Drax’s family years before, and his Infinity Gauntlet finished the job.
Mantis (Pom Klementieff)
Right alongside Drax, Mantis faded away as well, after spending most of her life as a slave to Ego (Kurt Russell) as seen in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”.
Peter Parker, Spider-Man (Tom Holland)
The most heart-wrenching moment in “Infinity War” finds Peter succumbing to disintegration as he begs his mentor, Tony Stark, to help him. Mr. Stark, we don’t feel so good either.
Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch)
Of all the people to disappear, Doctor Strange was seemingly the most calm and at peace. He spent part of “Infinity War” viewing potential futures with the Time Stone, and so it’s safe to say that losing to Thanos, and then apparently dying, were actually part of his long-view plan to win the day. We just have no idea how.
Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson)
Nick Fury’s disappearance happened in the “Infinity War” post-credits scene. He had just long enough as he vanished to realize what was happening and to summon help from a source we haven’t seen before: Captain Marvel (Brie Larson).
Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders)
Former SHIELD agent and Fury’s long-time bodyguard and right-hand woman, Maria and Fury’s disappearance likely severs the Avengers from any lingering SHIELD infrastructure that might have helped them in “Avengers 4.”
Hank Pym (Michael Douglas)
“Ant-Man and the Wasp” didn’t catch up to the events of “Infinity War” until its post-credits scene, after Hank and his daughter Hope were finally reunited with his wife, Janet, the original Wasp. Unfortunately, they didn’t have long together.
Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly)
Hope went right along with her father, and seemingly no one in the Ant-Man crew had any idea that the events of “Infinity War” were taking place in Wakanda during the end of “Ant-Man and the Wasp.”
Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer)
After 30 years stuck in the Quantum Realm, Janet was rescued with just a few days before Thanos’ attack zapped her out of existence. That’s a pretty big bummer.
Characters who are definitely still kicking
While Thanos managed to kill a whole bunch of people, he didn’t kill everyone — just half of everyone. That means quite a few heroes are still alive. We don’t know about the fates of a lot of folks — like Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) or Peter Parker’s pal Ned (Jacob Batalon). Here’s the list of people we know for sure didn’t disintegrate.
Steve Rogers, Captain America (Chris Evans)
The First Avenger lost his best friend to Thanos, but more than that, he failed in a way Cap has never suffered before. His final line of the movie — a simple, “Oh god” — was just as horrifying as watching so many heroes fade away.
Tony Stark, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.)
Tony has been traumatized by his fear of something like Thanos’ invasion, and Tony’s inability to stop it, since “The Avengers” and the alien attack Loki (Tom Hiddleston) led on New York. That attack was backed by Thanos, and it seems with the Mad Titan’s arrival, Tony’s worst fears have been realized.
Thor (Chris Hemsworth)
Thor’s track through “Infinity War” is incredibly tragic, and it’s clear in a few scenes that he’s just barely holding himself together after the losses of Loki and Heimdall (Idris Elba). After finally becoming the leader his people needed, Thor was unable to save them, and he seems to feel responsible for letting his barely contained pain control him such that he struck Thanos with Stormbreaker in the chest, so he would suffer, rather than the head to kill him instantly.
Natasha Romanoff, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson)
Natasha has been making major strides to become a better person in the post-SHIELD era, but it was clear that losing to Thanos hit her very hard.
Bruce Banner, the Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo)
His constant struggles with the Hulk side of his personality left Banner struggling in “Infinity War” between not wanting to be the Hulk, and needing the Hulk. Losing to Thanos is definitely going to exacerbate their internal conflict.
James Rhodes, War Machine (Don Cheadle)
Rhody fought alongside Cap and crew in Wakanda, and became closer friends with Sam Wilson during the battle. Losing Sam hit Rhody hard, as did the fact that Thanos was able to do something so devastating, and the Avengers weren’t able to stop him.
General Okoye (Danai Gurira)
Okoye’s loyalty to T’Challa, and more importantly, the throne of Wakanda, is a defining part of her identity — so when her king vanished before her eyes, she was obviously and incredibly crushed.
M’Baku (Winston Duke)
M’Baku also stands as a fierce leader and protector of his people, and while we didn’t spend much time with him in “Infinity War,” it was clear losing so many with no way of stopping it was a huge blow.
Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper)
Rocket lost just about everyone to Thanos, though at the end of “Infinity War” he doesn’t even know the extent of it, since he was on Earth with Thor. It’s losing Groot, his best friend and, in a real sense, his son, that ravages Rocket — and one wonders how he’ll be able to recover.
Nebula (Karen Gillan)
No stranger to pain and loss, Nebula was the most stoic of the heroes. After arriving on Titan to try to kill Thanos, she watched the disintegration knowing full well what had happened. Nebula seems likely to be the one character whose life isn’t upended by the snap. She has one goal: kill Thanos. Nothing has changed that.
Scott Lang, Ant-Man (Paul Rudd)
While Scott wasn’t present for “Infinity War,” like everyone in the universe, he was affected by it. Unfortunately, Thanos snapped his fingers exactly when Scott was briefly diving into the Quantum Realm during the post-credits scene of “Ant-Man and the Wasp.” Since Hank, Hope and Janet disappeared back at normal size, there seems to be no one to pull Scott out of the Quantum Realm, apparently marooning him there. Or is there….
Darryl, Thor’s Former Roommate (Daley Pearson)
During the events “Captain America: Civil War,” Thor was hanging out in Australia, living with an office worker named Darryl. This weekend, Darryl made a video for Twitter wishing Thor a happy birthday, and lamenting the fact that, since Thanos eliminated half of his colleagues, he’s stuck working weekends.
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