Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS ahead for Avengers: Infinity War

Avengers: Infinity War directors, Joe and Anthony Russo are cagey about the possibility of dead characters coming back to life in Avengers 4. The 19th installment from the MCU saw the official introduction of Thanos, who was out to collect all six Infinity Stones in the hopes of balancing the universe by wiping half of its population. Of course, Earth's Mightiest Heroes just couldn't let that happen. But even after putting a gallant fight against the Mad Titan, he still fulfilled his goal, enacting the iconic snap from the comics, resulting in countless deaths, including several key players in the franchise.

Writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely were adamant that the Infinity War deaths are real, warning fans that "the sooner you accept that, the sooner you will be able to move on to the next stage of grief." This scared fans who have been hoping that the fallen heroes could still come back, after all, many of them are already confirmed for their own sequel films. But new comments from the Russo brothers imply that the death count may not be as definitive as Markus and McFeeling originally insinuated.

During an interview with wtop, the Russos were coy when asked about anything regarding the multiple character deaths toward the end of Infinity War, with Anthony saying that they can't comment on the matter with a knowing grin on his face, as expected. But it's interesting for him to give a non-committal answer differing from the writers' earlier remarks that sounded pretty definitive. This gives fans hope that it might still be possible to revive most of the people who died in the film via Thanos' snap.

Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark at the end of Avengers Infinity War

Despite this, the co-directors reiterated that these twin Avengers movies will have stakes, which means that if the dead heroes are to come back, there will be a high price to pay.“The stakes are clearly very high with Thanos and there are incredible costs in trying to beat him,” Joe said. Anthony backed his brother up by adding “We have a really strong commitment to very real stakes. … Without stakes, it takes away your level of emotional investment and engagement. We love these characters as much as anybody, but all things have to come to an end. There’s a cycle to everything and these movies represent the end of the first cycle of Marvel Studios.”

Given the predicament, there are still certain ways to bring back those who crumbled into dust without undermining the weight of their deaths. It's safe to say it's no coincidence that after everything, the core Avengers remains alongside a few supporting characters. This opens up the opportunity for these foundational heroes to band together once again to find a way to rectify the situation, and perhaps along the way, they would need to make difficult choices and sacrifices to ultimately save the universe.

There is one thing that both the directors and the writers are in agreement about and that's the promise that Avengers 4 is more complicated than it seems to be. Markus and McFeely teased the film is a "fairly mature movie for a blockbuster," and definitely separate from Avengers: Infinity War despite having a continuous narrative thread connecting the two movies. The Russos, on the other hand, hinted on the Phase 3 capper being "even more surprising." However it pans out, people can expect a significantly different MCU after these two Marvel event films.

MORE: Avengers: Infinity War Is Dividing Critics (But Not Fans)

Source: wtop

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