‘Avengers: Endgame’ 12 Of The Big Questions Answered

Hey, it’s “Avengers: Endgame” weekend, and as you can imagine, spoilers abound. We’ve already written our spoiler-free review, but now it’s time to get into some of the nitty-gritty and the impact that ‘Endgame’ will have on the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Suffice it to say, please don’t read this piece if you haven’t seen “Avengers Endgame.” That’s hopefully obvious. Don’t do it, thanks. *Spoilers forthcoming.*

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The conclusion of Marvel’s 22 film saga, “Avengers: Endgame” is done, in the books, out in the world, and made a shocking $1.2 billion in its opening weekend worldwide which means, it’s pretty much automatically going to be the #2 highest grossing movie of all time, beating “Avatar,” and maybe could surpass “Avatar” at #1 ($2.7 billion is the record, ‘Endgame will have to have crazy box office legs all summer long.). You’ve cried, you’ve laughed, you’ve been overwhelmed, or possibly even disappointed, but the movie has arrived. Now you have questions, and we’ve got answers. Or at least the ones that anyone can provide, considering there are lots of unknowns out there. Well, here is a guide to some unanswered questions, possibly some unanswerable questions, some Easter Eggs, some call-backs and payoffs and what not. Btw, present day in the MCU is now 2023 thanks to the five-year jump: the end of ‘Infinity War,’ and the opening of ‘Endgame’ is set in 2018.

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1. What happened to Gamora?
Perhaps the biggest unanswered question of ‘Endgame’ is what happened to Gamora (Zoe Saldana) of “Guardians of The Galaxy”? And this is an interesting dilemma considering we’ve already seen that the Soul Stone cannot bring a person back from the dead (Hulk tried this with Black Widow, we’ll get to that). So Gamora died in ‘Infinity War,’ and she is technically dead. But her past self-re-appeared when Thanos transported him and his entire army into the present day (2023 now). Gamora changed sides, fought alongside the ‘Avengers,’ but is never seen again after she fights in the Ladies Avengers girl-power moment. At the end of ‘Endgame,’ we see Starlord (Chris Evans), searching for her on his ship’s navigator, but the results are inconclusive, with a “Searching…” button continuing to search and with no results. So, considering she was part of Thanos’ army did she snap out of existence? Presuming the computer would have probably realized is he was dead (I think??), probably not. Will the search for Gamora be part of “Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3” coming in 2022? It sounds like the ‘Guardians’ franchise will be coming to its own epic conclusion, so it seems like this could be a safe bet.

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2. What happens to the Black Widow solo movie?
Spoiler, spoiler if you didn’t read it above. Natasha Romanoff aka the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) is dead, and she can’t come back (though one supposes that in a superhero movie anything can happen). After she traded her life for the Soul Stone, Hulk tried to bring her back with the Iron Infinity Gauntlet and said so, but it didn’t work. So what happens in her upcoming solo movie? Well, as we’ve already suggested, it appears to be a prequel, and like Hawkeye’s Disney+ series it’ll be a fitting swansong goodbye and probably the reason she didn’t get a proper funeral in ‘Endgame’ (booo).

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3. Where Was Katherine Langford?
Fans that pay attention to movie news will ask where was “13 Reasons Why” star Katherine Langford wasn’t in the movie. Late in the process, it was revealed that Langford was cast in ‘Endgame’ in an unknown role. Many speculated she would play the older version of Cassie Lang which is Ant-Man’s daughter, which was a great guess, considering Scott Lang’s five-hour/ five-year stay in the Quantum Realm stay meant a new actress had to be cast (and there was Emma Furhmann, known for “The Magic of Belle Isle”). So what happened? No one actually knows. Here are a few theories. One, Furhmann replaced Langford in the film. That could be one possibility or two; her scene was cut. There have been rumors to that effect. One wild rumor says Langford was seen in the soul stone after the Avengers snap as the older version of Tony’s daughter and he gets to say goodbye to her before she dies. You’ll pretty much have to file under who knows until either Langford or the ‘Endgame’ Russo filmmakers reveal what happened. Given the number of spoiler podcasts these guys do, don’t be surprised if they let the cat out of the bag, unless Langford is being saved for down the road.

‘Avengers 4′: ’13 Reasons Why’ Star Secretly Joins Cast https://t.co/h8KSNAskZf pic.twitter.com/8th47bw8FI

— The Playlist ???? (@ThePlaylist) October 27, 2018

4. What happens to Thor?
Well, three of the original six ‘Avengers’ survive (though Cap is technically still alive, but has essentially been aged off the table) and surprisingly, Thor was one of them. While most of the original is saying goodbye, Hawkeye will do that in a Disney+ series; there’s lots of talk that Thor, reinvented in “Thor Ragnarok” will stick around and Chris Hemsworth will re-up his contract. Thor is seen at the ending, giving up leadership of Asgard and joining the Guardians of the Galaxy in a new adventure. This is leading many to speculate Thor will appear in “Guardians Of The Galaxy 3,” but that movie’s not on screens until 2022. Moreover ‘Ragnarok’ filmmaker Taika Waititi has apparently discussed a “Thor 4” movie, and Hemsworth has even recently suggested he wasn’t a big fan of playing the character until ‘Ragnarok.’ It’s a good bet, he will appear in one more film, but I wouldn’t be so sure that’s ‘Guardians 3.’ Thor could easily join them in an off-screen adventure and start “Thor 4,” right afterward, but we’re veering into fan-fiction territory so let’s stop.

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5. Where is Thor’s Hammer?
Obviously one of the big revelations of ‘Endgame’ is that Captain America is worthy and able to wield Thor’s hammer Mjolnir (and it even returns to him, and he’s able to conjure the lightning and everything despite not being a God of Thunder) and yep, it’s a fun call-back to “Avengers: Age Of Ultron.” But at the end of ‘Endgame,’ Cap takes Mjolnir with him into the past, presumably as safeguarding weapon against whatever he may face in the past while returning infinity stones. When Cap returns as an old man, Mjolnir is nowhere to be seen, nor does Thor have it on the Guardians’ ship. Lost in time somehow or still in Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter’s house in whatever year it is Cap jumps back to the present day (2023)? Presumably so. This might be best given bringing back Mjolnir was kind of a screenwriting/fan service cheat and the lengths Thor went to get his new weapon Stormbreaker. Perhaps it’s best this weapon is conveniently gone.

6. What happens to Hulk?
The original idea of ‘Endgame’ was focusing and saying goodbye to the original six Avengers because most of them have just finished their contracts and would like to move on. As just mentioned, three Avengers (Tony, Cap, Nat) are done, Thor looks like he’s staying on and Hawkeye will say goodbye in a Disney+ show. So what of Bruce Banner aka Professor Hulk? Well, Mark Ruffalo joined the MCU late, replacing Edward Norton in the “Incredible Hulk,” wasn’t in ‘Civil War,’ and presumably has at least one more film in his contract since most Avengers signed around six film contracts (‘A1,’ ‘Ultron,’ ‘Ragnarok,’ ‘Infinity War’ and ‘Endgame,’ are the five he appeared in). Where does he appear next? Well, Hulk can’t appear in a solo film, or at least the rights are complicated because Universal co-owns theatrical rights, so that’s off the table for Marvel. But they could have him appear in a Disney+ series. But if Marvel really wants to use big green one more time, wouldn’t you want to at least use him in one more big send off in whatever ‘Avengers 6’ is? Either that, or giving him a Disney+ show to help create She-Hulk could also be a potential idea. Two things seem almost certain: Ruffalo isn’t done yet, but how he pops up again remains a mystery.

7. What grade are Peter Parker and his friends in?
The Hulk Snappening in ‘Endgame’ causes all kinds of headaches. Everyone who died in Thanos original Snappening comes back to life, but they come back to life in the present (2023), aka five years later. So, this means everyone alive in Endgame is now five years older and everyone who died in ‘Infinity War,’ is the exact same age which is going to cause all kinds of weird problems for various characters that were separated. Some of the biggest or strangest questions will arise for the “Spider-Man” characters and franchise. What grade is Peter Parker in? Presumably, they make him, and all the Returned, retake or finish the high school year they were in, but what about his friends. Some of them must be in college by now? It will be interesting to see how the “Spider-Man: Far From Home” screenwriters adjust to this conundrum. Were all of Peter Parker’s friends conveniently snapped out of existence too so they can all rejoin the sequel, have some essentially been aged out of the franchise and or—since ‘Far From Home’ takes place on vacation, shortly after the events of ‘Endgame’— maybe some of Parker’s friends, now five years older, could come and join them? Whatever the case will be, the ramifications of ‘Endgame’ certainly have a lot of consequences on the timeline of the upcoming ‘Far From Home’ movie. Given that comes out July 2, all answers should be provided soon.

8. The First “Openly Gay” Character in The MCU is director Joe Russo.
You’ve probably read our long-form article of this subject already, so we’ll keep it brief. The MCU filmmakers have touted that they have finally, after 22 films, introduced an openly gay character in the universe. The character? Well, it’s not a central one. Director Joe Russo (who already played a small part in ‘Civil War,’ and cameo’d before, but we suppose audiences will just overlook this) plays the gay man in the grief counseling sessions that survivors of the Snappening are attending led by Captain America. He talks about losing his partner in the snap and trying to go on dating, but he’s still mourning five years later. So yes, that’s the character and played by the director. We’ll try and refrain from saying that calling a small cameo the first openly gay character pretty disingenuous, insincere and kind of insulting to the LGBTQ community especially considering how much the filmmakers are patting themselves on the back for this, but I suppose it’s a start at least.

9. Who is the mystery kid At Tony Stark’s funeral?
Tony Stark’s funeral is a pretty great emotional beat, one woman audibly sobbing during the scene in the second screening, really made me choke up all that more. It features the “Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart” call-back from the first “Iron Man” (the old arc reactor that Pepper Potts frames), plus what many have called the “mystery kid.” During the funeral, the camera pans through every single Avenger and Guardians of the Galaxy that have been part of the ‘Endgame’ battle and their extended families. Everyone is there, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Maria Hill and Nick Fury, Secretary Of State Thaddeus Ross (the man who made some of the ‘Avengers’ fugitives after ‘Civil War’) and a seemingly unknown teenager. Well, that’s a grown-up Harley Keener (Ty Simpkins), the boy who helped out Tony Stark in “Iron Man 3.” Why would he be there? Well, if you watch “Iron Man 3,” you’ll really see how instrumental Keener is in helping and saving Tony Stark, both physically by lending him his garage as a safe house, but also just spiritually as an ally—Keener helps him through a bunch of his panic attacks. Even though Stark is naturally sarcastic, dismissive and hard at the kid, he shows his true feelings and gratitude for his help, but gifting the exceptional, scientifically-inclined boy with a pimped-out garage full of new state of the art toys, gadgets, computers, and more; even a new car to use when he’s old enough to drive. To speculate a little, Tony Stark already creates the September Foundation Grant in ‘Civil War,’ funding all the projects of current MIT students. It likely wouldn’t be a stretch to think that either Keener is one of those kids and or Stark has been subsidizing the boy’s life from afar for several years. Could this be a teaser for the boy’s future in the MCU, possibly as part of Stark Industries, which will obviously continue without Stark? Time will tell.

10. How does Captain American return the Soul Stone or any of the Infinity Stones for that matter?
Nitpicking time travel just doesn’t work so don’t do it. If you think about it too much, the whole “Cap travels back in time to return each infinity stone in the exact moment it was taken” really falls apart. Wouldn’t Cap have to inject the Aether back into Jane Foster on Asgard, presuming that somehow the Avengers knew how to magically transform it back into containable Aether after conveniently being able to transform it into a stone off-screen? And what does Cap do to return the Soul Stone? You have to kill to acquire it, what are the rules of giving it back and does he return the second after it’s gone? Otherwise, Red Skull Death could be confused and pissed. Couldn’t he have bartered to return the stone in exchange for Natasha’s life? Don’t think about any of this too hard or your brain will break. Again, time travel is not meant to be picked apart. Let’s just enjoy this part as much as we can (though if you want another brain twister, think that Steve Rodgers, living with Peggy Carter, may have had to disappear in 2011 back into the 2023 present, or whatever year he is thawed out of ice at the end of “Captain America; The First Avenger,” so the people who have known him for most of his life won’t think it’s weird that Captain America, aka Steve Rodgers, comes out of the ice in their timeline circa 2011 and they can recognize the duplicate).

11. Is Vision Dead? Where Did Loki Transport To?
We’re going to get into this in a whole separate article about how “Avengers: Endgame” effects the upcoming Disney+ show. Suffice it to say there is a broken timeline out there somewhere were Loki is still out there with the tesseract somewhere (he grabs it and disappears after the botch time heist attempt that Cap, Tony, and Ant-Man try), and whether they explore that or not… well, it remains to be seen. And Vision (Paul Bettany) is supposed to appear in a “WandaVision” show with Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen). How the hell does that happen considering Vision is toast and doesn’t come back at any time in ‘Endgame’? Time will have to tell.

12. What is the post-credits sound?
Somewhat notoriously already—and it’s crazy to think that some audiences are complaining or disappointed considering all they’ve been given—there is no Post-Credits Scene in “Avengers: Endgame.” And yes, some audiences are apparently legitimately mad and this is what we can’t have nice things. But there is a little something. A noise, a clanging heard at the end of the credits. This is a callback to the cave in “Iron Man” one where Tony Stark creates his Mark 1 armor with all is brilliance and perseverance. Not only is it just a callback, but perhaps a tribute to the character: if you use all your ingenuity, tenacity and skills, perhaps you have what it takes to be one of the greatest heroes of all time.