Only One Avengers: Infinity War Death Has Remained Permanent
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige claimed Avengers: Infinity War would lead to real deaths – but only Heimdall has really stayed dead.
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Only one death in Avengers: Infinity War has proved to be permanent. Superhero comics have always tended to treat death as something of a revolving door, to the extent the trope of a fake death is frequently referred to as a “comic book death.” The Marvel Cinematic Universe has inherited this tendency of treating death as just a brief inconvenience, that can be written around with relative ease.
In the build-up to Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige warned viewers this time deaths would be permanent. He admitted to the previous various fake deaths, before warning, “People need to be careful what they wish for.” And he certainly didn’t seem to have been exaggerating, because when viewers watched Avengers: Infinity War, they were shocked at the body count. Heimdall and Loki were killed in the opening scenes, Gamora was sacrificed on Titan, the Mind Stone was torn from Vision’s forehead, and finally Thanos snapped away half the living creatures in the universe – including the likes of Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and most of the Guardians of the Galaxy. In spite of the body count, though, it’s become clear Feige’s words were little more than marketing – simply because only one of these deaths has lasted.
Heimdall is literally the only major MCU character killed in Avengers: Infinity War who hasn’t been brought back in one form or another. Idris Elba was the guardian of the Bifrost Bridge on Asgard, meaning his traditional role largely came to an end when the Realm Eternal was destroyed in Thor: Ragnarok. He played a crucial role in Avengers: Infinity War nonetheless, using dark magic to transport the Hulk to Earth so the Masters of the Mystic Arts could be warned Thanos was coming. Heimdall paid a heavy price for his heroism, murdered by Thanos.
All the other deaths in Avengers: Infinity War have now been reversed, after a fashion. It is true that Loki and Gamora’s stories came to an end, but those deaths have essentially allowed Marvel to relaunch the characters with new arcs; Avengers: Endgame introduced a variant of the trickster god whose adventures are continuing in the Loki series on Disney+, while a variant of Gamora was transported to the present and will return in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Meanwhile, Vision too was repaired courtesy of WandaVision, with SWORD rebuilding the synthezoid and giving him a magical jolt of power by exposing him to Scarlet Witch’s Hex. Finally, of course, all the untold billions killed by Thanos have been restored as well. That was always inevitable, because Thanos’ actions were simply too big, and the Mad Titan’s victims included heroes with a bright future ahead of them.
It’s interesting to note, though, that these many fake deaths do manage to avoid one important part of the “comic book death” trope. This trope typically reduces the significance of death, meaning there are no real consequences to a character’s death and resurrection. In the case of Avengers: Infinity War, though, Marvel has been careful to ensure there are lasting impacts. Loki, Gamora, and Vision won’t simply continue on their previous arcs; they have been changed on a fundamental level, with Vision’s future the most mysterious (Paul Bettany isn’t signed up to any more Marvel projects just yet). And Marvel’s decision to have Thanos’ victims restored after five years means life in the MCU changed radically as a result of the Mad Titan, with the various Disney+ shows, in particular, exploring the chaos Thanos caused – and the confusing implications of what is now called the “Blip,” the five-year period before Thanos’ actions were reversed. So Avengers: Infinity War may not have killed off so many people as Feige hinted – but that doesn’t mean the fake deaths didn’t have consequences.
Amusingly, Idris Elba believes Heimdall could still return to the MCU. That’s clearly a lot easier in the wake of Loki, which launched the MCU’s Multiverse – and if Marvel do ever bring Elba back via variants, all of Avengers: Infinity War’s deaths will have been undone. So much for Feige’s warning.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/avengers-infinity-war-death-permanent-only-one-heimdall/