This story contains spoilers from various Marvel movies. Stop reading now if you don't want to read an important detail.
Once all of the Infinity Stones are assembled in Thanos' gauntlet, he'll wield powers never before seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Does this mean he will be able to bring fallen heroes back from the dead? This is being implied by a theater standup that's making the round in Twitter, as members of the Avengers and other key players in the MCU are posing with The Mad Titan... including some deceased characters.
This standup, shared on Twitter by KindaCulty, seems to tease out next summer's Avengers: Infinity War, as Josh Brolin's Thanos can be spotted on the left-hand side with several key members of the Guardians of the Galaxy. In that group, surprisingly, is Michael Rooker's Yondu... who sacrificed himself at the conclusion of James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
OK, fine. Someone made a mistake, and included Yondu. He's a fan favorite. Hell, he might even have a cameo, a flashback, or a dream sequence where he talks with his adopted son Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), aka Star-Lord, in the final movie. But over on the right-hand side, we also see The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), who mentored Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and, yes, died at the end of that origin story.
Something strange is going on here -- no pun intended. Either Avengers: Infinity War is planning on bringing a handful of dead characters back to life in the MCU... or (and this feels more likely), this is a promotional standup meant to give fans the opportunity to pose with their favorite heroes -- and one evil villain -- as they head in to see Thor: Ragnarok. Because even though this promo art features Spider-Man in that Iron Spider suit we saw at the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming, we also see The Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) in the background... and I'm not sure the Wasp is IN Avengers: Infinity War.
Do you know what would help us sort all of this out? An Infinity War trailer. Then, Marvel could control what we're seeing, what we aren't seeing, who we are discussing and what the topics of conversation should be. Because when a promo standup has Yondu and the Ancient One front and center, we scratch our heads but we THINK we can explain it away. However, if and when those heroes show up in a trailer... well, that's a whole new ball game.
Joe and Anthony Russo's Avengers: Infinity War drops into theaters on Friday, May 4. Check out our 2018 Movie Release Calendar see all of the other films coming out next year.
