Infinity War featured an endless stream of deaths of much-loved characters and the one that first told us the movie would be absolutely merciless was Loki’s demise, when Thanos killed him after acquiring the Space Stone. Tom Hiddleston’s trickster has been by far the most beloved villain – or anti-hero, later on – in the MCU to date, so fans were distraught to see him go. But could he return in Avengers 4?
When Infinity War ended with the likes of Black Panther, Doctor Strange and Spider-Man turning to dust, audiences fully expected these deaths to be reversed. However, the Russo brothers have maintained that these fatalities are real and not just fake-outs. Thanks to the prevailing theory about Avengers 4‘s plot, though, we may be able to deduce what exactly the directors mean by that.
It’s all but confirmed by now that Avengers 4 will involve time travel. Specifically, it looks as if the remaining heroes will utilize the power of the Quantum Realm to journey back through their recent history in order to collect the Infinity Stones before Thanos does, thereby rewriting the timeline and ensuring that he never uses the Infinity Gauntlet to wipe out half the universe. Doing this would mean that those Infinity War deaths are still real, even if they aren’t permanent.
By this same logic, there might be a way for Loki’s death to be undone. Think about it. The God of Mischief dies because Thanos attacks the Asgardian refugee ship, known as the Statesman, in order to get the Space Stone. But if Iron Man and co. take the Space Stone from the past – set photos point to them stealing it from the events of The Avengers – then this’ll never happen. Therefore, Loki and, presumably the many Asgardians that Thanos murdered, will be restored to life in the revised timeline.
This would be fantastic news for fans of the God of Mischief, but we probably shouldn’t take it as gospel just yet. After all, Infinity War seemed to bring his character arc full circle, with Loki having fully redeemed himself for his misdeeds by dying to protect his brother. Would Marvel really want to undo that to bring him back in Avengers 4? I guess we’ll find out next May.