These days, most of us are pretty used to the idea that many of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes currently occupy the MCU as dust in the wind, with everyone from Robert Downey Jr. to Doctor Strange writer C. Robert Cargill cracking jokes about the concluding genocide from Avengers: Infinity War.
Still, as the year nears its close, we enter a time of reflection, and so the back cover to the new Infinity War artbook is dedicated solely to those we lost in the Russo Brothers’ last film. As you can see, the line-up includes several of the heroes who perished in Thanos’ purging of the universe, as well as characters who died in more old-fashioned ways like Loki and Gamora. All in all, it’s a nicely colored homage to some of the darker chapters in the MCU’s darkest movie to date.
Of course, by now, we know full well that we haven’t seen the last of most, if not all, of these individuals A young Nick Fury, for one, will be showing up in next year’s Captain Marvel. But more importantly, after Avengers 4 drops, plenty of these characters have confirmed follow-up projects, which include Spider-Man: Far From Home, Black Panther 2 and Doctor Strange 2, not to mention the planned TV shows for Loki and Scarlet Witch. As for Star-Lord and his peers, though Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 may be some wait away, Drax actor Dave Bautista has already let it slip that you’ll be seeing more of these characters in Avengers 4.
In short, we wouldn’t mourn most of these heroes quite yet, but when the sequel to Avengers: Infinity War comes out on May 3rd, 2019, that may be when the deaths start getting really permanent.