Why Marvel Would Be MAD To Kill Off Thor In Avengers 4
Surely you can't kill a GOD?!
Marvel might have made it pretty clear that the aftermath of Avengers 4 will herald a whole new era for the MCU, but there needs to be some sense of continuity. We already know that there are sequels coming (even if Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3 doesn't happen, there's Spider-Man: Far From Home and sequels for Doctor Strange and Black Panther already on the way), but the suggestion right now is that the entire Phase One character roster will be retired. One way or another.
While that may sound like a good thing for keeping the MCU as fresh as possible and opening up more space for new characters, it would be a mistake to cast all of the veterans off. Particularly as one character in particular deserves more time in the MCU. That certain someone is Thor, God of Thunder and angel/pirate hybrid and Marvel would be stupid to kill him off in Avengers 4.
It's not even a difficult argument to make. First of all...
3. Thor's Story Is Not Complete
If Thor's story was to end with Avengers 4 with his death, for instance, there'd be a pretty huge unresolved plot hole in the shape of Asgard's fate. As it stands, the Asgardian home planet was destroyed at the end of Thor: Ragnarok and the survivors were headed towards Earth to start what would presumably be New Asgard. Then Thanos happened and that storyline was killed, with some of the more notable survivors disappearing entirely.
It could well be that the Russos plan on having a happy ending for the Asgardians bolted onto the end of Avengers 4, but there are a couple of problems with that. Firstly, you end up with Lord Of The Rings ending syndrome whereby there's too much wrapping up and the actual important ending gets a little lost. This would be bad.
Secondly, it would also ignore the fact that Asgard's integration on Earth is actually a huge story in its own right. We're in a historical period defined by immigrant anxiety (hence the propaganda of the Trump machine and Brexit issues) and the idea that Marvel would set up the Siege storyline without ever exploring it with Thor in place is absolutely backwards. For that story to really work (and it deserves to), it needs the King Of Asgard to be at the centre of it.
And not only that, but his story has just entered a far more interesting place personally too. He's finally learned how to be truly worthy, how to channel his powers without Mjolnir and what it feels like to be removed from his people, thanks to Ragnarok. He also has new allies in Valyrie, Korg and Miek, greater powers and a completely different outlook (thanks to the more openly comic bent on the character) - throwing all of that away to kill him is a massive waste.