9 Ways The Marvel Cinematic Universe Could End

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2? The return of Spidey? Thor teaming up with Hulk? Yeah, they're all going to be pretty cool, but when it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe what everyone's really looking forward to is Avengers: Infinity War.

The two-parter that will see Earth's Mightiest Heroes finally throw down against Thanos, wielder of the universe-altering Infinity Gauntlet, it's what the entire mega-franchise has been building to. This it - the boss fight, the final castle, the Death Star trench run: the grand finale.

Except, it isn't. With numerous films set to come after the currently untitled fourth Avengers movie, it's clear the Mad Titan isn't the ultimate end-game of the massive MCU, rather another step in the ongoing Avengers saga. That's certainly exciting, promising more superheroics than you can shake a hammer at (even if big stars like Robert Downey, Jr. and Chris Evans will eventually move on), but if Infinity War, which has been the sole focus of the MCU since it first united the Avengers, isn't the end, then what exactly is?

Of course, the how is just a small part of the question - make no mistake, the MCU will come to an end. What goes up must come down; Iron Man needs to recharge his arc reactor every now and then and even the "immortal" Asgardians die eventually. However, from the current state of affairs that seems a bit unlikely - Marvel are flying high at the moment - so today let's take a look at the ways the Marvel Cinematic Universe could become untenable or otherwise too unwieldily to continue.