How The Avengers: Endgame Ending Changed The Comics

1. The Infinity Stones Are Gone For Good

In the present-day, post-Endgame timeline, the Infinity Stones are all but gone, destroyed in the wake of Thanos' decimation. Steve Rogers takes the older gems back to where they were plucked from history, and that's the end of the story.

The Infinity Gems have been a constant force in the Marvel Universe for decades, but there have been periods where they've been destroyed. Jonathan Hickman's Avengers series - itself a major inspiration for the previous two Marvel films - destroyed five of the six gems when the Avengers attempt to stop the destruction of the multiverse. The Time Gem, the source of power for Doctor Strange's Eye of Agamotto in the MCU, survives the encounter, and returns to Captain America later in the run.

All six stones later return during 2015's Secret Wars, and were then recoloured to match their cinematic counterparts in Marvel Legacy. Because synergy, obviously.

Seeing as how the MCU has positioned the Sorcerer Supreme as the guardian of the Time Stone, with it now gone, might it be possible that Doctor Strange 2 will revolve around Strange's efforts to conjure a new one? Alternate dimensions were already broached in the first film, so it's certainly possible, if not unlikely.

The Infinity Saga is over, and with Phase 4 the start of something new, it might be the case that Endgame was the last we ever see of the Infinity Stones in live action. Even if they keep returning in the comics, there are still plenty of other cosmic elements for the MCU to broach. Best leave them behind, rather than succumb to repetition.