MCU Phase 4: Which Characters Will Return After Avengers: Endgame?

Supporting Characters

10. Thanos (& The Black Order)

Status: Dead

The Infinity Saga had to end with the end of Thanos and his zealous underlings. After all, there was no way he was ever going to see reason, given that the ferocity of his desire to "fix" the universe was only matched by his megalomania and sociopathy. He was evil incarnate, no matter how much he protested his fundamental goodness and his story had to be ended the most brutal way.

He and the black order - and indeed the Outrider and Chitauri army - are done, the MCU has now moved on and it makes little sense that we'd ever see any of them ever again. Apart from the vague chance that Cull Obsidian turns up in a Captain Marvel sequel to explain why he's wearing her colours on a swatch on his weapon in Infinity War, of course? Probably not though.

9. Loki

Status: Dead (But Coming Back)

Loki's death wasn't undone by Endgame, but there was that curious moment where he disappeared from SHIELD's custody when Captain America, Iron Man and Ant-Man messed up the Tesseract heist. And that escape - which changes the timeline that Loki's on and presumably means he can't now be killed in his immediate future, because Thanos is also killed before they meet again - means we're going to see him again.

This could have been an opportunity to retire him entirely, but Tom Hiddleston is coming back thanks to Disney+.

Next Up: Loki's Disney + TV Show

Presumably, we're going to see Loki's adventures through time springing forth from that moment when he escapes, which means that we're going to have to see him tinkering with time travel too.

Then again, the synopsis that said Loki's show sees him “pop up throughout human history as unlikely influencer on historical events" could simply be an anthology show in the vein of Quantum Leap that shows him messing around in every singular episode.