What you need to know about ‘Avengers: Endgame’ characters before you see the movie
Apr 24, 2019
Note: This story contains spoilers from “Avengers: Infinity War.”
When “Avengers: Endgame” drops on Friday, it will represent the culmination of 22 movies and more than 10 years of story building.
“Avengers: Endgame” will follow the events of “Avengers: Infinity War,” which ended with the villainous Thanos (Josh Brolin) snapping his fingers and wiping out half of the universe’s population. Yikes.
We don’t know much about “Endgame,” except that the Avengers — Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Hawkeye/Ronin, Black Widow, Thor, Rocket Racoon and Ant-Man — will rush to find Thanos and destroy him.
“The grave course of events set in motion by Thanos that wiped out half the universe and fractured the Avengers ranks compels the remaining Avengers to take one final stand in Marvel Studios’ grand conclusion to 22 films, ‘Avengers: Endgame,’” according to Marvel.com.
Naturally, there are a lot of different characters in “Avengers: Endgame,” several of whom are nearly at the end of their stories. Here’s a quick breakdown of each “Avengers” character and what you need to know about them heading into the film.
Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.)
Iron Man is a genius, billionaire, playboy and philanthropist, and one of the leaders of the Avengers team.
What you need to know: Tony Stark ended up on the planet Titan at the end of “Infinity War.” He narrowly defeated Thanos alongside the Avengers. From the recent trailers, it’s clear that Stark returns to Earth after being adrift in space.
Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans)
Steve Rogers became a World War II hero after he received the super-soldier serum. He became the leader of the Avengers.
What you need to know: Captain America remains on Earth in the fictional African country Wakanda. He was present when Thanos snapped his fingers, killing off half the universe. He watched as other Avengers disappeared into thin air. Captain America has been on the run from the U.S. government after the events of “Captain America: Civil War,” where he defended his good friend Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), who was wanted for murder.
Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson)
Black Widow is one of the deadliest assassins of S.H.I.E.L.D., the government agency that deals with aliens and superheroes. She is also a spy with a checkered past.
What you need to know: Black Widow remains on Earth in Wakanda with the rest of the Avengers. Like Captain America, she watched as other Avengers disappeared from the snap.
Thor (Chris Hemsworth)
Thor is the son of Odin, and lived on Asgard before coming to Earth.
What you need to know: Thor remains in Wakanda on Earth, too. He arrived on Earth after getting a new weapon after his hammer was destroyed in “Thor: Ragnarok.” In that film, Thor watched as his home Asgard was destroyed. He and his people, including his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) left the planet only to run into Thanos. Thanos killed Loki, who had the Tesseract, and set the events of “Infinity War” in motion.
Hulk/Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo)
Dr. Bruce Banner is a soft-spoken scientist who turns into a green monster when he’s angry.
What you need to know: Banner had a bit of an odd time in “Infinity War.” He started the film as the Hulk when he attacked Thanos. Then, when he arrived back on Earth after losing the fight, he became Bruce Banner again. He tried multiple times throughout the film to morph back into the Hulk, but couldn’t do so. We’ll likely see an end to this push-and-pull relationship between Hulk and Banner in “Endgame.”
Clint Barton/Hawkeye/Ronin (Jeremy Renner)
Clint Barton is a master marksman known as Hawkeye. He took on the name Ronin when someone else became Hawkeye.
What you need to know: Hawkeye was one of the main Avengers, but he didn’t appear in “Infinity War,” having retired from the group in “Age of Ultron.” He is expected to return in “Endgame” as Ronin.
Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers (Brie Larson)
Carol Danvers had a near-death experience and became a powerful warrior for the Kree, an alien race in the Marvel universe. She later returned to Earth to defend it from invaders.
What you need to know: Captain Marvel made much of her impact in 1995 when she returned to Earth during an ongoing battle between the Krees and Skrulls. S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury called Captain Marvel to return to Earth just before he disappeared with Thanos’ snap. Captain Marvel has now arrived back on Earth to help the Avengers defeat Thanos.
Ant-Man/Scott Lang (Paul Rudd)
Scott Lang is an ex-con who uses high-tech equipment to shrink down to the size of an ant.
What you need to know: All is good in Scott Lang’s world. He just got off house arrest, and he has a good relationship with his family. Oh, except he jumped into the quantum realm just before the Snap. He’s there now, just chilling. Yikes.
Thanos (Josh Brolin)
Thanos is a mad titan who has sought out destruction throughout the universe.
What you need to know: Thanos is living his best life. He snapped his fingers and wiped out half the universe while wearing the Infinity Gauntlet. He’s currently living on his own. But we know he’ll have to fight the Avengers in “Endgame.”
Nebula (Karen Gillan)
Nebula is a pirate and mercenary and daughter of Thanos.
What you need to know: Nebula tried to defeat Thanos, as well. She’s now with Iron Man on the planet Titan, having survived the snap.
War Machine/James Rhodes (Don Cheadle)
James Rhodes is a military veteran who wears Iron Man-esque combat outfits similar to Tony Stark.
What you need to know: Rhodes is one of the surviving members of the Snap and he remains on Wakanda. He’s been a longtime ally of Tony Stark and has been helping build the bridges between the U.S. government and the Avengers after “Captain America: Civil War.”
Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper)
Rocket Raccoon is a weapons expert and member of the Guardians of the Galaxy team.
What you need to know: Rocket is one of the only members of the Guardians squad that is still living after the Snap. He’s currently in Wakanda after helping Thor in “Infinity War.”
Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow)
Pepper Potts is the former assistant and longtime girlfriend of Tony Stark.
What you need to know: Potts was hanging around with Tony Stark at the beginning of “Infinity War” before the battles began. Stark asked her if she wanted to have a baby, and she remained unsure given that he’s always jumping into battle. There are rumors she’ll appear as Rescue in “Endgame.”
Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson)
Valkyrie is a warrior of the Asgard realm.
What you need to know: Valkyrie’s fate remains unclear. We last saw her on the ship with Thor and other Asgardian survivors. She was still aboard the ship at the beginning of “Infinity War.” While it’s unclear what happened to her, all signs point to her still being alive in “Endgame.”
Okoye (Danai Gurira)
Okoye is a warrior from Wakanda who protects the king of the country.
What you need to know: Okoye is currently still alive in Wakanda, having been a part of the battle against Thanos.
M’Baku (Winston Duke)
M’Baku is T’Challa/Black Panther’s major rival in Wakanda.
What you need to know: M’Baku is still alive in Wakanda after the Thanos battle.
Wong (Benedict Wong)
Wong is a master of mystic and martial arts and a close friend to Doctor Strange.
What you need to know: He didn’t have a huge role in “Infinity War,” having dipped away from the battle early on.
Characters who died in “Infinity War” before the Snap:
Here’s a rundown of all the characters who died in “Infinity War.”
The characters who didn’t survive Thanos’ Snap
Of course, not everyone survived the Snap from Thanos. It’s unclear if they’ll return in “Endgame.”
- Black Panther/T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman)
- Spider-Man (Tom Holland)
- Doctor Strange/Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch)
- Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan)
- Falcon/Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie)
- Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen)
- Star-Lord (Chris Pratt)
- Groot (Vin Diesel)
- Drax (Dave Bautista)
- Mantis (Pom Klementieff)
- Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson)
- Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders)
- Hope Pym (Evangeline Lilly)
- Hank Pym (Michael Douglas)
- Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer)
