Wednesday, 25 April 2018

Starting Your Own Infinity War Dead Pool

If you are going to be seeing Infinity with a group of Marvel fans, it might be fun to have yourselves an Infinity War dead pool. You each take turns picking heroes that you think will be dead at the end of the movie (being trapped inside the soul stone counts as dead). This should not include deaths that happen in the sequel being released next year. If you have more than 3 people in your group, we do recommend a "snake draft", where each round you reverse the draft order. Below is a list of 26 heroes/protagonists who are confirmed to be in the movie and sorted by High-Medium-Low risk.

One thing that might complicate the outcome of the dead pool is the possibility that many will die. Of the 26 listed below, we should see at least 10 and as many as 20 of them physically dead (with perhaps their souls saved in the soul stone). The higher the mortality rate, the more ties you'll have in your own pool. Also remember that the soul stone has the ability to bring souls back to life, so anyone who dies in the first film can be resurrected in the second film. You are not making your picks based on who might die permanent deaths in the MCU. Some may just die temporarily due to the power of the gauntlet.

It's also worth pointing out that there was some trailer footage used in the analysis below, but I have stopped watching the newest trailers and promo clips because they are releasing too much information. Whether or not you include an entry fee to the dead pool is entirely up to your group. Rotten Tomatoes did a list revealing odds for all the characters dying, which I did not think was all that accurate. Still, it's there if you want to use that as a draft tool.


High Risk:

* Vision - He's alive because the mind stone is welded to his head. We know it will be removed from his head at some point, but we don't know if he'll still be alive when it's gone. Very good chance that Vision is sucked into the soul stone, or that upon removal of the mind stone, his body is rendered useless, but his consciousness survives in the mind stone.

The Collector - Just having a stone puts him at high risk. We're not entirely sure yet how Thanos's encounter with him will go when he collects the reality stone, but there's a good chance he's going to perish.

* Heimdall - If he's got the soul stone, he'll be in Thanos path. The fact that we don't see Heimdall in any of the trailer footage does indicate an increased probability that he dies when Thanos acquires the soul stone. Or, he's going to get sucked into the soul stone, which has the ability to store souls inside. This may be how Heimdall saves all the Asgardians from death when they meet Thanos, inside the soul stone.

Loki - He has the space gem. He'll give it up easily, but he's still at high risk of harm. Thanos can't be happy about what happened in New York and the fact that he didn't get the mind gem back. Rotten Tomatoes did a "Hero Death Odds" piece that noted we don't see Loki in any other trailer footage other than giving the stone to Thanos.

* Nebula - She is consumed by hatred of Thanos and this could get her killed. There is no doubt she is going to play an important role to the plot and may even be the one to rip the gauntlet from Thanos fist (as she does in the comics).

Captain America - The only reason that Captain America is in the high risk is because of Chris Evans contract status. He won't be one of the ones to die a temporary death, but may be the best candidate to die a permanent death at the end of the 2nd movie.

Hawkeye - If you haven't already noticed, Hawkeye is conspicuously absent from much of the promo art and trailer footage thus far. This cast is very large and with several mouths to feed, but we're seeing far more from lesser characters who are not core Avengers.

* War Machine - He will probably fly valiantly into battle despite not being fully recovered from injury and die a noble death. We know from the trailers that he'll be present at the battle of Wakanda, a battle which will likely have a high mortality rate for the good guys.

Medium Risk:

Thor -We do see Thanos attempting to crush Thor's skull in a trailer, which does put him at some risk at harm. I'd be shocked though if they killed Thor at the start of the first movie. Chris Hemsworth may currently be sitting without a contract for more movies in the future, but Thor Ragnarok did well and Hemsworth has expressed a desire to return in the role.

Drax - They will need this character again in the future, but he may be a likely candidate to die on a temporary basis, just by virtue of his desire for revenge against Thanos. He might get himself killed in the process. Those who are most eager to attack Thanos are in grave danger.

Black Widow - I'm not sure how much longer Scarlet Johansson wants to play this character. The job is probably hers as long as she wants it. There has been talk of her getting her own stand-alone movie, which might save her character's life.

Scarlet Witch - We know that her and Vision are a thing now. Guess who is #1 on the death risk list? Even just her proximity to this high value target put her at greater risk of harm. She possesses powers similar to the reality stone and has a history with the mind stone since that what her powers came from. She might have some neat tricks up her sleeve.

Bucky - We know that Thanos will have a scene where he engages Captain America in hand to hand combat, as it's been in almost every trailer. Bucky will undoubtedly be close to Cap throughout the battle, so we know that he will enter Thanos's path.

Iron Man - The Rotten Tomatoes list had Ironman at even odds, which I very much disagreed with. Robert Downey Jr might not have a new contract, but it would be shocking to see Marvel kill off it's cash cow. We do see him engage Thanos in hand to hand combat in trailer footage, and it doesn't go well for Tony. He's in danger.

Gamora - We do see a flashback in trailer footage of Thanos conquering a planet with a toddler sized Gamora. There will be some backstory between these two characters, as her betraying him in Guardians of the Galaxy would have hurt him deeply.

Falcon - He'll be close to the Captain, which will put him in harm's way, just like Bucky. It's also not impossible that Anthony Mackie will be named the next Captain America if Chris Evans is done, so there's that.

* Dr Strange - He's got one of the gems and we do see him being tortured in a trailer. He's going to be harm's way. The likeliest outcome is that Dr Strange hides the time stone and doesn't have it on him when he's captured. If he did, they would just kill him instead of going to the trouble of torture and interrogation.


Low Risk:

* Ant-man - Probably the safest bet to live considering there is a new Antman movie coming out soon. That fact alone kinda makes him untouchable. He has been absent from much of the Infinity War promo art and trailer footage even though he is a confirmed cast member. He hasn't been officially named to the MCU version of the Avengers team, but he's an important one in the comics.

* Spiderman - They will get Tom Holland as much screen time as possible, and the deal with Sony may indirectly guarantee Peter lives. He is also a contender to steal the gauntlet from Thanos, though he may have some issues at the battle of Wakanda with a lack of trees in the open field. He won't be putting on an aerial show.

* Black Panther - He's the new golden boy of the MCU. He'll be back. They are putting him into as much promo art, trailer footage, and merchandise as they possibly can. He'll be on screen as much as anybody and alive from start to finish.

* Captain Marvel - We can expect a cameo at some point, and as a new addition to the MCU, they'll want to grow the character for her upcoming stand-alone films. For a character who has been confirmed in the cast, they’re mostly leaving her out of the trailers and promotion.

* Groot - It's unlikely that Marvel wants to kill off this character, but maybe he's a likely target for a short-term death because you can just grow a new Groot by planting one of his twigs in the ground.

Star Lord - There has to be close to a 0% chance that Chris Pratt is dying in this movie. At least now we know that he's a God (or the son of a God), so he's probably not 100% mortal. He should be able to sustain some serious damage while staying alive.

Rocket - Animal rights activists would be angered if Rocket died. Even though he's a CGI Character. Don't expect Rocket to end up in the trash. I'm really not expecting any of the Guardians to die, but Drax might get himself killed.

Hulk - We didn't even know if Hulk can be killed. He will probably get a beaten up badly at some point by the power gem, but I don't think he can die.

Shuri - She's also a very popular new character who will be playing a substantial supporting role in more future films. She may even be the most unkillable character in Infinity War.

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