Anna Daniels
In Avengers: Endgame it took Earth’s Mightiest Heroes a whole five years to mount a response after Thanos wiped out half the universe with a snap of his fingers, From Thor (Chris Hemsworth) letting himself go to Captain America (Chris Evans) leading support groups, a lot happened to our favorite heroes in the five-year time jump between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. With Marvel entering Phase 4 of the MCU, here’s a quick breakdown of everything that happened after the snap.
Iron Man
In many ways, Thanos’ victory vindicated all of Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) work in the years leading up to Infinity War. The snap proved that the Avengers should have been working towards a defense of cosmic threats.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2gtQgf7vKY?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]
Tony’s first reaction reflected this vindication as he was bitter and angry at his fellow Avengers. But his feelings were tempered after he had a child with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). He even started updating his Iron Man suit and got up to Mark 85 by the time of Avengers: Endgame.
War Machine
In the wake of the snap, one of Black Widow’s (Scarlett Johansson) strongest allies was War Machine (Don Cheadle). Despite everything that happened in Infinity War, James Rhodes continued his work and became one of Earth’s mightiest protectors.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdqNfKTqefE?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]
According to Screen Rant, he was also given an upgrade to his armor and was rocking the Cosmic Iron Patriot look at the end of the five-year time jump. Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) likely assisted in the War Machine upgrade, and Avengers: Endgame hinted that the two developed a working relationship.
Black Widow
Black Widow took on a lot more responsibility in the wake of the snap. Several of the Avengers quit the team altogether (including Captain America and Hawkeye), so it was left to Black Widow to pick up the slack.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL3pN5wLPoM?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]
Natasha made the old Avengers compound her home base and developed a network of heroes who worked together to eliminate threats. We do not know what happened with Black Widow’s small group, but she clearly made a difference by the time everyone came back for Avengers: Endgame.
Captain Marvel
While Black Widow was coordinating things on Earth, Captain Marvel spent most of her time on her home planet rebuilding things. She did, however, remain in contact with Black Widow and seemingly made frequent trips back to Earth.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoRD0FPjMK8?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]
Exactly what she did in the five years after the snap remains a mystery, but it is possible that her visits to Earth inspired a young girl who will eventually become Ms. Marvel.
Thor
The Asgardians were left without a home following the events in Thor: Ragnarok and Thanos destroying their ship in Infinity War did not help matters. Luckily, they found a new home in Tønsberg, Norway, which is the same place where Odin hid the Tesseract.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK_NlOpsjOE?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]
Thor, of course, helped his people establish their new home base, though he clearly did not want to be their leader. Instead, he kept to himself (and gained a bunch of weight) while Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) led her people into a new era.
Hulk
Hulk did not have a very good showing in Infinity War, and Bruce Banner’s frustration with his alter-ego led to some experiments in the lab. At some point, Bruce figured out how to fuse his brains with Hulk’s brawn to create Professor Hulk.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dgfZ6wMFOA?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]
In a deleted scene from Avengers: Endgame, we see Hulk helping out some local firefighters in a new costume. Essentially, Hulk became the public face of the Avengers and was continuing their work.
Hawkeye
Out of all of the Avengers, Hawkeye was the only one who completely lost it and went rogue. Taking on the identity of Ronin, it became Hawkeye’s mission to track down and kill the criminals of the world.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOCuMA7DzLM?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]
Luckily, Hawkeye was convinced to go a different path when Tony figured out how to travel back in time. But the damage he did during the five-year time gap clearly weighed heavily on him in Avengers: Endgame.
Captain America
Captain America may have quit being an Avenger after Infinity War but he did not stop helping people. In Avengers: Endgame, we find out that Cap has been leading a support group and helping people get over losing their loved ones.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KvBoEMQXDk?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]
The support group is actually a nod to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), who perished in the snap and led a similar group for veterans in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Avengers: Endgame is available to stream on Disney+.
Written by: Cheat
