There are a couple of aspects of Avengers: Infinity War that should have Marvel fans very worried. The film features loads of familiar characters — possibly over 60 — and also promises to change the Marvel Cinematic Universe in big ways. When you look at those two factors together, the only reasonable conclusion to reach is that Infinity War will feature the deaths of some characters. The stakes are too high and there are too many characters in the film for all of them to make it out alive. So who's going to die? Well, unfortunately, there are several clues that Loki will die in Infinity War.
Now, Loki almost certainly won't be the only character who dies, but the odds are high that he will be one of them. Infinity War, as well as its unnamed sequel coming out next year, are expected to be a turning point in the MCU. Members of the old guard, like Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Evans (Captain America), and Chris Hemsworth (Thor) all have expiring contracts, and it seems likely that Marvel will move on to its Phase Four without these stalwarts and will instead be led by newer stars like Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther), Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange), Tom Holland (Spider-Man), and Brie Larson (Captain Marvel).
Tom Hiddleston, AKA Loki, is most definitely a member of the old guard, beginning his Marvel career in 2011 and having appeared in all three Thor movies as well as The Avengers, so it stands to reason that he could be on his way out. Also, since no Marvel solo series has yet to exceed three films, Thor: Ragnarok could be the final Thor movie, making Loki even more expendable.
Having Loki die in Infinity War due to an expiring contract doesn't really serve the story of the film, but unfortunately for fans of the God of Mischief, things don't look good for him on that front either. Loki had yet another (sort of) good guy turn in Thor: Ragnarok, and the end of that film saw Thor, Loki, and the rest of the Asgardians on a ship headed to Earth for resettlement. However, the film's post-credits scene showed their ship come into contact with an imposing and massive spacecraft belonging to none other than Thanos. This sets up a showdown at the start of Infinity War, one that could go especially badly for Loki in particular.
There's a scene in Thor: Ragnarok where Loki, alone in Odin's vault, sees the Tesseract and stops in his tracks. It's obvious that he steals it, and he still has it on his person on the ship. Since the Tesseract is an Infinity Stone, Loki having it in his possession makes him in particular a target for Thanos, who is on a quest to collect all six of them. The Infinity War trailers seem to back this up as well, as Loki is seen stepping over dead bodies that look an awful lot like Asgardians and offering up the Tesseract, presumably to Thanos. Thanos is later seen in the trailers crushing the Tesseract in his hand and adding its stone to his gauntlet.
One major criticism fans have had regarding Thanos is that ever since his introduction six years ago in the post-credits scene of The Avengers, he hasn't actually done anything. He's talked a big game, but we've yet to see him establish himself as an actual threat. That's going to change in Infinity War. "Within the first five minutes of Infinity War, people will understand why Thanos is the biggest and baddest villain in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe," Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige said last year at Brazil's Comic-Con Experience, according to Comic Book Resources.
Since it seems like his interaction with the Asgardians could lead off the film, fans can assume Feige is talking about something Thanos does in this scene. And since fans have already seen Hela slaughter loads of Asgardians without batting an eye, Thanos has to do something bigger than just killing a bunch of Asgardians. He needs to kill someone important and powerful. Someone like Loki.
With the villain squarely in Thanos' sights and the changing landscape of the MCU, it really seems like there's a good chance Loki will die in Avengers: Infinity War. So start preparing for a Hiddles-free MCU, because it could be coming sooner than you think.
