Ok, seriously, first and foremost... SPOILERS AHEAD. If you haven't seen Infinity War yet, get out. No complaining, no griping, we're getting into the nuts and bolts in here and that means full on spoilers. No more warnings, no spoiler spaces. Again, if you haven't seen Infinity War, LEAVE NOW.

Also, this could get long. Sorry.

Just left the theater after seeing Infinity War. Damn. Not sure how it handles as a stand alone movie (too invested in the MCU to fairly judge it on those grounds), but as the capstone to a decade long narrative, what a show. And even though it ended right where I think many of us expected, it really hit me right in the feels. But this isn't a review thread, this is a "What's next?" thread.

So, Avengers 4. They haven't even told us the title yet, claiming it spoils Infinity War. Details have been sparse, info a closely guarded secret. And kudos to Marvel Studios for actually keeping a lid on a surprising amount of spoiler material, they really must beat people with the NDA hammer when you get involved with these films. Makes you wonder if it will have an original title, or if they're going to use another major Marvel storyline for a title? So many to choose from. Infinity Crusade could work, but isn't a spoiler of any kind. Infinity Watch? Same deal. Lots of infinity titles but none a potential spoiler. Could go original, as I mentioned. "Thanos Wins". "The Avengers Avenge." Or something better than that, I suck at this kind of thing.

But I have a thought. Going to throw myself off a cliff and post it here, so we can all look back at how wrong I was around this time next year and laugh at my foolishness. Let's start with what's clear:

1) Thanos cannot be stopped. Out of our heroes, perhaps only Hulk and Thor could hope to best him one on one (and perhaps Carol, once she makes her appearance) without the gauntlet. With it? Thor got in a good blow blindside style and had a shot, but left Thanos an opening to use the Gauntlet. And now, obviously, beating Thanos is a moot point. Half the universe is dead.

2) Our heroes keep getting blinded by their emotions. Both Quill and Thor blow opportunities to end the threat because they are too caught up in their own vengeance. Only somebody with the will to act without emotion, pragmatically as Thanos does can defeat the Titan.

3) Doctor Strange has a way out. He claims he saw one, but only one future in which they won. And as he lays dying, Gauntleted out of existence by the victorious Thanos, he tells Stark that this was how things had to be. "It was the only way," if I'm not misremembering. Thus, we can conclude that the events after he gives up the Time Stone are a necessary path to the only future in which they win. Strange is playing the long game. He flat out told Tony he'd let him die if it would protect the Time Stone. We're supposed to see him surrendering the stone as a revelation that Strange can't be as hard as he needs to be. Another hero failed by sentiment. But Strange has moved past that. He's seen a way to victory. But it means letting half the universe die. Strange is a boss.

Strange recognized that Thanos could not be stopped. Half the universe was going to die. But the gauntlet can set things right. Problem? Only Thanos can wield the gauntlet. (Never explicitly stated, but implied. It took all the Guardians to wield a single stone, and that's when Quill had Celestial powers. Thanos held the tesseract in his bare hand and didn't get Red Skulled. Etc.) Thus, ONLY THANOS CAN SET THINGS RIGHT.

But why would he? First, he'd have to be convinced he was wrong. What might do that? I'm not that clever, but I can think of two things. The first is an existential threat to all life. Something that could be stopped if only he hadn't wiped out half the Avengers and their allies, perhaps? Like an invasion. The second is evidence that the universe's resources are not as finite as he believed. That life could grow and expand and find other sources to fuel growth in ways that aren't inherently destructive. What might that look like? A multiverse, that's what.

In the comics, the Infinity Stones are useless outside their native reality, their home universe. Contextually, you could extrapolate from there that the stones might be unable to affect anything that originated in another reality, another universe. (Not true in the comics, per se, but I could see the argument being made persuasively in film.) Thus, there is one thing that satisfies both conditions for Thanos learning that he is wrong. An invasion from another reality.

Avengers 4. A title that could be seen as spoiling Infinity War. An invasion from another reality.

Avengers: Annihilation?