Mega Spoilers ahead for Avengers: Infinity War! 

Now that you've had a chance to see Marvel's culmination of 10 years worth of superhero cinema in Anthony and Joe Russo's Avengers: Infinity War, you probably have questions. Like, a lot of questions. Despite mounting the best possible offense/defense against Thanos that they could muster, the Mad Titan ultimately proved victorious against the gathered Avengers and wiped out half of the universe's sentient beings with the snap of his big purple fingers.

Or did he? While comic books have the luxury of wiping out any number of characters only to bring them back to life many issues or pages later, Marvel Studios has to deal with flesh-and-blood human beings inhabiting superheroic roles, contractual obligations, and the need to keep churning out movies in the MCU for years to come. In other words, you can't just wipe out half your cast when they're prepping for production on their own solo films, sequels, and future installments. That'd be mad indeed.

So, keeping that in mind, we broke down some possible resolutions following the insane cliffhanger at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, taking into account how Ant-man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel will factor into the story and lead into Avengers 4 should they follow some established comic book storylines. The Russos certainly like to pick and choose their comic book lore to use in their live-action mega-movies, so it's conceivable that almost anything could happen in the movies ahead, however, we've taken a look at some of the most likely options. (Big thanks to Collider contributor Evan Valentine for his extensive comic book knowledge and obsession that rivals that of Thanos' desire to kiss a skeleton.)

This is your last spoiler warning! From here on out, we're diving into what happened in Avengers: Infinity War and speculating in what's to come in the future films of the MCU.

The Dead Stay Dead

In case you need a recap of everyone--superhero, supervillain, or poor, unfortunate civilian--who bit the dust in Avengers: Infinity War, we have a great breakdown available here. While some of these characters may be well and truly dead since they met their mortal end by means other than Thanos' finger-snapping control over the Infinity Stones (like Loki, Heimdall, Gamora, the Black Order, and possibly the Collector and Vision), the ones who were "dusted" are the curiouser characters in this case.

Let's be honest, with future features already scheduled for such franchise characters as Spider-Man, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, and the Guardians of the Galaxy, this "dead stay dead" track is the least likely outcome going into Avengers 4. We've probably said goodbye to Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba, Zoe Saldana, and possibly Benicio Del Toro and Paul Bettany (at least in corporeal form, though he could always return with some new threads and West Coast swagger), but you should 100% expect the other heroes to return in some fashion. Just how they return is the real question here.

The Soul Stone and the New Avengers

One wonders just why those who "died" on Thanos' command shuffled off their mortal coil in the way that they did, i.e. turning into dust and blowing away in the wind. When the others died by more traditional means, they simply crumpled where they fell, still clothed and flesh-bound. So why did certain characters--none of them the core cast of the Avengers, by the way--turn completely to dust, including flesh, blood, bone, and costume?

Well maybe they're not actually dead at all. Perhaps Thanos' use of the Soul Stone, the stone in his gauntlet that was purchased by exchanging the soul of one he loved (Gamora) for its power, has completely different effects. In the comics, it does indeed.

This gem was once in the possession of the High Evolutionary who was busy overseeing the rebirth of Adam Warlock, a very powerful character whom the MCU has only just briefly touched upon. Warlock himself eventually inherited the gem and struggled to resist its almost vampiric nature to consume souls. Curiously, the Soul Stone traps these stolen souls in an idyllic inner world, a dimension known as Soulworld. While this sounds like a super funky place to hang out, there's a possibility that half the universe (presuming Thanos went all-in with his twisted heart's desire) now exists within this realm. So for all intents and purposes, Soulworld could look like the MCU's normal universe complete with mortals, superheroes and supervillains ... just not the ones who weren't dusted by Thanos. (By the way, the gem can also restore beings to their original states, so if the Avengers managed to get their hands on the stones, they could right a lot of wrongs pretty quickly.)

Update: Joe Russo himself recently said that this "Soulworld" was indeed glimpsed in the scene where Thanos interacts with Gamora's soul after sacrificing her to obtain the stone. More of his comments can be read here.

That opens up some interesting storytelling possibilities on a few fronts. For one thing, it frees up Marvel Studios from the continuity of the existing MCU since they essentially would have a blank page to start over from with the ... New Avengers? I mean, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, The Winter Soldier, Scarlet Witch, Falcon and a good chunk of the Guardians of the Galaxy would make one helluva superhero team. (Though it'd be fun to see Shuri take over the mantle in a Black Panther sequel. And let's not even factor in the possible 20th Century Fox Marvel characters, though that's worth daydreaming about.) That's the second strong selling point for a split in the continuity; the Alt-MCU would give some of the newer members of the ever-growing cast of characters a little more real estate and room to breathe, having twice the movies with half the storytelling restrictions. And if you've been keeping up with Avengers Assemble, you'd know that some team shake-ups, break-ups, and make-ups make for good action and drama. Could the live-action MCU follow suit?

Avengers Forever

Parallel universe-creation or dimension-shifting certainly isn't the craziest thing to happen in Marvel Comics or the MCU, but we should also keep in mind that time is a factor here. As in, time-travel is a factor. In a bit of a subtle play in Avengers: Infinity War, Doctor Strange takes a look at roughly 14 million possible future timelines in order to find the ones in which the Avengers prevail over Thanos. That only happens once. So it suffices to say that everything that happens from this moment on is, in part, by Strange's design since he knows what moves to make to ensure this outcome, even if it involves giving up the Time Stone and dying in the process. (In Doctor Strange we trust.) But time-travel has long been used in comic books and other fiction to tidy up some rather inconvenient plot points, whether by retconning or simply traveling back to the past to fix the future.

Enter: Avengers Forever. This late 90s Marvel storyline includes a bunch of names that none but the most devout of comics fans would have heard of, few of which have even been referenced in the MCU so far. These include characters like Tempus, Rick Jones, and Kang the Conqueror, all players in the vast Kree-Skrull War. Now the MCU has avoided that particular conflict for a decade, but with Captain Marvel on the horizon, that may be about to change.

If you caught that post-credits scene, in short, it directly connects to the 90s-set movie starring Brie Larson in the title role. Its synopsis straight-up pronounces that the Earth is caught in the middle of a war between two alien races and that Captain Marvel, one of the world's most powerful heroes, is the key to stopping it. Why's that important if it happens 20 years or more before the new Avengers films? Well, because Nick Fury's probably been aware of Captain Marvel's existence, and likely the Kree-Skrull War, for at least that long, but has kept it secret even from the Avengers. Additionally, it's important because the reveal of Captain Marvel's story could dovetail into Avengers 4 and open the way for Avengers Forever. (Avengers 4ever ?)

This storyline pulled Avengers members from across time and space in order to battle a time-traveling threat, a tactic which resulted in a rather hodgepodge-looking team. Some sneaky set photos of Avengers 4's production revealed Captain America in his 2012 Avengers costume (and youthful hairstyle and clean cut facial hair) alongside a grizzled-looking, unsuited Tony Stark and a more contemporary Ant-Man (sporting the Ant-Man and the Wasp suit upgrades) and the Hulk in what looks like a revisit of the Battle of New York. Are we time-trippin' or just trippin' in general here?

However Avengers 4 ultimately picks up the pieces of of Avengers: Infinity War, we'll have a better idea of the story to come once Ant-Man and the Wasp hits theaters on July 6th, with Captain Marvel not arriving until March 8, 2019. Granted, both of those films are supposedly set before the events of Avengers: Infinity War but it would be insane if they didn't tie into current events in some major ways. (Like, Thanos might be revealed to be a retired universe overlord-turned-farmer...)

Clearly, the currently untitled Avengers 4, slated to arrive in theaters on May 3, 2019 in what promises to be an even bigger debut than the current cinematic event, will put all of our speculation to rest. We have about a year between now and then to learn as much as we can about Marvel's plans to resolve Avengers: Infinity War's cliffhangers, though right now we'd settle for an official title, itself a clue to the story to come. In the meantime, we'd love to hear your thoughts and theories on what awaits audiences in Avengers 4 and the story leading up to it, so share them in the comments below!

For more on Avengers: Infinity War, be sure to get caught up with just a taste of our recent coverage provided at the links below:

• ‘Infinity War’ Scores $39 Million on Thursday for Biggest Preview Ever for a Marvel Movie
• ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Ending Explained: Where Does the MCU Go From Here?
• Marvel Reportedly Meeting with Female Directors for a ‘Black Widow’ Movie
• Watch ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Stars Perform a Musical Number on ‘The Tonight Show’
• ‘Infinity War’ Tracking for Massive $225+ Million Opening Weekend