If there’s one death out of the many fatalities in Avengers: Infinity War that fans are most dedicated to finding a way around, it’s Loki’s, as the God of Mischief died at the hands of his former employer Thanos at the beginning of the movie. Seeing as he’s previously “died” in Thor: The Dark World, though, we’re not sure if we can trust what we see, with many believing that he’ll find a way to return for Avengers 4.
This latest Loki theory is actually fueled mostly by leaked set photos and videos from filming on next May’s sequel, which give us some clues as to what to expect from the grand finale of the MCU as we know it. The big one that’s relevant to this theory is that Cate Blanchett and Tom Hiddleston were allegedly spotted among the cast during a shoot at Durham Cathedral in the UK. It’s important to note that this location was previously used as the location of Thor’s magic well in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
So, with this information, Reddit user @IanMoone13 has come up with the concept that Avengers 4 will see Thor, Valkyrie and Rocket – going by set photos – travel back to that spooky well which seems to be an inter-dimensional, psychic portal of some kind and visit Hel, the Asgardian land of the dead. Here, they’ll find Hela, who was sent back there after her demise in Thor: Ragnarok. As she’s the Goddess of Death, Thor will cut a deal with her to resurrect Loki.
This is a neat theory, as it brings back two fan favorites who we fully expect to return in Avengers 4 in one go. If you’ll recall, before Infinity War, everyone thought Hela would show up as Thanos’ love interest in place of Lady Death from the comics, but that never played out in the end. As for Loki, many theories suggest he never actually died at all, with one particularly outlandish one positing that he’s simply Bruce Banner in disguise.
Whatever the case, we wouldn’t be surprised to see both of these characters make their return when Marvel brings the curtain down on Phase 3 of the MCU.