They certainly aren’t everybody’s cup of tea, but perhaps the single greatest appeal of comic book films – much like the comic books that came before them – is their boundless capacity for possibility and wonder. Whether it’s fighting dragons, exploring undiscovered planets, shooting lasers out of your nostrils, or in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier‘s case encountering bank issues, the genre can really capture the imagination like no other.
They can also be the site of a character’s miraculous return from death, but here’s where the irony starts to show; while an impossible return to life is believable in a comic book film, it’s somehow more believable than characters staying dead in the first place. Indeed, some comic book film fans, particularly in the realm of the MCU, just can’t grasp the concept of consequences, and a couple have reared their heads over at r/marvelstudios.
“Still no Quicksilver,” asks the original poster. What do you mean “still?” He was killed in Avengers: Age of Ultron, which wound up being a driving force for Wanda’s admittedly bungled character arc. Why should we be talking about him as though his return was always in the cards?
In any case, a good portion of the thread became filled with some apparently much-needed reality checks; not only is Quicksilver dead, but he’s (hopefully) going to stay dead for the sake of in-universe consequences rather than any real-world Marvel contract complications.
Yes, superhero stories are typically at their best when they’re off the chain and anything is possible, but “story” is still the key word; if the narrative doesn’t allow for any tension or comprehensible stakes, your story falls apart in the blink of an eye.
So please, Marvel, keep Quicksilver dead, and while we’re at it, please keep turning a blind eye to those Robert Downey Jr. return fan theories too. I’ll personally pull for you through all the hiccups, but giving into that one would be unforgivable.