Was ‘Avengers: Endgame’ Just Spoiled By A Marvel Comic?

Moments ago we wrote a piece on how some recent “True Believers” reprint solicitations from Marvel Comics could have hinted at the Marvel Cinematic Universe debut of Dane Whitman’s Black Knight in Avengers: Endgame. One of the issues included in the group of reprinted comics includes Avengers (1963) #343, a story that kicks off a particular story arc that’s along the lines of several commonly-discussed Endgame plot points.

Avengers #343 kicks off “The Gatherer’s Saga,” a story arc that spanned nearly a dozen issues of Bob Harras and Steve Epting’s run on the title. The story arc features one character that goes by the name of Proctor, an inter-dimensional-traveling villain dead set on killing the Avengers of every reality.

You see, Proctor leads a team called The Gatherers, a group made up of Avengers from alternate realities. Essentially, The Gatherers must kill off their counterparts in the prime Earth-616 continuity or risk — for lack of a better word — dusts the alternate versions away.

With the introduction of the Quantum Realm in Doctor Strange and Ant-Man and the Wasp, inter-dimensional transportation is entirely all-too-real in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and it’s one way the Avengers could get what they need to stop the Mad Titan. And at the end of the day, messing with alternate realities could lead the Avengers to a tough decision of trying to decide which version of each hero should remain alive.

While we’re not suggesting that this inclusion means that Marvel Studios has decided to have Proctor be the “greater threat” previously hinting on toy packaging, the merging of alternate versions of characters is something that definitely seems plausible. It should be noted that Proctor also goes on his inter-dimensional rampage at the behest of Sersi, a member of The Eternals, a group that has been long-speculated of receiving their own movie next year.

Since introducing the “True Believers” imprint of sorts, Marvel has typically released reprints of first appearances and key issues around the time those issues are pertinent to something that happens on the silver screen. While the batch of “True Believers” reprints released in April largely have to deal with how the superheroes defeat Thanos in the comic, plus the backstory of Nebula and an origin of Thor’s weapon Stormbreaker, Avengers #343 is certainly the one reprint that stands out.

Avengers: Endgame stars Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Evans (Captain America), Josh Brolin (Thanos), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), Brie Larson (Captain Marvel), Danai Gurira (Okoye), Evangeline Lilly (The Wasp), Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Don Cheadle (War Machine), Bradley Cooper (Rocket Raccoon).

Marvel Studios has three films on the release slate for the coming year, including Captain Marvel on March 8th, Avengers: Endgame on April 26th, and Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5th.