We know that Avengers: Infinity War will be the beginning of the end for the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it. However, Vin Diesel is now making that look even more ominous following a post on social media. The actor sent out an image of his character Groot over the weekend, which wouldn't be that noteworthy, except for the tagline that the poster uses claiming "heroes will fall." Check it out.
The poster isn't an official Marvel product. The watermark in the upper right-hand corner of the image shows it to be the work of a digital artist with a Deviant Art page who has created an entire collection of Avengers: Infinity War inspired art, including "heroes will fall" posters for several members of the MCU. That being said, Vin Diesel still sent out the image to all of his followers, so he's clearly having some fun teasing the idea that something could happen to his character. Although, it should be said that Groot already sacrificed himself once, and it wasn't exactly permanent.
Of course, the idea that Groot could die isn't entirely outside the realm of possibility. We know that the MCU is set to go through some major changes in Phase 4, and that the Guardians of the Galaxy specifically will also change following their third film. While that might seem to indicate that the Guardians will survive the events of Avengers 3 and 4, there's always the possibility that events in those films will impact whatever happens to the team in Vol. 3, which, in turn, leads to the team no longer being the focus of the franchise.
As things currently stand, however, we're not necessarily expecting any major character deaths in Avengers: Infinity War. Most of the major contract expirations happen at the end of Avengers 4, leading us to believe that most of the characters we love will make it at least that far. At that point, however, we are fully expecting that big things will happen to many of these characters, and that includes death.
Although, it's actually possible that most of the MCU could actually survive the events of Avengers 4. The implication has been that Phase 4 is actually going to shift the focus of the franchise to more cosmic encounters, using Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 as a launch point. If that's true, it could mean that many characters we expect to die will actually survive, we simply won't see them and Marvel won't be making new movies about them.
All things being equal, Groot may be one of the characters least likely to parish, but it's a stark reminder that somebody's favorite character in the MCU probably isn't going to make it through. We'll find out what's in store for the MCU when Avengers: Infinity War finally arrives in May of 2018, followed by Avengers 4 a year later.
