With the snap of his Infinity Gauntleted fingers, Thanos changed the course of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in an instant. Thanks to the power of the six Infinity Stones, he was finally able to bring forth his vision of true balance in the universe at the end of Avengers: Infinity War by wiping out half of all life, and the surviving half must now adapt with a radically-altered reality. Apparently we can count Stellan Skarsgård's Dr. Erik Selvig and Kat Dennings' Darcy Lewis, two of Thor's allies, among these lucky survivors.
Avengers: Infinity War came out in theaters seven months ago and has been available on home media for nearly four full months, but the events of that movie are still heavily looming in Marvel fans' minds, and a new book, titled Avengers: Infinity War: The Cosmic Quest Volume Two: Aftermath, will give them a look into life after the Thanos snap. The book follows Erik Selvig and Darcy Lewis trying to find and understand the cause of this genocide, which will take them on a journey to learn about the Infinity Stones. Unfortunately for them, a new foe who "threatens to destroy them all is looming," because of course there is. Why should their investigation into these powerful artifacts be easy?
This is the third Avengers: Infinity War tie-in book to be released this year, following Thanos: Titan Consumed, which explored the purple warlord's origins, and The Cosmic Quest Volume One: Beginnings, which followed The Collector getting his bearings following his run-in with the Guardians of the Galaxy and dealing with his brother, The Grandmaster, after the events of Thor: Ragnarok. It is important to note, however, that Thanos: Titan Consumed was clarified to be non-canon within the MCU despite being a tie-in. Maybe that's not the case with The Cosmic Quest Volume Two: Aftermath, but unless Erik Selvig and Darcy Lewis appear in Avengers 4 intact, we won't know for sure whether they are indeed still alive in the official MCU timeline.
We know for a fact that Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, a Hulk-less Bruce Banner, Black Widow, War Machine, Rocket Raccoon, Nebula, Okoye and M'Baku made it out of Avengers: Infinity War alive, as did Ant-Man, which was revealed in the Ant-Man and the Wasp mid-credits scene. Hawkeye and Captain Marvel also survived since they're important players in Avengers 4, and characters like Shuri and Pepper Potts are confirmed to be showing up through interviews or behind-the-scenes leaks. But there are still plenty of other supporting MCU characters whose fates remain a mystery, though for now, you're welcome to assume Erik Selvig and Darcy Lewis aren't dust.
Erik and Darcy both debuted in 2011's Thor alongside Natalie Portman's Dr. Jane Foster. The trio were in New Mexico doing astrophysics research when they stumbled across a powerless Thor being exiled on Earth by Odin, the Asgardian All-Father. Initially they didn't know what to make of Thor, with Erik specifically pointing out the weirdness of this strange bearded man spouting out snippets of Norse mythology. However, once The Destroyer arrived in that New Mexico town and Thor was deemed worthy enough to wield Mjolnir again, then they realized he was the real deal.
While Darcy returned in Thor: The Dark World and continued being comedic relief, Erik Selvig not only returned for that movie, but The Avengers beforehand and Avengers: Age of Ultron afterwards. His scientific prowess was most helpful during the MCU's first two phases, although unfortunately after being mind-controlled by Loki in The Avengers and forced to help bring the Chitauri to Earth, Erik became mentally unstable, thus resulting in him having his own humorous moments in The Dark World. Thankfully, he seemed to have (mostly) recovered by the time Age of Ultron rolled around, and he accompanied Thor to the Water of Sights and was recruited to work at the New Avengers Facility.
However, until The Cosmic Quest Volume Two: Aftermath, we had no idea what was going on with either of those characters, or Jane Foster for that matter. Because Thor: Ragnarok primarily took place on Asgard and Sakaar, there wasn't any time to check in on Thor's friends during the brief period on Earth. Jane Foster was only briefly mentioned to have dumped Thor, explaining why the woman who was last seen passionately kissing the God of Thunder wasn't involved in his life anymore. It's ok, we had Hulk, Doctor Strange, Hela and Grandmaster to make up for all that.
Given how jam-packed Avengers 4 is already, I suspect that Erik Selvig and Darcy Lewis won't be appearing in it. Thor is most definitely participating in the Phase 3 capper, but one would imagine he's going to have his hands busy like every other superhero. Still, if you want to assume that The Cosmic Quest Volume Two: Aftermath is canon, then at least now there's a way to learn about what they're doing in the post-Infinity War landscape. Just because they're not directly involved in the fight against the Mad Titan doesn't mean they're not doing important work.
As for Avengers 4, with a little over six months to go until the movie's release, Marvel Studios still hasn't provided any official details about the story. The Quantum Realm is said to play a key role in the movie, and there are rumors and speculation aplenty about how it fits into the big picture, like the heroes time traveling through this other dimension to undo this genocide, or how the "souls" of the people who were turned to dust are trapped there. But aside from knowing most of the main cast members, we remain in the dark on what to expect from Avengers 4, and there's still no word on when the first official images or the teaser trailer will arrive.
Avengers 4 opens in theaters on May 3, 2019, so stay tuned to CinemaBlend for continuing coverage. In the meantime, feel free to look through our 2019 release schedule to find out what other movies are coming out next year.
