Are These Avengers 4 Set Images Of Bruce Banner Reuniting With Tony Stark Hinting At a Tragic Fate For The Avengers?

In case you haven't been keeping up, filming for the fourth Avengers movie is currently underway. Avengers 4 remains a complete mystery to us all, with the only thing known about it being that the film will serve as a second part to Avengers: Infinity War. Other than that, we know nothing. Not even the title has been revealed, which just goes to show how under wraps the film really is. However, a few set images from Avengers 4 have leaked, potentially revealing some major plot details, namely a major character death.

Warning: the following section contains details on filming for Avengers 4

The images initially posted by Page Six, depicted a reunion between Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), in what appears to be a scene that takes place after the #InfinityWar concludes. If that's the case, the images prove Iron Man survives the Infinity Wars. And while those images are worth taking note of, one particular image included in the batch has gone overlooked.

The image in question depicts Tony Stark reuniting with another friend, this reunion being with an extremely emotional Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo). Check out the images uploaded to Twitter below:

As you can see, Banner is tearing up while he embraces Stark. In the same image, Pepper appears to have quite a shocked look on her face, giving us reason to believe Banner has just delivered some bad news to them. And to be perfectly honest, Banner seems completely broken down in this scene. He's been emotional in the past, but the tears in Banner's eyes tell the tale of sorrow, which could only mean one thing—someone close to him and his friends has died.

To be perfectly clear, the argument could be made for any number of events to have factored into Banner's emotional reaction here. For all we know, the scene could be a joyous reunion that was merely taken out of context. Then again, the prospect of the Infinity Wars concluding without at least one death is hard to believe, making it reasonable to assume the image of Banner tearing up is in response to one or more of his friends dying during the fight with Thanos. The question is, who died and how?

Whose Death is Bruce Banner Reacting to—Natasha Romanoff, James Rhodes, Steve Rogers?

Assuming Banner's reaction is indicative of how deeply he was effected by the loss, it was likely someone close to him, which means the death probably wasn't someone like Steve Rogers or Wanda Maximoff. That's not to say they won't die as well, but Banner's reaction was likely in light of someone closer to him dying, someone like Natasha Romanoff. She's the only other Avenger whom Banner is truly close to, so his reaction could be in response to Natasha's death. However, there may be another reason for Banner appearing so emotional with Stark.

Aside from Banner's reaction, it's the look on Pepper's face that tells a completely different story. Her reaction gives us the impression that Banner just dropped a bombshell on her. Assuming Banner is the messenger, he likely informed Stark and Potts of the death of a close friend. If that is what's going on in the aforementioned image, Pepper's reaction could be in light of someone close to her dying. The most logical candidate being James Rhodes a.k.a. War Machine.

With Rhodes getting back on his feet for the fight in Avengers: Infinity War, he's obviously in the position to meet his end before the war's conclusion. There's no evidence to suggest Rhodes is likelier to die than his teammates, but the reaction on Pepper's face could only be from losing someone close to her, in this case, Rhodes. One could argue that Happy Hogan may have been a casualty of the war as well , but it doesn't seem like Happy would get involved with the fight, unless he was unwittingly dragged into it. That said, the death was probably Rhodes.

Identity aside, the image of Banner crying over Stark's shoulder all but tells us there's a major character death coming in Avengers: Infinity War. It may not take place in the first act of the film, but we should probably count on someone, namely one of the Avengers, dying before the movie's conclusion. My guess is that Natasha Romanoff will meet her end during Avengers: Infinity War, mainly because I've never seen Banner so emotionally broken down.

Avengers: Infinity War opens in theaters on May 8, 2018.

Avengers 4 premieres in theaters on May 3, 2019.