Avengers Doomsday opening deaths will mirror the brutal start of Infinity War if early leaks and fan theories prove accurate. Reddit users have been dissecting every frame of the trailers, and the consensus is clear. Marvel needs to kill at least two major characters in the first ten minutes to show audiences that Doctor Doom is a threat on an entirely different level than Thanos ever was.
The precedent was set in 2018 when Infinity War murdered both Loki and Heimdall before the opening credits finished rolling. Those deaths instantly established that Thanos was not playing games and that no character was safe. Now fans expect the Avengers Doomsday opening deaths to serve the same narrative function, except this time the victims could be even more shocking because Doom arrives with a personal vendetta and a genius intellect that makes him far more dangerous than a purple alien collecting rocks.
Loki appears to be the most likely candidate for an early exit. Multiple leaks suggest that Doom kills the God of Mischief off-screen and rips his heart out, leaving Thor to discover the body. If that happens in the opening sequence, it would mirror Loki Infinity War death while adding an extra layer of cruelty. The Avengers Doomsday opening deaths need to hurt, and killing the character who literally holds the multiverse together would certainly accomplish that.
Ant-Man is another name that keeps surfacing in leak discussions. Paul Rudd Scott Lang reportedly leads Cassie and the Young Avengers into the Quantum Realm but does not make it out alive. His sacrifice would mirror Doctor Strange giving up the Time Stone in Infinity War, creating a desperate situation that forces the remaining heroes to regroup and fight from a position of weakness.
The trailers have already hinted at devastation. We see Steve Rogers and Thor arriving at a destroyed TVA. We see heroes looking shell-shocked before any major battle begins. The Avengers Doomsday opening deaths would explain those reactions and give the film an emotional foundation that carries through the entire runtime.
Marvel has a formula for these team-up movies, and the formula works. Start with a gut punch. Let the audience know that the stakes are real. Then watch the heroes scramble to recover. The Avengers Doomsday opening deaths will likely follow that same blueprint because it is the most effective way to make Doom feel unbeatable before he even throws his first punch.
Some fans worry that killing major characters early might feel repetitive after Infinity War already pulled the same trick. But the Russos have earned the benefit of the doubt. They understand that stakes require sacrifice, and Doom demands a higher body count than any previous villain. With a December 18 release date, fans will not have to wait much longer to see whose funeral opens the film. But based on the leaks, the smart money says Loki and Ant-Man are in serious danger. Thanos killed half the universe. Doom might kill the heroes we love most before the title card even appears.