Avengers: Endgame has undoubtedly become a massive blockbuster behemoth that truly feels like the apex of the cinema-going experience. And with Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe having capped off with Spider-Man: Far from Home, audiences are expecting what is next for the upcoming phase.
But more than that, it is truly intriguing as to where the ensemble cast will go from there. So, this list is narrowed to only the cast members who played Avengers members that survived Thanos’ snap and ranks them according to their promising projects after Endgame and the current status of their career zeitgeist.
Don Cheadle
While he is not being assisted with his War Machine armor and assigned to guard over the Avengers HQ, Don Cheadle currently stars as scheming stockbroker Maurice Monroe in Black Monday, a black comedy centering the 1987 Wall Street stock market crash. While it received mild reception, it received a second season treatment by Showtime.
But on future projects, Cheadle is tapped to appear in the Netflix series Ratched about the infamous Nurse Ratched, is called to play Jeremiah Hamilton and signed on to Space Jam 2, starring Lebron James.
Jon Favreau
Jon Favreau’s massive involvement in many Disney projects is too fathomable to sum up. His most famous involvement after Endgame is the other Disney billion-dollar global hit The Lion King. His project after The Jungle Book, Favreau took the director’s helm and applied the same photorealistic animation to the remake. The end result is a mixed bag finished product, complained for its unnecessary purpose and the uncanny animation of the animals.
Nevertheless, Favreau steadied his involvement on the food reality show The Chef Show and the Disney+ original The Mandalorian.
Chris Hemsworth
Expect more of Thor in the future and more of Chris Hemsworth, if one can hope. With the Australian hunk expected to reprise the Asgardian in the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder, it will take some time to see where Thor will go from tagging along with the Guardians of the Galaxy after Endgame.
Yet, he teamed up with the Russo Brothers once more with the Netflix thriller Out of the Fire, where he plays a mercenary who was sent to rescue the son of Bangladeshi businessman. It is still uncertain if he will return to the Star Trek franchise.
Paul Rudd
While no any specific development about Ant-Man and the Wasp sequel, Paul Rudd still keeps his career running after his acclaimed performance as Ant-Man/Scott Lang in Endgame. The biggest surprise is his Netflix comedy series Living with Yourself, where he plays a disgruntled copywriter with a pessimistic vibe and his more optimistic clone. As usual, Rudd is excellent with his dual roles, often pitting himself against himself.
Another surprising role in the future is in the direct sequel to Ghostbusters II, Ghostbusters: Afterlife. According to the trailer, he would play a small-town teacher who knows about the first Ghostbusters’ events.
Josh Brolin
Though Thanos has snapped from existence, that does not go the same for Josh Brolin’s career after Endgame. However, audiences can expect Brolin as Thanos in the Disney+ Marvel show What If…?, where it shows alternative events from the MCU. And speaking of the MCU, hope for him to return as Cable in the third Deadpool movie that is now set in the MCU.
But outside of Marvel, he is involved in the second theatrical adaptation of Frank Herbert’s science-fiction classic Dune as Paul Atreides’ mentor Gurney Halleck. He was also casted in Sean Penn’s next directorial effort Flag Day.
Karen Gillan
The companion to the Tenth Doctor had seemingly a lucrative career. Arguably, it was Karen Gillan’s role as Nebula that catapulted her to stardom. Following Guardians of the Galaxy, she appeared in The Big Short, The Circle and In a Valley of Violence. However, her other acclaimed role is Ruby Roundhouse in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Jumanji: The Next Level.
And that still did not stop Gillan for receiving roles outside of the blockbuster spectrum, with 2019’s Stuber and Spies in Disguise and 2020’s Call of the Wild and Gunpowder Milkshake. Needless to say, Karen Gillan is unstoppable.
Brie Larson
There is certainly hype for the debut of Captain Marvel to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with her solo movie, released in March 2019. Alongside, hype for Brie Larson has been notably high. And this year, outside of the MCU, she appeared in Unicorn Store, Between Two Ferns: The Movie and Just Mercy.
Bradley Cooper
Even with just lending his voice to a CGI critter, Bradley Cooper made a huge impression as the foul-mouthed Rocket Raccoon in the first Guardians of the Galaxy. Up until Endgame, his character evolution has been notable as one of the cast highlights of the Avengers movies.
But even with that involvement, Cooper made waves as a formidable filmmaker, from directing A Star is Born to producing Joker – both nominated for Best Picture in the Oscars. And in the future, he signed on to direct a Leonard Bernstein biopic and is casted for Nightmare Alley with director Guillermo del Toro.
Chris Evans
If there is any fear that Chris Evans’ career would not expand after his exit as Steve Rogers/Captain America, then one must look at his post-Endgame career. Then again, he already proved himself as a defying talent to behold with cast-against-type efforts in Sunshine, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Snowpiercer and Gifted.
And on 2019, he received acclaim with a wool turtleneck and an unforgettable line in Rian Johnson’s whodunit film Knives Out. As Ransom Drysdale, Evans brings back his bad boy persona but adds genuine layers to the character. Speaking of Knives Out, he is casted on the Apple TV+ drama series Defending Jacob with his costar Jaeden Martell.
Scarlett Johansson
It is remarkable that the next MCU movie after the Infinity Saga is a female-led superhero feature. And finally, it is a long-awaited Black Widow movie, even though Natasha Romanoff sacrificed herself in Endgame. But away from the 22nd MCU movie, Johansson maintained an active acting career through good and hard times.
From one project to another (including her controversial casting as a transgender criminal), she showed resilience and transformation in the roles she inhabited. And 2019 proved it with the Noah Baumbach divorce-centered comedy-drama Marriage Story and the Taika Waititi WWII anti-hate satire Jojo Rabbit. Both movies showed her play as resilient mothers who fought amidst tragedies. Her nominations for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress really shows.
