LOKI IN AVENGERS 4

In Avengers Infinity War, Tom Hiddleston reprised his role as the god of mischief for the fifth time before facing his impending doom five minutes into the film. There have been many theories about whether or not Loki is still floating around in the MCU, either literally in the vacuum of space, or if Loki somehow survives Thanos' beating. So let's go through on what could be going on with Loki in Avengers 4, after Infinity War.

After Avengers 4 there were two main theories which held some weight with Loki being alive. These were:

-Loki replaced Bruce Banner in disguise
This first theory, well that was debunked. It wouldn't make any sense with Loki being Bruce Banner as we saw the Hulk come out a few times before refusing to fight, and Bruce still had his connections with his fellow Avengers, and then the question would arise what happened to Bruce.

-Loki used a projection to fake his death

The next one is interesting, as it would have required Loki to increase his ability of magic form him to create a physical, solid projection of himself which Thanos could choke. I mean it is possible that Loki improved his magic, but it is unlikely.

A lot of theories about Loki's true fate came up because of people wanting Loki to be alive to see the other Avengers once again, and Loki to be a pivotal role in this film. I would have loved a scene where Loki meets with Captain America and Black Widow again, that would have been awesome. But Loki is confirmed to be dead by the directors of Infinity War and Avengers 4, Anthony and Joe Russo.

But Loki will still be in Avengers 4, and he is rumored to have a more of a significant role than he did in Infinity War. So how could this work? well, the main rumor is time travel.

There have been set pictures leaked from Avengers 4 with the Avengers in their 2012 attire, including Loki. These images take place in the battle of New York, where we see Loki being apprehended by SHIELD agents, expanding on scenes which weren't filmed in the original Avengers.
But this time travel plot seems like it will have the Avengers study or somehow manipulate the Infinity Stones, especially when two of them [Space and Mind] so close together. In these scenes, we could see Loki tease the arrival of Thanos coming for the stones. However, one scene that I believe we would see in a time travel plot would be Thor getting closure with Loki.

In Infinity War, Thor saw Loki die helplessly, and there was nothing he could do, or even say. Thor seems like he will come to terms with Loki's death back six years ago. A speech from Thor in 2012 could help Loki be on his more or less heroic ar since Thor the Dark World. Maybe a Frigga's death didn't change Loki from a villain to a hero, maybe it was Thor's words before that, which made Loki think.

The mechanic of time travel in Avengers 4 will be tied to Ant-Man. In the post credit scene of Ant-Man and the Wasp, Janet tells Scott to be careful for "time vortex" in the Quantum Realm. In Avengers 4, it seems like Ant-Man will lead some of the Avengers back to the battle of New York, which is why we see Ant-Man in these set pictures alongside the Avengers in their 2012 suits.

Anyway, whatever happens to Loki in Avengers 4, I am excited. It seems like we will get more closure with his death, and see how anything which happened in the past will impact the Avengers second fight against Thanos, thanks to the power of Time travel.
What are you expecting to see from Loki in Avengers 4? Let me know all your theories and speculation down in the comments below. You can click on the left for more Avengers Infinity War, or on the right for other Marvel, and subscribe. As always thanks for reading, take care.