I am one of the millions of people who enjoy Marvel Comics. I was saving my theories for a few weeks to avoid spoiling the latest installment of the Avengers franchise. If you haven't seen it by now, dear God — buy a damn ticket! You'll only doing yourself a disservice if you don't jump onto this bandwagon.
You've probably seen enough of the memes to know what could've happened. The disintegrating figures and the Cosmic Brownie Infinity Gauntlet, just to name a few.
We all know there were "deaths". Some were harder to bear than others (as much as I like him, I'm going to say it's Peter Quill's fault that Thanos got the gauntlet back in the first place).
Let's do a current tally: Loki, Heimdall, Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Falcon/Sam Wilson, Black Panther, Peter Quill (Star-Lord), Gamora, Drax, Mantis, Groot, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Doctor Strange, and — the last one that killed everyone — Spider-Man. The end credit scene showed former S.H.I.E.L.D agents, Nick Fury and Maria Hill, disintegrating in New York. However, they did call Captain Marvel before everything faded to black.
Personally, I'm considering Captain Marvel to be a key component in defeating Thanos... Maybe. And I'm using a HEAVY maybe. However, I did hear that Ant-Man is supposed to be a huge player in this next film. Thus, my theory was born.
You may have noticed that I put quotations around "death".
I don't think that half of the population is truly dead. I especially don't think those Avengers who "perished" are dead.
My thought is this: What if they all disappeared and this was a new altered reality. This reality being one that only those who "survived" see.
So if they're not really dead, then how are they going to get back to this reality? How will they get out of their altered universe?
Ant-Man.
(A little louder? OK...)
ANT-MAN.
Ant-Man can jump through subatomic universes. Sure, they're small, but I think they could pack a punch if they demonstrate a possibility of jumping larger ones.
In the comics, the Reality Stone is all about wish fulfillment. The Soul Stone is said to be a sentient creature known for sending souls into other universes. (Souls aren't talked much about in the comics, so hopefully, they'll talk about them on-screen.) These two stones are the ones that I think worked together to drop the "have-not" half of the population into another reality.
Also, if Captain Marvel does end up being a key player against Thanos, I think that she could possibly get the Time Stone back — you know — to reverse time.
Ultimately, I think Doctor Stephen Strange knew how things would play out and knows more than we do at this point. Needless to say, I'm itching for "Avengers 4" and can't wait to see how Thanos will return... And why he does.