There are Avengers: Infinity War spoilers in this article for the two or three of you who haven’t left your house in the last week.

Avengers: Infinity War included more deaths than any comic book movie to date when it comes to beloved heroes. There were three major deaths in the movie itself before the final conflict and then, as anyone who has read the comics knows, Thanos snapped his fingers and killed half of the entire galaxy.

The Russo Brothers, who directed this movie (as well as Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War) told comicbook.com that they kept who lived and who died a secret — even giving out fake scripts to the actors.

Not even the actors who died knew they were going to die until the day they shot those scenes. That led to the amazing scene with Spider-Man dying — a scene Tom Holland did not know was coming but was still able to improvise those final heartwrenching lines.

Anyone who pays attention knows that characters are returning in Avengers 4 — or at least by the end of it — because Spider-Man, Black Panther and Doctor Strange all have sequel movies coming, as does the Guardians of the Galaxy. Not only that, but one actor wished another a happy birthday and said they are returning to shoot an MCU movie together next year — despite both dying in Avengers: Infinity War.

The fact that the heroes are returning from the dead is no big secret.

Why the ones who died did pass on is not a secret anymore either. In that same interview, the Russo Brothers explained how they came to choose who lived and died.

“All of our choices are based on story. It’s based upon the road that these characters have traveled, in not only this movie, but throughout the entire entity up to this point.”

They also said that they are “focused story choices.”

So, what do the deaths mean? The Russo Brothers did not saw but some of them are obvious, while others might take some speculating.

Let us speculate.

Well, let’s start out with two obvious ones — Heimdall and Doctor Strange.

Doctor Strange’s death is obvious. He looked into the future and saw 14 million different outcomes to the war with Thanos and all were lost save one. That means that Strange knew what he had to do to win this war — and it involved giving Thanos the stone, saving Tony Stark’s life and dying himself at the end. It was the ultimate sacrifice to save the world.

Heimdall sees everything that happens before it happens. Same thing here.

Loki’s death was very important. It proved that Thor was right and there is good in his brother — good that Loki proved at the end when he proved to be a hero. That was the most heroic death in the entire movie.

Gamora’s death was very important because she is Thanos’ conscious and is needed to finally turn things around.

What about the rest? Scarlet Witch, Black Panther, Bucky Barnes, Star-Lord, Groot, Drax, Mantis, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, and Spider-Man all died.

Let’s start with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Rocket Raccoon made it clear in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 that he wasn’t going to lose more friends. He had lost so many already and had proven — despite his denials — that he had found a family. That entire family — every single one of them — just died. Rocket is going to play a key role in Avengers 4, I guarantee it.

Spider-Man. That death is one that is going to weigh heavily on Tony Stark. He took Peter into his care and was bringing him along slowly. However, Peter died and Tony is going to blame himself. That is a death that is not about Peter’s journey to now, but Tony’s.

Black Panther’s death is going to bring the warriors of Wakanda into the battle with their fury leading them. It is also going to shake things up in Wakanda for that fourth movie. Bucky’s death is likely to have the same effect on Cap that Peter’s death had on Tony.

Nick Fury and Maria Hill’s death will bring Captain Marvel into the battle and might have a bigger meaning than that if it brings to life another secret organization that has only been hinted at until now.

It is nice to know that the Russo Brothers didn’t just throw darts at a board to choose who died. What are your thoughts? Did the characters who died have an important role to play in Avengers 4 when it concerns the survivors? Let us know in the comments below.