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We’re approaching a weird weekend of pop culture grief. Thursday, April 25th, marks the release of Avengers: Endgame, the follow-up to Avengers: Infinity War, in which literally half the universe died. Just a few days later, on Sunday, April 28th, the latest episode of Game of Thrones will send the majority of the show’s surviving cast into an epic battle with the undead horde of White Walkers sweeping down from beyond the Wall. Both Endgame and Game of Thrones have something unusual in common: they’re installments of long-running, immensely popular franchises where the audience widely expects they’re about to see their favorite characters die.
That’s rare in a cultural environment that thrives on endless sequels, prequels, spinoffs, and reboots, and the expectations that all of the most popular characters will be endlessly available for new stories. It’s particularly rare in the fantasy and superhero genre, which tends to be about escapism, power fantasies, and wish-fulfillment. Usually, in films and TV, heroes fight hard-won battles and win. Sometimes, they lose love interests or sidekicks, and once in a great while, they die at the end of their stories. But this weekend feels like an unprecedented cultural watershed. Two different major franchises are passing the torch on to other series, shows, and stars. Both franchises are implicitly promising that major characters will die. No one in fandom is entirely sure what to expect. Two Verge writers talk the moment out together.
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