Who Are 'Avengers: Endgame's' 'Secret Avengers'?

There are a couple of conflicts that divide fans of Avengers: Infinity War, notably A.) Would it have mattered if Thor had managed to hit Thanos in the head? And B.) Did Star-Lord blow it for the entire universe by losing his cool and attacking Thanos? It's easy to see their point, although one has to counter that Thanos' possession of the Infinity Stones probably made both of those actions moot. He was probably too powerful for either of those tactics to work, and as Dr. Strange pointed out, he saw 14 million futures, and there's only one where they win. And if you're paying close attention, it seems the plan is already in motion … although not all the heroes may be aware of it, yet. So to resurrect an old Avengers comics chestnut … who are the Secret Avengers!?!? Here are some wild speculations:

1.) Dr. Strange

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Is He In On the Plan?: Dr. Strange is one of very few people who actually know what the plan is!

How Crucial Is He To The Plan's Success?: Well, on the one hand, he seems to be at least one of the people who have put the mysterious plan into action, but his role may be done for a while, seeing as he's among the heroes killed by the “Decimation.” (Which is not as catchy as calling it “The Snapture.”) His big contribution seems to be making sure Tony Stark stays alive.

2.) Heimdall

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Is He In On the Plan?: He actually might know the entire plan, too.

How Crucial Is He To The Plan's Success?: Being able to see all is pretty much Heimdall's thing, which might explain one of his stranger actions: Delivering the Hulk to Dr. Strange. Did Heimdall know Bruce Banner would be crucial to the endgame, just as Strange knew Stark would be? And like Strange, did he act knowing he'd be removed from the board?

3.) Loki

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Is He In On the Plan?: He might actually know a lot.

How Crucial Is He To The Plan's Success?: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thanos said “No more resurrections,” but really, is Thanos a reliable narrator? If any statement seems to resonate from this conflict, it's Loki's, “I assure you brother, the sun will shine on us again.” Wishful thinking, or does he know something? There's a much-rumored time-travel element to Avengers: Endgame that apparently includes revisiting the Battle of New York from the first film. Is it possible Loki learns his role in saving the universe then, and has been sitting on that information the whole time?

4.) Nick Fury

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Is He In On the Plan?: He definitely knows something.

How Crucial Is He To The Plan's Success?: Why did Nick Fury choose that particular moment to signal Captain Marvel, whom we'll meet for real shortly in her solo movie. I mean, the Chitauri Invasion wasn't enough to call her, nor was Ultron. No, it seems he knew he was supposed to call her when people started disappearing. How did he know that? Well, we know he's in Captain Marvel, which is set in the '90s. Maybe he's also informed of his task by way of time travel, and like Loki has been sitting on that information for a while. Might explain a few things about his behavior, actually.

5.) Tony Stark

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Is He In On the Plan?: Nope

How Crucial Is He To The Plan's Success?: Evidently, he's one of the linchpins, judging by Dr. Strange's actions, but he doesn't know his part yet, and judging from the trailer, he's stranded in space. Perhaps it's his brilliant mind that will conceive of the plan that's already in motion.

6.) The Hulk

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Is He In On the Plan?: Nope.

How Crucial Is He To The Plan's Success?: It's unclear, but while the Hulk has been having … performance issues … it's clear from Heimdall's actions that his might will be absolutely essential, so he'll probably be back to smashing in no time. Or maybe it's Bruce Banner's brain, not the Hulk's brawn, that's needed ...

7) Captain Marvel

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Is She In On the Plan?: Unlikely

How Crucial Is She To The Plan's Success?: If Nick Fury's been waiting since the advent of Nirvana to summon Carol Danvers home, then clearly she has a big part to play. But we haven't formally been introduced, yet, so there's not enough information to glean what she knows.

8) Nebula

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Is She In On the Plan?: Unlikely

How Crucial Is She To The Plan's Success?: Nebula and Thanos are inextricably entwined, so obviously she'll be there to play a role in his defeat, but it's unclear in just what role. And if she follows the same path as she did in the comics, she might just end up a bigger threat than Thanos ever was.

9.) Gamora

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Is She In On the Plan?: Maybe a little, now?

How Crucial Is He To The Plan's Success?: Well, she's dead, but of all the deaths we saw in Infinity War, hers seems the most reversible, as her spirit is likely trapped inside the Soul Gem, and may eventually be able to influence her adopted father when he's wearing the Infinity Gauntlet. Indeed, being able to access the Soul Gem was crucial to Adam Warlock defeating Thanos in the comics, so it's likely that will be a crucial angle.

10.) Ant-Man

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Is He In On the Plan?: Nope

How Crucial Is He To The Plan's Success?: Scott Lang seems to be a bit of a wild card, but the general supposition is that his access to the “Quantum Force” and its “Time Vortexes” will hold the key to the time travel shenanigans that make all the other hypothetical game moves possible. Did anybody see him coming?

11.) Captain America, Thor, War Machine, Rocket and Hawkeye/Ronin

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Are They In On The Plan: Clearly not

How Crucial Are They to the Plan's Success?: All of the surviving Avengers will have a role in undoing Thanos' murder of half the universe, but while Steve Rogers and Clint Barton, particularly, seem to be positioned for major roles in the story, there's very little textual evidence to indicate just what those roles will be. But hey, Barton's seemingly traded in his bow and arrows for the sword-wielding Ronin garb, and Rogers has a sort of “marked man” cloud over his head, so it's very likely that, when things go down, they'll be in the middle of it.