Endgame The Oldest Avenger

[Flash525]

...or at least, who's the oldest character that'll likely appear in Endgame? I'm thinking Valkyrie, she's gotta' be older than Thanos, right?

Valkyrie lived long before Thor (who's only lived for some 1500 years). Thor never saw the Valkyrie in action (which makes sense, cause he'd have known about Hela earlier if he had), and it's unlikely that any Asgardian woman would have been initiated into the Valkyrie at too young an age, so Valkyrie herself must've been some 500 years old prior to that?

I think it's safe to say that if Thanos was invading and causing genocide on too many worlds, the Asgardians would have gotten involved (though considering they're labelled as the protectors of the nine realms, it does baffle me why they never helped out Gamora's people) - unless Gamora is actually quite old herself, and her people were invaded by Thanos back when Odin and Hela were on their quest for supremacy, so maybe Thanos is actually the oldest guy here?

Anyone care to speculate? I don't recall Thanos or Gamoras' are being stated on screen, we only know (roughly) of Thor, and that Valkyrie predates him by a few hundred years.

 

[HammerDown]

Its probably Valkyrie. Thor is 1500 years old, Valkyrie is older since Thor only knew her by legend... I would say Valkyrie is probably around 2000/2500 years old. Loki while talking to Odin, hinted at the fact that the asgardians lived for around 5000 years...

Odin and the asgardians where the protectors of the Nine Realms. Odin stopped at 9. Gamora's planet isn't part of one of the realms. So they likely had no clue on what was going on. The universe is not small.

I think Thanos is indeed old but not thousands of years old. Like Loki said, he is not a god so he likely has a shorter life span.

 

[Melpardus]

I'm going to bet on Thanos, then "Valkyrie" (am I the only one who noticed we never learn her character's actual name?), and then Thor. I don't know if there's an official answer for Thanos' age, but one of the Russos have stated that he's at least 1,000.

I don't remember when exactly this was stated, but I'm pretty sure Gamora is only about 30 years old based on a line that stated that Thanos abducted her roughly twenty years before the present time in the MCU and she was obviously a child then.

As for Asgard not intervening in Thanos' conquest, keep in mind a few things:

1. The universe is greater than just the Nine Realms that Asgard holds dominion over, so presumably Thanos could easily have been crusading planets outside of Asgardian-controlled territory.
2. Assuming Gamora's planet is part of the Nine Realms, an empire so sprawling is definitely going to have lapses in its defensive capabilities. If you've checked out some articles about the themes of Thor: Ragnarok, colonialism and the effects of empires that gradually reduce their influence (especially of the sword-and-sandals kind), Odin just sort of sitting back unresponsive to the genocide on the fringes of his territories doesn't strike me as especially out of character or illogical, particularly if said planet doesn't offer some sort of strategic advantage or natural resource.

 

[Aximili86]

Hell, might even be Groot, that'd be pretty funny. Regenerating since the days of Bor.

 

[Shuri]

Hell, might even be Groot, that'd be pretty funny. Regenerating since the days of Bor.

This is actually possible, but I'll go with Valkyrie, Thor, Thanos, Bucky (since he's older than Steve), Steve, Banner, then Tony.

 

[Mr. Peanut]

Isn't the new Groot a different character from the old Groot? Making him the youngest character.

At least that's what James Gunn said...but he's gone, so, idaknow.

 

[I Am The Knight]

Yup I remember him or someone else saying that Baby Groot was a new Groot.

 

[Flash525]

I'm going to bet on Thanos, then "Valkyrie" (am I the only one who noticed we never learn her character's actual name?), and then Thor. I don't know if there's an official answer for Thanos' age, but one of the Russos have stated that he's at least 1,000.

It's been noticed, but even in the comics (as far as I'm aware at least) she's simply named Valkyrie. Maybe once an Asgardian woman joins the Valkyrie, they lose their individuality (to a degree) and are simply referred to as the Valkyrie in a similar sense to how the Borg operate in Star Trek, or how the term Negan is used in TWD - if that makes sense?

Edit: Just done a quick bit of research, and apparently her Asgardian name is Brunnhilde. Interestingly (it's been a while since I've watched Ragnarok) but is she ever actually referred to (by Thor) as Valkyrie, or does he simply acknowledge her as (one of) the Valkyrie? It may be that she simply hadn't (or hasn't) revealed her name to him yet.

 

[Zarex]

Brunnhilde made a brief appearance in Ragnarok after Loki played his Asgardian mind trick on Tessa Thompson's character. A blonde Valkyrie who bore a striking resemblance to the 616 version was shown being struck down by Hela in the flashback. I doubt very much that the MCU Valkyrie is Brunnhilde.

 

[Melpardus]

I'm unfamiliar with either example you used, but I think I get what you mean. Perhaps so; makes sense and fits within the themes and context of that movie. To that end, I don't think she's actually supposed to be Brunnhilde, but rather some original character. Thor never actually calls her Valkyrie; the closest is when he says "You're a Valkyrie" when he first discovers her Asgardian heritage, but after that he and pretty much everyone else just call her you/she/her. (Save for The Grandmaster and his general, who call her Scrapper 182, and Hulk just calls her "Angry Girl".)

Brunnhilde herself isn't mentioned by name in the film, but she's a blonde white character in the books and I think the current understanding is that she appears in the movie during the flashback scene where she's the one prominently featured getting a sword through the back trying to protect Tessa Thompson's character. (The two are been implied to have been lovers.)

 

[LoganPool]

The answer to the original question is Stan Lee. He's eternal. The Alpha and the Omega.

 

[Flash525]

Brunnhilde herself isn't mentioned by name in the film, but she's a blonde white character in the books and I think the current understanding is that she appears in the movie during the flashback scene where she's the one prominently featured getting a sword through the back trying to protect Tessa Thompson's character. (The two are been implied to have been lovers.)

The original Nick Fury was white and had hair. Drax should be Green. Ultron was originally created by Han Pym. Vision never had the Mind Stone. Ego was never Peter's father, and Hela wasn't Thor's sister.

The MCU is known to make changes, so whilst true, Brunnhilde may have been blonde and white in the comics, there's nothing to say she can't be black in the MCU. No different to the obvious route they're going with 'MJ'.

In any case, if Tessa is indeed in Endgame, I would hope someone at least asks her what her name is, or Thor introduces her as herself, though I fear Thor will simply introduce her as a warrior of the Valkyrie or something, and we wont actually get her named.

 

[Melpardus]

I'm certainly not opposed to the MCU changing things (I didn't really read comics to begin with anyway), I just don't think this particular instance is actually them making Brunhilde black. Like I said, they have a woman prominently featured in the flashback scene who is the spitting image of the comics Brunhilde and Thompson's character is implied to have had a close relationship with her, so I think that's supposed to be the wink-and-nod as well as link between the two, using the wiggle room afforded by the term "Valkyrie" being a job title. (Like if we just called Okoye and Ayo "Dora Milaje").

Either way, yeah, I'd be nice to have a name for her. I think her not having a name is thematically important to her character arc, so hopefully they go somewhere with that.