It can be said that the 1991 event The Infinity Gauntlet by Marvel is one of the most influential storylines in cinema, thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) with its peak being the film Endgame. Although the storyline closely follows the comic, one of the biggest differences is who was turned to “ash” in Thanos’s divine snap.
In the comics, a mad Thanos, in love with Death, sought the gems along with the Infinity Gauntlet to wipe out half of all living beings in the universe. The hero who stood against Thanos was primarily Adam Warlock, who united Earth’s heroes against Thanos (and later against Nebula) before he could become the official wielder of the gauntlet and resurrect half of the universe’s lives.
The timeline in the comics does not stretch out to five years like in the films, and it does not clarify who is alive or dead. While there is no clear list, thanks to a few specific story frames, we can identify some of the unfortunate heroes. In the comics, Hawkeye was “snapped” instead of his family, while Gamora was turned to “ash” instead of sacrificing herself for the Soul Stone. Quicksilver is the only character in the MCU who died before Thanos’s judgment but was killed by him in the comic frames.
Both the films and comics have similar victims such as Wong, Black Panther, and The Wasp. Of course, there are a plethora of other characters yet to appear in the MCU such as Sersi, Rick Jones, Mentor, Black Cat, Firestar, Guardian, Hercules, Makkari, Marvel Boy, Night Thrasher, and USAgent who all vanished in an instant.
Some names have not yet made it to the big screen but have appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe like Dagger, Daredevil, and Luke Cage who also seem to have perished. This also raises a difficult question about incorporating the heroes from the small screen into a larger context – similar to their stories in the events of both Infinity War and Endgame.
The MCU also does not mention what happens to teams like the X-Men and Fantastic Four. Strangely, in this comic, only two X-Men, Wolverine and Cyclops, appear, with the other members being “missing.” Similarly, the Fantastic Four and Alpha Flight are also considered “missing,” so their fate is no different from that of the MCU.
Of course, there are those with more ambiguous statuses such as the two teams Excalibur and Great Britain, other members of the X-Men like Colossus and Psylocke, and Punisher also seem to be on the list of missing heroes. These heroes currently do not have a scheduled appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe due to copyright issues, so we cannot analyze what really happened to them.