Would The Avengers still have been able to win?
Not very different. They were about to close the portal thing anyway. So even without the nuke, the remaining aliens would’ve been killed off without a constant supply replacing them.
shareWell, Iron Man would have died, so he wouldn't be around to help stop Thanos later.
And Loki would have won. But the Chitauri were not that great, and not that numerous. The Avengers would have regrouped and eventually reclaimed control, with the help of the Army.
Either that or the Pentagon would have nuked New York and ended the threat.
Btw, that whole scene was a reference to Galaga (which was mentioned earlier in the movie).
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Galaga doesn't have a mothership
Also, "that man's playing Galaga," was purportedly an improv by Downey. Whedon liked it so much that he not only kept it in the movie but added an actual shot of a guy playing the game.
I agree there's something Galaga-like about the invasion, but no more than being like Galaxian or even Centipede.
I always thought of it the other way around, but what you say makes sense; I'm sure Whedon didn't have Galaga in mind when making the movie. Maybe after reading the script the ending reminded him of the game and that's why he improvised it, who knows?