Warning: Spoiler Warning for any MCU fans who haven’t seen the latest Marvel films, including Avengers: Infinity War and Ant-Man & The Wasp.
We all know the MCU line by now. “There was an idea. To bring together a group of remarkable people to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together to fight the battles we never could.” Nick Fury’s speech to the Avengers to rally them together and take down Loki began a worldwide phenomenon that has spanned 20+ films to date. Yet as many fans know by now if you’ve seen the latest Avengers film, the team failed. Divided by years of conflict with no resolutions, they failed to stop the Mad Titan Thanos from taking the infinity stones and wiping out half of all life in the universe. This divide amongst the team leaders led to many fan-favorite MCU characters turning to ash before our eyes, until only the original Avengers and a handful of others were left standing, divided across the universe.
So now the question remains: what will happen in Avengers 4? This film is set to end the long spanning story of Thanos and the battle between himself and the Avengers. Will the team find a way to reverse what happened? Will their actions lead to an alternate universe? Who will have to make the ultimate sacrifice? That’s what we’re here to discuss today, as we dive into 10 fan theories for Avengers 4 we hope are true, and 10 that are too insane to believe.
20 Doesn’t Make Sense: Thanos Travels To Past
One theory out there is that at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos traveled back in time to a point where his homeward of Titan was still thriving to rest after his long journey.
Yet this doesn’t make sense given the fact that Thanos dreamt of accomplishing his goal and looking at the universe after he’d accomplished it.
He would want to see the universe after he’d “saved” it according to him, so he wouldn’t travel back in time.
19 Makes Sense: Avengers Find Thane, Son of Thanos
One of the big story points in recent Thanos related comic events was the fact that Thanos had a secret son by blood relation, Thane. Featured in the Infinity comic book event, Thane was the key to Thanos being defeated in the battle, so perhaps in the upcoming film someone like Nebula, Captain Marvel, or Thor will discover the existence of Thane, and will have to convince him to help take down his father.
18 Doesn’t Make Sense: The Soul World Theory
One theory that immediately popped up in after the Infinity War film was that Thanos didn’t end the lives of all of the heroes that disappeared, but rather he transported them into the Soul World within the Soul Stone. Yet if this were the case, it would undermine everything that was done in the film and make the losses less significant. Rather it would make more sense to force the Avengers to find a way to change the timeline, possibly creating a new timeline.
17 Makes Sense: Shuri Becomes The Black Panther
At the end of Infinity War, we saw one of the losses was that of T’Challa, the Black Panther.
With the King of Wakanda gone, it would make sense that his sister Shuri would take the mantle.
It’s happened in the comics, and if she survived the snap she would be next in line for the throne. However rumors suggest upon entering the astral plane during her transition, she will notice T’Challa is not there and will realize he and the other heroes are not gone completely. She may also have the means of recreating the Vision depending on how much of his memories she copied.
16 Doesn’t Make Sense: X-Men Make Cameo
One thing that would not make sense and might take away from the significance of this major first storyline in the MCU is including a cameo by the X-Men. The FOX/Disney deal is not yet finalized and this film has been planned for years, so it wouldn’t make sense to add them so callously. Also, the X-Men entering the MCU should be its own monumental thing, not a throwaway in this Avengers-centric film.
15 Makes Sense: Original Avengers Wield Infinity Stones
After the infamous snap, the gauntlet worn by Thanos was nearly destroyed, and he transported off of Earth with the stones. What if the gauntlet isn’t the only thing that can wield the stones? Perhaps each of the original Avengers, (who all survived the snap), are the physical embodiment of each of the stones, and they survived because they are meant to come together and take down Thanos together wielding the stones individually.
14 Doesn’t Make Sense: Loki Disguised As Bruce Banner Whole Time
One theory that popped up after the film was that the Hulk didn’t make an appearance because he didn’t survive Thor’s ship, but instead was taken out as Bruce Banner after Loki used his power to make everyone believe he was Bruce and Bruce was him.
While it would be something the old Loki would do, his moral redemption by sacrificing himself for his brother would be completely undone in that move.
Plus we saw glimpses of the Hulk during the battle of Wakanda.
13 Makes Sense: Skrulls Invade Earth
The upcoming Captain Marvel film will be set in the 90s, with an already established Captain Marvel fighting in space when she is forced to return to Earth upon learning the shapeshifting Skrulls are on the planet. With the introduction of these aliens, it would be interesting if Fury called for Captain Marvel because he thought Skrulls were invading Wakanda, not Thanos. In the comics, the Skrulls and Kree began a war with one another when they each thought the other was responsible for half their people disappearing, so perhaps this will play into part of the plot.
12 Doesn’t Make Sense: Reality Stone Leads To Avengers Recasting
One theory going around is that during the course of the 4th film, the reality stone will be responsible for changing the “looks” of the Avengers, which will lead to recasting the roles and allowing characters like the Captain and Iron Man to live on in the MCU after the possible retirement of actors Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. from the MCU. Yet fans are not likely to embrace such a huge change, as these heroes and actors are iconic and it would be a disservice to recast so soon.
11 Makes Sense: Alternate Universes Explored
The MCU is definitely considered its own universe in the Marvel world. The main comic book universe is known as Earth 616, but there is an entire multiverse filled with various versions of the Marvel heroes.
One such example of this in the comics was the Ultimate universe, as well as the recently revealed hero Spider-Gwen, who comes from yet another Earth.
What if the MCU explores these alternate versions of the universe, and this leads to the missing hero’s return in the fourth film.
10 Doesn’t Make Sense: Captain Marvel In The Quantum Realm
For some reason, some fans have been theorizing that Captain Marvel will somehow find herself stuck in the Quantum Realm, and she will have to find Scott Lang and together find a way out of the realm to fight Thanos. Not sure where this theory is coming from since her film has yet to premiere. It would be strange to pair the two heroes together at random when no evidence Captain Marvel will even know about the realm exists.
9 Makes Sense: Secret Marvel/FOX Villain Revealed
The 4th film is going to be an ending for a lot of things. Possibly some of the hero’s final appearances in the MCU (albeit for a little while), as well as the end of Thanos and his place in the MCU as well. With the Mad Titan set to make his final stand and possibly fall, a new main villain is needed. What if the upcoming FOX/Disney merger will allow Kevin Feige to tease a new threat to the MCU, such as Dr. Doom or even Kang the Conquerer. Kang would make much more sense given the possible involvement of time travel in the 4th film, which could make the Avengers a target of the time traveling conquerer.
8 Doesn’t Make Sense: Nick Fury Saves MCU
One theory going around is that Dr. Strange somehow managed to go back in time during Infinity War and warn Nick Fury about the upcoming Thanos invasion, and that if people started disappearing that he needed to contact Captain Marvel.
While Fury did seem collected and knew what to do at the end of Infinity War, why wouldn’t Fury have a better contingency plan already in place to stop Thanos, to begin with?
With all that time to plan, you’d think someone like Fury would dive deep into finding a solution to the Thanos problem.
7 Makes Sense: Bucky Makes Sacrifice For Soul Stone
If time travel is involved, and the Avengers go to various points to find the stones before Thanos, perhaps Cap will be responsible for finding the Soul Stone. However, as we all know, the stone requires a sacrifice to obtain. With Red Skull there guarding it, Cap is perfect to retrieve the stone, but he may be shocked when Bucky, his best friend, makes the sacrifice he made decades earlier and leaps to his demise, giving Steve the stone but losing him his best friend.
6 Doesn’t Make Sense: Adam Warlock Appearing
A classic part of the iconic Infinity War storyline is the inclusion of hero Adam Warlock, a being gifted the Soul Stone by the High Evolutionary who battled Thanos on the spiritual plane after the infamous snap. Yet the Russo Brothers have said repeatedly that they have no interest in adapting the comics exactly. While the Warlock cocoon was featured in a post-credits scene in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the character most likely will show up in the next phase or later in the MCU.
5 Makes Sense: Tony Alters Past Using B.A.R.F. System
If you don’t recall what this tech is that we are referring, in the MCU film Civil War, Tony Stark introduced a virtual reality system called B.A.R.F., or “Binary Augmented Retro-Framing” as it’s technically known.
It allowed him to review a painful memory from his past using the hippocampus.
In theory, Tony could either use it to review battle footage and study how to beat him with the Avengers, or he could develop the technology to delve into the past and change history.
4 Doesn’t Make Sense: Stark, The Sorcerer Supreme?
In an alternate timeline of the Marvel comics, Tony Stark briefly became the Sorcerer Supreme. In the film, Dr. Strange did mention how important Tony is to the future and defeating Thanos, saving him from Thanos’s final blow. If Stark utilized his tech knowledge with his temporary magic powers, he would be a force to be reckoned with. Yet there is someone who more rightly deserves the mantle: Wong. Strange’s friend and fellow master of the mystic arts, if still alive after the snap, deserves to wear the cloak and be the sorcerer, and making Tony the sorcerer would be a disservice to the character of Wong.
3 Makes Sense: Thor Rebuilds Asgard On Earth
Thor is the final hero to try and take out Thanos, delivering a powerful blow that should have stopped him, yet Thanos managed to make the snap anyway. Now defeated and with half his people gone, including his brother Loki and best friend Heimdall, Thor is a King with half a kingdom. Those who survived will need a new home without their ship, and in the comics, Asgard was brought to a town in the United States to rebuild and thrive on Earth. Perhaps Valkyrie will have survived with a few Asgardian’s, and Thor will be trying to make a home for his people on Earth.
2 Doesn’t Make Sense: Ultron Becomes Ultimate Villain
One thing many fans agree on is that the second Avengers villain Ultron, the mad AI that tried to destroy the world, was heavily underutilized.
Portrayed by the incredible James Spader, Ultron in the comics is a powerful villain who never is defeated fully, always finding a way to come back.
Some fans theorize that now that Vision doesn’t have the Mind Stone under his control and he is gone, perhaps Ultron’s personality will emerge from the stone, corrupting the gauntlet and becoming a more powerful threat than Thanos ever was. If Shuri copied Vision to a computer network, perhaps Ultron will appear, but it’s unlikely.
1 Makes Sense: Captain Marvel Leads The MCU
One theory that is very popular and that would make a lot of sense is that the Captain will meet his end in the film. Chris Evans is nearing his end of Marvel contract obligations, and has spoken about possibly retiring from acting. If this is true, then Cap’s exit may be near. If this is the case, who better to lead the Avengers and the MCU than a powerful female hero like Captain Marvel. The time for a female leader is much needed in these times, and being the powerful hero Fury knew could stop a threat like Thanos, she is the perfect candidate to lead. She’s also a military leader much like Cap is, and will very much be a woman out of time when she returns to Earth after all these years.