I wish I was born in the 80s, just so I could know the anguish that came from anticipating and then watching terrible superhero movies like Superman III and Howard the Duck. Knowing that maybe, just maybe, one good superhero movie might release every few years if we were lucky. But that's not the reality we know today, for today, we are blessed.

With the release of Avengers: Infinity War, we have finally reached the apex of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in this renaissance of superhero movies. Granted, we still live in an era with terrible superhero flicks in the forms of the dumpster fires that were the recent Fantastic Four and Batman v. Superman movies (Sorry, DC fans). But for the most part, Marvel has had a really good track record with the movies they've released in the MCU.

For the most dedicated fans out there, we've watched 18 fun-filled movies ranging from my personal favorite, Guardians of the Galaxy, to box office sensations like Captain America: Civil War or the recently released Black Panther.

Marvel fans practically drool over each release, resulting in fan theories about the movies getting juicer and juicer over the years. Theories like Hydra secretly forming the Avengers or that Nick Fury is clairvoyant have been some of the best theories that have yet to be confirmed. But today we're going to go through the best fan theories that actually were confirmed by the actors, directors, or even the movies themselves.

25 Not A Cameo, But A Star

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Often today people like to throw around the saying “[Enter Name Here] is a national treasure.” Maybe you know someone who would say “Cardi B is a national treasure and should be protected at all costs,” or maybe something like “Peanut butter and fluff sandwiches are national treasures.” Which in that last case, they would be right... but I digress. This overused saying should only be reserved for one person, and that person is Stan Lee.

The 95-year-old creator of Marvel comics is still as charismatic as ever and proves this with his MCU cameos.

While it does suck that his cameos have become the most predictable element of Marvel movies, especially since we all know at least one is going to end up in each film, Marvel still finds a way to reinvent the cameos and deliver a smile to my face every time I see the old man.

As the cameos continued, fans of the MCU got to theorizing; what if Stan Lee was Uatu the Watcher? Unfortunately, this undoubtedly cool theory was disproved, but Lee’s connection to The Watchers was the real deal and was confirmed in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. This is something fans should remember as they watch future movies in the MCU.

24 Logan's Not Gonna Make It

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You know earlier when I was listing off awesome superheroes? Well, I clearly made a mistake when I didn’t mention one of the best of the bunch, Wolverine. Where to even start with this hero that truly doesn’t even want to be a hero? And honestly, that’s one of the elements that I love about Wolverine. The man hates “goodie two shoes” heroes yet still has a great moral compass and always helps his mutant-buddies when they're in need.

Mix all that with ultra-cool powers like razor sharp claws and a comic book worthy portrayal from Hugh Jackman, and we have one of the best heroes.

Now when it comes to his movies, that’s another topic. Honestly, I didn’t hate X-Men Origins: Wolverine. For the most part, I thought it was “fine,” minus the terrible Deadpool inclusion... but once again, I digress. The movies got better with time, and Logan was a masterpiece in every aspect of cinema. But unfortunately, it would be the last fight for Wolverine, though some fans saw it coming with a clever clue left from the previous film, The Wolverine.

In the movie, a mutant named Yukio can see the future and predicts the demise of our hero. While it seems she would be wrong in that movie, fans speculated the prophecy had a greater meaning and Logan would eventually perish in the third movie. It was a great theory that unfortunately resulted in the heartbreaking demise of one of our favorite heroes.

23 Say Bye-Bye To Asgard

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Guess who still hasn’t seen Thor: Ragnarok almost six months after its release? Unfortunately, this guy. I never was a big fan of Thor or his movies, and after the disappointment that was Thor: The Dark World, I decided to avoid this film entirely. Though, after seeing it so highly touted and its revamped Guardians of the Galaxy-like atmosphere, I’ll definitely put this one on my to-do list before seeing Infinity War. But in general, I don’t have much clout when it comes to this movie or really any Thor movies. That didn’t stop me from spoiling a major part of the movie with fan theories.

This theory came out of probably one of the most confusing parts in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

It’s ultimately set when Thor goes off on his own during the film. Thor meets up with an old friend, and long story short has to bathe in some mystical pool. In the pool, he has visions of his friend Heimdall, portrayed by actor Idris Elba, who warns Thor that he will be the destroyer of Asgard.

Honestly, most fans missed this detail, but the ones who caught it were early to predict Asgard's demise in Thor: Ragnarok. The theory was also heavily backed up when Ragnarok is literally defined as the destruction of the gods.

22 Doctor Strange And The Time Stone

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A lot of the mystery revolving around the MCU has surrounded the fabled Infinity Stones. For the unaware, Infinity Stones make the world go round in the MCU, and are the six stones that Thanos is searching for in Infinity War. Many MCU theories revolve around the locations of these stones, and with one stone still undiscovered, the theories are still running rampant on the stones.

The most popular theory regarding the stones has been the THANOS theory, which states that all of the objects housing Infinity Stones will start with one of the letters from the acronym Thanos. It’s made sense so far, with infinity stones being in the Tesseract, the Aether, the Orb, and the Scepter to spell out TAOS. So the internet got to theorizing again and predicted the time stone would be inside the Eye of Agamotto, to provide us the "N" for the acronym, since the Eye is, in fact, a “Necklace”.

Fans were really on the money with this one, because some even predicted the movie to specifically showcase the time stone. The reason being that the movie featured Inception-like CGI and seemed to distort time in the trailers. In hindsight, this seems like a pretty easy theory to formulate, but we congratulate the fans early to the game on this one.

21 There's A New Mary Jane In Town

When Zendaya was cast in Spider-Man: Homecoming, the internet went up in flames. A larger than life star like Zendaya had to be cast for one role and one role only: Mary Jane Watson. In the comics, Mary Jane was always a white woman with iconic red hair, and it seemed once again that comic book nerds weren’t ready for a change.

Though some speculated Zendaya would take on the role of a brand new character, many had no clue what to think as information rolled out for Marvel's Spider-Man movie. All that was known was that she was playing a character named Michelle and based off her description of the character, it didn’t seem like Zendaya was playing a classic MJ.

In an interview, Zendaya told The Hollywood Reporter: "My character is not romantic. My character is like very dry, awkward, intellectual, and because she’s so smart, she just feels like she doesn’t need to talk to people, like, 'My brain is so far ahead of you that you’re just not really on my level.

This in no way sounded like the Mary Jane fans were used to, as the original character was one of popular girls in school who seemed to love attention. But some decided to theorize anyway, and predicted Zendaya would still end up playing Mary Jane. And all though her name isn’t Mary Jane, Spider-Man: Homecoming still confirmed that she is, in fact, a reimagined MJ.

20 Born Again Storyline In Daredevil

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Did your jaw drop at the end of The Defenders? Well, I hope it did, because it’s time for “Born Again” in DaredevilDaredevil gobsmacked fans when it premiered back in 2015. It featured Charlie Cox’s one of a kind portrayal of Matt Murdock, the big-budget hand to hand combat, and a side of comedy that no one expected. And let’s not forget Vincent D'Onofrio’s portrayal of Wilson Fisk. I could literally go on and on about why the show is pure genius.

The show has gone through two seasons so far, offering us tales of Punisher and Elektra, Kingpin and the Hand. The Defenders ended us off with Murdock’s supposed demise.

Thankfully, it actually wasn’t the end for Murdock, and in typical Marvel fashion, we got an after credits tease for what's to come. The last shots showed us a very banged up Murdock being taken care of by nuns, and fans were quick to point out its resemblance to the Daredevil comic Born Again.

After the tease, fans speculated that Season 3 would follow this storyline, which Charlie Cox pretty much confirmed. If you’re unfamiliar with Born Again, here’s a rundown: essentially, Wilson Fisk learns that Matt Murdock is Daredevil and proceeds to tear him apart, mentally and physically. It’s a touching storyline that features some of the best writing to ever come out of a Daredevil comic. Oh, and it’s written by Frank Miller. So yeah, it’s going to be insane.

19 Spider-Man's Cameo In Iron Man 2

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Marvel really should be commended more for how awesome they made less-popular heroes like Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and the aforementioned Guardians of the Galaxy. Because when I was growing up, there were two heroes that everyone fought to be on the playground. Those two were Batman and Spider-Man.

Who didn’t want to be able to climb on walls, shoot webs from their hands, and score babes like Mary Jane Watson? So it was no surprise that fans were practically begging for Sony to share the rights of Spider-Man especially with the increasing success the MCU was achieving.

But who would’ve known that our friendly neighborhood superhero already made a cameo in the earliest days of the MCU? Well, apparently some fans did. Towards the end of Iron Man 2, we see a kid dressed in an Iron Man mask heroically try to take on a Hammer Drone only to be saved by Tony Stark. It was a hilarious moment that many would just pass off as a throwaway joke. Though the internet started speculating on the boy’s identity, especially when the date/location of the scene suggested to a lot of fans that this might have been a young Peter Parker.

The theory just seemed a little too far fetched until the actual actor that portrays Spider-Man went out and confirmed it for the masses. So next time you're watching Iron Man 2, make sure to pay special attention to your favorite web-slinger in disguise.

18 The Real Mandarin Is Out There

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Iron Man 3 is the film infamously remembered for delivering one of the worst twists in the MCU. It seemed Marvel was going to introduce us to The Mandarin, Iron Man’s greatest foe in the comic books. Unfortunately, Marvel pulled the rug right from under their fans and essentially trolled them with a Mandarin wannabe in the movie.

The Mandarin in the comics is a mystical magic user who can go toe to toe with Iron Man, but in the movies, he’s a diversion from the real villain. Oh, and the icing on the cake is that in the movie he’s literally played by some guy named Trevor.

Fans of Iron Man were seething with anger to see such an iconic villain wasted. But it seems the real Mandarin still might be hiding in the shadows in the MCU. Fans desperately tried to find ways on how the real Mandarin could still be out there and one theory gained traction explaining that the creator of the Mandarin wannabe in Iron Man 3, Killian had to get the Mandarin name from somewhere to exploit it. And it seems there’s a hint of truth to this theory.

In the Marvel One-Shot flick All Hail The King, the real Mandarin is showcased, and he’s not happy about his name being used. It’s the only detail there supporting the theory, but it’s a strong enough detail to confirm it.

17 Loki Took The Space Stone In Thor: Ragnarok

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And we’re right back to Thor: Ragnarok spoilers on this one. At this point, I’ve spoiled so much of the movie that I’m not even sure if it’s worth it to see it in my case, but that’s the struggle that I must endure.

For this one, we have Loki once again stealing the Tesseract, the device that he was waving around in the first Avengers movie. Before Loki lights the fire of Surtur, he just so happens to once again find himself in front of the Tesseract. Loki stops dead in his tracks to give the device an unwavering stare only for the scene to cut seconds later.

While the scene cut prematurely before we could see Loki’s actions, many were quick to bet that Loki once again took the Tesseract which holds the space stone. The man constantly lusts for power to give him that edge over his always-charming and much more handsome older brother Thor.

It didn’t take long for this one to be confirmed, as the first trailer for Infinity War showcased a very frightened Loki bowing down to Thanos presenting the space stone. Having seen Infinity War, we now know how this plays out.

16 The Original Guardians Of The Galaxy

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When Guardians of The Galaxy dropped, I remember thinking: “Wow, this Marvel thing is really starting to take off.” Granted, I probably could’ve made that “bold” statement a lot earlier with releases like the first Avengers or even Captain America: Winter Soldier. But it was Guardians that really opened my eyes to the MCU. Because I finally realized Marvel had the chops to make any hero a sensation, no matter how niche they were in terms of popularity.

And Guardians was a sensation! Everyone was chanting “Ooga-Chaka Ooga-Ooga..” for months after its release.

Guardians was Marvel's first real risk, in my opinion, and boy did it pay off. Fans were clamoring for a sequel and received it only a few years later with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. Before the actual release of the movie, however, fans were prepping their theories, and a popular one to come out of the woodwork was that we’d see the original Guardians of the Galaxy members.

Since Yondu was on the first team of Guardians, many fans assumed it’d only be a matter of time before we saw other “OGs.” Right they were as by the end of the film we are introduced to Sylvester Stallone's character, Starhawk, and a slew of original members including Aleta Ogord, Charlie-27, Vance Astro, Martinex, and Nikki. Comic book nerds rejoiced after Marvel dropped this cool Easter egg.

15 Spider-Man Slings His Way Into The MCU

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I know, I know, Spider-Man is really over-saturating this list, but you can’t blame me. The web-slinging hero is just too fun to make theories about. Though we mentioned Spidey’s cool Easter egg in Iron Man 2, Peter Parker wouldn’t make his official debut until Captain America: Civil War. Actor Tom Holland delivered an excellent portrayal of the character and finally connected Spider-Man into the MCU (Though Tobey Maguire is still the G.O.A.T.).

But you always have to remember that Marvel has spoiled us with the MCU, because for a while fans were practically on their knees begging Sony to let Disney use the character. The MCU was just too exciting and honestly just too good to not have one of our favorite heroes be apart of it.

Sony was servicing the character with The Amazing Spider-Man movies, but fans and critics of those movies agreed Spider-Man would be best used in the MCU. So out of desperation fans began to theorize, praying that Spider-Man one day make his debut in the MCU and with the second trailer of Civil War that prayer was finally answered. People like to talk about that first Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer, but honestly seeing Spider-Man at the end of that Civil War trailer… chills, chills every time.

14 Wakanda Forever! Black Panther’s Important Role In MCU

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To call Black Panther a critical and box-office success would honestly be an understatement at this point. The film crushed box office grossing $681.1 million, which is as much as 5 times more money than any other film made domestically. To top it off, it was slammed with critical success earning a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. I don’t think anyone could’ve seen any of that coming, but what some fans did see coming is Wakanda one day entering the MCU.

The best thing about the MCU is that, unlike DC, they took a slow burn approach to establishing their universe. Leaving a trail of breadcrumbs that foreshadowed future movies in the forms of Easter eggs, small details, and after credit scenes. These breadcrumbs were especially well placed for the African country of Wakanda, and once fans noticed them, they knew Wakanda would one day enter the spotlight.

The trail dates back all the way to Iron Man 2 when the country is shown on a map behind Tony Stark displaying the isolationist African nation of Wakanda.

Even after this small detail, fans figured we’d have to see Wakanda someday, and its proud warrior the Black Panther. And now, after the incredible success of Black Panther, expect to see Wakanda a lot more in the future.

13 Power Man And The Iron Fist

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While many did hate on Netflix’s adaptation of Iron Fist, Finn Jones’s portrayal of Danny Rand was definitely one of the few silver linings to come out of the series. Rand reminded me a lot of Bruce Wayne from Batman Begins. Rand was smug, arrogant at times, and really rich, but boy did both characters know how to pack a punch.

Many fans hoped that we would one day see Iron Fist would team up with Luke Cage, so we could finally see the iconic duo Power Man and the Iron Fist portrayed on screen.

We got a taste of this combo in The Defenders, and their chemistry displayed throughout the show led to fans theorizing that we’d see the Heroes for Hire finally team up in Luke Cage Season 2. And the reuniting of the duo has been confirmed after a photo was released showing the pair in Season 2. It isn’t known yet if the show is going to stick with a comic book adaptive style and have Cage and Rand become Power Man and the Iron Fist, but at least we know the two will be together in Luke Cage Season 2. We'll just have to see.

12 Loki Won In The Avengers

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You know, when I think back to the first Avengers flick, I can always remember one scene detail for detail, and it involves Iron Man, Loki, and a Hulk. The scene goes like this: Iron Man tries to talk peace with Loki followed by Loki laughing at Iron Man for thinking he has the upper-hand in the battle.

Loki says “I have an army,” and Stark sternly replies “We have a Hulk.”

The real reward comes when Loki is later fighting Hulk and interrupts the fight to let Hulk know that he is beneath him because he’s a god, only to then have Hulk pick Loki up and swing him around like some plaything. I can still remember my dad and I bursting out laughing at the scene.

Loki got his butt kicked in The Avengers, or did he? Fan theorized that Loki’s plan was a Xanatos Gambit, or a plan that can’t fail because win or lose, the villain always wins. It’s like when Joker gets captured in The Dark Knight, though it seemed like the heroes won by capturing the Joker, in actuality it was the next step of his plan.

In Loki’s case, he was now in Asgard and closer to the Infinity Gauntlet than ever before. And as we see in Thor 2, being captured really worked in his favor as he was able to gain control of Asgard by the end of the movie.

11 Quantum Realm Connects Ant-Man And Doctor Strange

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Now, even eagle-eyed fans missed this small detail that connected the worlds of Marvel’s Ant-Man and Doctor Strange. Towards the end of Ant-Man, after we lose the beloved Antony and shortly after a Thomas the Train toy is hilariously enlarged, destroying a house in the process, we get to see the Quantum Realm. Scott Lang must sacrifice himself to go in-between the molecules to heroically save the day. Pretty good for a former thief.

When Lang entered the Quantum Realm, we were introduced to a strange, trippy universe where “all concepts of space and time become irrelevant.” It was really weird, but Marvel wasn’t done with the otherworldly location and somehow fans were even able to call Marvel out on this one.

Fans predicted we’d see the universe again in Doctor Strange, and they were right as the Quantum Realm did make another appearance in this film. Most fans just figured that the “strangeness” presented in the Doctor Strange comics and movie trailers opened up the opportunity to see the realm once again.

The realm is shown in the film when the Ancient One sends the Doc on his psychedelic-like journey early into the movie. There, Strange sees the Quantum Realm and all its unworldly beauty. Honestly, I don’t know how Marvel fans think these things up sometimes; I swear some of them have to be writers for the movies.

10 Nick Fury Is Clairvoyant

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This one is definitely a bit of a stretch, I’ll give you that. But wow, does it just make too much sense for it not to be true. Now, Nick Fury being clairvoyant might seem impossible to most, but you got to hear me out on this one. Nick Fury is always prepared, too prepared for any normal human. The man has backup plans for backup plans, and backup plans for both of those backup plans. Obviously, he could just over-prepare for every situation, but there’s a few key instances where he in no way would be able to plan for something.

The dude has faked his passing, brought Agent Coulson back, and seemingly pulls out Helicarriers from his pockets when our heroes need it most.

The best example of Fury’s unnatural preparedness, though, is in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Our heroes are at their lowest point and decide to crash at Hawkeye’s house so they can rethink their strategy against Ultron. Keep in mind, the Avengers did all this secretly, not telling a single soul. Yet moments later, Nick Fury shows up in Hawkeye’s barn ready to give his commentary on Ultron, a villain he should literally no nothing about since he’s out of S.H.I.E.L.D. It just can’t be insanely good preparation, there’s too many coincidences here. Fury might only have one good eye left, but his third eye seems to be working just fine.

9 Steve Rogers Is Hanging Up The Shield

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Looks like Rogers is finally hanging up the tights for this one, or at the very least he’s done being a traditional Captain America. It was made apparent that Rogers was done being a traditional Captain America, especially by the end of Civil War. He was now involving himself in criminal activities like breaking his buds out of prison and rebelling against the world’s governments. Rogers has come a long way from the days of fighting dressed in red, white and blue and leading American soldiers in the first Captain America.

While he undoubtedly still fights for freedom, fans made the bold prediction that we’d see a different Captain America post-Civil War. And this definitely became true with the release of the first Infinity War trailer where we now see a Cap with a full grown beard wearing a different outfit with no mask at all.

This is a radically changed man, and I’m actually really impressed with how Marvel handled the evolution of his character. Especially being someone who more or less hated his character in the first Captain America, I can definitely say that he’s grown on me to the point where I might call him my favorite of the Avengers. Cap’s definitely far from hanging up his shield, but fans have to realize that this isn’t that boy-scout we were introduced to back in 2011.

8 Darryl Gets A New Roommate (Grandmaster)

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For any people wondering if this is a late April Fools prank, fret not, this one is 100% real, pinky-promise. Darryl isn’t a superhero, or a supervillain, or really anyone special when it boils down to it. He’s just Thor’s roommate on Earth, and maybe the most average man in the world.

Darryl wears a blue shirt and tie, and really reminds of Peter Gibbons from Office Space. Darryl made his debut into the MCU during an ad-campaign for Captain America: Civil War where he won his way into our hearts for his adorable-like simplicity.

Now during the ad-campaign for Thor: Ragnarok, Darryl made his return but this time with a new roommate, The Grandmaster. And believe it or not, this was theorized by fans and created because Taika Waititi loved this idea that was going around. Waititi loving it so much that he filmed a sequel directly because of a fan’s theory.

It’s really, really strange and something that you’d only find in an eccentric universe like the MCU. But for those of you who haven’t heard of Darryl, make sure to give him a shot after this article. The two-part series features some hilarious moments between Thor and Bruce Banner and gets even funnier when the Grandmaster is introduced.

7 Skye Is Daisy Johnson From Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.

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Now, I never really got into Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but this twist really culminated into something amazing for the show. The big question throughout the show surrounded Skye’s past and who she really could be. She was introduced in season one as a hacktivist that joined up with Coulson and his team and was easily one of the better characters in the show. But with so much mystery surrounding her, fans began to theorize on who she could be.

And once her father was introduced, fans started putting the pieces together on Skye’s true identity.

Her father was introduced as an uncanny doctor with serious anger issues and this got true comic book nerds thinking—could her father be Calvin Zabo, the supervillain also known as Mr. Hyde? All of this also means that Skye, in reality, would be Daisy Johnson, Mr. Hyde’s daughter’s name in the comics who also happens to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

The theory was confirmed later in the series when Skye undergoes terrigenesis and gains seismic powers. With the new upgrade, it’s revealed that her name is, in fact, Daisy and it also confirms that she’s the MCU’s version of the hero Quake.

6 Ironically, Ant-Man’s Gonna Be Big

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Ant-Man falls into that Guardians of the Galaxy category for me in terms of films in the MCU. It feels less like a superhero movie and more like a comedy that features some supernatural type stuff. Paul Rudd nailed his character in Ant-Man, bringing the laughs, the tears, and the eventual applause from audiences for his awesome portrayal.

Top all that off with another star-studded cast bringing the same kind of energy that Rudd brought, and we’re in for another treat.

While I’m not too familiar with Ant-Man comics, one fact is universally known—Ant-Man has the power to shrink and grow at any time. Though in his debut movie we’re only introduced to his shrinking side, with the help of a strong hint at the end of the movie, fans theorized we’d be introduced to Ant-Man’s growth power the next time we see him.

Next thing we know, Ant-Man is the size of a skyscraper in Civil War fighting off Iron Man’s squad. Paul Rudd made this scene evermore enjoyable by the commentary he provided at his own surprise of his new power. This anticipated moment was perfected when Spider-Man talks about taking down the giant Ant-Man like the AT-STs in Star Wars. It was honestly one of the funniest moments in Civil War, and definitely one of my favorites.