If you plan on going into the fourth Avengers movie totally spoiler-free, then we wish you
the best of luck.
But if you just can't wait until the movie comes out to try and figure out what happens,
we've got some of the most compelling rumors rounded up right here.
It's been awhile since we've seen Captain America in charge of a full-fledged team of
Avengers.
Since the events of Civil War, he's been running around in the shadows, doing his work as a
fugitive with a small, loyal group.
But Thanos appears to be the just what the Marvel Cinematic Universe needs to let bygones
be bygones, and get the band back together in a big way.
A purportedly leaked image from the marketing materials for the fourth Avengers film seems
to reveal Cap leading a new team of Avengers in an ultimate battle against the Mad Titan.
If it's real, then the revamped team will consist of Iron Man, Black Widow, Hulk, Hawkeye
and Thor, along with War Machine and Scott Lang's Ant-Man.
Also present is newcomer Captain Marvel, Guardians of the Galaxy member Rocket, and Nebula, daughter
of Thanos.
The image also reveals Cap to have cleaned up since his grungier days in Infinity War,
clean-shaven and back in a star-spangled suit.
It doesn't show his classic shield, but with a lineup like this, does he really even need
it?
Those familiar with Marvel comics have probably been anticipating the arrival of the alien
Skrulls in the MCU for some time now.
According to an Avengers 4 rumor started by Jeremy Conrad at MCU Cosmic, Nick Fury has
also been waiting for the humanoid shapeshifters to show up, which is exactly what he thought
was happening during the Infinity War post-credit tag.
As Conrad tells it, when people started vanishing after Thanos snapped his fingers, Fury assumed
the Skrulls were to blame and called on Carol Danvers for help.
Conrad also claims that Hawkeye will be involved in the Skrull storyline, hunting down Yakuza
in Tokyo who are secretly Skrulls in disguise.
It sounds like a pretty great way for him to make his comeback after sitting things
out at the family farm.
"Clearly retirement doesn't suit you.
Got tired of shootin' golf?"
"Well I played 18, shot 18.
Just can't seem to miss."
Rumors that Avengers 4's plot will heavily involve time travel have been out in the wild
ever since leaked photos first emerged of the movie recreating scenes from the first
Avengers.
It's a pretty compelling rumor, and Ant-Man and the Wasp might tell us everything we need
to know about how it's going to go down.
While the small-scale sequel mostly did its own thing, the mid-credit scene dropped a
huge clue about how the Avengers may win the Infinity War.
In the scene, Scott Lang returns to the Quantum Realm, being advised by the first Wasp not
to get stuck in a "time vortex" while he's in there.
As the credits scene reveals, Thanos' fateful snap takes place while Scott is still inside
the Quantum Realm, leaving him stuck inside the tiny world with no one alive to get him
out.
To escape his apparent doom, it seems plausible that Ant-Man will risk exiting the dimension
through one of those time vortexes.
Where will he end up?
Based on the fact that a significantly older actress has been cast in the role of Scott's
daughter Cassie, it sounds like he's probably going to the future at one point.
Practically since the release of Infinity War, there's been a theory that the seemingly-dead
Avengers are actually trapped in a pocket world inside of the mysterious Soul Stone.
There's plenty of precedent for the theory.
In Marvel Comics, the Soul Gem houses the Soulworld, a pocket dimension that acts as
a kind of purgatory.
And we may have already seen the place.
Some believe that the orange-colored, dream-like scene in which Thanos talks to young Gamora
after her death in Infinity War may take place inside the stone, with her death having been
crucial to Thanos getting the stone in the first place.
But if this is all true, how will the living Avengers get into the Soul World, and how
will the snapped ones get out?
That, we do not know.
Speaking on a panel at the 2018 Austin Film Festival, Marvel Studios producer Michael
Grillo revealed that one Doctor Strange actor is unexpectedly returning to the MCU.
Speaking about the difficulty in scheduling actors for the massive production, Grillo
seemed to let it slip that the Ancient One would be returning for Avengers 4 in some
capacity.
Discussing time constraints, Grillo reportedly said,
"When we got Tilda Swinton, she was just a one-day availability."
If you don't remember, the Ancient One appeared to be fatally wounded during the events of
Doctor Strange, passing on after one last pep talk to the Sorcerer Supreme.
Considering her decisive-looking death and her established knowledge of time travel,
she's probably coming back as part of a time travel plot.
As a former guardian of the Time Stone who was alive for thousands of years, she could
have vital intel for the surviving Avengers, even if she doesn't go head-to-head with Thanos
herself.
One of the biggest surprises in Avengers: Infinity War was the return of Red Skull,
and it appears as though its upcoming sequel will bring another Captain America villain
back with a bang.
Speaking to the UFC Unfiltered podcast in October 2018, Crossbones actor Frank Grillo
revealed that the deadly assassin and HYDRA agent was going to be making an appearance
in Avengers 4.
But how?
After all, Crossbones died when he tried to blow himself up on Steve Rogers, right?
Throwing caution to the wind, Grillo said,
"He makes an appearance in the next Avengers movie, but it's a flashback.
[...] I'm allowed to say whatever I want because I'm never doing another Marvel movie.
[…] I'm 117 years old."
Grillo later tried to walk back his comments, but the damage was already done.
It all adds up to a pretty clear suggestion about where this next chapter in the Infinity
War story is going.
But if time travel really is where the story is going, why Earth's Mightiest Heroes need
to revisit this particular villain remains to be seen.