While Avengers Endgame felt like the proper ending that the past 11 years of MCU story
arcs rightfully deserved, the film has left a lot of Marvel fans wondering what’s coming
up next.
With two phases of movies in the pipeline, and some major events in Endgame having ultimately
changed the face of the MCU forever, we can’t help but speculate as to what’s to come.
So today, we’re taking a look at a handful of theories to have sprung up after the epic’s
release, with our list of the top 10 post Avengers endgame MCU predictions.
And, of course, there’s a TON of spoilers in this list for Avengers Endgame, as well
as Captain Marvel if you haven’t seen it yet.
So with that in mind, you’ve been warned!
So let’s get to it.
10 Multiple Timelines & Phase 4 This theory suggests that by the end of phase
4 of the MCU, the universe will be splintered, and we’ll be seeing films take place in
multiple different alternate realities.
Bruce Banner noted that you can’t affect the present or future by changing the past
– instead, going back creates multiple timelines, each time you go back, a new timeline is created.
We also see the Chosen one explain this to Bruce, and how restoring things to the way
they were in the timeline is essential.
This would mean that the Avengers in 2023 are in the Prime Timeline.
When they go back to 2012, for example, that creates a new timeline (let’s called that
Alternate X).
While returning the time and mind stone to the 2012 Alternate X timeline will prevent
more consequences that alters the progression of what happens there, other events happened
in that timeline, like Loki escaping with the tesseract and Cap fighting himself, that
will surely have consequences on what that timeline turns out to be like.
So we know that there are currently multiple alternate realities now established in the
MCU.
And in addition to all of this, in the prime timeline, the stones have been destroyed by
Thanos.
As Wong noted, the stones control an essential aspect of existence.
This means that there will surely be some sort of fallout or consequences that come
into play because of the stones destruction.
The theory suggests that phase four will see some sort of cosmic event that all of these
discrepancies caused, and that it may lead into phase five taking place across multiple
realities rather than just the prime one we’ve been with for the last 11 years.
9 The Clanging Those who have seen Endgame know that there
was no end credits scenes for the film.
But there was one little surprise – a sound effect that played over the Marvel title card
of metal clanging.
Many believe that this was an easter egg, with the sound effect being the one from 2008’s
Iron Man when Tony was working on his Mach 1 suit while being held hostage in that cave.
While it could very possibly just be homage to the hero and where it all began, others
think it could be something else.
The most popular alternate theory is that it was the sound of Eitri the giant dwarf
forging a new Infinity Gauntlet.
Others think it was the sound of Wolverine’s adamantium claws, and is a hint to the X-Men
characters introduction into the MCU.
But to be fair, Wolverine’s claws generally sound like this.
It’s a SNIKT.
Whereas the sound at the end of the credits sounded more like metal being worked on.
8 Black Widow’s Death Towards the end of the film, when Bruce is
setting up the time machine for Steve to go back and return the infinity stones, he makes
a curious remark to Cap – that when he had the gauntlet on, he wished so hard for Natasha
to be brought back.
While we can assume that the whole soul for a soul exchange on Vormir is one of the odd
exceptions to the stone’s powers, at the same time, those stones collectively allow
the user to be omnipotent and all powerful, and can change pretty much any of the laws
of nature.
So could they potentially counter the rules on Vormir?
That’s what this one theory suggests – that perhaps when Hulk snapped and reversed Thanos’
snap, he also managed to bring Natasha back, although, she’s out there somewhere, either
on Earth, or back on Vormir, now trapped.
While it seems like a bit of a long shot (and a desperate hope of Black Widow fans), Natasha
is set to have her own feature film, which we’ve all just assumed is a prequel that
explores her early life in the Red Room and pre-SHIELD.
That being said, if Banner was able to resurrect her, and she ends up popping up on Vormir,
her story could take a very different turn, and perhaps somehow intertwine with Hawkeye’s
upcoming series.
If we’re running with that theory, Hawkeye’s show could very well be him putting together
the West Coast Avengers (in response to what happened with Thanos as opposed to in response
to Secret Wars like in the comics) and the team eventually working to rescue Natasha.
There’s also many a theory surrounded Black Widow that riffs off of how Gamora came back
in Endgame, with a past Natasha coming to the prime timeline, but that seems a tad far-fetched,
although, who knows at this point.
7 Captain Marvel & Valkyrie Over the past few months, the internet has
been hard core shipping Captain Marvel and Valkyrie.
This fan theory has been perpetuated by both Brie Larson and Tessa Thompson, the actors
who play Captain Marvel and Valkyrie; the two of them have been quite active when it
comes to sharing fan art and even flat out noting that they too ship the pair.
Naturally, we can help but wonder if Marvel Studios has taken note – Valkyrie was the
first bisexual character in the MCU, and they may want to give the character a love interest,
considering the main romance stories from the past 11 years have been wrapped up – Steve
got to be with Peggy and got that dance after all.
Pepper and Tony had a child.
Thor and Jane broke up (here’s hoping Natalie comes back for more though!) and Natasha and
Bruce never really amounted to much after Age of Ultron.
Plus, Carol just got that haircut, so, you know, she’s putting out some major queer
vibes.
6 5 Years Later One scene that really stood out to a lot of
fans at the end of Endgame was when Peter and his fellow peers returned to school, and
he and Ned had an emotional hug.
Because of what we’ve seen in the Spider-Man Homecoming trailer, we know that Peter and
his main group of friends were mostly snapped, since they are all the same age.
But, 5 years have passed, and that means the portion of their class that didn’t get snapped
would have already graduated from high school and a new group of younger students, ones
who didn’t get snapped, would have grown up and would be in the same grade as Peter.
It’s a strange dynamic, but incredibly interesting, and has spawned a lot of theories concerning
whether this means we’ll get to see some iconic characters from the comics joining
Peter’s class – specifically, the likes of Gwen Stacey, Harry Osborne, and maybe even
Johnny Storm from the Fantastic Four.
It’s also interesting, because these younger students will have lived out their lives within
a devastated world, dealing with all of the trauma that comes with it, whereas 50 percent
of the population will be significantly less affected by the fallout from the snap, having
been the ones snapped.
5 Steve Rogers Goofed up the Timeline One curious observation about the film was
how Steve Rogers, who went back in time to return the infinity stones, may have just
goofed up time even more.
So, remember how the Chosen One said that if a stone were returned to that timeline,
the timeline would be restored?
So here’s where it gets curious.
Every time someone travels back and changes the events of something in a significant way
– like Loki using the tesseract to teleport away, which would have an impact, versus Hawkeye
bringing back his son’s baseball glove, which would have no impact – the timeline
becomes an alternate reality.
So, in theory, Steve would need to be incredibly stealthy in order to return each of the stones
back and not accidentally change events so to create an additional reality (since the
1970, 2012 and 2014 that the Avengers travelled back to have already become their own alternate
realities).
That’s a lot of pressure to not screw up.
And even if Steve DID manage to get everything back exactly the way it was, and didn’t
do anything else (like fight himself again), he has changed one of the timelines in a big
way, by living in it.
So, if that then became a new alternate reality, first off, how did he end up back in the prime
timeline at the end of the film, old and ready to give Sam his shield?
Even if we ignore that (or if one of you has a plausible explanation for that that works),
Steve living in the past with Peggy regardless changes things.
They have kids.
So what consequences will that have?
This theory suggests that the next phase of the MCU will largely be impacted by the consequences
of Steve Rogers staying in the past, since in the prime timeline, there are technically
two Steve Rogers, assuming that old Steve didn’t jump through time again to return
to the prime timeline.
4 The New Avengers Team Of course one of the biggest speculations
is the future of the Avengers Initiative, and who Nick Fury will recruit to take the
place of the original team.
Captain Marvel seems like the obvious choice, now back in contact with Earthlings, reacquainted
with Fury, and definitely the next best thing in terms of replacing Steve Rogers (sorry
Sam, you’re not there yet buddy).
Spider-Man also seems like a shoo-in, since Fury, based on the Spider-Man homecoming trailer,
goes to the young hero for help, since, well, none of the heavy hitters minus the Hulk are
left from the original team (assuming Hawkeye does take off to start the West Coast Avengers,
or to retire like he intended prior to Civil War).
Having the Bannerified Hulk still be a part of the team, but as a scientific consultant,
makes sense too.
Who else?
Well, it’s a little hard to see Stephen Strange becoming a full time member- dude
has a lot of responsibilities as sorcerer supreme – and same with T’Challa, being
king of Wakanda and all.
But Valkyrie could potentially take some time off from leading New Asgard to step into Thor’s
shoes on the team.
And perhaps we’ve yet to be introduced to other potential characters who might become
a part of the roster.
Speaking of new characters- 3 Namor
There’s a line in Endgame in which an earthquake under the sea is mentioned, and then is pretty
much brushed off by the response of “we handle it by not handling it”.
Sure that could be pragmatism at it’s best, considering the Avengers had their hands full
with you know, fixing Thanos’ mess, but some fans have taken it as a hint to an upcoming
introduction.
We’re talking Namor the Sub-Mariner.
The rights to the character are still a bit of a legal mess at the moment, so if this
were true and it was a hint to the existence of the golden age anti-hero and King of Atlantis,
that could potentially step up some solid story arcs in the future of the MCU, specifically
between T’Challa and Namor, who go way back as rivals and foes.
If the rights for Namor are settled , introducing the character and Atlantis as a threat to
Wakanda could be an interesting direction for future Black Panther films.
2 Secret Invasion Another theory that surrounds that end scene
with Peter returning to highschool.
As one user on reddit pointed out, the administrator that is welcoming kids back to school behind
Peter is actually a familiar face in the MCU – it’s Ben Mendelsohn, who played Talos
in Captain Marvel, the leader of the small group of Skrulls that Carol ends up aiding.
His appearance in the film could mean that perhaps the MCU is laying the groundwork to
introduce the next big saga that will begin in Phase 4 – Secret Invasion – which was
a theory that many had going into Captain Marvel.
Captain Marvel’s solo feature introduced the Skrulls to the MCU – a race of shape
shifting aliens who the Kree have long been engaging in war.
The Skrulls were a big part of the Secret Invasion story event – Skrulls had infiltrated
Earth, and replaced some of the most prominent and important characters in the Marvel Universe.
Captain Marvel’s film ultimately paints the Skrulls as the good guys and the Kree
as the villains though, with the Skrull population dwindling thanks to the Kree’s eradication
of their race.
But perhaps the Skrulls have returned to Earth now, using it as a refuge?
We still don’t know what Carol has been up to in the past several decades between
the 90s, when her film was set, and 2018, when the snap occurred.
1 The Snap Created Mutants This is perhaps one of the most exciting theories
on our list – that the events of Endgame will be directly responsible for the introduction
of mutants into the MCU.
So, for context, consider this – on the prime timeline, the Infinity Stones have been
used to cause an effect universe-wide TWICE.
The first with Thanos’ initial snap in Infinity War, and the second when Bruce Banner revised
the original snap after the Avengers made their own gauntlet.
It’s noted in both in the original Avengers and in Endgame that the stones give off gamma
radiation – it’s the reason why Hulk is able to survive using the new gauntlet, and
why Tony was not.
So, theoretically speaking, because of how massive an effect the stones had, there’s
a solid chance that a massive burst of gamma radiation like that could affect a small population,
especially since the second gauntlet did not contain the stones as well as Thanos’ original
one from Eitri did.
The burst of radiation creates the mutants, therefore introducing them into the MCU and
covering Marvel Studio’s butt for not having mutants be present in the past.
Another theory that explores the introduction to mutants is a riff off of the first theory
we discussed on our list; that the universe will splinter, and it will be on one of these
alternate realities that mutants rise up.
But, if we’re being honest, we’ll likely see them in the prime timeline, but events
like Age of Apocalypse are now very much a possibility now that multiple timelines are
floating around in the MCU. avengers_endgame_how_theyre_going_to_introduce/
There we have it friends!
So, what do you think?
What theories from our list do you think will actually pan out?
What other major ones did we miss?
And do you have any theories of your own?
Be sure to comment down below and let us know!
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