The Marvel Cinematic Universe has done an amazing job of linking up numerous films and
characters in a fairly cohesive world.
But for all the work Marvel has put into making the stories seem real and fully fleshed out,
there are still a few things going on that have us scratching our heads — at least
for now.
Here are six MCU mysteries we're still trying to comprehend.
Alternate universes
The introduction of Quicksilver in Avengers: Age of Ultron also introduced a whole bucket
of confusion, considering a different version of Quicksilver is also appearing in Fox's
line of X-Men films.
Now, we know that in the real world, this is because of licensing shenanigans between
Marvel's parent company, Disney, and 20th Century Fox.
But could there be deeper implications for these fictional worlds?
Are there alternate versions of other heroes that could also cross over between franchises?
Or is it possible we could even see a crossover between the Avengers and the X-Men, or the
Fantastic Four?
If they all exist in the same multi-verse, it's possible they could interact in the same
way the TV versions of Flash and Supergirl do.
Let's not forget, Marvel worked out a deal to share Spider-Man with Sony, and Fox negotiated
a character rights trade with Marvel shortly afterward.
If the X-Men and Avengers could actually crossover...well, that would be an awesome cliffhanger to end
Avengers: Infinity War...
Atlantis
At the end of Iron Man 2, Tony Stark meets with Nick Fury at a SHIELD outpost.
In the background, there's a map that has certain areas marked as points of interest,
including a spot in New Mexico for Thor, Wakanda in Africa for the Black Panther, and then
a random spot in the middle of the ocean.
This seemed to be a pretty obvious reference for Atlantis, the underwater kingdom ruled
by one of Marvel's oldest heroes, Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner.
But so far, while all the other teasers hidden in that scene have played out on screen, there
has been no sign of Namor or Atlantis.
So does Atlantis exist in the MCU?
Is it hanging with the Fantastic Four over at Fox?
Or is there some other secret beneath the waves?
Only time will tell.
The Red Skull's fate
In Captain America: The First Avenger, the Red Skull powers his weapons using the Tesseract,
which is an Infinity Stone that acts as a doorway to another world.
During his final fight with Captain America, the Red Skull grabs the Tesseract and vanishes.
He's never been heard from again.
So what happened to him?
We know from Thor that the Tesseract connects to the Nine Realms through the World Tree,
and when Loki entered the World Tree, he survived.
We also know from Avengers that the alien bad guys can also be reached through the Tesseract's
portal.
Is the Red Skull working with Thanos?
Did he end up lost somewhere in Asgard?
Or did the Tesseract send him somewhere else?
Hmm.
That's my confused noise.
What happened in Budapest?
Black Widow and Hawkeye from the Avengers have one of the tightest bonds in the MCU,
forged in part through a traumatic shared experience on a mission in Budapest.
"Just like Budapest all over again!"
"You and I remember Budapest very differently."
But what exactly happened in Budapest?
We know from Captain America: Winter Soldier that whatever happened there was major enough
that members of the World Security Council had been briefed on it.
"If you do this none of your past is gonna remain hidden.
Not Budapest, not Osaka..."
And we know it affected both Black Widow and Hawkeye for years afterwards.
In other words, it's a pretty big deal — but exactly how big is something Marvel has yet
to reveal.
Who is the real Mandarin?
Hardcore comic book fans were over the moon when it was announced that Tony Stark's archenemy,
The Mandarin, would be the bad guy in Iron Man 3, especially since the character had
been teased way back in the first Iron Man film with references to the "ten rings" terrorist
organization.
So fans were aghast when it turned out that the Mandarin wasn't all he was cracked up
to be.
"My name's Trevor, Trevor Slattery."
"What are you?
What are you a decoy, you're a double right?"
"Well no absolutely not."
"Don't hurt the face I'm an actor!"
Fan backlash was so strong that Marvel filmed a DVD one-shot for the Iron Man 3 DVD where
Slattery is kidnapped by people claiming to be agents for the real Mandarin.
"You see there's somebody who wants to meet you."
"Do I know him?"
"No, but you took his name, and now he wants it back."
And then… that's been it.
So is there really a true bad guy called the Mandarin?
And will we ever see him on screen?
Fans are still waiting to find out.
Why are there two Infinity Gauntlets?
In the mid-credits scene of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thanos opens a vault and puts on
the Infinity Gauntlet.
"Fine, I'll do it myself."
Which is a little weird, because back in Thor, we saw that Odin had the Infinity Gauntlet
safely hidden away in his vault.
The explanation?
Well, according to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, "There are two different gloves,"
one for each hand.
That kind of makes sense, but Marvel producer Jeremy Latcham muddied the waters when he
suggested in an interview that one of the gauntlets is actually fake.
So why is there a fake Infinity Gauntlet?
And which one is real — the one Thanos has, or the one Odin has?
With Avengers: Infinity War fast approaching, this is finally one question fans can actually
expect an answer to sooner rather than later.
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