Pre-release theories
Spencer ended up in the "Seaplane" McDonough avatar
The first trailer shows that this time around Spencer is not in the Bravestone avatar, nor any of the main four avatars from the first time around. Said trailer also shows that "Seaplane" McDonough is in the film but he conspicuously doesn't talk. This means that Spencer likely got stuck in the "Seaplane" McDonough avatar this time around.- Jossed, he got stuck in the Ming (Akwafina's character) avatar.
Awkwafina's character is a new avatar, and Bethany is stuck inside her
In the trailer, we don't see Bethany at all during the scenes in Jumanji (Fridge is in the Shelly Oberon avatar this time around) and we get a brief close-up of Awkwafina, so the game could have decided to stick her in a new character to account for the fact that more than five people entered the game.- Partly confirmed, She is a new character, but Spencer is stuck inside her instead of Bethany.
Alternately, Bethany is in the "Seaplane" McDonough avatar and Spencer is in Awkwafina's character
Cue Bethany freaking out over being in the body of her crush, and Spencer having to adjust to being in a female body (perhaps with a Call-Back to the "learning how to pee" scene from the first film).- Partly confirmed, Spencer is Akwafina's character, but Bethany got stuck in the horse.
Spencer isn't actually in the game
He's out buying food, or getting the tools needed to fix Jumanji.- ...and now he needs to enter the game (as Seaplane or a new PC) to save his friends. This could explain the part in the trailer where they comment that they hadn't even chosen their avatars; to hide the reveal of additional PCs or the fact that none of them have even been selected.
- Jossed, he is actually in the game.
Spencer is working with Jumanji
He was obviously unable to let go of what it felt like to be in the game so he became obsessed with fixing it to go back. He actually went back in once or twice before everyone else got sucked in again and during that time the game communicated to him somehow that if he brought more people in, he could get more perks or bonuses or to make the experience more fun again.- Sort of confirmed. He did willingly reenter Jumanji to get the thrill of his previous journey in the game, but he didn't intend for the others to follow him in there.
The dark magic of the game is compelling Spencer to fix it
Self explanatory. Bethany isn't in the game
She's not shown being sucked into the game when Martha and Fridge are, nor does she arrive in the jungle with the other players. Instead, Bethany will be stuck outside the game and have to figure out a way to keep the (broken, malfunctioning) game running until the others are able to escape, or else it'll shut down and trap them in there.- To raise the stakes however, the broken state of the game and Jumanji's old MO of not only sucking players into the world of Jumanji, but throwing monsters and challenges back out, will mean Bethany will have to survive the monsters and beasts leaking out of the game while trying to fix it, and unlike the others, she only has one life to go on.
Jumanji is actually benevolent.
While it's been implied on many an occasion that it can happen nobody ever seems to have been killed by Jumanji. Even in the original all the people in town directly affected by the results of the game seem to be fine afterward. More over while accidents have happened like Alan Parish getting trapped in the jungle that was only due to player failure, if they'd kept on playing eventually he'd have been free and was by the time the game ended. What if Jumanji is not the malicious entity manipulating people into doing what it wants but a benevolent item seeking to bring out the true potential of those it comes in contact with or simply meant as a game with no actual stakes other then some accidental emotional trauma that wasn't taken into consideration when it was produced. We've already seen it containing at least one psychotic hunter obsessed with The Most Dangerous Game where he can't do any long term harm as well as providing people with personal betterment and the adventure of a lifetime.- Then why wouldn't it, at the very least, give players a means of returning to the real world without having to win the game? If you knew you weren't putting your life at risk, and that you could stop playing at any time you want, the game would become a sensation. Also, things like cheat codes and support for mods would be way too great to pass up.
- Also, given what Jumanji is capable of, there doesn't seem to be any reason why it couldn't create other types of "games" as well. Like a relaxing virtual world free of limitations, where you can do anything you want. A perfect expense-free vacation spot for anyone looking for a break from the physical world, at any time, where you can even make your home.
Spencer fixed Jumanji to try and save Eddie
What is the reason Spencer fixed Jumanji wasn't for himself, but for Eddie? Perhaps he learned that his grandfather is dying and wanted to save his life by enabling him to "live" as one of the game avatars?- This is very slightly confirmed, in that Eddie's friend Milo is terminally ill and decided to stay in Jumanji to effectively live forever as a guardian of Jumanji in the avatar of a flying horse.
Post-release theories
We will really meet the Avatars in the sequel
The Sequel Hook of this movie implied that the next one will feature the world of the video game coming out into the real world. This will mean that the Avatars will also come out, without a Player controlling them, so we will meet the Avatars real personalities for the same time.- Or, a subversion of expectation, the player characters will not turn up in the next film, but the villains of the JWTTJ and JTNL will show up along with the new big bad, and the group will have to be themselves and try to figure out how to send them all back.
Milo is not in any danger from the game now
By choosing to stay in Jumanji instead of leaving, he's been made part of the game and is now immune to being hurt or killed by anything inside it.- There's also the possibility that there will not be any dangers to Milo because the game is completed, so he is free to fly around and not worry about any potential dangers or any risks to his three lives. This sets up the possibility of his return in the next film.
- Then why did Milo say he needed to stay in the game to "protect" Jumanji?
- Even when there isn't a major realm-threatening storyline in progress, Jumanji is far from a safe place. Just ask Alan Parrish.
The next film will have guest appearances of Danny and Walter Budwing or the Zathura board game from Zathura: A Space Adventure.
Considering that the characters of Danny and Walter were featured in the first book and where characters in a follow-up book that starts at the end of the events of Jumanji (the book was adapted into its own feature-length film), and that the game Zathura is much like Jumanji, there's a chance that the game may turn up or that an older Danny and Walter Budwing will show up somewhere in the next film. As to if they'll just be patrons witnessing the events or if they'll be helping out the group, it is yet to be seen. But, it would be a nice setup to show Zathura and Jumanji characters coming out of their respected games to cause havoc, leaving the brothers and the group to work together to stop both games from destroying the town (maybe Zathura will also update itself into a more recent modern video game to counterbalance the change Jumanji made to itself in the modern world).- As an added bonus, Josh Hutcherson and the other actor can reprise their role.
The next film will have Peter and Judy returning.
This movie had their Aunt return and the previous one showed a sign of Alan's presence in Jumanji. One of them will say something about Alan being dead. Jurgen is a real person
It has never been established that NPCs' stats can be viewed in the same way as humans, yet Jurgen displays his stats when Spencer hits him. It's possible that Jurgen is a special type of Avatar, perhaps an Avatar of a player who chooses to stay in the game instead of leaving. This can potentially set up a sequel where Milo becomes a part of the game itself and no longer remembers the real world.- Somewhat confirmed by Dwayne Johnson.
- It's also possible that like Alan Parish (who Jurgen slightly resembles), Jurgen was just another kid who naively played Jumanji, back when it was still a board game. Except nobody ever rolled a five or an eight, so instead of hoping to escape someday, he instead decided to just take over the game world.
Nora Shepherd will transform into an Ostrich like in the Animated Series
The Ostriches that escaped from the game and that passed in front of Nora's Restaurant, could be an Easter Egg when in the animated series: Nora transformed into an ostrich it could be just a reference but what if? That final scene is a prediction that in the next Jumanji movie, Nora will turn into an ostrich and would be a nice reference to the episode of the magic chest.- In addition, one or more of the humanoid NPCs from the animated series (perhaps Trader Slick and/or Ibsen) will emerge from the game as Canon Immigrants, or if not them precisely then at least fairly obvious expies thereof.
In Jumanji 4 The Son of Alan and Sarah will appear
During the Jumanji finale, Sarah was pregnant during the Christmas party and we never knew if Alan and Sarah's son was a boy or a girl?but now with the return of Nora and the possible return of Judy and Peter, it is likely that Alan and Sarah's son appears in Jumanji 4 and is played by actor Dane DeHaan and is named Paul Parrish and is currently the new boss from the Parrish shoe store and inherited it after the death of his father (Alan). Alternatively, Alan and Sarah's child will be a daughter
And she'll be played by Zelda Williams. Due to the glitching brokenness, the main characters haven't really left the game
The ostriches appearing, and the fact that the "smolder" worked outside the game setting, could mean that rather than let them leave, Jumanji has created yet another new level mixing elements of the real world into the game.Jumanji evolves into Jumanji Online
All it takes is the game evolving a USB port or similar plug and someone to trick into plugging it into a PC, and it'll throw itself online to become a FTP MMORPG. Now nobody is safe as Jumanji can use people's own monitors to absorb them from their homes into the game, maybe after a few hours in character creation. The process involves throwing itself into a specific room full of servers, which puts all of those lives at risk if someone tries to pull their plug. Who ever is making Jumanji and Zathura has a greater goal
The fact that two different board games had a piece that allowed them to suck kids into the game world or pour the game world out is crazy and was not there by accident. Jumanji also MORPHED into a video game in attempt to get Spencer to play with others. Jumanji and Zathura are designed to lure people into the game world to... Trap Them? Kill Them? We don't know what happens after a real person dies in the game do we? We never see the distributor name on the cartage or board game. Jumanji is a prequel to Superhot
Piggybacking off of the above theory. When players die, their data could be absorbed into the game, and a computer virus trojan could be placed in their body instead, sent to infect people. Jumanji and Superhot also function in similar ways, spreading through social interaction, then sucking players in. Jumanji is a social game because it's meant to be played Co-Op, and Superhot is spread by people claiming it is the "most innovative shooter" they've played in years. Superhot and Jumanji are both computer viruses masked as Video Games, for some other goal.The Original hunter Van Pelt will return in Jumanji 4, like this...
Now that the Jumanji video game console is damaged and is releasing different characters from the Jumanji world to the real world, then Van Pelt will also return in Jumanji 4, He will not return being played by Bobby Cannavale, but more. Well for Jonathan Hyde, from the original Jumanji film, probably as the console is starting to fail it is very likely that Professor Russell Van Pelt undergoes a transformation and he will begin a Involution until he returns to his original hunter aspect. The Jumaki tribe will appear in Jumanji 4
In the animated series, The Jumaki are a tribe of Humanoid Birds who live in the clouds near the (artificial) Jumanji sun.The Jumaki would be portrayed in Jumanji 4 as a Proud Warrior Race and they would have a racial discrimination towards other beings non-Jumaki, but deep down it would show that they despite their hostility, would show that The Jumaki are a very noble and benevolent race and they would become a faithful non-human allies for teenagers and their avatars.
If The Jumaki were to appear in Jumanji 4, then they would be portrayed as Canon Foreigners, Expies and Mythology Gag as was Nigel who remembers the character from the animated series, Trader Slick and the Zeppelin that Jurgen uses. during his escape, he is very reminiscent of Ibsen's Steampunk Zeppelin from the animated series.
If the players do end up in avatar bodies in Jumanji 4, Fridge will get stuck as Ming Fleetfoot.
The game has been messing with him, sticking him in physically weaker bodies one after the other, so him ending up as Ming would fit the pattern.