WMG / MCU Other Theories

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Thanos and the Infinity Blitz

This was inspired by a theory claiming Thanos was engaging in a Batman Gambit. To begin with let's admit that Thanos's plan to gather the Infinity stones can seem unnecessarily complicated and risky. Thanos starts out with the mind stone and gives it away to a person he knows is untrustworthy. Why doesn't he simply invade Earth which he knows has two infinity stones? The answer is twofold. Firstly he doesn't know where all the stones are so his plan can't currently be carried out. Secondly he doesn't want to reveal his plans until he can carry them out. So by sending Loki he can pacify Earth and locate the tesseract while concealing his plans. These plans change once Loki's invasion fails. Now Thanos knows Earth has beings capable of resisting him. So he waits for an opportunity. This occurs when the teseract is put in Asgard, the reality stone surfaces, and the Avengers gain hold of the mind stone. Now it was shown by the first Avengers that an Infinity stone (i.e the tesseract) can be remotely manipulated by someone who knows how to use the stone (i.e. Loki). In Avengers 2 Ultron seems to come to life by itself while Tony and Bruce aren't watching their equipment and the mind stone. This could be explained as Thanos manipulating the mind stone in order to create Ultron. Ultron had a chance to destroy the Avengers and would almost certainly weaken/divide them. Either outcome would've worked for Thanos. Once again the Avengers save the earth but the seeds of their destruction are sown. Now this next part is a bit dubious. Perhaps Thanos finds the time stone because he can probe the earth with the mind stone even when it's in Vision. This could also explain how Thanos treats Tony Stark like he knows him personally. A year before Ultron Thanos is trying to retrieve the power stone. He doesn't intervene because he believes at first that he'll get the stone discreetly. Then maybe he thinks he can pick up the stone once Ronan destroys Xandar and most likely himself. Once again his plans fail but Thanos both knows where the stone is and his enemies are lulled to sleep. After the Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers 2 Thanos knows the locations of 5 of the stones. But four of them are heavily guarded and the Avengers suspect a threat so once again he waits. Within three years both the Avengers and Asgard are shattered. Only 1 stone is missing but he has a lead through Gamorra. Now that the stage is set Thanos makes his move. He attacks Xandar to get the power stone when the Guardians are gone. This probably still cost Thanos at least the Chitauri (an admittedly weak force). He then attacks the Asgardian refugees to get the mind stone. By not ensuring Thor's death Thanos either intentionally or luckily alerts the Guardians which leads Gamora to Thanos. She reaches him once he's acquired the reality stone. Then Thanos ruthlessly tortures Nebula to get Gamora to lead him to the last stone. He then reluctantly kills Gamora for the soul stone. While this is happening Thanos's forces are openly attacking Dr Stange and quietly attacking Vision. This could be a gambit to distract the Avengers so the mindstone can be quickly retrieved. And then maybe the timestone could've been retrieved with difficulty. Neither of these alternatives happens but Vision is weakened and Dr. Strange goes after Thanos with only moderate support. Then Thanos nearly loses to Dr. Strange and co but is saved by Star Lord's outburst. At this point it doesn't matter that Thanos's entire army has been destroyed. They suceeded in preventing the mind stone from being destroyed before Thanos acquired the time stone. Thanos easily takes the mind stone but he has one last peril. Thor was left alive by Thanos either intentionally or as an accident. Whatever Thanos's intentions they backfire when Thor nearly kills him. However both luck and Thor's need for revenge give Thanos time to accomplish his goal. Ultimately Thanos accomplished his goal through ample amounts of plannning, patience, luck, and decisive action. Thanos even quits while he's ahead by destroying the stones while he can. But it was all undone in five years by a plan Dr. Strange thought up hours before confronting Thanos.

There could be a Marvel vs. Capcom movie

The Cosmic Cube does have the power to reshape reality, so somebody could end up accidentally causing the two worlds to merge... and the Avengers might bump into DANTE!!

Thor will use Mjölnir to help Tony forge something.

Odin once remarked that Mjölnir could be used to build as well as destroy. Which Avenger has experience forging and building things? I foresee an epic Forging Scene where Tony and Thor at some critical point need to build something that requires the might of Mjölnir!

• Something like this?
• Not quite but in Age of Ultron, Mjolnir was used to generate the power to finish creating The Vision.
• Jossed, since Mjolnir got destroyed in Thor: Ragnarok.

Ross, Fury and The Punisher fought in Vietnam together

• They got caught in the mother of all cluster-fucks. The Curbstomp Battle they and only they managed to survive changed their lives.
  • Ross decides that it can never happen again, and that the US gaining super-soldiers would help prevent such a pasting from happening again.
  • Fury looses his eye, decides it can never happen again, and joins SHIELD to stop wars from ever happening.
  • Castle realizes that no matter how ugly it gets, he'll always love war. He realized that he loves war, and decides to go home and be with his family before he jumps off the slippery slope.
    • Jossed, Castle is a veteran of Afghanistan in the MCU.

Jim Rhodes and/or Bruce Banner will be played by a different actor in each film appearance.

They'll turn The Other Darrin into a Running Gag for the audience's benefit.

• Jossed with Bruce Banner, as Mark Ruffalo recently signing a six-picture deal as Bruce Banner/The Hulk.
• And Cheadle will be returning as War Machine for Iron Man 3

Spider-Man, The X-Men and the Fantastic Four all have a really good reason for not being in The Avengers

• Spider-Man was in another state photographing for JJ.
  • Never mind the fact that it was another 2 months before he got his powers.
    • According to Civil War, about 3 years.
• The X-Men were too far away to get to Manhattan in time.
• The Fantastic Four were having a field trip to the Earth's core that day.

Tony was stalling to get his ultimate weapon from L.A.

The name of the weapon? Squirrel Girl but they defeated the invasion before she and War Machine could arrive…

• She did first appear trying to be his sidekick...

Red Skull was killed by Heimdall.

Having apparently been Bifrost-teleported, Red Skull may have ended at Asgard. Asgard's end of Bifrost is before Heimdall, who is black. Nothing easier than Red Skull tried to order him around and attacked him after being ignored or told to wait for the authorities, and Heimdall punched his head off.

• Alternatively Loki and Thor were there due to chance or having nothing better to do, and tried to explain him that Heimdall was not a servant. Then Red Skull, knowing the Viking legends, accused Loki of lying and called him a frost giant, and Thor hammered him for the insult to his brother.
  • Unless he didn't end up in Asgard at all...
    • Jossed by Avengers: Infinity War, since unless the Tessaract sent him to multiple places, he went straight to Vormir, guarding the location of the Soul Stone.

The Dark World in Thor 2 will be the Dark Dimension.

And if that's the case, we might see Dormammu.

• Jossed; see below.

The Dark World in Thor 2 will be Swartalfheim.

And the main villain? Makekith.

• Confirmed! Malekith will be played by Christopher Eccleston.

Combining the previous two theories, Dormammu will be Malekith's Thanos.

• Jossed.

The Guardians of the Galaxy will die in their solo film.

This will establish Thanos as an even more dangerous enemy.

• Probably not, since it's kind of a comedy film. Plus if they kill them, they can't have the Avengers team up with them later.
• Jossed. Groot "dies", but he regenerates in time to be a baby in the sequel

The Red Skull might return in the second Captain America movie

It is implied he ended up in Asgard, assuming he wasn't killed. There Odin would have met with him and somehow know of the chaos he caused on earth, seeing darkness in his heart, he knew he was to dangerous to send back to Earth, so they imprisoned him in Asgard. Since Thanos is rumored to show up in The Stinger, attempting to steal the infinite gauntlet. The Red Skull would have been driven crazy being imprisoned for so long, crazy enouth to work for Thanos. Thanos would see all the death the Red Skull caused and agrees to set him free on earth.

• Red Skull does not show up, but HYDRA and an A.I. version of Zola do.
• Red Skull does make an appearance in Avengers: Infinity War as the keeper of the Soul Stone, though.

The Stinger for Thor: The Dark World.

So here is what I am hoping happens in the stinger for Thor 2. Loki's latest nefariousness lands him in a small room in Asgard bound by the stocks and the same muzzle he had at the end of The Avengers with two guards looking over him. The camera is facing Loki to the guards backs and all of a sudden a swooshing sound is heard and a green light emanates from just behind the camera. The guards turn around only to get a pair of green energy blasts to the chest sending them flying against the wall on the other side of the cell. A third blast hits the door behind Loki sealing it as banging noises are heard from the other side (presumably more guards). The camera then zooms in on Loki's face and a small green laser begins cutting off the muzzle with great precision as a deep off-screen voice says "Loki my dear Jotun friend it seems your lone attempts at mischief have all failed miserably." The muzzle then falls to the floor and the voice continues "I come to offer you a degree of... camaraderie." Loki then asks in a very suspicious and slightly spiteful tone "And who are you supposed to be exactly?" The camera then pans around to just behind Loki's head and we see a green cape and boots made of cast Iron. The figure then kneels down revealing a green tunic and hood over a full suit of powered armor also seemingly made from cast iron and looks Loki in the eye revealing a very intimidating metal face mask with visible eyes and a Death Glare. The figure then says "I. AM. DOOM." Cut to black.

• Sadly, jossed.

Captain America will do an epic walk towards Thanos

Which will mirror their confrontation in the Infinity Gauntlet saga. Calling it now. Because.

• Additionally, we'll get a callback to Cap's first movie as he endures Thanos's beatdown and tells his foe, "I can do this all day", then getting his second wind.
• Partially Jossed, but his quote does get a call-back in the climax of Avengers: Endgame, when he fights the 2014/Alternate Past Thanos.

The films have been hinting how to create a Bifrost.

Whenever the Bifrost in Thor was activated, it was by a weapon being used as the machine's "key". That weapon could be either Heimdall's sword or Odin's Gungnir. Now, in Captain America, Cap and the Red Skull accidentally create a Bifrost effect when Cap's shield strikes the reactor containing the Tesseract. What do we know about Cap's shield? It's made out of Vibranium. Perhaps that is also what Heimdall and Odin's weapons are made out of.If that's the case... then perhaps with a little ingenuity, Tony and Cap might be able to recreate the Bifrost!

• A SHIELD attempt to recreate the Bifrost effect in the Florida everglades leads to a disruption of the nexus of all realities... thus prompting Man-Thing and Howard the Duck movies.
• Jossed, though Thor can summon the Bifrost with Stormbreaker.

In Guardians of the Galaxy the Chitauri will be the villains.

• The Chitauri will still be working with Thanos and the Guardians may be formed to deal with this threat.
• Jossed. Ronan The Accuser is the main villian of the film.
  • They do, however, act as his forces.

The Guardians of the Galaxy and the Avengers will eventually team up

• To beat Thanos.
  • Confirmed, for Avengers: Infinity War.

Thor 2 will involve a plan to steal the Infinity Gauntlet.

• The Gauntlet is in Odin's Vault, Thanos or Malekith may make an attempt to steal it. Probably not Malekith but Loki may be involved. Or the attempt may happen in the Stinger. It would look good if it ends with Thanos gaining the Gauntlet.
  • Perhaps when Loki is released he does this secretly, acting on orders from Thanos.
• Sort of confirmed. The Stinger to Thor 2 shows the Aether being taken to The Collector for safekeeping, and both it and the Tesseract are confirmed to be Infinity Gems. At the very end after the Asgardians have left, The Collector says to himself, "One down, five to go."
• Surprisingly, as revealed in Ragnarok, the Gauntlet we see in Odin's Vault is a fake (according to Hela, anyways).

The reason all the Chitauri die when the mothership is destroyed.

• They were dead and being artificially animtated and controlled by cybernetic implants powered by something on the ship. This would also explain the lack of shape-shifting, as it would be too difficult to manipulate remotely.

Phil Coulson has a identical twin brother.

That's who Clark Gregg will portray in any future MCU endeavors.

• Jossed. A back-from-the-dead Phil Coulson will appear in the upcoming Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series.

The Hulk Sequel will be an adaptation of Planet Hulk

It will develop Hulk as a character alongside Banner, rather than just the gamma-bullet in Banner's gun. The Avengers 3 will use World War Hulk as it's main inspiration, and it will be revealed that Thanos was behind the whole thing, the final straw in a long series of build ups for him as the main villain of Avengers 4, which will be a crossover with Guardians of the Galaxy.

• Sort-of-confirmed, with Hulk showing up in Thor: Ragnarok

Stingers of future MCU movies:

• Captain America: Winter Soldier - If Alexander Lukin appears, he will unmask to reveal himself as Red Skull. Otherwise, Crossbones will reveal he is working for Red Skull.
  • Alternatively, a stinger where we learn that the Red Skull is posing as a high-ranking member of the World Security Council and was also behind Bucky's brainwashing into Winter Soldier.
    • Nothing involving the Red Skull, although HYDRA was the main villain and they did infiltrate SHIELD but they're in the process of being taken down at the end. The actual stingers are one revealing Baron von Strucker is still out there, and he has Loki's staff and Pietro and Wanda, and one showing the former Winter Soldier in civilian disguise visiting the Captain America exhibit at the Smithsonian and looking at the exhibit about Bucky Barnes, showing that he may be starting to regain his memories or at least accepting that he is Bucky.
• Guardians of the Galaxy - Thanos finally heading to Earth to begin his planned conquest, directly leading into the Avengers sequel.
  • Jossed. The stinger features Howard the Duck instead of Thanos.
• Iron Man 3 - Zeke Stane visiting his father's grave and swearing to avenge him. Or something featuring Ghost.
  • Jossed. The stinger for the film features Tony Stark discussing his traumas and emotional issues with Bruce Banner, as if the good doctor was a psychiatrist.
• Thor: The Dark World - something featuring Surtur. Or, if Loki dies in the movie, something featuring Kid Loki.
  • Or, considering they seem to be going down a humorous route with the Phase 2 stingers, Thor could introduce Loki to shawarma, since he missed out in The Avengers. As to how they're on Earth, they could be taking Jane back after their little adventure. The scene will consist of Thor stuffing his face and Loki face-palming throughout, both still dressed in their Asgardian armor while everyone around them stares. Of course, this won't happen if Loki ends up betraying Thor...
  • Jossed. Like Avengers, there are a serious and a lighthearted stinger, the first one leading into Guardians of the Galaxy by having the Collector receive the inert Aether (as it's revealed that it and the Tesseract are Infinity Gems and the second one having Thor return to visit Jane, then showing the Jotunheim beast chasing birds in London.
• Ant-Man - The movie will start with Henry Pym working on something that would acronym to 'ULTRON', before being forced to leave the lab because of something. In The Stinger, he will return to his lab and discover that everything connected to the project is missing. Then it would flash back to the scene of him leaving, showing Ultron awakening moments after he left.
  • Probably not going to happen unless it's a prequel to the MCU, given that we now know Avengers 2 is going to have Ultron as its Big Bad.
    • Also I think Tony is the one who's going to build Ultron in this verse. I suppose Hank could be trying to rebuild it or something.
    • Jossed - not only did Ant-Man take place after Age of Ultron, but the Stinger instead set up Civil War.
• Kamala Khan will cameo in the Stinger for Captain Marvel or The Inhumans.
  • Jossed for both - Inhumans had no movie, and it seems that if Kamala does appear (which Kevin Feige's comments indicate will happen), it'll be after Monica Rambeau gets her powers.
    • The above statement became actually true!
• Spider-Man: Peter walks into his room late at night, only to turn the lights on and discover an unexpected figure there..
  Deadpool: So how come they let you in?
  • Jossed. The first stinger follows Adrian Toomes in prison where fellow inmates discuss a possible escape plan and the rumors that Toomes knows who Spider-Man is, which Toomes denies. The second is a joke stinger in the form of Captain America giving a PSA on expecting a meaningful stinger and getting disappointed.
    • Interestingly, the scenario plays out in Spider-Man: Far From Home, but with a different character encountering Peter...
• Movie TBD: The first film following Stan Lee's death without an available cameo will go the entire length of the movie without it. After all the stingers and credits roll, the scene will open up on a headstone as a figure walks up. The figure is shot from the back initially but anyone who has watched enough Marvel movies will recognize the speaker as Movie's hero, who offers a Eulogy of sorts, about how all the great stories Stan told and all the lives he touched and will continue to touch. As the speech goes on, the camera pans around as Tony finishes his speech. Finally, he ends on a note to some affect that says he's not alone in his feelings and as he concludes, the camera pans wider to reveal that the greater MCU cast (and possibly cast from non-MCU marvel films) are assembled, all holding their heads bowed in respect for his passing. The scene finishes with dedication of the film to Stan and his work.
  • Jossed. The first film with no Stan Lee cameo is Far From Home. Marvel would honorored Lee by dedicating the opening studio card of Captain Marvel to Lee. Marvel would later honor Lee again during Marvel's Phase 4 Trailer, where some of his past sound bites narrate the trailer.

Tony Stark will appear in Avengers 2, but not as Iron Man.

Instead, we will finally see what his work as "the consultant" includes.

• Jossed.

Loki is running a Xanatos Gambit.

Think about it. If he won in Avengers, then he has an entire planet to rule. If he loses (which he did) he gets sent back to Asgard (since it's been already demonstrated that not even a prison cell mean to hold the Hulk can keep him out) where he has a chance to get his hands on the Infinity Gauntlet.

• It's already shown that Thor will need his help in Thor: The Dark World, which is most likely part of his plan. He most likely knows that a war with Svartalfheim is coming.
  • His goal doesn't seem to have been the Infinity Gauntlet...
  • Jossed. While Loki wants power and has done deceitful tactics for his own aims, he doesn't have a grand plan.

Loki Descending Into Madness...

Someone has already WMGed about the possibility that Loki falling off of Bifrost during Thor may have driven him insane. In Iron Man 3, one huge plot element is Tony having severe anxiety attacks and PTSD from being in that wormhole for a few seconds. I'd say the theory about Loki is now confirmed.

• We're still missing some information here. We don't know what Loki was exposed to between the end of Thor and the start of The Avengers. We do know that Tony Stark flew through the portal carrying a nuclear missile that was going to go off at any second, and that he came very close to dying. The parallel still does lend some credence to the theory, but it's possible that their respective conditions were caused by things besides just being in the wormhole.
  • In another theory...
  • Jossed.

Why Stark's hover car never caught on…

It was amazing technology, he invented a flying car in 1942, how could this thing never catch on? Simple, power consumption. The power it takes to lift a several ton car off the ground, let alone go anywhere at decent speeds was out of any monetary reach. Besides, it is only shown to have hovered, it did not fly. It would also need a flat surface to make sure it doesn't flip over, so it would still need roads. Also, if your tires pop, you don't suddenly jolt down a foot or two and do major damage to the car. So, it came with too few advantages for the astronomic cost of the thing over plain old wheels, so was scrapped for a later date. The day when you fit an arch reactor inside a man's chest…

If they do adapt Planet Hulk, Hulk won't be exiled.

Because so far the Hulk has been shown to be a force for good even though he's dangerous. They might not want to portray either the Hulk or Avengers in a negative light. Rather the Hulk will perform a heroic sacrifice and jump through a wormhole to shut it down. This will result in hem getting thrown through space and ending up on Saakar.

• Alternatively, it's not the Avengers that send him away. Instead it's one of the villains like General Ross or Loki who can get an army together to capture him.
• Confirmed. Hulk flies away on his own into space in a Quinjet and accidentially flies into a portal that sends him to Sakaar.

If Red Hulk appears...

Extremis will be involved. It gives those who are injected with it the ability to generate intense heat, one of Red Hulk's signature abilities. So he could be created by combining the Hulk formula with Extremis.

The Hulk reboot was a sequel.

The first movie ends with Bruce in South America and the reboot begins with him still hiding there, Banner's conflicting origin flashbacks are inaccurate memories and the film ends with him beginning to control The Hulk which ties into his willing transformation in Avengers.

• Jossed. Talbot appears in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..
  • He could be retconned as Talbot's brother.

If the masters of evil appear their alien contact will be...

Fin Fang Foom, who will be The Dragon (get it?) to Thanos.

The SSR is a precursor to at least one other organization besides SHIELD.

From what we've seen in Captain America: The First Avenger, we know the SSR was a classified organization focused on peacekeeping and advancing technology. We also know Tommy Lee Jones was a high-ranking member, they were testing soldiers to find a new recruit, and the winner was the person who completed the tests by thinking outside the box. On a separate note, we also know that aliens exist in this world. Therefore, it stands to reason that in the early 60s, members of the SSR were made aware of said extraterrestrial life and decided to split off and form a new organization to focus more fully on aliens: the Men in Black. Which means K is probably the son of Col. Phillips. Men in Black is a Marvel property, so this totally works.

The Doctor Strange film will start In Medias Res.

Mostly to avoid the risk of rehashing Tony Stark's origin.

• If this humble one might: The viewpoint character will be someone experiencing a supernatural crisis who has to employ the Doctor. At first Strange will simply be introduced as a surgeon obsessed with the occult; the backstory will be explained in full by Strange after the viewpoint character comments on scars/how shaky his hands are.
• Jossed: it told his origin story.

The fact that they can't call Pietro and Wanda mutants will be lampshaded.

"How did they get their powers?" "Sorry, that information is classified."

• Jossed.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe S.H.I.E.L.D. Field Agents like Coulson and Sitwell gave rise to the Men In Black urban legend, and might even be that universe's equivalent.

The villain of the third Thor movie will be Surtur.

• Jossed. Surtur appears and has a fairly important role, but he isn't the main villain.

Ultimate Marvel will be featured in a crossover.

With Brad Pitt as Captain America, Johnny Depp as Iron Man, Lucy Liu as Wasp, Matthew Mcconaughey as Giant-Man, and Steve Buscemi as Bruce Banner. ...Everybody got that Mythology Gag, right?

• Jossed

Third Thor movie will end with Thor's death...

...and The Stinger will show Mjölnir falling on an alien planet and an orange hand reaching for it.

• I don't know if it makes sense for Thor to die before/during Bill's appearance. That whole part where they realize Bill can use the hammer has more impact if Thor is there.
• Jossed.

In Avengers 3, Ultron will be used to fight Thanos.

Towards the end of the movie, when it's been made abundantly clear that Thanos is a Walking Powerhouse, he'll push the Godzilla Threshold and force the Avengers to use their second deadliest adversary.

• Jossed - Ultron wasn't anywhere to be found in Infinity War.

Infinity Stones only work when paired with another cosmic power source

Nick Fury says that Loki's scepter was powered by the Cube. We're all pretty sure that was the Mind Stone in that scepter. Ergo, in the MCU, 5 out of 6 gems cannot function without a power source. Except the power stone, which is, itself, a power source. Ergo, when the stones are united into the Infinity Gauntlet, they work just fine.

• The Dark World throws a twist into this theory. The Cosmic Cube IS an Infinity Stone, probably the Mind Stone.
  • More likely the Space Stone, since it was a portal-opener. In fact, it actually leads to some Fridge Brilliance: Fury only thought the spear (Mind Stone) was powered by the cube (Space Stone) because they gave off the same cosmic energy signature.
  • The Tesseract is indeed the Space Stone.

From Avengers 2 onward, Tony will be using the Modular Armor.

The Mark 42 was merely the Flawed Prototype. Not only will the Modular armor not constantly malfunction and fall apart, but it will also have many different interchangeable parts and modules for different purposes, just like in the comics.

• Seems confirmed.

Agent K is Coulson's father

This WMG is based on a screen splice showing K and Coulson talking on the phone;

K: I heard about New Mexico. Want me to send the boys down?

Coulson: I think we can handle this one, Dad.

The WMG is thus:
The Colonel from Captain America: The First Avenger is K's grandfather. K himself is born later and was raised join S.H.I.E.L.D. but refuses and goes to propose to his girlfriend. Then he mets the aliens and forms the M.I.B. It is implied in the second M.I.B movie that K is the father of the Light of Zartha so he could have had another child while working with the M.I.B. Thus Coulson is born far enough in the past to be full grown while K is still middle aged. Coulson decides to work for SHIELD instead of the M.I.B because he's a Captain America fanboy wanted to work with him if he was ever found and unfrozen. If, like the Light of Zathra, Coulson is an alien halfbreed this could also explain why he survived Loki stabbing him in Avengers.

• Jossed; according to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Coulson's dad died when he was young; his file calls it a defining moment in his past.

Man-Thing will appear in the MCU

A character connected to him was one of the Extremis soldiers in Iron Man 3.

• Coulson did say that a lot of people were trying to replicate the super-soldier serum. Explicitly part of Man-Thing's backstory (though you'd think the nexus of all realities would have been signifiant at that Convergence thingy in The Dark World).
• He's confirmed to exist in the MCU by a throwaway line from Hill in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., so an appearance could be not that for off...

The Sentry (and the Void) will show up in the future of the MCU at some point, powered by the Aether.

In The Dark World when an Aether-fused Malekith fought Thor he looked much like the Void, complete with the red energy claws. The Collector got the gem at the end, it's not inconceivable that he might lose it (especially given the synopsis for Guardians) and it somehow finds its way to Robert Reynolds, who either fuses with it by accident like Jane or is imbued with it as part of some immoral experiment.

• Considering that the Aether is the Reality Stone, that would essentially make The Sentry a copy of The Vision...
• Jossed given the Reality Stone's fate.

The Netflix series will be set during the 1970's.

Just because it fits the characters and it lets us explore a different era of the MCU.

• But then they wouldn't be able to have crossovers with all the modern-day stuff.
• Jossed. Set in modern day, but with flashbacks to previous decades.

Norman Osborn will eventually appear as a major antagonist for both the MCU and the The Amazing Spider-Man series.

There were talks about using the Oscorp tower in The Avengers, which means a crossover is definitely possible if both parties still want it. Iron Man 3 brought us the Iron Patriot armor used by Osborn in the comics, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will introduce Victoria Hand, his assistant at several points. Maybe we are indeed heading towards a Dark Reign storyline some time in the future.

• MCU is still out, but jossed for The Amazing Spiderman, since Marvel ended up rebooting Spiderman a third time.

  • This theory was partially unjossed, as the "Rami's verse" version of Norman became the main villian in Spider-Man: No Way Home

Extremis and the Aether are somehow connected

Both have suspiciously similar effects under the skin.

• Wouldn't that make Extremis part of the Reality Stone?

Kid Loki and Lady Loki will have brief appearances in Thor 3 as a Mythology Gag

• Kid Loki: Thor will miss Loki and will start looking for ways to bring him back. He will run into a kid that will remind him of Loki, but it will turn out to be just a regular kid.
  • Or Loki disguises himself as a child to trick people.
• Lady Loki: Loki will taunt Thor by taking Sif's shape, but will decide to keep his own clothes for the illusion.
• Jossed.

Loki and the Avengers will have a rematch

Loki sits on the throne of Asgard now. There's a good chance that gives him the Odinforce. Meaning he'll be ready to give the Avengers quite the thrashing. (Especially getting payback for Hulk's beatdown)

• Loki is, at worst, a Token Evil Teammate of Thor's now. Besides, he's probably not going to be too eager to pay the Hulk back, seeing as how he not only got to witness Thor experience a similar beatdown to the one Loki received, but he had no problems using Hulk on Thanos.
• Jossed. Loki dies before he can meet any of the Avengers again.

Big Hero 6 will be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Disney will be working with Marvel Studios on it, and apparently it is based on an obscure Marvel series. And don't tell me you don't want it.

• Jossed.

One or more of the Avengers will get beaten up by Scarlet Witch and/or Quicksilver.

• In keeping with the theme of the team fighting amongst themselves in the first movie, the Avengers will demonstrate the badassitude of Wanda and Pietro via The Worf Effect. Most likely this will be at the expense of Thor, though Iron Man and the Hulk are also contenders.
• Confirmed. All of them.

When Wasp finally shows up, she'll have a different costume in every movie

Remember who we're talking about people.

• She'll change her costumes as often as Tony Stark changes his suits.
  • Forget that, she'll have different costumes in the same film she shows up in. Of course, opening up the floor for action figure variants of her many costumes.
    • So far jossed for MCU films (she had the same costume in Endgame that she had in Ant Man and the Wasp), but still possible for her home series, given that there's still the possibility of a third Ant Man movie, and a new costume for her.

Most people don't know that Black Widow and Hawkeye exist.

They're secret agents and SHIELD doesn't want to compromise them. As far as the general public knows, the Avengers are a four-man team.

• Neither confirmed nor jossed, but it's a moot point now. In the wake of The Winter Solider. all SHIELD secrets have become public knowledge. If they didn't know then, they definitely know now.
  • Definitely Jossed. In the first scene of Agents of Shield, the Avengers toy display has a Black Widow and a Hawkeye figure in the lineup with the main 4.

Planet Hulk will be adapted, but World War Hulk will not.

Instead, Planet Hulk movie will lead into Avengers/Guardians of the Galaxy crossover where they finally fight Thanos. Due to movie!Stark being friendlier with the Hulk than comic!Stark, I doubt he would exile him to space, so Hulk would probably end up on Sakaar in a different way, which would remove revenge as Hulk's motivation, preventing World War Hulk. The line-up of Hulk's Warbound will probably be changed to include at least one member of the Guardians. Korg will be Adapted Out to avoid people confusing him with the Thing, and one of the Guardians, probably Drax or Groot, will take his place. No-Name the Brood will also be adapted out, due to rights issues. Red King will be working for Thanos, and The Stinger will feature Thanos preparing to bomb Sakaar in order to have revenge on Hulk.

• Confirmed, albeit not as described - Hulk voluntarily left Earth after Age of Ultron and got sent to Sakaar, which is finally shown in Thor: Ragnarok (which adapts Planet Hulk).

The Other isn't an alien, he is supernatural.

In the comics, The Other was an alias used by Chthon the Elder God. While movie Other doesn't have to be Chthon, he will be some sort of demon, and he will appear in the Doctor Strange movie.

• Jossed. He is killed by Ronan in Guardians of the Galaxy.

Whomever controls the staff, controls Phil Coulson

The Cap 2 ending implies that the Scepter had an infinity stone in it, probably Soul or Mind, and Phil Coulson was stabbed with that scepter and he died, which could have forged a link between Phil Coulson and the staff/stone. (If it's not a direct link back to Thanos) While the stone could always control people remotely, because it went straight through Phil's heart (as confirmed in Agents of SHIELD) it could let the owner have unfettered access to Phil Coulson's every thought, idea, information... and maybe even his will.

• As of Age of Ultron seems Jossed.

Natasha and Clint are an item, but in the hyper-pragmatic way spyguys do everything else

Most spies have to hide and lie about what they do to those closest to them. Clint and Natasha may be a couple, but they understand fully that their jobs may necessitate one or both of them pretending to be the lover/spouse of someone else, up to even sleeping with other people, so they enjoy each others' company in their downtime, and don't worry about what happens when they're apart. Basically an open relationship by necessity/pragmatism. Squares nicely with Natasha wearing an arrow necklace in Winter Soldier, and showing closeness with Steve that isn't just for cover while they're being hunted.

• Jossed.

Members and Machinations of HYDRA

In Winter Soldier we saw that non-SHIELD members could also be part of HYDRA or at least sympathizers, the example given in the movie is Senator Stern. And we also saw that HYDRA caused several events that led to where the world is currently in. So who else is a non-SHIELD HYDRA-lyte or what events were machinated by them? I'm willing to bet the Ten Rings was a machination and that the REAL Mandarin(see All Hail The King One-Shot) is a HYDRA sympathizer.

Doctor Strange will simply be a master of Asgardian and/or alien Technology

Given that the Marvel Cinematic Universe runs on Clarke's Third Law, it would make sense that Strange isn't actually magic in MCU, but simply a master of otherworldly technologies that have been found in recent years. He probably is a consultant of SHIELD, but he has strong morals, which is why HYDRA wanted to eliminate him.

• Jossed.

ABC's Nashville is set in the MCU

Powers Boothe's character in The Avengers was Lamar Wyatt, and Agent May was either undercover as the head of Capitol Nashville or she has a twin sister that hasn't been mentioned yet for some reason. This also means that Juliet Barnes is somehow related to Bucky.

Various characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe are actually "Magical Boys".

As pointed out on the "Fridge" page of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, it's possible that Kyubey is lying by omission (as he does) when he says "teenage girls" are the best source for contracts (notice he doesn't say "only" or "exclusive"), and a specific theory put forth is that boys (or men) may be told they're "superheroes" fighting "monsters." Here are some guesses about specific characters.

• Phillip Coulson. As noted on the WMG for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Coulson appears to have low-level psychic powers that could be explained by being a magical boy. He was able to come back from Loki's attack because his Soul Gem was unharmed, and even though he "died" his body just had to be repaired. The thing that Hill says he can never know as of the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot is the mechanism for his survival - Fury (who is also of Kyubey's race - who said the cat-bunny thing is the only form they can take?) knows he will have a freakout if he realizes his soul is outside his body (like Sayaka did). His wish was probably that they could find out what happened to his childhood hero ...
• Howard Stark (original idea from Iron Man WMG Page): While Steve's plane was going down, Howard desperately wished to save his life. The Incubators being what they are, this led to Steve surviving ... but frozen under the ocean and lost to his friends forever. It was a downward spiral from there and that's why Tony always knew him as a cold man.
• Tony Stark: He wished for supernatural intelligence in the hopes he could impress his dad instead of just wishing for a better relationship with him (similar to the mistakes the girls make throughout PMMM).
  • Or maybe he contracted with Kyubey so that he can escape from his terrorist captors. His arc reactor is actually his soul gem.
• Loki may not have contracted, but he has seen the Incubator homeworld. He tells Thor he saw many worlds — which implies he didn't end up with the Chiaturi right away. A big part of why he went completely nuts between Thor and Avengers was seeing the Incubator homeworld where anyone with emotions is imprisoned as a lunatic and they sacrifice other races willy-nilly for a threat billions of years away.

There will be something happened to Sam Wilson, which will make him able to understand bird languange.

It could be mishappen thing with Stephen Strange or Soul/ Mind Stone.

• Jossed for the Stones.

Phase Four

Now that Phase Three has been announced, a lot of people are wondering where it'll go from there. I've even seen people suggest that it *can't* go anywhere else, because everything has been leading up to Thanos so far. That's silly, of course. Here's one possibility of what their next step will be that doesn't even need seeds in Phase Three, and also (for good measure) features a number of female and non-white leads, includes the presence of most of the franchises, and expands on the timeline of the Marvel Universe.

• Note: Phase 4 was ultimately delayed by the Covid Pandemic, pushing everything back. The Phase finally began in 2021.

2019:
Bloodstone-
Elsa Bloodstone is one of a family of immortal monster hunters, who has tracked the wizard Modred to a small seaside mining town and, with the help of Sheriff Carter Slade and Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Druid, has to stop him from finding a book called the Darkhold and using it to summon the elder god Chthon.
(Post-credits)
Elsa visits Carson's Carnival of Travelling Wonders, which holds such oddities as N'Kantu the Mummy, the Ebony Blade, and the skull of Goom. But Elsa was brought there to examine Carson's newest acquisition: the "Grottu Crown", which looks suspiciously like Ant-Man's helmet.

• Interesting choice to continue the growth of the magic end, especially since what you describe seems lower budget than normal for them. Also interesting? If you're going with Nextwave personality, I'd think the short list is super short: Katie Jarvis, Kaya Scodelario or a strapping unknown.

• Jossed

Black Panther 2-
A gang of grave robbers awaken N'Kantu the Living Mummy, the illegitimate son of Black Panther's ancestor, T'Chombi. As Black Panther tries to protect Wakanda from his wrath, we learn about N'Kantu's history of being sold into the slavery of pharaoh Rama-Tut.
(Post-credits)
We see that Rama-Tut has technology far beyond what he should.

• Okay.

• Mixed. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is scheduled for Phase 4 (November 2022). However, the movie's focus is on Namor. Additionally, the story had to be rewritten, due to Chadwick Boseman's unfortunate passing.

2020:
Guardians of the Galaxy 3000-
The Guardians complete a heist, but the item they steal, the Forever Crystal, sends them to the year 3000 where they meet the future Guardians: Vance Astro (wielding Cap's shield), Charlie-27, Martinex, Nikki, and Yellowjacket. Together they try to prevent Kang the Conquerer from taking over the Alpha Centauri system.
(Post-credits)
Kang retrieves the Forever Crystal and uses it to power his time ship, and he ends up in Ancient Egypt.

• Yeah, this is basically where I expect them to go.
• GOTG 3 is confirmed for Phase 5, instead of Phase 4 (May 2023).

Black Widow and Hawkeye-
Black Widow, Hawkeye, and other SHIELD agents investigate a dangerous cult called the Church of Immortus, who will do anything to stop the progress of technology and space travel.
(Post-credits)
Something the Church of Immortus does makes an armored figure called the Scarlet Centurion aware of Earth, and he decides to take it over.

• Phase 4 Spy Movie. Cool.
  • This general concept is confirmed givenBlack Widow (2021) and the start of Phase 4.

• Mixed. Both heroes got their own separate stories with Black Widow (2021) and Hawkeye (2021). And while the two projects are connected with Yelena's Story Arc, the theorized plot did not match either of the projects.

Captain America: Red, White, and Black -
In the 1940s, the government performs tests a prototype recreation of the super soldier serum on black soldiers. Only one survives: Isaiah Bradley, who then finds himself fighting the Serpent Society and their leader, Viper, aka Madame Hydra.
(Post-credits)
We find out this is a story being told by present-day Isaiah Bradley to Bucky, who's still trying to learn about himself. We also learn that he's an underground hero to the black community and see pictures of him with people like Black Panther, Nick Fury, and Falcon.

• Hmm. This is getting into "dark for them" territory.
  • It seems that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will be incorporating the events of Captain America: Red, White and Black into its overall narrative as some sort of flashback, with present-day Isaiah Bradley himself potentially making an appearance and speaking to Sam Wilson rather than Bucky (who could still be present for the conversation).

• Isaiah Bradley did have small supporting role in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. However Bradley's tragic backstory is only referred to and is never actually seen.

2021:
Captain Marvel 2 -
When the Scarlet Centurion tries to invade earth, it's up to the Air Force (Captain Marvel, Falcon, and War Machine) to stop him.
(Post-credits)
The Nova Corps comes to collect Scarlet Centurion, and we learn his real name is Marcus Kang.

• The Marvels (Captain Marvel 2) is confirmed, but for Phase 5 (July 2023 release). And instead of Falcon and War Machine in supporting roles, Monica Rambeau and Kamala Kahn will be assisting Danvers.

Agents of ATLAS-
In the 1950s, A SHIELD agent, a gorilla, a robot, an alien, a god, and a jungle girl go undercover in the ATLAS Foundation to fight the evil Yellow Claw and prevent his sabotage of the space program.
(Post-credits)
We learn that the ATLAS Foundation is an arm of the Church of Immortus.

• A film version of the MCU 50s? That could be INTERESTING.

• Jossed

Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect - Bruce banner winds up in a future where a version of him called the Maestro rules, so he teams up with Elsa Bloodstone, Stature (Ant-Man's daughter) and She-Hulk to take him down.
(Post-credits)
She-Hulk is abducted by a mysterious stranger and meets her fellow abductees: Isaiah Bradley, Black Panther, Elsa Bloodstone, Captain Marvel, Yellowjacket, and The Uranian.

• Interesting idea, but for that last one to be around, you kind of have to have Jen around in a prior movie or earlier in the same movie to get hurt.
  • Problem is that the rights to Hulk appeared to be tied up with Universal - while them adapting Hulk storylines is still possible (as evident by Thor Ragnarok using elements of Planet Hulk), it has to have Hulk as a supporting cast member.
  • There is a She-Hulk Disney+ series coming. But, there is no new Hulk movie for Phase 4.

2022:
Avengers Forever-
Kang, Scarlet Centurion, and Rama-Tut team-up to break the time stream and rebuild it with them in charge. The mysterious stranger, who's revealed to be Immortus, tasks his makeshift Avengers with saving reality from his younger selves. This movie will feature action in a lot of different time periods, and Yellowjacket will lose her helmet in the old west, bringing everything full circle.

...the only hitch in this plan I can see is if Rama-Tut, and the rest by extension, are wrapped up in the Fantastic Four rights. I assume he'd be shared, though, or Rama-Tut belongs to FF but the rest belong to the Avengers.

• Decent conclusion. Overall thoughts: I mostly like it, but I'm not sure I buy that neither Doctor Strange OR Ant-Man will be getting a sequel.
  • Rights to Rama-Tut are now a non-issue, as Fox is now owned by Disney.

• In 2022, Avengers: Kang Dynasty was confirmed for a May 2025 release. However, the movie will be in Phase 6, instead of Phase 4

• Mostly Jossed. Phase 4 films are:
  2021: Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, The Eternals, and Spider-Man: No Way Home
  2022:' Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Thanos is losing the Infinity Stones on purpose.

If we assume that Thanos is attempting to court Death in these movies as in the comics, perhaps he's letting the heroes gather the stones in the hopes that they will all be placed in highly guarded, highly populated locations. We already know this to be the case with the Tesseract and the Orb, being on Asgard and Xandar. Once all of them are secure, Thanos will launch a war on each of these places, singlehandedly storming in and killing as many people as he can to get the stones. Maybe to prove his worthiness to Death, demonstrating how many people he can kill even without the Infinity Stones?

• Jossed. His motive is about overpopulation.

One of the future stingers will be Peter Quill and Tony Stark having a dance-off.

Because it needs to happen.

• Considering Tony's annoyance with Spiderman's constant pop-culture references, the odds are...unlikely to say the least. Peter Parker dancing off with Quill is more likely.
• Jossed.

Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch will appear in the Inhumans film.

Assuming the rumors of them being Inhumans descendants are true.

• It would likely mean that they aren't with the Avengers fighting Thanos at the time.
• Crystal of the Inhumans will probably appear in the movie. She and Quicksilver were married for a time in the comics, and even had a daughter together. Even if he and Wanda aren't Inhumans here, they'll likely end up meeting at some point.
• Jossed - Inhumans got removed from the lineup and turned into a TV series.

Thanos is playing a Batman Gambit on the universe

He didn't actually look worried when Ronan takes an Infinity Gem and says he'd use it against Thanos, also I always wondered why would he want to conquer Earth (giving Loki one, or possibly two, Gems to do it), or if he expected no one would find out the Orb was a Gem. The answer, to both of them, is that he didn't: he knows the Gems are powerful and dangerous, and that the galaxy is full of people who'd want them for themselves, so instead of keeping them for himself he's leaving them to others to keep until he's ready, then he will come and take all of them at once. Also, by doing that, he gets to have others experiment with their powers, acquiring all the information we can without taking any actual risk, and he also has all his opponent fight on them and all the traitors in his ranks coming out now instead of doing it when it's not as convenient for him, getting to both wear his opponents out and clean his own ranks. If you think about it, he's lost virtually nothing yet (the Chitauri were machines and not an actual army, and Ronan, Gamora and Nebula all wanted to betray him, the exception was the Great Other, and even him wasn't killed in a fight for the Orb, but just because he provoked Ronan a bit too much, but Ronan's dead, both the Collector and the Nova Corps, owners of a Gem each, suffered great losses, the Earth isn't at his best and the Loki's mind-controlling scepter, whether it holds a Gem or not, is still wreaking havock, and speaking about Loki he owes quite a lot to Thanos, and he's the one who owns the Aether. When the time will come, getting all the six of them will hardly be a fight at all if the teaser can be trusted, he'll actually get the Infinity Gauntlet.

Films in future phases?

• Phase 4
  • Captain America 4 (With Bucky as Captain America)
    • Fair, but I think Sam as Cap is more likely.
    • Confirmed, with Sam Wilson taking on the role of Captain America.
    • Captain America: New World Order was confirmed for Phase 5, instead of Phase 4.
  • Thor/Guardians of the Galaxy Crossover (With Beta Ray Bill)
    • Seemingly confirmed, since Thor joins the Guardians at the end of Endgame.
    • Not a major crossover, but the Guardians appeared in Thor: Love and Thunder (but with no Beta Ray Bill).
  • Iron Man 4 (With Pepper as Rescue)
    • Pepper has pretty much been confirmed to become Rescue in Avengers 4, so it's not out of the question.
    • Jossed. Phase 5 will instead have an Ironheart Disney+ series and possibly the Armor Wars Disney+ Series..
  • Punisher
    • Appearing in season two of Daredevil (2015), so probably not. But who knows...
    • He's got his own Netflix series, so jossed.
  • Thunderbolts
  • Confirmed for Phase 5!
  • She-Hulk
    • There's nothing against her appearing, but Universal appears to have all the rights related to the Hulk at the moment (Marvel can still use the Hulk, but the profits to any Hulk solo movies go to Universal), so at best, she'll appear as a supporting character in another movie.
    • Semi-Confirmed. She-Hulk will be getting a solo series on Disney+.
  • Doctor Strange 2
    • Confirmed
  • Inhumans 2
    • Inhumans was turned into a TV series which bombed, so preemptively jossed.
  • Avengers: Secret Invasion (with the Chitauri taking the place of the Skrulls)
    • Marvel can use the Skrulls (but not Super Skrull), and even if that was the case, them not using the Chitauri for Guardians of the Galaxy suggests that they're done with that group of aliens for now (never mind the fact that the Chitauri can't shape-shift, which was the entire purpose of Secret Invasion).
    • Again, Semi-Confirmed. Secret Invasion will be a Disney+ series.
• Phase 5
  • Nick Fury Solo Film (Based on his backstory from Original Sin)
    • Mixed. Samuel L Jackson is set to helm the limited series, Secret Invasion for Phase 5.
• Ugh. I mostly liked the first guess at phase four, but this? Bucky Cap as Main character: No. He's a generic angsty side-guy and not much else. I'd expect Sam getting that promotion in the movies and Bucky present in the franchise but not really the main. Thor and Guardians crossover with Beta Ray Bill: Um...okay? Iron Man 4 with Pepper as Rescue: Um...I do guess they need to close off the Mandarin plot left hanging by All Hail the King and this is a slightly smarter way to do it than a Rhodey movie. Punisher: Ha! Like they'd ever agree to the pretty much necessary R-rating for a film version. Thunderbolts: Wasting a slot on what amounts to a supervillain movie? Why exactly? She-Hulk: They haven't even gotten original flavour Hulk to make a successful solo movie yet. Try again. Doctor Strange 2: This IS one of the first list's blind spots that I identified, but that also kind of relies on the movie succeeding. Inhumans 2: Mmm, not sure they'll get another one scheduled quite that fast. Avengers: Secret Invasion: We haven't really seen the Chitauri shapeshift, though, and that's the entire idea of Secret Invasion. Nick Fury solo film based on Original Sin: The entire reason the comics did that was to write out "White Nick Fury", but I guess the movies kind of have to write out Samuel L. Jackson Nick Fury because he'd be getting UP THERE at that point, especially for an action franchise.

Possible Spin-off TV Shows

• Young Avengers, Sometime after Phase Three, most likely including Wiccan/Asgardian and Speed (because of their relation to Scarlett Witch), Kid Loki, if Loki dies and is resurrected in either Infinity Wars or a later Thor movie, Hulking (due to his Skrull and Kree Heritage) and Stature (if Ant-Man has a daughter).
• Thor: Tales of Asgard, a TV series that takes place before Thor 1, showing the world of Yggdrasil, giving references to old Thor comics and expanding on the history of Asgard.
• Avengers Academy: After seeing new heroes come about, the Avengers agree to make a school for them founded by the new SHIELD.
• New Warriors: Similar to Avengers Academy, except the heroes don't have a school or mentors to teach them how to be good heroes and have to figure it out on their own.
• Cloak and Dagger, Blade, The Punisher: All possible shows for Netflix due to their street-level protagonists and tendency towards more mature subjects.
  • Cloak and Dagger is confirmed for Freeform, formerly known as ABC Family.
• Tomb of Dracula, Legion of Monsters, Man-Thing, and Ghost Rider will be used to build up to a Midnight Sons crossover featuring Blade, Morbius, Jennifer Kale and Robbie.
• The Angel: A Period Piece set sometime after Agent Carter, which shows Thomas Halloway's efforts to be a vigilante superhero in Los Angeles. The dangling plot threads from Agent Carter will be resolved through having Halloway become involved in the cases himself.

Possible One-Shots

• Hawkeye's Story: They have a short on how Hawkeye grew up in a circus and eventually becoming part of SHIELD.
• An Absent Hulk: As a joke, they show what Bruce was up to during all the Movies in Phase 2.
• Loki's Off Day: They stated they would do a Loki One-Shot, but the budget would be too little if they shot it in Asgard. Most likely a short story featuring Loki alongside other Asgardian characters, such as Amora, Skurge, Lorelei or Sigyn, going on a quest or messing around in another world. Though they could go for a darker version, showing how he started becoming evil or some of the things he experienced in the Void.
• A Beautiful Parasite: From the villain's perspective on how HYDRA operated within SHIELD. Perhaps ending with Howard and Maria's "accidental" deaths and showing that they were killed by the Winter Soldier.
• A Normal Day: Just a short view into the Avenger's lives together without any action, just featuring a lot of humor and interaction between the Avengers, possibly some insight into their respective love-interests lives as well.
• Budapest: Hawkeye and Black Widow finally tell the Avengers what happened in Budapest... Only to be interrupted by a mission.
• Jennifer Walters: Bruce's cousin decides to assist the Avengers in a Court Case.
• Bob, Agent of HYDRA: A Perspective Flip starring everyone's favorite Mook during the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
• Thanos Quest: An adaptation of the mini-series of the same name, this one-shot will show Thanos collecting the Infinity Gems and serve as a prequel to Avengers: Infinity War.
• Jossed. One Shots have all been scrapped.

Phase 4 will adapt The Dark Reign

Now that Marvel has access to Spider-Man and his characters, this is certainly a possibility.

• Jossed...at least for Phase 4.

The Mandarin is hiding because he's bidding his time until S.H.I.E.L.D. and/or the heroes defeat HYDRA.

Giving him the opportunity to strike. Plus, he's a potential target of HYDRA. He might be part of Phase 3.

• Jossed. While Wenwu/Mandarin operated in secret, his priorities were instead on invading Ta Lo and seemingly rescue his wife. Except it isn't her...

The Phase 3 Spider-Man film will adapt Kraven's Last Hunt.

• Jossed. Kraven is nowhere to be seen in Homecoming.
• Kraven was in the initial plan for No Way Home, before the film was retooled as a Spider-Man Multiverse Crossover.

Annihilation will be adapted pragmatically into the major crossover of either Phase 4 or Phase 5

Since Marvel now owns the rights to Annihilus, it's now within their legal rights to adapt the series, and as Civil War didn't feature the Guardians of the Galaxy, they could easily use some of the Earth based characters to fill the roles in the comics (which they'll need to do, seeing as how Ronan died in the first Guardians movie). Seeing as how Thanos is probably going to be dealt with for good in Avengers 4, they'll need a new Big Bad of the MCU, and quite frankly, seeing as how Phase 4 will almost certainly feature the Fantastic Four, I see no reason not to at least build towards it.

Mephisto was behind the events of the MCU.

Where do we begin? Oh, I don't know, how about when Howard Stark got the idea to create a gas that would keep soldiers on the battlefield more alert? After Mephisto convinced Howard to create the midnight oil, he then went to General John McGinnis to convince him to perform an unauthorized test of the midnight oil on Soviet soldiers in Finow, and it all went downhill from there. He's also been in touch with Dottie Underwood, Dr. Armin Zola, Christian Ward, Alexander Pierce, John Garrett, and God knows who else in his quest to cause chaos and trouble for the SSR and, later, SHIELD.

• Just For the Evulz, he influenced the commander of the Hutu militia into killing a very respected local elder and his family during the 1994 Rwanda genocides.

If Dell Rusk appear, he will be different and separated character from Red Skull.

Since it's unlikely Hugo Weaving would want to return for MCU and we still don't know if Marvel would re-cast different actor for Red Skull, since Hugo Weaving's performance in The First Avenger is already so good and in fact one of the best things in that film.

If Dell Rusk would appear in MCU, he may still have some similar traits with Red Skull, but will not be explicitly stated as Red Skull's disguised persona.

• Plus, we don't even know if the Red Skull survived.
  • Red Skull did survive, but he was sent to Vormir by the Tessaract.

Spider-Man's origin will be connected to Hank Pym in the MCU

Specifically, the famous spider-bite will be depicted in the Stinger to Ant-Man (so as to not waste audiences' time with retelling the origin in Civil War or the next Spider-Man film, as both Sony and Marvel have indicated), where it will occur on Midtown High's field trip to Pym Technologies.

• Jossed. Pym Technologies is in San Francisco, Spider-Man makes no appearance in Ant-Man (with the exception of a brief, offhand mention of "a guy who can can jump, a guy who can swing, a guy who can crawl up walls" toward the end of the film), and at the end of the film, Pym Technologies was destroyed.

The Red Skull is still alive

Specifically, he was the one telling Thanos about humans. The Other admits that they misunderstood humans by believing them coward ready to kneel before brute force, and in Captain America: The Winter Soldier Zola described the flaw in Schmidt philosophy to be exactly that.

• Confirmed in Infinity War.

Thanos IS the Red Skull

Red Skull spent years talking about "harnessing the power of gods". We know he got teleported out into deep space via the Tesseract. We also know that the experiments on Steve and Bucky allowed them to survive cryogenics for nearly a century without dying, and that Steve has a powerful enough healing factor to prevent from getting drunk. It's entirely possible that the Red Skull is still alive - kept young by his augmentations - and still questing for the same power he found from the Tesseract, now became mutated after wielding the Infinity Stone on the Gauntlet. From a writer's standpoint, why else teleport him into deep space nearly a century prior to current events, rather than just kill him?

• Jossed. Thanos meets the Red Skull in Infinity War.

Tony will use a remote-controlled armor again

To take Thor's hammer by zig-zagging the whole worthiness issue.

• Jossed.

Otto Octavius works for Stark Industries

It just fits.

HYDRA will never be destroyed

Because just like they say: "Cut off one head, two more shall take its place."

• Or in a Fridge Brilliance way it means cut off HYDRA and two more organizations takes its place as top villian
• SHIELD and the ATCU seem to have destroyed most of HYDRA's bases in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode "Singularity".

The Inhumans movie will contain, at the very least, references to the characters, settings, and/or events of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..

After all, the series is responsible for bringing the race into the MCU as well as introducing a fair number of original Inhumans and an Inhuman location. Not to mention the fact that Season 2 ended with Jiaying's Terrigen Crystals dissolving in the sea and tainting the fish, which will likely have far-reaching consequences.

• Related guess: If Jiaying's actions are referenced, it'll contain a Mythology Gag reference to the Terrigen Bomb from the War of Kings series. Most likely some Attilanian speaking of the "explosion" of Earth's Inhuman population like "some sort of Terrigen Bomb."
• The series also mentions the "elders", which refers to the Genetics Council from the comics who are also known as the Council of Elders. They may have regular contact with the Inhuman royal family.

Squirrel Girl's MCU origin.

Before completing the finished product for his ant-transmitter, Hank Pym created a prototype, that, unbeknownst to him, somehow got out. The thing floated around for forty-odd years, until ending up on a table at a swap meet, where it was found by a young tech geek named Doreen Green, who, after some research, figured out what it was, and managed to get it working. However, not liking bugs, Doreen altered the transmitter to summon something a little more cuddly.

• The prototype could also be another product of SHIELD trying to reverse-engineer Hank's tech.
  • That would only explain controlling squirrels, though. It certainly doesn't explain the tail. They're probably going to identify her as either a Miracle or an Inhuman.

Talbot will be in the Hulk sequel.

It'll be revealed that he used to serve under General Ross. And before he got married, Talbot was going out with Betty who had a crush on Bruce.

In the MCU, the Kree are in a Forever War with the Chitauri.

Howard the Duck will get his own movie in Phase 4.

It'll begin with him escaping Knowhere in a spaceship, and by a wormhole finds himself on Earth. He'll crash-landed in Cleveland where he meets fashion model Beverly Switzler who'll be his Secret-Keeper. Thog the Overmaster will be the Big Bad. Thus, adapting from Howard's early comic appearances.
Duckworld will actually be a planet that exist in the MCU, instead of an alternate Earth inhabited by ducks.
There'll be a scene where a kid spot Howard and say "Mommy, look! It's Donald Duck!"
Beverly will wear this◊ costume at some point, minus the mask, when she wants to help Howard.
In a Take That! to the cheesy 80s movie, the Dark Overlords will appear as Thog's minions whom Howard easily defeats and lampshades it.

• Otherwise excellent, but keep the mask.

• Alternatively, Howard will continue to make appearances throughout the franchise; first, when someone locates all the Infinity Gems, they will see him through an orangey Aethery haze ("Can I help you?"). If it continues to get laughs, he may even accompany one hero or other as a kind of Deuteragonist or comic relief during Infinity War. And the last Stinger will be him becoming stranded on planet Earth, to his chagrin.
  • He almost appeared in Infinity War in a small scene, and has been confirmed as a survivor of Thanos's fingersnap.

The TV shows will be released in packaged box sets named after Marvel's old anthology series

• The spy-based ones (Agents of SHIELD and Agent Carter) will be "Strange Tales" (where Nick Fury got his fame)
• The Defenders series will be "Amazing Fantasy" (a stretch, but they're closest to Spider-Man)
• And presumably similar trends on any other lines that spin off from the main series (cosmic and horror are most talked about)

Venom's MCU Origin

Eddie Brock was a resident of Hell's Kitchen, whose wife was brutally murdered by serial killer Cletus Kasady, right before the police caught up with him. Years later, the events of Daredevil season 2 take place, and, whatever ends up happening to the Punisher, there will be some people in Hell's Kitchen who agree with Frank Castle, particularly Eddie, who buys a gun and becomes a copycat, calling himself "The Lethal Protector". One night, he's about to kill a mugger, when Spiderman intervenes, leaving both of them for the police. Then, while in prison, a secret government organization contacts him, offering to get his sentence commuted, if he submits to some experiments, which turn out to be an attempt to create a super-agent, using a genetically engineered symbiote. Eddie accepts, but little does he know they've also made the same offer to Kasady...

• Venom is off the table - Feige has said they aren't adapting villains who were used in the previous Spiderman movies, and he's got his own movie over at Sony; so jossed.

Each MCU film that doesn't get a sequel will get a spin-off series

Ant-Man hasn't got a sequel in planning (though he's going to be involved in later ones) but it did indicate a much longer history of superheroes just in time for Agent Carter. I've also heard of Sean Gunn mentioning that GotG was meant to open up the MC Cosmic U. Keeping this pattern up, every new "standalone" film will introduce another corner of the universe, with its own spin-off shows. To wit:

• Ant-Man introduces historical MCU: Maybe more "past" shows after Agent Carter.
  • Jossed. It got a sequel.
• Doctor Strange introduces horror/supernatural MCU
  • Jossed. It will get a sequel.
• Inhumans introduces the younger generation of heroes.
  • Inhumans ended up as a series itself, which bombed.

If and when Wolverine is brought into the MCU, it'll be hinted, then revealed, that he is Wanda and Pietro's father.

Perhaps, if they do a Wolverine Netflix series, they can have a scene in one episode where, at some point in the mid-90s, James Howlett happened to be passing through Sokovia, when he met a woman named Magda, which, Logan being Logan, ends up with them sleeping together. Later on, Wanda becomes like Wolverine's sidekick, and then he discovers her and Pietro were born to Magda nine months after their little tryst.

Wanda Maximoff is Force sensitive.

Her powers that we've seen so far seem very consistent with someone with Force powers cranked up to eleven. Perhaps the experiments done on her amplified her sensitivity to The Force?

The Maggia will appear in the MCU.

They may get some mentions in one movie to later appear as a villainous faction in another movie. Either in the new Spider-man movie with Hammerhead or Silver Mane as the leader, or they will be lead by Count Nefaria and clash against the Avengers in the beginning of Infinite War Part 1 before the real villains appears.But I'm not sure if Marvel has the rights for Count Nefaria or if Fox has it since he first appeared as an X-Men villain.

The Time and Soul Stones

So far, all four of the infinity stones have been revealed in separate franchises (Revealed meaning physical appearance, not revelation that they are infinity stones) The Tesseract in Captain America, The Scepter in The Avengers, The Aether in Thor, and The Orb in Guardians Of The Galaxy. If this WMG holds up, the final two infinty stones will be found in two of the following movies:

• Doctor Strange- Given the soul stone's connection to magic, this is the likely place it will be revealed. However, considering this troper's lack of knowledge on Doctor Strange, I have no clue in what form it could appear.
  • OK, it seems like the time stone will be the one appearing in Dr. Strange, if this interview with Kevin Feige is anything to go by.
  • Confirmed. The Time Stone appears in Doctor Strange.
• Spider Man- Possible. If the T.H.A.N.O.S theory holds up (The theory being that the first letter of each stone's name is spelling THANOS, Tesseract, ?, Aether, ?, Orb, Scepter), possible locations for one of the stones is:
  • Harry or Norman Osborn
  • If the T.H.A.N.O.S theory is proven wrong, it could very well be a symbiote
• Black Panther- Again, this troper knows little about T'Challa, so I have no clue what it could appear as.
  • If the film has the Soul Stone, some sort of Necropolis artifact.
• Captain Marvel- Again, troper who knows little about the titular hero.
  • Captain Marvel is being released after Infinity War (meaning that the Soul Stone has already been claimed), but since CM takes place before Infinity War, it's possible we might see someone else use the Soul Stone.
    • CM had the Space Stone.
• I doubt a stone will make it's first Inhumans as it will be released AFTER Infinity War, but screw it.
  • Terrigen, possibly.

As a footnote, anyone wanting to add to this, don't feel limited by the T.H.A.N.O.S theory.

• Soul Stone ended up appearing in Infinity War, jossing the T.H.A.N.O.S theory.
  • ...Unless you count it as being "H", for "Hydra" (as it's guarded by the Red Skull).

A former Superman actor will make a cameo in a movie.

See here: http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/kentclrk.htm

Phase 4 will have Zemo summoning the Avengers' biggest enemies.

In the comics, Zemo created a team of the Avengers' worst villains, called the Masters of Evil. As he wants vengeance now, he could use his information to gather a team of villains from previous Avengers movies (Batroc, Abomination, Klaw, and whatever villains are present throughout the phase) to kill them. The stinger for each movie could feature him recruiting another villain until the fifth Avengers movie. It will be similar to how Nick Fury was gathering the Avengers in Phase One. It could even adapt the Acts of Vengeance storyarc.

Kilgrave is the reincarnation of Malekith.

Because Actor Allusion.

HYDRA is responsible for the First World War and its ramifications.

Since Agents of SHIELD showed that HYDRA has been around for millennium, and are European nobleman, they would have had influence to set up all the nations in alliances and put them into a powder keg. They then orchestrate the assignation of Arch Duke Ferdinand, and throw the world into war.

After the war, they help pin the blame on Germany, knowing someone would rise from the ashes. When Hitler does, they add people to his inner circle, and guide him to help form HYDRA, a legitimate branch of the Nazi Government, that they can use to fund Research and Development.

Now, what I don't know is how the Red Skull fits in. Was he their leader? I doubt he believed in the Inhuman. Or if he did, he saw himself as equal, if not greater.

At least one actor from the first X-Men will play a character in the MCU.

Such as...

• Famke Jensen
• James Marsden
• Ana Paquin
• Bruce Davison
• Rebecca Romijn

Other actors who could appear in the MCU

Because at the rate they're going, let's face it, they'll eventually hit all of them.

• Bruce Campbell, preferably in some form of Spider-Man related media, though given James Gunn's apparent love for the 80s, maybe in Guardians instead
  • Confirmed, he appears in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness thanks to his connections with its director Sam Raimi.
• Robert Englund, possibly as Daredevil villain Mr. Fear
• David Duchovny, because he was already an early pick for Hulk; seems more likely he'll become a SHIELD agent or something.

When HYDRA resurface, they will appear as innocent-looking group or organization with five-or-more-worded name that form an acronym.

We all know that as of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., they are pretty much gone. But just like they said, "cut off one head two more shall take its place". So, who knows when or how they resurface? Somebody else may be able to take its place from power vacuum as seemingly-different organization:

For example (feel free to add your own pet theory):

• Hardware Yacht Development and Reconstruction Association
• Hope Yards Development and Relocation Association
• Hinkley & Yates Dentistry Regulations Analyzers
• Harlem Yeasts, Dill, Radishes and Apples

Mephisto ran HYDRA the whole time.

It would make a great Twilight Zone Twist for the MCU. And it also fits with his role in the events of the MCU as aforementioned.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe will end with an adaptation of Marvels

After years and many movies filled with powers, super-powered brawls, and city-wide destruction, we end everything with a look at how the everyman saw these events.

• Jossed. See The Marvels (2023). It certainly didn't end the MCU.

Soul Stone Ideas

• It's with Adam Warlock- He's heavily implied to be already active in-universe and if the Collector found the Stone than Adam could have taken it from him.
• It's with Hela- Depending on how faithful her appearance is to the comics than she may have become a death goddess because of it's influence.
• It's with the Collector- He definitely wants to find all of the Stones and could have found between his two appearances.
• It's with the Grandmaster- It's power is how he can force others to play his games.
• Loki will find it- He's searching for it at the behest of Thanos and will find it because he's disguised as Odin but will hide that he has it from Thanos for unknown reasons.
• Odin is searching for it- Odin disappeared because he went to find the Soul Stone and left Loki to disguise himself as him.
• It's with Heimdall- It could be what gives Heimdall his powers, which are passed off as inherent abilities to keep others from discovering the Stone.
• It's in Wakanda- The Stone is what created vibranium and it's presence could have granted Wakandans knowledge of science and mysticism, which shaped its culture.
• It's at Oscorp- Norman Osborn found it and started using it for experiments, with the power of the Stone being mistaken for unique radiation that made the experiments possible. One result was transcribing different animal traits into non-native species, which resulted in the spider that gave Peter Parker it's powers. The Stone could have even prompted the spider to bite Peter because it sensed his inherent nobility. Oscorp may even use to accidentally create the Venom symbiote.
• It's at Attilan- The presence of the Stone is what allowed the Kree experiments to work and the Inhumans realized this after driving off the Kree. They keep it safe as matter of cultural importance without realizing it's true power.
• It's at Atlantis- Atlanteans do have ties to the Eternals, if roundabout ones, and magic is known to them. Namor could appear as a stalwart guardian of the Stone in the ruins of Atlantis.
• The Agents of Shield will find it- They will stumble across while trying to find a way to destroy the Darkhold and keep it under lock and key, which could bring them into Avengers: Infinity War.
• The Hand have it- They learned how to resurrect the dead by studying it and a key plot point of The Defenders will be the team taking it so the ninja clan is less of a threat.
• The Chaste have it- They stole it from the Hand and are soundly of the mind that No Man Should Have This Power but have it stolen by a third party in the series.
• The Kree have it- They tried using it in their early Terrigenesis experiments but failed and used what they learned to refine the process.
• Mar-Vell has it- The Kree had the Stone but Mar-Vell grew tired of their evil actions and decided to send the Stone to Earth because of their success against the Chitauri and because of how often they've dealt with the Stones. Carol Danvers will gain her powers because it being in Mar-Vell's possession.
• The Nova Corps have it- They know Thanos is searching for the stone and tracked it down to keep it out of his hands. They may be studying it to figure out how to channel the Nova Force through individuals instead of through ships.
• Mordo has it- He discovered where it was and took for his own plans, which is what allows him pull off his Mana Drain trick.
• It's in the Quantum Realm- Janet Van Dyne found it and it showed her how important it was.
• Scarlet Witch will find it- Her powers will allow her to track it down and she will use it resurrect her brother.
• Iron Man will find it- Tony will find out about it and track it down in order to heal Rhodey. The Stone will de-age Tony, allowing Marvel Studios to recast with a different actor.
• Captain America will find it- Steve will get his hands on it and be tempted by it's power but ultimately overcomes it, becoming worthy of lifting Mjolnir.
• Thor will find it- Having found the Stone he will return to Earth to warn his friends of Thanos' arrival.
• Banner will find it- If he and Thor are searching for it and actually do find it then Banner will try to use the Stone to free himself of the Hulk.
• Widow will find it- She's called on to make use of her espionage skills to retrieve the Stone and getting her hands on it will show her how much good she has done and allow her to come to terms with her past.
• Hawkeye will find it- Clint will be called on to use his skills to find the Stone and getting will have no effect on him because he is completely content in his life, solidifying himself as The Heart of the team.
• Bucky will find it- Similar to Natasha, Bucky's skills will be called on to find the Stone and getting it will completely free his mind of the HYDRA conditioning he was subjected to.
• Falcon will find it- He will have to pull off a mid-air grab to keep the Stone out of enemy hands and will gain his avian empathy as a result.
• Ant-Man will find it- He will be tasked with traversing an unknown realm in order to find the Stone.
• Doctor Strange will find it- As part of his role as a sorcerer he is actively searching for the Stone and upon finding it will gain the knowledge to create a more traditional Eye of Agamotto.
• Man-Thing is guarding it- The Stone fell into the Nexus of All Realities and influenced the swamp where Man-Thing was created. Due to it's powers Man-Thing was able to comprehend the true nature of the Stone and took up protecting it.
• Ghost Rider is searching for it- The Stone is the only thing that can end Mephisto.
  • All of the above have been thoroughly jossed in Avengers: Infinity War.

Inhumans that could appear

This includes characters that weren't Inhuman in the comics but were made so here.

• Ms. Marvel
• Inferno
• Flint
  • Confirmed. He's introduced in the fifth season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Naja
• Iso
• Grid
• Haechi
• Swain
• Iron Cross
• Synapse
• Mosaic
• Auran
• Hazmat
• Reptil
• Toro
• Moon Girl
• Kid Kaiju
• Bombshell

How Namor could appear

• Through Captain America- Cap saved him from HYDRA back in World War 2, which formed a friendship between the two. Cap will find out that he's still alive and get his help for the fugitive Avengers.
  • Jossed.
• Through Iron Man- Tony will be investigating that signal in the ocean from way back in Iron Man 2 and find Namor. Things will turn bad when Namor finds out about Tony's actions towards Steve.
• Jossed with Tony's death in Endgame.
• Through Doctor Strange- Strange will be looking into mystic forces and encounter Namor.
• Through the Hulk- During Thor: Ragnarok Hulk gets thrown into a portal and is absent for the rest of the film. The post-credit scene will be Namor finding Hulk.
  • Jossed as no such thing happened in Ragnarok.
• Through Black Panther- T'Challa will be investigating about mysterious sightings and discover Namor.
  • Jossed for his first movie. Still possible for his second one.
• Through Thor- Thor will remember the ancient Atlanteans and be shocked to find Namor.
• Through Nick Fury- Nick will be actively searching for Namor to recruit him against Thanos.
• Through the Inhumans- Namor will be an Inhuman that ruled an advanced Inhuman city that was Atlantis before sunk into the ocean.
  • Likely jossed, since the TV series bombed.
• Through Oscorp- Namor will be a prisoner of Oscorp, which is holding him hostage for experiments.
• Through the Soul Stone- Namor will be a guardian of the stone.
  • That one's jossed.

The monster based Howling Commandos will appear

And consist of Blade, Ghost Rider, Man-Thing, Warwolf, N'Kantu, Frankenstein's Monster, Elsa Bloodstone, Daimon Hellstrom, Stawn Man, Namor, and Glyph.

The Illuminati will appear

The members could consist of:

• Iron Man
  • Jossed with his death in Endgame.
• Captain America
• Bruce Banner
• Thor
• Doctor Strange
• Black Panther
• Black Bolt
• Namor
• Coulson
• Star-Lord

Different World, Different Movies

It hasn't come up much, but it seems a safe bet that the MCU doesn't have quite the same pop culture as our own world. So what films, programs, or other media would exist in the MCU?

• Michael Caine starred in Swarili, a 1964 film about British-Wakandan war. Later in life he played Frenchie in Chris Nolan's Moon Knight Trilogy.
  • Jossed. Moon Knight is confirmed to be an actual character within the franchise.
• Joss Whedon's most memorable work was Bloodstone, a film about a young girl who fights the forces of evil. The character later appeared in a TV series in the 90s.
• Professor Gamble is a long-running British sci-fi series about an eccentric time traveling alien.
• The Stoker estate has complained of an unauthorized sequel to Dracula written by someone under the name of Harold H. Harold.
• Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey is best remembered for its character Aaron, a surly, misanthropic, and alcoholic android who shoots the crew of a starship into space.
• Devil Dinosaur is an incredibly cheesy B-movie from the drive-in era.
• George Lucas is known for a trilogy of films about "Dominic Fortune", a WWII-era pulp hero archaeology.

The Netflix shows take place after Spider-Man: Homecoming.

It's been noted that Avengers Tower is absent from the New York timeline in the Netflix MCU shows. In Spider-Man: Homecoming, we learn that Tony Stark sold the tower. Whoever bought it redesigned it so it's no longer as prominent. The Netflix shows all take place shortly after this happened.

If Marvel Studios does make a MCU X-Men film with the newly purchased rights, it will contain a small, playful jab at the Inhumans.

Possibly mentioned in passing in a conversation between a few X-Men and/or other Xavier's School students. Some "weird alien kinda mutants called Inhumans" that recently started to surface.

• Highly unlikely. Marvel had several TV series, many with great receptions and ratings, but the film still have to make a single reference to any of them. Not even Civil War, which talked about super humans in general, mentioned the inhuman population boom that took place after the second season of "Agents", even when it would have been very relevant to the plot at hand. So it's unlikely that the first TV series to break that veto would be the one that was a big flop.

Sometime in the future of the MCU, humans will be pulled through a White Monolith and end up on distant planet a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

They will eventually settle down on the planet when they realize they're stuck there, name it Coruscant, and begin developing the technology for interplanetary travel and exploring the galaxy around them.

Agents of The Hand will abduct President Ellis as a means to some end.

Just so someone can have the excuse to say, "The president has been kidnapped by ninjas. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue the president?"

At some point in the films, it will reveal Fury is actually Nick Fury Jr

Based on how they brought in a Samuel L. Jackson-looking Fury for the main comics, Nick Fury will at some point need help from a one eyed, cigar smoking old crank-his dad, Nick Fury Sr, who stays alive via the Infinity Formula, was formerly in charge of SHIELD before his son, and is played by Liam Neeson (even though Neeson is 4 years younger than Jackson, but we can ignore that using the Infinity Formula explanation). This should please fans of the comic who had a mixed reaction to Fury being replaced by his son: In doing so, it will mean Marvel will try to tie i with this by still featuring the original Fury, pleasing the fans who proffered him to his son.

Black Widow and Hawkeye are actually Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable

S.H.I.E.L.D. recruited them but because they were so famous they had to take on new identities so as not to draw attention to themselves. Ron took up archery and the whole ‘red in my ledger’ was just a way to get ‘Natasha’ some infamy since she didn’t really exist. They explain their connection to each other by saying he brought her in to the organization. Oh, and Mr. Barkin’s name wasn’t actually Mr. Barkin, it was Phil Coulson. He was planted in their high school to keep an eye on them and introduce them to S.H.I.E.L.D. when he thought they were ready. That’s why he’s their handler, he’s had the most experience with them.

The main character of the film is Black Widow.

No, seriously. It all adds up.

• Explain how.

Avengers 2 will be all about our heroes' trip to Shawarma's.

• It'll be a three and a half hour long film of the most awkward dinnertime small talk you've ever seen.
  • Unsurprisingly jossed. It's dealing with Ultron.

Harry Dean Stanton's character isn't a random security guard

• His one scene just seemed vaguely weird, probably due to being the only one he appears in. He might be some kind of supernatural something or other trying to guide Banner back onto the hero's path so he could help save the day.

The police chief who asks why he should take orders from Captain America is Gilmore Hodge's son.

• There's a fair chance that Hodge is actually from the New York area, if not the city itself. He and the police chief bear a passing resemblance, and the idea of Cap ordering around the descendant of someone who bullied him is too beautifully ironic to pass up. If Hodge fathered a child maybe twenty years after Cap went under, that'd work just fine.

Nick Fury will use a Laser Blade at one point

And it will be purple, mainly as a reference to Samuel L. Jackson's role as Mace Windu.

• Confirmed in Winter Soldier.

In a future MCU film, Thor and some companions will be attacked by a furious Triceratops.

And after he knocks it out with one well-practiced hammer blow, he'll look puzzled and remark that Coulson told him they didn't have bilgesnipes on Earth.

Wanda's telepathy was temporary weakened.

She doesn't use her telepathy at all in "Civil War," which could've gone worlds to showing Tony and the others what Cap knew about Bucky's innocence and the other Winter Soldiers. Wanda's telepathy returns in "Infinity War" however. In "Civil War," she was emotionally at the lowest point in her life. Like Nymphadora Tonks, her powers were weakened by her depression, and returned when she was finally allowed to hook up with the man she loved.

Steve Rogers is so far in the closet he's having tea with Mr. Tumnus

He just hasn't been able to come to terms with his sexuality, and the fact that he's in love with Bucky, because the time period he grew up in forced him to deny those feelings, and all the trauma afterwards hasn't allowed him to properly address them. The fact that he is now a legend with the whole world watching him doesn't help.

• Jossed. He ends up with Peggy.

Wanda Maximoff and Ava Starr will become friends

Their backgrounds and situations are insanely similar and they're close in age. Both even have monikers based on dark fantasy creatures (witch, ghost). Wanda will help Ava deal with her guilt and trauma and the two will kick ass together.

Wolverine is Wanda and Pietro's father.

If and when he's introduced, it will be hinted, then revealed that Logan met Magda while traveling through Sokovia, and, being Wolverine, he left her a little something to remember him by.

• Wait, is this in reference to the most infamous Big-Lipped Alligator Moment of the critically despised Ultimatum? A moment which was completely ignored in future installments and didn't actually say he impregnated Magda? From a flashback that also included Wolverine watching from the bushes as they had sex? In the continuity that made Wanda and Pietro have an incestuous relationship that was also widely met with disdain? And putting all that aside, fans have been clamoring for their father to be revealed as Magneto since it would be a great way to introduce the character. Making such a drastic change would elicit a very justified They Changed It, Now It Sucks! reaction from audience, and to do it just to reference a panned comic book event's random, irrelevant flashback would be...well, Marvel Studios has changed a lot, but it's unlikely. I mean, Wolverine has canonical kids anyway...
• Well, in any case, they have already adapted the death of Hawkeye's family turning him into a violent murderer hero, another twist of The Ultimates 3.
  • Except "Wolverine...You are the father!" wasn't a twist in that comic; He watched the children of the woman he once. banged have incestuous sex. It was creepy and no one liked it. Also, Hawkeye becoming Ronin is only vaguely similar to what happened in the Ultimates.

Nick Fury ordered Captain America and Black Widow to keep Tony's parents' murders from him, for the sake of planetary security

Black Widow was with Cap when when Howard Stark's murder by Hydra was revealed in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. She obviously would've reported this to Nick Fury. Why not tell Tony? Well, this being so soon after Iron Man 3, Tony's mental state would easily be a reason for all three to be hesitant to tell Tony the truth, not helped by his reckless behavior in Avengers: Age of Ultron.... but that's still a flimsy reason not to tell the man who carried a nuke through that wormhole such a crucial and intimate piece of information about his own goddamn parents for two years. There was a bigger reason.

In Avengers: Infinity War, Cap calls Tony "Earth's best defender" and Dr. Strange saw that Tony was crucial to defeating Thanos, in the only one of four billion possibilities where they win. Nick Fury probably didn't know everything Strange saw, but he was sure aware of the alien threat (remember the nukes he was prepping in the first "Avengers" film?). Nick deduced that if Earth was to have any chance in Hell, they needed Tony Stark. And he also knew Tony wasn't very stable, and—at the time—wasn't appearing to be taking the proper steps to get himself help for his host of mental health problems. Fury felt Earth needed Tony Stark focused on protecting Earth, and didn't want Tony having a complete breakdown or getting himself killed on a quest for revenge against Hydra. And he's also an old man who cares about Tony, but has a bad habit of lying about major things.

• It's possible that Fury confessed this to Tony before Spiderman Homecoming, and they reconciled, hence why Tony suddenly seems so much more stable from that movie on, but still obsessively focused on the alien threat and protecting people (like Peter Parker). If this is the case, Tony would still have plenty of reason not to be on speaking terms with the Cap, given his apparent lack of remorse and empathy when Tony saw that video play.
• Alternatively, Tony still doesn't know the whole truth, but Siberia inspired him to seek help on his own.

Stan Lee will return

• We still have a couple of unreleased cameos for the upcoming films, but what about afterwards? Afterwards, they will make digital "cameos" of Stan Lee, to keep up the tradition. Rogue One managed to bring Moff Tarkin back to life, despite the actor being dead some decades ago, so who says that a similar trick can't be done for Stan? His cameos only take a couple of seconds, anyway.

Doctor Strange was put on the potential threats list for his Alliterative Name

• Seriously, Stephen Strange? Someone just looked at it and thought "Shucks, that guy's just one Freak Lab Accident away from a superhero."

The Black Widow movie will be a prequel with a Framing Device

After Black Widow died in Avengers: Endgame, it seems that her solo film might be a prequel. However, they still might want to set up new films in the modern MCU. To do this, the film will have the Framing Device of a story Clint tells to his kids.

• Confirmed that it will be a prequel. Surprisingly, it turns out that it will be between Civil War amd Infinity War, which makes a bedtime story framing device less likely, but not impossible.
• The Stinger for the film takes place in the Present, with Yelena mourning Natasha.

Sofia Carson will be cast as Kate Bishop in the upcoming Hawkeye series.

Besides looking the part, she already has a close relationship with Disney like Olivia Holt did prior to Cloak & Dagger.

• Jossed, Hailee Steinfeld plays Kate Bishop.

Iron Man will return

Widow and Quicksilver, too. Thanks to the Fox deal, Disney now has access to mainstay Avengers villains Kang and Immortus (previously unavailable due to ties to Doom or the Richards family). One of Immortus' favorite tricks is his Legion of the Living, copies of an assortment of characters believed to be dead at that time. Just pay RDJ an unholy amount of money for a day's worth of voiceover work, and have Tony keep his suit for the entire appearance.

• Another possiblility, is that RDJ (and others) will return as Variants in the Multiverse Saga.

Thor: Love and Thunder will feature a Mythology Gag for What If? Vol. 1 #10.

For example, when Jane introduces herself as Thor to someone, after a moment of confusion, that person suggests she change her name to something like Thordis.

• Jossed.

The next phase won't be Phase Five.

Given the conspicuous absence of films like Black Panther 2 and Guardians Vol. 3 from Phase Four's lineup, I think that they won't make a definite Phase Five until those films are released. They'll be grouped in a potential Phase 4.5.

• Jossed. In 2022, it was definitively revealed that films like Guardians Vol. 3 and Blade would be part of Phase Five, although Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was added to Phase Four.

Phase 5 Lineup

This will be an "all-star" arrangement of movies where the studio will finally be able to bring in some of the biggest characters that haven't appeared yet because it will be the earliest they can make use of those characters.

• Guardians Vol. 3 (Confirmed!)
  • Heroes- Star-Lord, Rocket, Groot, Drax, Gamora, Mantis, Phyla-Vell, Moondragon
  • Villains- High Evolutionary, Adam Warlock, Wraith
• Black Panther 2
  • Heroes- T'Challa, Okoye, Nakia, M'baku
  • Villains- Namor
    • Black Panther 2 was actually Phase 4. However, the lineup was mostly correct, with the only exception being T'Challa, who was written out, due to Chadwick Boseman's death.
• Captain Marvel 2. (Confirmed!)
  • Heroes- Carol Danvers, Monica Rambeau, Kamala Khan
  • Villains- Moonstone, Yon-Rogg
• Ant-Man 3 (Confirmed!)
  • Heroes- Scott Lang, Hope Van Dyne, Hank Pym, Janet Van Dyne, Ghost
  • Villains- Crossfire, Whirlwind
• Fantastic Four
  • Heroes- Mister Fantastic, The Thing, Human Torch, Invisible Woman
  • Villains- Mole Man
    • While the Fantastic Four could debut in Phase 5, the film will not happen until Phase 6.
• X-Men
  • Heroes- Professor X, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman, Beast, Angel
  • Villains- Magneto
• Daredevil (Confirmed!)
  • Heroes- Matt Murdock
  • Villains- Bullseye, Kingpin
    • Not out of the question to re-introduce him into the films (assuming the "Blade is the first R-Rated MCU movie" guess turns out to be correct), but unlikely, given that it would be such a huge tone shift.
    • Daredevil is set to return as a Disney+ TV series, '"Daredevil Born Again''.
• Heroes for Hire or Power Man and Iron Fist
  • Heroes- Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Misty Knight, Colleen Wing, Claire Temple
  • Villains- The Maggia
    • See what was written for Daredevil
• Blade
  • Heroes- Blade
  • Villains- Dracula
• Ghost Rider
  • Heroes- Johnny Blaze
  • Villains- Mephisto, Blackout
• Nova
  • Heroes- Richard Rider
  • Villains- Titus
• Inhumans
  • Heroes- Black Bolt, Medusa, Crystal, Gorgon, Karnak, Triton, Lockjaw
  • Villains- Maximus
    • Jossed - TV show that bombed horribly, plus Kevin Feige has no interest in the Inhumans.
• Captain Britain
  • Heroes- Brian Braddock, Meggan, Psylocke, Dane Whitman
  • Villains- Mad Jim Jaspers
• Deadpool 3 (Confirmed!)
  • Heroes- Wade Wilson, Cable, Domino, Colossus, Negasonic Teenage Warhead
  • Villains- Dr. Killebrew, Black Swan

What will replace the Stan Lee cameo...

Now that he's no longer with us, let's think of what else we'll see in the MCU once per movie:

• Muppet Cameo — either from The Muppets or Sesame Street
• Hidden Mickeys
• An appearance by any Star Wars character — Darth Vader, C-3PO, R2-D2, BB-8, etc.
• Kevin Feige

The Beatles song "Come Together" is Nick Fury, singing about the original four Avengers

Shoot me refers to Nick Fury

• Nick Fury got shot by the Winter Soldier

Verse 1 is about Thor:

• Here come old flat top Thor wears a helmet; as God of Thunder he sometimes works up in the air; he's heir to his throne, and thus would wear a crown, etc.
• He come groovin' up slowly - Thor, originally, was the most slow and dramatic of the Avengers
• He got joo-joo eyeball Thor's eyes sometimes glow when he uses his lightning powers
• He one holy roller God of Thunder
• He got hair down to his knees Thor had long hair for most of the series
• Got to be a joker he just do what he please Thor was the most eccentric of the main four, due to being from another planet. Could also be a jab at Thor not having a great grasp on humor in his early Avenger days.

Verse 2 is the Hulk/Bruce Banner

• He wear no shoe-shine Hulk is barefoot
• He got toe-jam football Hulk is a renowned athlete on the Grand Master's world, and plays dirty
• He got monkey finger Bruce Banner is great with technology
• He shoot Coca Cola That fateful injection Bruce gave himself, which lead to the Hulk.
• He say I know you, you know me, one thing I can tell you is you got to be free Referring to his duo personalities

Verse 3 is Tony Stark

• He bad production Tony is the most troubled of the main four, and in the early days, caused the most trouble
• He got walrus gumboot Tony often does his own investigating when something doesn't smell right
• He got oh-no sideboard Tony's personal issues that he deals with on the side
• He one spinal cracker As Iron Man (and even as Tony Stark) he's a badass
• He got feet down below his knee He doesn't "kneel" to anyone else, he stands his ground and does what he wants
• Hold you in his arms yeah you can feel his disease Referring to his mental "diseases"

Verse 4 is Steve Rogers

• He roller coaster refers to his inconsistent, and increasingly erratic, moral compass and priorities
• He got early warning Of the main four, Steve was the first to work as a superhero on Earth, and saw how dangerous supervillains could be before the other four did
• He got muddy water As time went by, Steve gradually became less and less "pure" than he thought he was
• He one mojo filter In the early days of the Avengers, Steve was known for his humility
• ''He say 1 and 1 and 1 is 3" Steve was the first to leave the Avengers, causing the domino effect of their breakup
• Got to be good looking 'cause he's so hard to see Referring to the image of Captain America that the public puts on a pedestal, while the real Steve Rogers struggles with his identity and purpose, and compared to the otehr three, arguably has little to offer without his superhero persona.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will feature or at least cameo a number of both pre-established and new MCU-diverged timelines.

For record, known MCU-diverged timelines are:

• Earth-16828 / "Team Thor"
• Earth-TRN808 / "Zombie Assemble"
• Earth-TRN732 / "2012 New York Time Heist" (this one's confirmed, as the Loki series, which apparently takes place in this timeline, is stated to tie into this movie)
• Earth-TRN733 / "2013 Asgard Time Heist"
• Earth-TRN734 / "2014 Cosmic Time Heist"
• Earth-TRN735 / "1970 Camp Lehigh Time Heist"
• Earth-TRN736 / "Captain America Retires"
• Earth-TRN676 / "MCU Earth Destoryed"
• Earth-TRN810 / "Alternate Past Created By Chronicoms"
• Earth-TRN769 / "Runaways: 3 Years Later"
• Earth-TRN770 / "Runaways: Year 2028"
• Earth-TRN771 / "Nathan Bowan and William Johnson Survived"
• Earth-TRN772 / "Nathan and Melissa Bowen Divorced"
• Earth-TRN773 / "Tandy Bowen: Drug Addict"
• Earth-TRN774 / "Duel to D'Spayre"
• Undetermined. Dr. Strange and America fall through multiple multiverses throughout the film, but the majority of them are unnamed.

The main villains of Thor: Love and Thunder will be The Remnant of Thanos' forces.

• Jossed. It's Gorr.

Nick Fury is Jules Winnfield.

His real name is Jules Winnfield he was originally a hitman until a "Moment of Clarity" led to him quitting to walk the earth until he found a calling, this led to him becoming a government agent for many years bouncing around agencies and using multiple codenames such as Sergeant West, Agent Neville Flynn, Danny Roman, Augustus Gibbons, Henry Herald 'H' Humphries, Sgt. Luger before rising through the ranks too become Director of S.H.E.I.L.D using the codename Nick Fury which was previously used by another agent who may or may not be Micheal Knight but that's a WMG for another day. after faking his death he retired to become a piano player named Rufus (with a glass eye).

All of the pre-Disney TV shows take place in the 1970s Endgame timeline.

There's been a lot of talk about continuity breaks between the old raft of TV content and whether it's even still "canon" to the MCU now that Disney has created a line of movie-adjacent in-house shows. Well, there's no real reason to reduce it all to a legacy canon when we're talking about a multiverse and alternate timelines.

A proposal: the pre-Disney shows all happen in the 1970s Endgame timeline, where Cap and Stark meet Stark's dad. This event barely changes the timeline initially, but the ripple effect of Howard becoming a slightly more confident father leads to the status quo of the pre-Disney shows. It's almost but not quite the MCU movie timeline. Notably, SHIELD becomes more prominent, leading to the revival of Coulson, SHIELD's continued existence in the shadows, and even, via the butterfly effect, an aversion of the Snap. We might be able to assume that some or even most of these events are shared with the main timeline (the perfect space for headcanon), but the crux of it all is that nothing can be taken for granted and the Snap definitely didn't happen.

The Futures Dr. Strange saw in Infinty War include

• Ones where they fail, like in some What If...? stories.
• Ones where the universe is erased by the TVA, like in Loki. In this case, Dr. Strange might have only seen the universe-ending wave, and not the TVA themselves.

There will an inversion of the Big "YES!" from Thor: Ragnarok

Thor will see and experirience something normally considered positive, and either be horrified, saddened, or infuriated and let out a Big "NO!" in all options.

Liz will become the new Vulture in a future Spider-Man movie

Probably out of blaming Spider-Man for what happened to her father, much like Harry in the Spider-Man trilogy. Though she won't go as far since he didn't die. She'll be turned back to the side of good and not die in the process. Also, her wings will be a slimmer, more bird-like design, something between the comics Vulture and MCU Falcon's wings.

The current saga will eventually be titled "The Multiverse Saga"

Confirmed as of San Diego Comic-Con 2022.

A reappearance of Daisy Johnson (aka Quake) in a Marvel Studios proper work could have her cross paths with Spider-Man.

Because it would make her tongue-in-cheek reference to the Comes Great Responsibility line in her debut become Hilarious in Hindsight.

Hercules' proper debut will be in a sequel to Eternals

There's a cameo by some Celestials in Omnipotence City, and the last we saw of them before this was at the end of Eternals when they apprehend several of the main cast to punish them for the events of the film. Even if he ends up clashing with Thor because of the events of Love and Thunder, Hercules wouldn't be brought in if he wasn't going to become a major heroic figure in the upcoming post-Endgame phases of the franchise, and him teaming up with the Eternals to get them out of a prison, presumably in Omnipotence City and probably with the help of Starfox and Black Knight, would be an excellent way to bring him into the larger setting.

Ideas for the next saga after the Multiverse Saga

As of this current writing, the MCU is in the Multiverse Saga. The fact that we're expanding to the multiverse after being confined to a single universe with the Infinity Saga already makes this new story arc bigger than what came before it, but there's also the fact that the saga will end with an adaptation of the biggest Marvel event so far.

We already know that Marvel's already planning what lies beyond Secret Wars, but the question is: how can they go even further than the multiverse?

Thankfully, the comics that released after Secret Wars (the comic book event) could give us a good idea. Al Ewing's comics revealed that the multiverse is actually one incarnation of that multiverse—there were six other incarnations that came before it. For the MCU's third saga, they could use Ewing's ideas as the basis for it. We can go beyond the multiverse we know and explore older incarnations of it.

As for the finale of the saga, as it stands now, the best option could be adapt the Eternity War, where the first incarnation of the multiverse tries to destroy Eternity, the incarnation of the current multiverse, so it could be the only multiverse in existence. This is further corroborated by some rumored trademarks from Marvel Studios, such as "The Eternity Saga" and "Avengers: Eternity Wars".

However, they could do a loose adaptation of the Eternity War instead of a truer to the text version. In fact, they could use elements from Jason Aaron's run of the Avengers and make the oft-rumored Mephisto the main villain of the saga. The Council of Red and the Multiversal Masters of Evil could also appear as well—along with Doctor Doom, who not only played a major role in Secret Wars, but also has a big role in Jason Aaron's Avengers run.

In conclusion, the next MCU saga after the Multiverse Saga could take elements from Al Ewing's multiverse-building comics and Jason Aaron's multiversal Avengers run to create something that can even top Secret Wars.

Blade's first movie will be a Horror\Supernatural Crossover.

Not only will Dane Whitman will debut as the Black Knight, but other characters will appear in the film. Blade will likely cross paths with other supernatural characters. Jack Russell, Man-Thing, Elsa Bloodstone, Marc Spector/Moon Knight and potentially Layla Abdallah El-Faouly will appear to assist Blade. The big bad of the film will be a resurrected Dracula.

If Secret Wars and the Muliverse Saga as a whole are followed by a Continuity Reboot of the MCU, as some online have predicted, the new version of the franchise will incorporate elements that weren't in Marvel Studios' toybox at first into its universe from the get go.

This would not only include things like the X-Men and Fantastic Four from Fox and Spider-Man from agreements between Marvel Studios and Sony, but it would also include Marvel Television concepts, whether or not they've yet been folded back into the main Marvel Studios works. Meaning, not only would the X-Men have been around, but characters such as Melinda May and FitzSimmons could be seen working for S.H.I.E.L.D. from its debut appearance in the new continuity.

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