Marvel’sAvengers 4will be the culmination of 10 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and even thoughInfinity Warhas laid the groundwork, there’s still a bunch of questions. First of all, there are spoilers forInfinity Warbelow, so read ahead at your own risk. The events inAvengers 3were jarring, to say the least. Even though the Russo Brothers as well as screenwriters Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus prepared MCU fans for the worst, many were still caught off guard by the deaths of so many characters.
The dark undertones ofInfinity Warare expected to lead directly intoAvengers 4, which makes complete sense. It doesn’t seem like Thanos obtaining all of the Infinity Stones and snapping his fingers will be something that is forgotten any time soon, especially since hardcore MCU fans have been going to seeInfinity Warmultiple times in the theater looking for any possible hints that they can find to set upAvengers 4. While there are some, Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus have gone out of their way to keep everything under wraps with the Russo Brothers.
That being said, Marvel Studios did an amazing job of keeping everything secret about the plot ofInfinity Warfor so long. Not even the stars of the movie were able to see the final cut until the world premiere, which was only a few days before the general public was able to see the movie. The Russo Brothers even went as far as to make fake scripts for certain members of the cast who have been known to accidentally leak secrets to fans and the press.
In between the release ofInfinity WarandAvengers 4are the releases ofAnt-Man 2as well asCaptain Marvel, both of which are said to have meaningful ties to the final movie inPhase 3 of the MCU. Though those movies are not out yet, it seems logical that the ending ofAnt-Man 2andCaptain Marvelwill have big implications to the events inAvengers 4. Carol Danvers involvement has already been teased at the end ofInfinity War, and there are some more details about her role inAvengers 4that we will discuss below.
As for Ant-Man, aka Scott Lang, the character was left out ofInfinity Waralong with Hawkeye, leading to a lot of speculation about their roles inAvengers 4, which will again, be discussed below. Most of the information aboutAvengers 4has been obtained with interviews with the cast, screenwriters, directors, as well as Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige. In addition, set photos have also given some pretty exciting looks into what the future holds. So, what can we expect whenAvengers 4hits the big screen?
16Avengers 4title and release date
The release date for the still untitledAvengers 4isMay 3rd, 2019, unless Marvel Studios and Disney decide to push the release date up like they did withInfinity War. If the movie is kept under as tight a lid as Avengers 3, one can easily see the release date getting moved up a week to prevent overseas spoilers. As far as the title is concerned, that is a heavily debated topic at the moment. Kevin Feige has officially shut down the Infinity Gauntlet title, but there are others out there like Avengers: Endgame. Endgame is a fan-favorite at the moment because it is uttered by Doctor Strange inInfinity Waras well as Tony Stark inAge of Ultron. The Russo Brothers have said that the title ofAvengers 4will speak to the heart of the story. Avengers: Disassembled has also been thrown around, which is a nod to the comics.
15Thanos will return
Fans of the MCU who stuck around during the marathon credits ofInfinity Warwere treated to a post-credit scene with Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury sending out a message toCaptain Marvelbefore turning to dust. Even after that, fans expected to see the famous note that the Avengers with return. However, the Russo Brothers played a dark trick and said, “Thanos will return,” instead, adding insult to injury and some jeers from movie audiences all over the world. Screenwriter Stephen McFeely has calledInfinity WarThanos' hero’s journey and he did succeed, so he will definitely be around forAvengers 4. Thanos actor Josh Brolin has said that the character is finite, meaning that we probably won’t see much of the character afterAvengers 4.
14Some time travel will be involved
Thanks to pictures from the set ofAvengers 4, we know that there will be some elements of time travel or flashback involved. Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, and Chris Evans were spotted on a New York set in the costumes from the first Avengers movie in what looks like a reenactment of theBattle of New Yorkset. The actors also had the same hair styles from that specific time period as well. One notable difference was that Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man was there when he clearly was not around for the first Battle of New York. The leaked set photos also provided a look at the characters will unknown devices strapped to their hands, which could be a device invented by Hank Pym to navigate the Quantum Realm.
13Avengers 4is the finale for Phase 3 of the MCU
It is widely known thatAvengers 4will end the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we currently know it.Infinity Warwas the beginning of the end, andAvengers 4will be the end of Phase 3 of the MCU. James Gunn has revealed thatGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will begin Phase 4, which is rumored to focus on the cosmic element of Marvel Comics. However,Avengers 4will include characters that will end up in the next phase, likeCaptain Marveland it looks like it will bring the Avengers back full circle, to New York, along with Scott Lang, who was not there the first time around.
12Characters that died will be back, but not all of them
Again, thanks to behind-the-scenes set photos fromAvengers 4, we know that some characters will return after getting killed inInfinity War. However, it isn’t clear if they will be shown in flashbacks or some kind of time travel or even some type of parallel universe. Zoe Saldana was spotted on the set as was Tom Hiddleston and Paul Bettany, so it seems that the characters that even had “final” deaths will have something to do with the plot ofAvengers 4. There have been different theories indicating that Gamora could be in the Soul World after Thanos sacrificed her for the Soul Stone, which could be pretty interesting to see. Dave Bautista has confirmed that Drax will be back forAvengers 4and so will Star-Lord. As screenwriters Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus have said, these deaths are meant to be final, so we’ll have to see how these characters are used for the movie. There’s also the exploration through time and space, which means that the deaths can be prevented while also messing with the timeline.
11A massive scene will have every character in the MCU on screen
While promotingInfinity War, Sebastian Stan gave away what everybody thought was a spoiler forAvengers 3. However, the scene that Stan spoke of was definitely not in the movie. Instead, it is believed that there will be a huge scene inAvengers 4that will include everybody, even the characters who were killed off during the events ofInfinity War, plus new additions like Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel and Michelle Pfeiffer’s Janet van Dyne. Stan had this to say about the gigantic scene.
“There was one scene, I think, we had where everybody was there. I can’t really talk about that scene, but I knew it took them three months in planning this scene to have everyone there. You look around and you just saw everyone from Samuel L. Jackson to Michael Douglas to Michelle Pfeiffer. Everybody was there.”
10Captain Marvel will join The Avengers
Even though the Russo Brothers had told fans at the 2017 San Diego Comic Con that Brie Larson’sCaptain Marvelwould not be inInfinity War, there were still several fans who were disappointed by her absence. However, she was alluded to during the post-credit scene where Nick Fury messaged her.Avengers 4screenwriters Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus have said that Carol Danvers will have a substantial role and that she will bring her military background with her, which will be needed. Again,Captain Marvel will tie into Avengers 4in a meaningful way, according to McFeely and Markus.
9Clint Barton will return as Ronin
Set photos fromAvengers 4featured Jeremy Renner, who was sorely missing fromInfinity War, in a new suit that closely resembles his Ronin costume from the comics. In addition, there were some scenes that were filmed in Japan (Ronin is Japanese term for a masterclass samurai), leading many to believe that Clint Barton has been hiding out in Japan. Scarlet Johansson was spotted on the Japanese set as well, which may point to Black Widow traveling overseas to gain the help of Hawkeye or Ronin. His return will be a welcome one since MCU fans were so unhappy that he didn’t make an appearance inInfinity War.
8It won’t reverse all of the events ofInfinity War
Screenwriters Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus have revealed thatAvengers 4 will not reverse all of the events of Infinity War. The screenwriters have warned fans that the deaths will be real, which is something that the Russo Brothers also said beforeAvengers 3was released. This has led to much speculation that the theories of time travel have been squashed and deemed too obvious. However, a new theory suggests that Thanos may have caused a second Big Bang, creating a parallel universe. McFeely had this to say about the deaths being final inAvengers 4.
“Avengers 4doesn’t do what you think it does. It is a different movie than you think it is. Also… (the deaths are) real. I just want to tell you it’s real, and the sooner you accept that, the sooner you will be able to move on to the next stage of grief.”
7Will there be a time jump forward?
New theories suggest thatAvengers 4will start after a time jump of several years. The theory makes sense from leaked set photos that show Tony Stark with lighter hair and wearing a S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform. It will take the Avengers some time to figure out what happened and reconnect after losing half of the universe from the snap of Thanos' fingers. It’s all pure speculation at this point, but it seems likely. There’s no way that the surviving Avengers will be able to regroup that soon after that tragic event.
