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10 MCU Fan Theories That Actually Make Sense Find help us

Throughout the 17-year run of the Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far, the folks over at Marvel Studios have kept fans guessing about a multitude of plot lines and character arcs. This anticipation was especially marked by the looming threat of Thanos (Josh Brolin), the big final boss of the MCU’s Infinity Saga. As the potential for different stories grew, fans have taken to the internet to come up with theories about what could come next for the MCU.

Most fan theories have been proven wrong (or right, sometimes), but looking back, a good number of them have actually made sense. Whether it’s about something as big as how to defeat Thanos or as small as a character cameo via the multiverse, these fan theories would have been right at home in the MCU had the powers behind the franchise gone in another direction.

10

Superior Iron Man in ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’

Two words: Ultron Bots

Image via Marvel Comics

When the trailers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness dropped, people began to spot some peculiar robots around the Illuminati’s headquarters. With the entire film surrounding the multiverse, many believed the Ultron robots in the team’s base must have been created by someone, and the most likely option was Superior Iron Man. This version of the character from the Marvel Comics canon sees Tony Stark becoming a full-on villain.

While he likely wouldn’t have been a full-fledged baddie in the Doctor Strange sequel, it would’ve made sense that Ultron robots were created by a version of Tony (Robert Downey Jr.) since he’s the MCU’s canonical creator of the terrifying and villainous AI. There’s likely a universe where the Armored Avenger never learned from his mistakes and became obsessed with “protecting the planet.” Alas, it’s never really explained why the robot sentries are Ultron, making them nothing more than a lazy Easter egg.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Poster

Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness

Release Date

May 6, 2022

Runtime

126 minutes





9

Thanos’ Name Foreshadowed the Infinity Stone Locations

What’s in a name?

Thanos walking through a portal to Wakanda in Avengers: Infinity War
Image via Marvel Studios

As the Infinity Stones gained prominence in the MCU, it became obvious that they would appear through different items, including the Tesseract and the Scepter. As more items were introduced, people began to speculate that the letters in Thanos’ name, the man trying to collect the stones, were subtly foreshadowing where they were going to pop up next.

T: Tesseract (Space Stone), H: Heart (Soul Stone(Gamora)), A: Aether (Reality Stone), N: Necklace (Time Stone), O: Orb (Power Stone) and S: Scepter (Mind Stone).

There’s a lot here to support this claim. The character’s initials seemed to represent the apparent locations: T: Tesseract (Space Stone), H: Heart (Soul Stone(Gamora)), A: Aether (Reality Stone), N: Necklace (Time Stone), O: Orb (Power Stone) and S: Scepter (Mind Stone). This idea was never confirmed or denied, but it makes total sense. Most likely, it was unintentional, especially because some are a reach (necklace?). However, if it wasn’t, it was an awesome move on Marvel Studios’ part.

8

Steve Dies and Bucky Becomes Captain America

Not everyone is great at lip-reading.

Steve and Tony going head to head in Captain America: Civil War
Image via Marvel Studios

For those who don’t keep up with the comics, in the original “Civil War” book, the Star-Spangled Man is assassinated. When the hero dies in “Civil War,” Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) takes up his friend’s mantle to keep his spirit alive. Comic readers thought this shocking twist would be adapted in the 2016 film when a group of fans thought they’d read Bucky’s lips in a trailer clip, saying, “Steve’s dead!”

Fans thought that in the heat of battle, Iron Man might accidentally kill Captain America (Chris Evans), leading Bucky to finish the fight and take up the mantle at the end of the movie. Of course, this wasn’t true, but if Marvel Studios decided to take that route, it would have made a lot of sense. If they were looking to tear the Avengers apart, killing their leader would’ve been the perfect way to do so.

7

Doctor Strange Sent the Time Stone to the Future

Time travel is… messy.

Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange giving the Time Stone to Thanos to save Tony Stark's life.
Image via Marvel Studios 

After the tragic ending of Avengers: Infinity War, one of the most important MCU movies, the biggest questions lingering over everyone’s heads were “What now?” and “How will they beat Thanos?” So, in the year between the third and fourth Avengers movies, people began to theorize how the remaining Avengers were going to swing this one.

With the feat that he pulled off by viewing the 14,605possible futures of the coming battle, some thought that Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) may have sent the Time Stone to the future to aid them in the battle in Avengers: Endgame and have it sent back to give to Thanos at the end of the fight on Titan. While it was a bit of a stretch, there was definitely a chance that Marvel could have pulled this off. But honestly, it may have been too confusing.

6

Coulson Would Become Vision

Step aside, Jarvis.

Agent Phil Coulson talking on the phone  in Agents of Shield
Image via Marvel Television

Before Jarvis (Paul Bettany) became Vision in Avengers: Age of Ultron, some thought that, with Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) back to life in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., his mind would be put into the Vision body to aid the team. It would have given Coulson the chance to become the superhero he always wanted to be and reunite with the heroes he died for.

It certainly would have been a wacky and goofy concept that could only be found in a comic book movie, but cool nonetheless. It would have been consistent with Coulson’s sacrifice, given the fact that he died facing Loki (Tom Hiddleston) with the Mind Stone. The idea of artificial bodies is present in the movie, too, meaning it wouldn’t have been hard for the body to be Coulson’s.

5

Ant-Man’s… Special Move

Everyone knows this one.

Paul Rudd as Ant-Man in the quantum realm in Ant-Man
Image via Marvel Studios

While it was 90% of a joke on the internet, the possibility that Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) would use his shrinking powers to enter Thanos through… a certain place made sense. It was never going to happen, and everyone knew that, but that didn’t mean that the scenario had no validity—as funny as it is.

In another universe where Marvel Studios took things a lot less seriously, this outcome would have actually worked. If the ant-sized hero went inside the Mad Titan and grew back to his regular size in Avengers: Endgame, it would definitely take the villain down for good. It’s ridiculous, satirical and weird, but it would have made sense and spared everyone a lot of trouble.

4

Hela is Lady Death

“To challenge them is to court… death.”

Cate Blanchett as Hela with her eyes closed and her arms spread in Thor: Ragnarok with Karl Urban as Skurge
Image via Marvel Studios

Hela Odinsdottir (Cate Blanchett), the overpowered villain of Thor: Ragnarok, is the Asgardian Goddess of Death. Thus, many people thought Hela would be the MCU’s iteration of Lady Death and that Thanos would appear in the third Thor outing. In Marvel Comics, Thanos’ primary reasoning for snapping away half the universe is the fact that he wants to earn Lady Death’s love.

However, while she may be the Asgardian Goddess of Death, this doesn’t mean she represents the concept of death itself. To make things simpler for the audience, it’s definitely a direction Marvel could have gone, which could have been another reason for Thanos and his Black Order to arrive in the post-credits scene. However, Thanos’ reasoning in the films is far better than it is in the books, so this is probably for the best.

3

Heimdall Had the Soul Stone

Fans wanted more Heimdall anyway!

Idris Elba and Chris Hemsworth as Heimdall looking ahead and Thor in 'Thor'
Image via Marvel Studios

This fan theory made far too much sense not to be real. Not only did Heimdall (Idris Elba) have eyes of the same color, but he could see all the souls across the entire universe, too. Not to mention, being so close to Odin Borson (Anthony Hopkins), he has a tight connection to someone who could easily have held an Infinity Stone.

While he clearly didn’t have the Soul Stone (shown when he died at the top of Avengers: Infinity War), a plethora of viewers think that he got his power from the stone, much like how Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) obtained her powers. With the duty to guard the Bifrost, it would make total sense that Odin bestowed such power onto Heimdall, a crucial member of Asgard’s defenses.

Thor poster

Thor

Release Date

May 6, 2011

Runtime

115 minutes





2

Tony’s Arm Foreshadowing

Something was up with that arm…

Iron Man, played by Robert Downey Jr., prepares to snap his fingers in 'Avengers: Endgame'.
Image via Marvel Studios

A common detail about Tony Stark that has been noted by fans throughout the years is that he is always fidgeting with his left arm, a part of his body that has taken a lot of damage over the years. It all started in Iron Man when his left arm was hit by a tank round while he was out as the Iron Armored Avenger. Ever since then, he’s taken many hits and continues to touch his left arm uncomfortably in every movie he is involved in.

As the final battle against Thanos drew closer, audiences wondered if the constant pain in Tony’s arm could have been kept around to foreshadow that he was going to wield the Infinity Gauntlet to stop the Mad Titan. It would have been a really easy theory to uphold, but unfortunately, Marvel Studios opted to have Stark wield the stones with his right arm. Still, it would have been totally believable to have Tony snap his left hand, thus legitimizing this theory.

iron-man-movie-poster.jpg

Iron Man

Release Date

May 2, 2008

Runtime

126 minutes





1

Thanos Played the Long Game

Things could have been a lot harder for him.

Before Avengers: Infinity War, fans wondered why Thanos had been waiting so long to finally go out and get all the Infinity Stones after his claim that he’d “do it myself” in the Avengers: Age of Ultron after-credits scene. As Phase Three continued and beings like Ego the Living Planet (Kurt Russell) died, people wondered if Thanos was playing the long game and waiting for these powerful figures to become less of a threat before threatening the entire universe.

While the final films in the Infinity Saga would confirm that he was merely waiting for the location of the Soul Stone, this theory has a lot of legs. Beings like Odin, the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) and Ego the Living Planet would have posed a major threat to Thanos’ motivation. Odin alone could have made a massive dent in Thanos and may have been able to stop him himself. The loss of these characters before he enacted his plan was merely a coincidence, but if it hadn’t been, it would have been a very viable plot point.

NEXT: The 10 Oldest Avengers in the MCU, Ranked by Age

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