After Avengers: Infinity War saw Thanos embark on a successful mission to purge the universe of half of its inhabitants, it’s been widely assumed that the upcoming Avengers 4 will be the film where Earth’s Mightiest Heroes finally settle the score with the Mad Titan, while most likely undoing his mass genocide. Some recently leaked concept art, however, has fans wondering whether the team will have an even stronger enemy to fight in next year’s release.
The leak in question surfaced earlier this week, and offered a glimpse at some sweet new armor for Rocket and Thor. But while these outfits have spawned enough speculation in their own right, the accompanying text could be the real teaser of this image, reading as follows:
The Asgardian Thor wields the mighty Stormbreaker in his battle against new foes. Rocket teams up with a new crew to guard the galaxy from an even greater threat.
Seeing how the main antagonist of Infinity War was a genocidal tyrant who could turn half the universe’s population into dust with the mere snap of his fingers, it’s hard to see what could qualify as “an even greater threat,” but the clue could well lie in the “new foes” hinted at.
Indeed, we’ve already heard a few predictions that Avengers 4 could see Thanos replaced by another villain entirely, but a recent post from EpicStream suggests that perhaps the conqueror will instead acquire a new ally who’s at least as dangerous as himself. A name singled out as a possibility is Annihilus, an alien being from The Negative Zone who forms a temporary alliance with Thanos in the Annihilation comic books. Seeing how Avengers: Annihilation is a rumored title that’s been getting some traction lately, there’s reason to believe that this theory might be onto something.
Nonetheless, there are many different paths that Marvel Studios could take with Avengers 4, and so we may not uncover the secrets of this text until the film hits theaters on May 3rd, 2019.
