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New MCU Theory Says Captain Marvel Has Been Visiting Earth For Years

While Carol Danvers is set to help save the universe in next year’s Avengers 4, the ‘90s backdrop of Captain Marvel suggests that she’s been fighting the good fight since before most of her fellow superheroes even had their powers. This raises the question of where exactly the character has been for the last two decades, with many a theorist proposing ideas on what could have kept Carol so busy all these years that she couldn’t come back to Earth.

While Carol Danvers is set to help save the universe in next year’s Avengers 4, the ‘90s backdrop of Captain Marvel suggests that she’s been fighting the good fight since before most of her fellow superheroes even had their powers. This raises the question of where exactly the character has been for the last two decades, with many a theorist proposing ideas on what could have kept Carol so busy all these years that she couldn’t come back to Earth.

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One user on Reddit, however, has offered an alternative solution which suggests that the universe’s most powerful superhero has actually been present and active in the vicinity of Earth for quite some time now. This recent post from Sinnik22 is a pretty lengthy read that presents its argument in several parts, but the gist is that Captain Marvel has been working again with her old friend Nick Fury, at least since the events of 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron.

The post starts off discussing the various forms of evidence that Marvel Studios were, for a while, planning on introducing Carol in the second Avengers movie. Though this plan evidently fell though, Sinnik22 argues that it remains a key moment in the character’s history.

“My theory is that she was not here for pre AoU events. Many of the post AoU events were self inflicted Avenger on Avenger crime or they were severely limited in their scope. There hasn’t been an Extinction Level Event on earth since the Age of Ultron (approximately the time I think she showed up on earth).”

But though Carol was absent pre-Age of Ultron and has had little reason to reveal herself to the Avengers post-Age of Ultron, the Redditor suggests that she’s still been working with Fury as part of his more recent team of operatives, created from the ashes of S.H.I.E.L.D. Their operations, however, have been strictly under the radar.

“Fury faked his death way back in Winter Soldier. We haven’t seen any evidence that the world at large, outside of the Avengers and his new org/rescue team from AoU, even know he’s alive.

Furthermore, the [Sokovia] accords had super powered individuals under extreme scrutiny directly after AoU. The Avengers had disbanded after Civil War and Fury’s influence diminished substantially. Fury would have never put CM out there in a hostile post [Sokovia] Accords environment. Secretary Ross would have considered Fury’s management of the Avengers to have led to the disasters in DC, New York and [Sokovia]. Revealing CM would have led to her being registered or Rafted.”

It wasn’t until this year’s Avengers: Infinity War that Earth saw a new apocalypse-level threat, requiring Carol to finally step into the spotlight. That being said, Sinnik22 cites the Captain Marvel-esque color scheme of Cull Obsidian’s sash as evidence that before Fury called on Carol to join the fight against Thanos, the fight had already come to her.

“If I’m right…that Fury and CM built an operational defense unit stationed in earth’s near atmosphere, Thanos would know. Thanos’ group would have attacked the orbital station prior to their attack of earth proper.

Thanos invasion force of choice for at least 20 years is the Chitauri. The Chitauri are present on Thanos armada in IW, but they’re nowhere near any of the fighting in IW. Why would Thanos not bring all of his minions to support his acquisition of the final stone? My theory posits that Thanos would have diverted significant numbers to attack Orbital defenses. Especially if CM was there. It would take overwhelming numbers plus the children of Thanos to defeat CM.”

“Avengers 4 could begin during the aftermath of such an attack on my theoretical orbital station. Therefore, as Fury is beginning to become aware of the snappening, CM has already been attacked. Consequently Captain Marvel is left for dead for all or most of the events of Infinity War.”

There’s a whole lot more to this Reddit post than you’ve read here, and it generally seems like a well-researched and thought out theory, if still a highly speculative one. Regardless, we’ll find out the real reason that Carol’s remained invisible in recent years when Captain Marvel hits cinemas on March 8th, 2019, before she meets some of Fury’s other famed peers in Avengers 4 on May 3rd.