It’s often the case that when a new Entertainment Weekly cover is unveiled, we’re left with more questions than answers.
Case in point: Captain Marvel, which at long last pulled back the curtain on Brie Larson’s Starforce rookie, who’s destined to become a force to be reckoned with within the MCU. It’s not an origin story per se, but a standalone adventure involving the Kree empire, Skrulls, a digitally de-aged Nick Fury, and Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos, leader of the Skrull invasion.
Now that the dust is beginning to settle, though, Marvel fans have drawn up all-new theories relating to Avengers 4 and, more specifically, Captain Marvel’s pivotal role in the 2019 ensemble piece.
One would assume that the spinoff movie from Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck shares some form of connective tissue with Avengers 4 (the Quantum Realm, perhaps?), and while it’s yet to be confirmed outright, that hasn’t stemmed the tide of speculation, as evidenced by this collection of tweets (h/t ComicBook.com):
All I have done today is freak out about Captain Marvel and it feel so good because she it’s like the light at the end of the tunnel. That dark terrible tunnel that infinity war put us in.
— yikes ✨ (@AshAvenue) September 5, 2018
Captain Marvel gets the gauntlet, reverses time and then merks thanos in the first 5 minutes of A4 and the rest of it is just everyone moving into the avengers tower and doing grocery shopping together then going to bed at 9pm, the Russos personally told me to tell yall this
— bucci (@incorrectbucko) September 5, 2018
https://twitter.com/SliceofMarge/status/1037395568782450689
Captain marvel is taking us back in time so how are they gonna connect that to present day infinity war disappearance? Well I'm hoping there's a big conspiracy coming
— Uti uzumaki/kenpachi 😎 (@iamDOPE_jas) September 5, 2018
Avengers 4 plot leaked:
Captain Marvel's going to steal the time stone from Thanos and go back in time right before Thanos gets stabbed and tell Thor to GO FOR THE FUCKING HEAD pic.twitter.com/LpZrGFoFW8
— Memes of Pakistan (@MemesOfPakistan) September 5, 2018
If nothing else, Captain Marvel is living proof that there’s still hope for the Marvel Cinematic Universe after the crushing finale of Avengers: Infinity War, which reduced half of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to dust soon after Thanos acquired the souped-up Infinity Gauntlet.
So perhaps Carol Danvers will be the one to level the playing field come 2019? It’s certainly not outside the realm of possibility, particularly when you remember those quotes from MCU boss Kevin Feige claiming that Captain Marvel is about to become the franchise’s most powerful character. And that’s a quite a compliment given she’ll be sharing the same screen with the likes of Hulk, Scarlett Witch and Chris Hemsworth’s God of Thunder.