UPDATE: These photos have been removed. Apologies for any inconvenience.
It was only a matter of time before Hollywood studios began to use fan curiosity for their own purposes, and it looks like Marvel Studios is the one blazing that trail. While the viral marketing campaigns of productions like The Blair Witch Project and the Cloverfield franchise took steps to harness the power of curiosity to deliver value-added experiences to the movie, there’s evidence to suggest that Marvel may be using fan curiosity to engage in actual misdirection with regard to Avengers 4 and Captain Marvel.
It all began with the Twitter account Atlanta Filming, which is a paparazzi account dedicated to documenting productions happening in Atlanta, Georgia. In a series of tweets, the photographer shared comments and pictures about Marvel-related projects, featuring Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury and Cobie Smulders’ Agent Maria Hill. The whole thing is presented as being quite confusing and, apparently, that would seem to be the point. Knowing that fans would be poring over any set pictures, it appears that there may be some disinformation happening.
Firstly, there were tweets about “Captain Marvel.”
https://twitter.com/AtlantaFilming/status/955182105113264134
https://twitter.com/AtlantaFilming/status/955189805893156865
Then, there were “set pictures” featuring Samuel L. Jackson and Cobie Smulders in “two scenes.”
Then, the big tease.
https://twitter.com/AtlantaFilming/status/955212658835447809
https://twitter.com/AtlantaFilming/status/955216181568397313
The Atlanta Filming Twitter account then goes on to summarize a selection of ‘news’ about current Marvel productions and reiterates that, when considered in conjunction with these new “set pictures,” the information cannot all be correct – making it almost impossible to draw conclusions about the movies being made.
Here’s what is clear, though. Samuel L. Jackson and Cobie Smulders were definitely together, reprising their respective Marvel roles. Certainly, in some of the pictures, Jackson has his Fury eye patch, and in all the pictures, he displays his Fury facial scarring. Atlanta Filming seems to suggest that the photographs do not depict “filming,” and certainly, in some of the shots, both actors seem to be “between scenes” – and in those pictures, Jackson is not wearing his eye patch.
So, rather than indicating a complex time travel plot line, could it be that the images without the eye patch are simply from a scene rehearsal? Or perhaps even a “fake” scene to throw fans off the scent?
Jackson and Smulders do appear to be gazing upwards while emoting, and Atlanta Filming refers to someone who “flies” in their tweet. There’s also a reminder that Captain Marvel is both a character in her own right and a film title, and that there are up to three Marvel movies currently in various stages of production.
Looking at the Marvel Cinematic Universe release slate, perhaps these shots document the shooting of a post-credits scene then that will appear with Ant-Man and The Wasp on July 6th – possibly giving audiences their first glimpse of Captain Marvel taking flight before her own solo movie arrives on March 8th, 2019. Or maybe they’re taken from two different scenes in two completely different films?
Of course, with the studio playing the disinformation game, any such speculation is rendered pointless – which is surely the intention. The moral of the story is that, while it’s fun to try and predict the twists and turns of a popular franchise, it’s best to simply be patient, and allow ourselves to be surprised. Ant-Man and The Wasp, Captain Marvel and Avengers 4 will all reveal their secrets soon enough.