In the last month, Avengers 4 directors Anthony and Joe Russo have sent the internet into a frenzy of speculation at least twice through their social media activity. The first time was in September when they posted a cryptic set photo to Twitter with the instruction, “Look hard,” and the second was last week when they pulled much the same trick with an overly bright image of a mysterious object.
While few of the theories we’ve heard about either of these posts seem worth taking seriously, one idea that keeps finding a way of popping up in conversations is that the Russo Brothers are teasing the arrival of Iron Man’s proton cannon. For one example, a tweet from Boss Logic drew a fair amount of online attention when it linked the latest of the Russos’ two images to Tony Stark’s intimidatingly big weapon, and they weren’t the only fan to make this connection.
But while this is far from the only theory about what the new photo could be showing, this idea is unique in that it also seems to be backed up by the first teaser pic, in which a cannon-like object can indeed be spotted if you “look hard” enough. This same prop was even seen in the background of Avengers: Infinity War, and once more in a new Avengers 4 set photo, suggesting that this object – whatever it is – could have an important part to play in the MCU Phase 3 finale.
Of course, before we get too carried away, let’s not forget that no one at Marvel Studios has confirmed this item to be a proton cannon nor clarified its function, and what’s more, we probably shouldn’t expect the Russo Brothers to explain the secrets of their social media posts anytime soon. At this rate, we may have to wait until Avengers 4 comes out on May 3rd, 2019 before we start getting any definitive answers.
