http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1BCujX3pw8

I don’t normally write long posts with original thoughts for social media much anymore, but I went down a crazy YouTube rabbit hole last night about the footage from Captain Marvel and Avengers 4 that was screened in Europe this past weekend and as the biggest comic geek you know besides possibly yourself, I had to share some thoughts that kept me up until 3AM.

First off – Some definite light spoilers –

The Captain Marvel soundtrack sounds like it might just might be the best of Big Shiny Tunes. Lots of heavy “classic” 90’s rock is going to “permeate the movie”, so it’s going to be a stylized one similar to the 70’s rock in Guardians of the Galaxy. So that’s already going to make it enjoyable for some of you.

It won’t be an origin story. She already has her powers, she’s a former pilot who has been living on the Kree home world.

She returns to Earth with “Star Force”, a team made up of Linda Danvers, Marr-Vel, Minn-Erva, Att-Lass, Shatterax, Korath & Ronan who made their debut in the comics as a team during the Kree/Skrull War. The last 2 members mentioned appeared in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movies, 20 years after this film takes place.

They come to Earth to stop the Secret Invasion of our planet by the Skrulls.

Carol Danvers’ wingman was Maria Rambeau, call sign “Photon”. Her daughter Monica would be around 20 years old in the present MCU. In the conics Monica was an Avenger named “Photon” who had powers similar to Captain Marvel and even went by that name when Linda Danvers lost her powers to Rogue from the X-Men (that won’t be in the movies, but Photon May be in the sequel).

This movie is meant to “expand Marvel’s cosmic presence”. We already have the Chitauri, and other alien races introduced in Guardians. But the Kree and Skrull are massive Empires with many of the alien races introduced falling under the influence of one of those two, or the Shi’ar Empire from X-Men comics which may come later.

Now for some absolutely INSANE theories and actual possible spoilers for Avengers 4, some of which I’ve read and heard online, others I’m just speculating.

It is confirmed that the plot of Avengers 4 will start 10 years in the future. Some of the Avengers who are still around then will travel not through time, but to different realities in the multiverse. They’re going to collect the Infinity Stones of other worlds, in order to make their own gauntlet, to go back in time to stop Thanos’ finger snap. This can’t happen in the comics, but the rules of the MCU multiverse are different.

Hawkeye’s wife and children were killed by the finger snap. He’s going to have his own mission in the present that he adopts the “Ronin” identity and costume to complete.

Pictures were previously released of Tony Stark greying at the temples, Ant-Man, and Captain America in his costume from the attack on New York in the first Avengers movie all talking. That led to speculation about time travel, but that was actually an alternate reality where the same battle takes place and the Avengers lose.

If you saw Ant-Man & the Wasp, then you know the whole thing was about Ghost gaining the ability to access alternate dimensions while still being tethered to this Earth, which was killing her. Ant-Man’s ability to access the Quantum Realm (Microverse) is what will enable Tony, Ant-Man, and Professor Hulk to travel to alternate Earths to collect the stones they need.

The Russo Brothers said the reason that Hulk wouldn’t come out to fight Thanos wasn’t that he was scared, it was that he got to be Hulk for years on Sak’aar and he was sick of Banner only letting him out, to bail everyone else out. 10 years from now, they will have learned how to work together to become “Professor Hulk”. Which if you read the comics, you know is one of the most powerful versions of the Hulk because he has all of Banner’s smarts and Hulk’s strength working together.

They also just said if there was a scene they could have added, it would have been the Red Skull turning his back on Thanos and laughing. Red Skull tells Thanos, “A soul for a soul. That is what the gem requires.” But he also says you must be willing to give up that which you love most, not that you necessarily have to. The soul the gem required was for the release of the Red Skull. He is now free to make his way back to Earth, or make another surprise appearance somewhere else and maybe even pursue another infinity gem.

Odin once collected all 6 gems and realized it was too much power and dispersed them throughout the 9 realms. The gauntlet in his armory was a fake, but that’s because Tony, Bruce & Scott are going to use the time stone to go back in time and switch it with a fake, so that Tony has a gauntlet to harness all of their power at once in.

Marvel has been very deliberate in introducing the concept of a multiverse in earlier movies so that Avengers 4 can feature “numerous variations of every Avenger, from a wide variety of alternate universes.”

Now do you want to read the craziest thing yet?

There’s no turning back after this if it turns out to be true.

This is 100% speculation based on stuff I saw in a YouTube video, but don’t say you weren’t warned…

Tony becomes obsessed with time travel and “fixing things”. Correction, since the first Iron Man film, Tony has been obsessed with “fixing” past mistakes and ensuring tragedies can be avoided. He has PTSD and it affects his health in Iron Man 3. His obsession led to the creation of Ultron in the second Avengers film. He ruins his relationship with Steve Rogers because he can’t see past the fact his brainwashed buddy was forced to kill Tony’s parents against his will in Civil War. He gives Spider-Man some tough love in Homecoming. And he talks about how Thanos has been in his head for 6 years in Infinity War. There has been a trail of bread crumbs laid out in front of us.

Now what if, Tony DID manage to assemble his own gauntlet? Of course he’ll go back in time and stop Thanos finger snap. That’s a Hell of an adventure to go on though the multiverse for a somewhat anti-climatic ending. Isn’t it?

Why stop there?

Tony could also theoretically use the gauntlet to save Thor’s people from Hela. He could stop Ultron from being created. He could prevent Pepper from being subjected to Extremis. He could stop the attack on New York. He could go back and stop Steve’s plane from sinking into the ocean and make sure Peggy Carter teaches him how to dance.

Not only could he do all of those things, he’s shown us in every movie he WOULD do those things if he had a time stone.

Thanos was the bad guy for part 3, but if this is really the end of the “classic” Avengers line-up in movies, then there’s one classic Avengers villain who has potentially been under everyone’s noses all along…

I’m giving you one more chance to stop reading. Here it is!

You know him by many names which is fitting for this multiversal epic.

Iron Lad

Nathaniel Richards

Victor Timely

Immortus

Rama-Tut

The Conquerer

Kang

A time-changing obsessed version of Tony Stark from the far future who now calls himself Kang has been orchestrating all of the events of this MCU over the past 10 years to create this situation where he is able to get his hands on 2 Infinity Gauntlets, ascend to Godhood, and create a perfect universe and it takes all of the Avengers and others from alternate dimensions along with Thanos to stop him.

That’s a definite change from the comic origins, but the movies have never followed everything exactly as in the comics but have still stayed true to the story. Robert Downey Junior, the original MCU hero realizing he just can’t stop himself from going too far and sacrificing himself to save the multiverse and stop Robert Downey Junior, the greatest villain in the MCU might actually be as close to a perfect ending to this 10 year roller coaster as I can imagine?

Or this could be a whole bunch of baloney?