Avengers, ‘Daredevil’ {Credit: Marvel/Netflix}
The tinfoil hats have been fitted, the codes have been broken, each bit of film and every interview shifted through for even a shred of evidence. Whatever surprises it brings, you can bet that these 5 wild theories won’t come true in Avengers: Infinity War.
With Avengers: Infinity War almost here, fans can look forward to the battle between Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and Thanos. It is 10 years in the making, with fan speculation accompanying the movie’s build-up since last year.
Theories also became part of the hype, however. Some fans think otherworldly events will take place in Infinity War, and while some may come true, others will not.
5. The heroes of the greater Marvel Television MCU will not be making an appearance.
As much as we’d all like to see Phil Coulson and the agents of SHIELD ride shotgun on some solar mission to stop Thanos and the destruction of half the universe, the odds are slimmer than making it out of Project Tahiti with no lingering psychological issues.
Likewise, we’d love to see Daredevil scuffling in Hell’s Kitchen while Strange, Stark, and Spidey protect greater New York, but it isn’t going to happen. No Luke Cage either. Not even an Iron Fist. Jessica Jones? As if.
This is the price MCU television properties have paid for creative independence. It’s been a blessing for the most part, left them free to explore issues without the yolk of the Avengers machine to tie them down and shepherd their stories toward some grand conclusion.
The drawback is that when the battle for the universe goes down–the bravest heroes on TV will be sleeping, or stuck in traffic. Somewhere, anywhere, other than where they would be. Where they should be.
4) We…are…not in this movie
Sure, we’ve all seen the trailer, and Tom Hardy seems an inspired pick to play host for the often conflicted villain/anti-hero, and with Spider-Man set to become a fully-vested Avenger, some have whispered that maybe Venom will show up in Infinity War as well.
He won’t. For a myriad of reasons, he won’t. Even if the licensing issues could be worked out, the confusing, stilted footage we have seen of Venom so far suggests an entirely different kind of superhero movie–one as thematically different from Spider-Man: Homecoming as Deadpool was from Wolverine.
No one can say for sure if this new standalone Venom movie will work. The trailer is both exhilarating and…worrisome in spots. One thing’s for certain, the concept is too experimental, too risky, for Marvel to attempt to integrate it into its beloved cash cow.
For now, Tom Hardy and his demons will play solo, detached from the greater MCU in a way that will allow his film to find freedom–or ruin–far from the Rotten Tomato score of an established, carefully cultivated product like Infinity War.
Credit: Marvel Studios/Paramount Pictures; from Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
3. Did you think it would be that easy, heroes? Red Skull is (not) back!
Rumors have run rampant that Thanos will bring back some former Marvel baddies as his lackeys. In particular, Red Skull. While I would love to see Skull back (Hugo Weaving’s sinister Hydra forefather is perhaps the third strongest MCU villain behind Loki and Killmonger) the odds are incredibly low.
For starters, Weaving has no reported connection to the new films. The Russo brothers have been good with the secrets, but that good? More than that, for the first time in a long time, Marvel doesn’t need more villains. Thanos himself will fill that role, along with his retainer of vicious children The Black Order.
It will be a tall task for the hyper-ambitious film to introduce an array of new characters and balance the necessary arcs of so many favorites without going to the trouble of resurrecting other multidimensional characters to thrown into the mix.
NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 25: Robert Downey Jr. attends the ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ Photo Call at the Whitby Hotel on June 25, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Rob Kim/Getty Images)
2. Tony Stark is not the Soul Stone
The theory goes back to the line in Iron Man 2 when Howard Stark says that Tony was his “greatest creation.” What if he meant this literally? What if he dragged something else up from the ocean other than the Tesseract? Posters have shown Iron Man bathed in an odd orange light, the color thought to correspond with the mysterious–and as yet missing–Soul Stone. Could it be? Could it be?
No. It couldn’t.
Apart from stretching credulity amid a turn that would turn the centerpiece of the MCU into a sort of Pinocchio to his father’s Geppetto, this would be just plain bad, lazy writing. Hinging the survival on the universe on a throwaway line from Iron Man 2 would be not only irresponsible but disappointing from any artistic angle. Infinity War has been all about a buildup, a payoff for years of faith. Something so blatantly insipid would be nothing less than a betrayal of everything Marvel has tried to do.
Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR..Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2018
1. Scarlett Witch isn’t going to break bad
To say that Ms. Maximoff has a complex relationship with good/evil in the comics is an understatement. From her legendary exploits during the House of M to her stints as an Avenger, she has been both to the top of the mountain and to the deepest pits of despair and darkness.
As far as pain thresholds are concerned, Scarlet Witch has already endured a lot. She’s seen her parents and her brother taken from her. Now it seems that her blossoming love with The Vision might come next.
Is this enough to cause a break in the psyche of this powerful mutant capable of causing her to go rogue?
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In a different story, perhaps. But not here. Not on this grand stage. While it is entirely possible that we’ll see an epic meltdown from Witch, odds are it will be directed at the Mad Titan and not her allies. In fact, as one of the few individuals on the side of angels with the power to make Thanos balk, look for Scarlet Witch to get at least one scene where her powers make a tangible difference in the fight for the Earth.