Captain Marvel hit theaters this weekend, so Marvel fans are giddily lining up to see the latest super-powered adventure in the MCU. And as with any MCU release, there are plot points and revelations and characters and twists that change the fabric of the fictional universe that serves as the franchise’s setting.
As a result of that, everyone’s fan theories need to be updated. There’s a lot in Captain Marvel that changes the popular fan theories, because it’s a prequel to pretty much every movie in the MCU. With its setting in the ‘90s, it’s the second earliest story on the MCU timeline. Of course, the WWII-set Captain America: The First Avenger took place earlier, but that was only the fifth movie in the MCU. It didn’t have as much to fit into as Captain Marvel, which is the 21st movie in the franchise, and fan theories weren’t fully formed yet.
There are some existing fan theories that could still be true and there are also some new ones based on things like Flerkens and Skrulls and the Kree Starforce that the movie introduced into the MCU. So, here are 25 Crazy Fan Theories About The MCU After Captain Marvel.
Captain Marvel Was Edited Out Of The Endgame Trailer
In some clips shown in the Avengers: Endgame trailer, fans noticed a gap in the framing. As the Avengers walk through their headquarters, there’s a gap in their line-up. When Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Bruce Banner, and James Rhodes are standing outside Avengers HQ, there’s a gap between Banner and Rhodes.
Some fans believe Captain Marvel was edited out of those shots, and now that we saw her meet those four exact characters in the mid-credits scene, it’s looking more and more obvious that she was edited out after all.
Odin Brought The Tesseract To Earth
The Tesseract, also known as the Cosmic Cube, which ended up being used by Mar-Vell to start a war that it intended to end, and also gave Captain Marvel her powers, might play a huge role in Avengers: Endgame.
One Redditor believes the Avengers will use the Time Stone to travel back to 946 AD, when Odin first brought the Tesseract to Earth and set off the series of events that led to Red Skull’s rise to power, Loki’s plan to destroy New York, and Captain Marvel getting her powers in the first place.
The Skrulls’ “Secret Invasion” Will Form The Basis For Phase 4
Captain Marvel revealed the Skrulls to be good guys after all. They were simply refugees who hid out on border planets while they were slowly wiped out by the Kree Starforce. But that seems to eliminate the possibility of “Secret Invasion” being adapted for the MCU.
It’s the comic book storyline where the Skrulls assimilate themselves into our society, Invasion of the Body Snatchers-style, and now, it seems like we’ll never see it brought to the screen. Or will it? One fan theory is that Phase 4 will chronicle the Skrulls’ invasion of Earth. Who can we trust? Is Thor really Thor? It could be a lot of twisty fun.
Captain Marvel Is Familiar With Thanos
Thanos is infamous throughout the universe. A lot of people have heard of the purple tyrant who made his way from planet to planet, collecting the Infinity Stones with the intention of wiping out half of all life in the universe.
So, if Captain Marvel is out there saving intergalactic lives – and if she’s taken the title of “Protector of the Universe” – it stands to reason that when she comes to Earth, she’ll have heard of Thanos. She might not need to be caught up. In fact, maybe she’s been trying to nab Thanos for years.
Coulson Referenced Captain Marvel In Iron Man
In Iron Man, Agent Coulson was tasked with working on the Avengers Initiative and introducing Tony Stark to S.H.I.E.L.D., and he said it wasn’t his “first rodeo,” implying he’d had previous dealings with superheroes. Now, over a decade later, we finally get to see his actual first rodeo.
A woman came down from space and turned out to be a pilot who got tricked by an alien and gained superpowers in a plane crash. Captain Marvel didn’t just act as Carol Danvers’ origin story – it acted as Nick Fury and Phil Coulson’s origin stories, too.
Captain Marvel Is Powerful Enough To Wield The Infinity Gauntlet
Since the movie revealed that the Captain Marvel of the MCU got her powers, not from taking Kree DNA from the previous Captain Marvel, but from blowing up an engine powered by the Space Stone.
So, if her body is imbued with energy from one of the Infinity Stones, maybe she’ll be powerful enough to wield the Infinity Gauntlet, which could be the key to taking down Thanos in Avengers: Endgame. Whether it involves the Gauntlet or not, we will likely see Captain Marvel and Thanos face off in a battle.
The Characters Who Disappeared Are The Lucky Ones
All the character who disappeared at the end of Infinity War are thought to be gone, but maybe the ‘survivors’ are actually the ones who are screwed. The ones who disappeared are the ones with sequels coming up – Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, the Guardians of the Galaxy (minus Rocket), Black Panther – and the ones who ‘survived’ are the ones hinting at leaving the MCU – Iron Man, Captain America, Thor – so maybe the ones who disappeared are the lucky ones.
They might have been transported to another dimension where everything will be fine while our world slowly crumbles. The only thing disproving this theory now is that Captain Marvel is leading the MCU’s future and she’s in the original dimension, but like Ant-Man, she can probably jump between the two.
Carol Danvers Can Teleport
There’s a bunch of Captain Marvel’s powers that the movie doesn’t explore. In the mid-credits scene, we see Cap, Black Widow, Bruce Banner, and James Rhodes trying to figure out what’s going on with Nick Fury’s pager, and then Carol Danvers appears directly behind them.
She’s had to travel across galaxies and planets to get back to Earth and see what Fury’s distress signal was all about, and somehow she got in the building and ended up right behind them. We saw no evidence of her doing the smash-through-the-ceiling thing she’s done a few times. Maybe she can teleport.
Captain Marvel And Ant-Man Will Strand Thanos In The Quantum Realm
We know that the Quantum Realm will play a huge role in Avengers: Endgame, especially based on the stunning cliff-hanger that Ant-Man and the Wasp left us on.
So, one fan theory is that Ant-Man and Captain Marvel – the only two characters who might be able to dip in and out of the Quantum Realm at will (depending on whether or not Captain Marvel has the Quantum Bands) – will use Thanos’ ego against him. They will potentially trick him into following them into the Quantum Realm and then strand him there.
Doctor Strange Will Travel Back To The ‘90s
Fans have long believed that Avengers: Endgame’s plot will involve Doctor Strange traveling through time. He’s the one who knows how to wield the Time Stone, he knows how the Avengers can win their battle against Thanos, and Chris Evans was seen wearing the 2012 Captain America costume during shooting.
So, the leading theory is that time travel will take us through a kind of MCU’s greatest hits montage. Some people thought Doctor Strange would appear in Captain Marvel in a time-traveling cameo, but since he didn’t and that movie focused more on her origin story, maybe Endgame will present the altered-timeline version of that movie where Strange appears.
Captain Marvel Can Lift Thor’s Stormbreaker Axe
One of the funnier sequences in Avengers: Age of Ultron involves all the guys in the team trying to lift Thor’s hammer at a party and failing miserably. There’s a lot of laughs in the scene, but it also sets up how surprising it is that Vision can grab it out of the sky after he’s been created. It establishes Vision as one of the most powerful characters in the MCU.
Maybe the same thing will be used to establish how powerful Captain Marvel is. Of course, Thor doesn’t have a hammer anymore – he has an axe called Stormbreaker. So, it’ll have to be that.
Captain Marvel Will Follow Quasar’s Storyline
In the comics, Quasar is given Quantum Bands that allow him to pass in and out of time and space (i.e. the Quantum Realm, like Ant-Man.) This gives him the title of “Protector of the Universe.” As we saw from Ant-Man and the Wasp, as well as Ant-Man’s surprising appearance at Avengers HQ in the Endgame trailer, the Quantum Realm will be an important part of the new Avengers team-up.
So, maybe Captain Marvel will get Quasar’s storyline with the Quantum Bands and the “Protector of the Universe” title. This would put saving the world in Endgame on Scott Lang and Carol Danvers, which is certainly an interesting pairing.
Captain Marvel Takes The Avengers To “The Garden”
This fan theory is based on Nebula saying she believes Thanos will go to “the garden” upon seeing out his evil plan. Whatever that means, it probably refers to the farm we see guarded by a Thanos scarecrow in the Endgame trailer. Perhaps Nebula has a large role to play in finding and defeating the Mad Titan.
We know Captain Marvel can just fly out to Titan and find her – and maybe save Tony Stark in the process, too – so Nebula could come into the mix. Getting to Thanos and the Infinity Stones will be key to Captain Marvel’s plan to save everyone.
The Tesseract Bounced From Owner To Owner For A Reason
The Tesseract is a huge part of Captain Marvel’s new origin story and it’s got a long, long, long history in the MCU – some Redditors think there’s a reason for that. Over the years, it’s been owned by Red Skull, Howard Stark, S.H.I.E.L.D., Mar-Vell, Goose, S.H.I.E.L.D. again, Loki, and now, Thanos.
Maybe Captain Marvel’s connection to the power of the Space Stone and Doctor Strange’s use of the Time Stone to travel through the MCU’s history will be an important part of defeating Thanos. Then it’ll stop being a meme.
Captain Marvel Has Defeated The Kree Starforce
At the end of Captain Marvel, we saw the title character fly off into outer space to find the Skrulls a safe new home and get her revenge against the Kree Starforce for brainwashing her into being a villain. By the time Endgame rolls around, maybe she’ll have completed her mission.
The Skrulls will be in a safe new place (possibly plotting their “Secret Invasion” of Earth) and the Kree Starforce will have been defeated. She didn’t get the chance to take out Ronan, but maybe she was involved in Guardians of the Galaxy in unseen ways.
Carol Danvers Attends Tony And Pepper’s Wedding
Sebastian Stan said about the shooting of Avengers: Endgame: “There was one scene, I think, we had where everybody was there. I can’t really talk about that scene, but I knew it took them three months in planning this scene to have everyone there. You look around and you just saw everyone from Samuel L. Jackson to Michael Douglas to Michelle Pfeiffer. Everybody was there.”
There’s long been a fan theory that the scene in question is Tony and Pepper’s wedding. This theory still holds up after Captain Marvel, and if everyone in the cast was there, Carol Danvers would be, too.
Captain Marvel Saves Tony Stark And Nebula
As we’ve seen from the final battle sequence in Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers can pretty much do anything. She can punch spaceships out of the sky, she can fly like Superman, and she can turn herself into a shooting star. So, it stands to reason that one of the things she’ll be asked to do in Avengers: Endgame is fly off to Titan and save Tony Stark and Nebula.
In the trailer, they’re both still stranded there, not expecting to make it off the planet. Maybe Carol will make it in time to save Nebula, but not Tony. There’s only so long Tony can stay there without food and water.
Monica Rambeau Will Become Photon
In Captain Marvel, we see an 11-year-old Monica Rambeau idolizing her mother Maria and her “Auntie Carol.” In the comics, Monica has a number of superhero names, including Photon. And while an 11-year-old girl doesn’t sound like the ideal candidate for a superhero, don’t forget that Captain Marvel is set in 1995.
Monica’s 35 years old now and could easily become Photon in Endgame. We’ve already seen “Photon” written on the side of Maria’s fighter jet as her nickname. Carol’s “Avenger” nickname is where Nick Fury got the idea to change “the Protector Initiative” to “the Avengers Initiative.”
Captain Marvel Can Absorb The Power Of The Infinity Stones
Captain Marvel has a ton of superpowers that the movie didn’t highlight, mainly because a lot of it involved her discovering new powers and learning how to control them. In the comics, one of her powers is the absorption of energy.
So, many fans believe that in Endgame, she’ll discover this power and master it enough to be able to absorb the power of the Infinity Stones and use it to defeat Thanos and rescue the characters who turned to dust, because she won’t just have a metal glove with the power of the Stones in it – she will have the power herself.
Endgame’s Captain Marvel Is A Skrull
This one is quite a stretch, but it goes back to a fan theory based on the first Captain Marvel poster that showed two Carols. Maybe the reason she took so long to answer to call and return to Earth is because she’s not Carol Danvers. The Skrulls betrayed the real Carol and the one we see now asking, “Where’s Fury?” is actually a Skrull in disguise.
No one on Earth right now knows a thing about the Skrulls. Only Fury does, and if he makes his way back to the real world with Ant-Man’s help, he can do the same tests on her that she did on him in the bar.
