Some might not yet believe it, but after years and years of patient waiting, the final chapter of the 22-movie Infinity Saga is less than a month away. It’s been a year of theories, predictions, wishes, and more theories. Every time a trailer is released, a cast member speaks, or a Russo brother sends a tweet, fans analyze them until they come up with a million more rumors.
Everything is based on the comics, so naturally, amongst all this Endgame chatter, these must be mentioned. With nearly a century of comic book stories under their belt, it only makes sense that Marvel adapt certain tales from the pages to the screen. Every movie has done this, and Endgame will (probably) be no different. So, to add to the infinite pile of Marvel Cinematic Theories, here are 10 plot twists from the comics that we might see in Endgame.
10 10. A DIFFERENT VISION
One of Thanos' pre-snap casualties in Infinity War was Vision, who had the Mind Stone ripped from his head. He is also the only dead character who is neither human or alien. Vision is an android, and androids are built, not born. The Vision Quest comic book storyline sees the Avenger be captured and dismantled before his remains are found and Hank Pym attempts to rebuild him.
Unfortunately, the recreation of Vision becomes an emotionless, colorless robot instead of the "human" hero the Avengers knew. The story then deals with Scarlet Witch's frustration in having to deal with a soulless version of her true love. An emotionless Vision could definitely factor into Endgame as the team tries to bring him back. Additionally, Wanda's relationship with him could become a crucial plot-line for whatever Marvel has planned for the next 10 years.
9 9. CAPTAIN AMERICA IS WORTHY
Back in Age of Ultron, there was a hilarious scene where each Avenger tried to lift Thor's hammer. None succeeded. But Thor clearly noticed Mjolnir's slight wobble when Steve Rogers' made his attempt. However, long before this movie, fans have been waiting to see Captain America wielding the mighty weapon due to his comic book history. In fact, he's been able to lift it more than once. The most memorable occasion happened during the Fear Itself event.
When the Avengers are battling Thor's evil uncle, the Serpent, and Red Skull's daughter, Skadi, they begin to doubt their chances at winning. Suddenly, a crowd of normal citizens arrives to aid Earth's Mightiest Heroes, starting by helping Cap up from the floor. With reinvigorated determination, Rogers spots Mjornir on the ground. He lifts it up high and yells "Avengers Assemble!". This is the kind of scene that would reduce fans to joyful tears.
8 8. PROFESSOR HULK
This is probably one of the most likely Endgame theories. Although promotional content has been scarce, a few posters lying around have shown what looks like a more Banner-like Hulk. Until now, we have seen Bruce and the Hulk as two separate entities, but this human look, combined with a big, green, Hulk body seems to reunite both man and monster. As is expected, this can be traced back to Marvel Comics.
The Incredible Hulk #377 introduced readers to the Merged Hulk or "The Professor". When the Gray Hulk, a more intelligent and cunning version, and the normal Savage Hulk were fighting for dominance in Bruce's mind, Doc Samson used a hypnosis technique to create a new Hulk. One with the Gray's cunning, the Savage's strength, and Banner's intelligence. The perfect mixture.
7 7. INFINITY STARK
Imagine the almighty Infinity Gauntlet with the all-powerful Infinity Stones in the hands of the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist Tony Stark. Actually, not a lot of imagination is needed. In Avengers Vol 4 #12, Hood (another random villain) attempts to steal all six gems from the Illuminati. Earth's Mightiest Heroes end up defeating him. What no one noticed was that, amidst the distracting battles, Iron Man had gathered all the Infinity Stones into the Gauntlet.
With all the power he then possesses, he considers making the world a better place and resurrecting friends and family. However, he resists and simply teleports Hood back to prison. Many theories have connected Iron Man to the Infinity Gauntlet, and we might just see Robert Downey Jr don all six Infinity Stones as he completes his 11-year story arc with one final sacrifice.
6 6. NEBULA'S REVENGE
This list couldn't be complete without the comic book arc that inspired both Infinity War and Endgame. Infinity Gauntlet begins with Thanos already in possession of all six stones as he immediately erases half of all life. In other words, both Endgame and Infinity Gauntlet deal with the aftermath of the "snap". However, most of the story is mostly irrelevant to the plot of the next Avengers movie.
Nevertheless, one Nebula-centric moment must be mentioned. As Thanos is distracted, Nebula sneaks up and steals the Gauntlet from his hand. Unfortunately, her hatred of Thanos extends to the rest of the universe, which prompts the Avengers to stop her. Nebula's vengeance is something we could definitely see happening this year. Whether she'll turn on our heroes is another matter entirely
5 5. AVENGERS: FOREVER
Avengers: Forever is not a plot point, but the title of an entire comic book series. In this story, the villain (Immortus) is not in the MCU. The main character (Rick Jones) is also not in the cinematic universe. Then why is this relevant? Simple. Arguably the most talked about theories and rumors all revolve around time-travel. In Forever, Rick Jones, with the help of Kang (also non-MCU), manages to assemble a team of Avengers from different points in time.
This includes a Captain America from the past, a Captain Marvel from the future, and two Hank Pyms, amongst others. And looking at Endgame's latest trailer, we might already have evidence of similar shenanigans. With that said, let's just be glad that Kevin Feige didn't muster the courage of naming the fourth Avengers movie Avengers: 4Ever.
4 4. ILLUMINATTI
The Illuminati is a name that has been seen in various fictional works, and real-life conspiracy theories. It always refers to some sort of powerful secret society, responsible for manipulating major world events. This is exactly what Marvel Comics shows us as well. Including members such as Iron Man, Black Panther, and Doctor Strange, the Illuminati was formed to prevent any more world-threatening alien attacks from happening.
One of their most controversial acts was gathering all the Infinity Stones, and giving one to each member, so they would never be used together again. Endgame may end with several powerful heroes creating a similar society and going down a similar path in regard to the Stones, to prevent any future Thanos-like events from ever happening again.
3 3. CAP'S LEGACY LIVES ON
Some things are inevitable. In Endgame, that includes the death of at least one major character. Or if not death, then some other creative way the Russos come up with to eliminate a character (trapped in time, retired, etc). Who that (or those) may be is the question. One obvious candidate is Captain America. His departure, although devastating, would be nothing new to comic book readers. Death is a constant theme throughout the comics, and Steve Rogers has experienced it once.
Even though he came back later, there was a moment when Rogers was not around. But it wasn't the end of Captain America. After his demise, Bucky Barnes was asked to continue his best friend's legacy, and he becomes the new Captain America. Bucky is expected to return to the MCU, as is Falcon, so it would only make sense that one of these two would take on Steve's mantle in the post-Endgame world.
2 2. NICK FURY
A bizarre story was printed in 2014 concerning the death of Uatu the Watcher, his two giant all-seeing eyeballs, and Nick Fury. In the comics, the Watchers are god-like beings who, although they can see everything in the universe, they are only allowed to watch, never to act. After someone steals one of Uatu's eyes, Nick Fury begs Uatu to tell him who it is, as it could bring disaster to the world if it ends up in the wrong hands. As the Watcher resists, Fury kills him and steals his remaining eye, giving him the ability to see any incoming threat to the planet.
This is the only part that matters. Following Infinity War, many fans claimed that Endgame would reveal Fury's true nature. The theory is that everything he did, from the creation of the Avengers to the message delivered to Captain Marvel, was due to him knowing the future. Hopefully, if this does come true, it will involve fewer giant eyeballs.
1 1. T.O.N.Y S.T.A.R.K
Following the events of Civil War II, Iron Man's final battle against Captain Marvel ended up placing the Armored Avenger in a coma. Before that event, Tony Stark had become a sort of mentor to Riri Williams, a child genius who wished to become a super-hero. Replace "Riri Williams" with "Peter Parker" and you get RDJ's Tony Stark. But there's more. A recent theory proposed a perfect, yet bitter-sweet ending to Iron Man's life.
It states that he will finally face death in Endgame, but that he won't be entirely gone. In a teary revelation, we will see Spider-Man, still dealing with the death of his father figure, put on his suit and suddenly being greeted by a very different AI voice. Tony's voice. Well, as a matter of fact, this is exactly what happened following Civil War II, with Riri dealing with an AI version of Iron Man.