The 13 Biggest Questions And Developments Marvel Has To Address After AVENGERS: ENDGAME - SPOILERS

The 13 Biggest Questions And Developments Marvel Has To Address After AVENGERS: ENDGAME - SPOILERS

Will we see more heroes passing on their mantles as the MCU continues to move forward? Will we ever see Loki's escape with the Tesseract addressed? Phase 4 is positively rife with storytelling potential.

Feature Opinion
By MarkJulian - May 06, 2019 01:05 PM EST
Filed Under: Avengers: Endgame
One weekend was all it took for the Marvel Cinematic Universe to be radically changed forever. 

Avengers: Endgame brought the dusted heroes back to life, but the price was equally steep as both Black Widow and Iron Man sacrificed themselves for the greater good. There will be a new Captain America moving forward as well, with Steve Rogers deciding that he'd done enough for his country and deserved to live the life stolen from him by the Red Skull way back in Captain America: The First Avenger. 

Rounding out the big three, Thor also underwent some "dramatic" changes that ultimately saw him decide to surrender the throne of Asgard (which is now on Earth) to Valkyrie and jet off into space with the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy - a big setup for the third James Gunn-directed installment of that franchise.

However, there were even bigger questions and issues raised by Endgame, which combined with the return of the X-Men, Fantastic Four and Deadpool, lead to some very exciting possibilities as we head into Phase 4.

Click the Next button below to read up on a few of these issues and then share your thoughts in the comment section below.

13. The MCU Has Introduced The Concept Of Passing The Mantle



In the closing moments of Endgame, Captain America revealed that he made the decision to live out his life in an alternate timeline with Peggy Carter before returning to the present day.  Now a robust 108-years-old, he passes the mantle of Captain America to Sam Wilson aka Falcon. It was a moment that many comic book fans expected to occur following Cap's death but this scenario provides much more interesting possibilities.  Will Sam struggle in the role, leaving another Super Soldier to reluctantly assume the mantle? Will Cap eventually return? However, the biggest possibility this development creates is the ability for Marvel heroes to pass their mantles. This opens the door for a new Iron Man, Thor, heck, even a  new Nick Fury.

12. Loki Escaped With The Tesseract



Though everything appeared to be going smooth, the return to the Battle of New York resulted in Loki escaping with the Tesseract/Space Stone.  That means the God of Mischief never returned to Asgard to face Odin's wrath. Depending on what high jinks he goes up to, it's possible that Loki never replaces Odin and goes down the winding path that led to his reformation.  Perhaps the events of the Loki Disney+ TV series will reveal what he gets up to and also return him to exactly where he needs to be in order to keep the current MCU timeline intact?

11. Who Makes/Repairs Rescue and War Machine’s Armor?



With Tony Stark gone, it's possible that the Iron Man armors will no longer advance for the likes of War Machine and Rescue.  F.R.I.D.A.Y. could carry on the task but given the events of Iron Man 3 and Avengers: Age of Ultron, who knows if Tony would've allowed his work to be carried on after his demise.

10. The Missing 5 Years: What Occurred?



Literally, every Marvel fan wants to know the answer to this question.  Five years is a lot of time and the film only hinted at some of the changes that occurred. Thor turning into the Michelin man, Hawkeye doing his best Punisher impersonation, and Tony getting a daughter can't have been the only major changes.  The loss of half the worlds population seems like a great opportunity for any remaining Marvel villains to make mischief.

09. Did Any Of Spider-Mans Friends Get Older?



Spider-Man returned to his high school to reunite with Ned, prompting the question of whether all of the wall-crawlers friends were dusted by the snap. That seems somewhat unlikely.  However, that depends on when the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home occurs, specifically whether it's set before or after Endgame.

08. What Happened In Wakanda?



Given the response to the first Black Panther film, the absence of Cap, Thor and Iron Man, and the fact that it was the first Marvel film nominated for an Academy Award, Wakanda is going to become an important place heading into Phase 4 and beyond.  While Endgame provided a glimpse of what happened in California and New York during the five-year gap, what occurred in Wakanda was kept under wraps, and will likely be addressed in the film's sequel. 

07. Will Hulk Heal From His Infinity Stone Injuries?



The Infinity Gauntlet made by Etri the Dwarf allowed Thanos to wield the Infinity Stones with significantly less severe injuries than what befell the Hulk and Tony.  The question now becomes whether the Hulk is permanently injured moving forward.  While the Hulk has shown great resilience in the comics, his MCU counterpart seems to be much less powerful.  Does the fact that he was injured by the Infinity Stones mean that the Hulk can't regenerate his arm? Or is it because Professor Hulk is somewhere halfway between Bruce Banner and the raging behemoth? 

06. Will New Asgard Start To Resemble Its Comic Book Counterpart?



New Asgard looked nothing like the golden castles of Asgard as commented by Rocket Raccoon early on in Endgame.  Located in Tønsberg, it's the same city Odin fought the Frost Giants in 965 AD and the place the Red Skull finds the Tesseract in Captain America: The First Avenger.  With Valkyrie now Queen, perhaps the city will begin to look more like the floating version of Asgard from the comics that was briefly located in Oklahoma after it was similarly destroyed.

05. Doctor Strange No Longer Has The Time Stone



The Time Stone was the only thing keeping Dormammu at bay as Doctor Strange trapped the dark being in a time loop during the climax of his standalone film.  How long will it take for him to learn that the Infinity Stones have been destroyed? Will Dormammu first send Kaecilius to confirm the Time Stone's destruction in the sequel? The Ancient One herself stated that things would be very dark without the Infinity Stones presence, leading Hulk to insist that they be returned to the very moment of their abduction once Thanos' snap was undone.  However, post-Endgame, the Stones are (presumably) gone.

04. What Role (If Any) Will Old-Man Cap Play?



Now pushing well over 100, Cap's days of slinging shields and jumping out airplanes without a parachute are long over.  However, comic book fans have seen Steve Rogers aged before and know that he often retains his keen mind and tactical skills. Perhaps Old-Man Cap could lead a newly revived S.H.I.E.L.D. if Nick Fury chooses to continue operating from the shadows?

03. How Will The MCU Bring In The X-Men And Fantastic Four/Silver Surfer?



Kevin Feige has stated that the earliest the newly acquired characters from Fox could be inserted into the MCU is five years from now as things are relatively set for the next Phase.  However, the deal has been in the works for a long time and it seems plausible that there's at least one idea or two for a cameo or tease in the meantime. The Silver Surfer and Galactus would be easier to tease at this point of the established MCU continuinty but the X-Men would be the bigger box office draw.

02. How Will Shang-Chi And The Eternals Be Woven Into The Current Marvel Tapestry?



Doctor Strange and Black Panther are expected to get sequels in Phase 4, along with a Black Widow prequel and a slew of new Disney+ TV shows.  However, there are new characters that are set to be introduced who won't be supporting figures but will be receiving standalone figures.  Similar to Captain Marvel's presence in Endgame, after 11 years and 22 films, the question of where these characters have been all this time and what were they doing will have to be addressed.

01. If Phase 1-3 Are The Infinity Saga, What's The Next Overarching Theme?



Kevin Feige recently dubbed Marvel Phase 1-3 The Infinity Saga and confirmed that Spider-Man: Homecoming closes the door on Phase 3.  Moving forward, will there be another overarching theme that spans across multiple phases, and if so, who could play a role similar to Thanos? There are also plenty of fan favorite events and story arcs to adapt from the Comics - Secret War, Secret Invasion, Avengers vs X-Men, and plenty of others could all be retooled to fit a 10-year cinematic narrative.

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THEDARKKNIGHT1939
THEDARKKNIGHT1939 - 5/6/2019, 1:21 PM
#1
bobevanz
bobevanz - 5/6/2019, 1:22 PM
@THEDARKKNIGHT1939 - second is the first loser lol
THEDARKKNIGHT1939
THEDARKKNIGHT1939 - 5/6/2019, 1:29 PM
@bobevanz - I meant the #1 biggest question that needs to be addressed. Not #1 comment.

CrisParker
CrisParker - 5/6/2019, 2:03 PM
@THEDARKKNIGHT1939 -
Luigi
Luigi - 5/6/2019, 2:07 PM
@THEDARKKNIGHT1939 - Seems like a Falcon move to me.
tugboy
tugboy - 5/6/2019, 2:28 PM
@THEDARKKNIGHT1939 - That's a very nice cereal dispenser. Only top-notch for the Avengers!
bobevanz
bobevanz - 5/6/2019, 1:21 PM
I'm thinking phase 4-6 is the mutant saga, at least that's my dream! Also the multiverse idea really intrigues me
da2213viking
da2213viking - 5/6/2019, 1:22 PM
I think some of these questions will be answered at some point while others would just convolute this even worse. It is what it is. The movie was more about having moments that would make you cheer then having a focused narrative with explanations that were needed. So many questions leaving that movie. It was a good film. One of there better ones but still far from perfect. I knew it would be hard to wrap up 10 years of films into one film but for the most part they succeeded. Congrats.
knocturnalzen10
knocturnalzen10 - 5/6/2019, 1:23 PM
i don't care , everyone will find something to complain about now a days. like every single person in these chats, twatter , snatchchat or what ever else social platform to vent ..... like they're better than the writers who made this masterpiece of a film



the new phrase should be to people complain about the film is " word son............. then you do better ............. I'LL wait .......... end quote . "
Frshcoupe
Frshcoupe - 5/6/2019, 1:26 PM
You guys remember at the end of Iron Man when Fury waited in the dark to talk to Tony about the Avengers initiative? Got that vibe from Fury waiting in Peter’s room telling him he’s hard to get a hold of and “nice to finally meet you”. Spider-Man will indeed be the new face of the MCU and have Iron Man level importance.

Also, Feige said we won’t see X-Men or F4 for five years....didn’t Endgame take place 5 years after the snap?? 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
Goldboink
Goldboink - 5/6/2019, 2:03 PM
@Frshcoupe -
I would love to see that however Sony still owns him so I don't see Spiderman being the overarching brains of the MCU. At some point Sony will want their property back and my hope is that the Spiderverse is an alternate reality that Spidey winds up in or maybe Miles Morales becomes that Spiderman.
JonesTheCat
JonesTheCat - 5/6/2019, 2:37 PM
@Frshcoupe - that’s a fun theory but I really think he means 5 years our time. They already have far from home, Black Panther 2, dr strange 2, guardians 3, eternals, etc., all these movies planned.
TechNation
TechNation - 5/6/2019, 1:28 PM
Well the new Spider-man trailer answers #9, so yes all of the debate team got snapped.
Goldboink
Goldboink - 5/6/2019, 2:04 PM
@TechNation -
Flash looks a lot older. He may have survived the snap and is now a teacher or TA or something like that.
da2213viking
da2213viking - 5/6/2019, 1:30 PM
I'm really confused about if they took the tesseract from 1970 instead of 2012 does that mean the future is changed up to the point of 2012. Does Loki really get the tesseract in 2012 if it's missing 42 years prior and isnt in that timeline now. Do the avengers ever form? I have no idea. Could they just go back too a later time frame. Say 2016 and get tony from that time frame and just have him stay in there timeline. If cap went back to live his life, what happens to the cap that's already there. Does he not exist or does he just go and follow the regular events. Again, I dont know. Answers would have been nice. At times I was watching it and I thought holy crap this movie has more plotholes then BvS
bkmeijer2
bkmeijer2 - 5/6/2019, 1:32 PM
@da2213viking - I think a lot can be answered by thinking about it more by yourself. All in all, I think Loki escaping with the Cube really is the only thing that seems messy
Battabing
Battabing - 5/6/2019, 1:39 PM
@MalseMarcel - Nebula killing her younger self is also a problem.
Tony93
Tony93 - 5/6/2019, 1:45 PM
@Battabing - according to the film's definition of how time travel works, killing your younger self won't make you disappear, which means there is a timeline out there with an absent Thanos/Nebula/Gamora/and army. The one where they took the stone before Quill did. its just an alternate reality
Tony93
Tony93 - 5/6/2019, 1:48 PM
@da2213viking - They venture to different times thus causing an alternate reality, so there is a reality where everything after 2012 is different (Loki escaping). and a reality where thanos/gamora/nebula/and his army are missing. just like what bruce said in the film, you going back in time can't affect your former self because that now becomes your past.
da2213viking
da2213viking - 5/6/2019, 1:49 PM
@MalseMarcel - see that's the problem. I have already thought about for the last 7 days and it doesnt help. I am Just going to let it go because I dont want it to ruin what good things the movie did do but let's just hope next time they do something like this they have a stronger script with more focus on explanations when they RIP a wormhole like this open. Very risky move by marvel. They are lucky they have such a strong following because things like this can tend to turn people off when it come to general audiences and people who dont watch every movie. I think the moments that they had really made the movie but narrative wise it was one of there weaker films. Civil war. Infinity war. Hell even the first iron man had a much tighter script. Although those movies weren't as risky and pretty straightforward with there narrative
jmorin
jmorin - 5/6/2019, 1:52 PM
@da2213viking - This movie deals in timeline splits. Yes Loki gets the tesseract and disappears. That basically creates an entirely new timeline for all new things to happen in. BUT that does not affect our Prime timeline.

They could take Tony or Natasha from a different time and bring them to our Prime timeline, but you have to understand that then, that Tony or Natasha would disappear from that timeline. So if they grabbed Tony from 2016 and brought him to 2023...no more Tony in 2016. By that same token, we can assume that when Thor takes Mjolnir from 2013 back to 2023, it is not available to the Thor 2013. Thor 2013 is going "Where's my bloody hammer?" (probably). This is why Cap also has to return it.

What happens to Cap? Who knows? Maybe he stayed in the ice. Maybe there are two Steve Rogers walking around. Maybe they know each other, maybe they don't. Honestly, it doesn't really matter and the fact that we don't know does not make it a plot hole. All the audience needs to understand is that this man who has lived out of time and has only known life as a soldier got chance to live a completely different life. The only way that has an affect on our current Prime timeline, the one he returns to as an old man is: now he is an old man. Even Sharon Carter is still Peggy's great niece. When he goes back and reunites with Peggy, that creates new events, but the events of today do not change because there is a split in the timeline, a new reality that exists concurrently with the one we have all watched unfold.
da2213viking
da2213viking - 5/6/2019, 1:57 PM
@Tony93 - so I guess what I am saying is the timeline in 1970 when they take the tesseract. Does that change that futures timeline to the point where the avengers never existed and Loki in turn never gets the tesseract? Your interfering with the past and messing up that timeline but it doesnt affect the real timeline because it's an alternate timeline but yet it is playing out just like the original timeline which usually doesnt happen. Alternate timelines are usually different then the originals. but when you go back ,even though it's a different timeline its playing out the same. So them taking the tesseract in 1970 would drastically change that timeline in 2012 because everything is playing out the same just in a different time and space I guess. It's just messy dude. It's fine though. I'll never know. I can live with it
Tony93
Tony93 - 5/6/2019, 2:10 PM
@da2213viking - the 1970 timeline was changed but Cap did take that stone back. it helps alot if you draw it out,basically anything that was changed and can't be fixed by returning the stone seconds after it was taken will create a new timeline. that could explain the multiverse in far from home.
bkmeijer2
bkmeijer2 - 5/6/2019, 2:14 PM
@da2213viking - only thing to understand is that Cap returning the stones and mjolnir prevents all that previous time travelling creating an alternate timeline. As of right now we have three timeline. Prime where all the movies take place in (including all the time travelling). The one where Thanos and his army dissappeared in 2014 and another where Loki dissappeared in 2012 with the Cube. I do agree with you that the time travelling is explained a bit weird in the movie. Its allmost like they dont want us to understand it

I also have to do some shameless self advertising: I wrote an article on what the timeline is now. Maybe that will help.
da2213viking
da2213viking - 5/6/2019, 2:20 PM
@MalseMarcel - cool thanks man. Maybe I will check it out. Like i said i enjoyed the movie just felt it was sloppier then i would like. Doesnt take away fromthe great moments it had and it did wrap everything up nicely. Just dont like having so many questions. Your explanation helps a bit. I've only seen it once so maybe I get it better on a repeat viewing
bkmeijer2
bkmeijer2 - 5/6/2019, 3:58 PM
@da2213viking - Dont wanna push into seeing it again, but for me seeing it a second time it made a lot more sense
L0RDbuckethead
L0RDbuckethead - 5/6/2019, 1:30 PM
Hey @MarkJulian,

I believe New Asgard was briefly in Oklahoma, not Kansas.
Subtlespammer24
Subtlespammer24 - 5/6/2019, 1:42 PM
@L0RDbuckethead - thank you Miss Jacques Cousteau
MarkJulian
MarkJulian - 5/6/2019, 1:45 PM
@L0RDbuckethead - Yes, knew it was one of those tornado states.
L0RDbuckethead
L0RDbuckethead - 5/6/2019, 1:45 PM
@Subtlespammer24 - You're welcome.

L0RDbuckethead
L0RDbuckethead - 5/6/2019, 1:47 PM
@MarkJulian - No worries, man. You were just a bit north ;)
E4Nigma
E4Nigma - 5/6/2019, 1:31 PM
The Russo's confirmed that Evans is done as Cap.

“No, I think Chris — Chris is a very emotional person,” Joe told the Happy Sad Confused podcast when asked if Evans will play the character again. “I think, maybe it’s evident if you follow him on Twitter — because he does put his heart into what he says — but I feel like he has to close the door on things and emotionally move onto the next thing.”

Added Anthony, “There are no plans.”

“I think for now he’s emotionally moved on, yes,” said Joe.


https://comicbook.com/marvel/amp/2019/05/06/avengers-endgame-directors-chris-evans-return-captain-america-emotionally-moved-on/

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