Well before the first set visit reports and spoilery TV spots for Avengers: Infinity War began
circulating earlier this month, a mysterious
Reddit post surfaced all the way back in November 2017 that purportedly contained all the major beats of The Russo Bros.' superhero spectacle.
At the time, there was no way to ascertain the veracity of this post and most fans rightfully dismissed it. However, in the five months that have followed, much of the details in it appear to be coming true.
Let's recap what exactly was revealed in terms of what's been confirmed since the rumor's initial posting. We'll also examine a few remaining details in the post that have yet to be confirmed.
CONFIRMED: Steve Adopts the Nomad Persona and Leads a Team Comprised of Black Widow, Falcon, and Scarlet Witch
Cap leading some version of the Secret Avengers or New Avengers has been confirmed thanks to earlier set visit reports. Do you think the MCU moves forward with multiple Avengers teams after Avengers 4 or do you expect a reunification to occur before Thanos is defeated? Many of the MCU veterans are said to be making their departure so who knows whether the MCU will be left with enough heroes to support multiple teams.
UNCONFIRMED: Ant-Man and Hawkeye Went Their Separate Ways and Ant-Man Doesn't Really Appear In The Film At All
Ant-Man reportedly has a very minuscule (no pun intended) role in Infinity War and that seems to be corroborated by the first trailer for Ant-Man and the Wasp, which revealed that Lang went back to his family and was placed on some sort of superhero house arrest.
What happens to Hawkeye is a bigger mystery and the Reddit post does reveal where Hawkeye eventually surfaces. More on that later...
CONFIRMED: Cap and His Team Rescue Scarlet Witch and Vision From Thanos' Generals and Send Vision To Wakanda
The first promo poster for Avengers: Infinity War (released in July 2017) actually gave us the first clue as to the division of all the MCU superhero teams in the film.
Making up Cap's Secret Avengers are Falcon, Black Widow, and Scarlet Witch. From set reports, it seems the Vision tracks down Scarlet Witch while the New Avengers or (Secret Avengers) are on a mission and he reveals his new humanoid form to Scarlet Witch just before the Black Order attacks.
Steve and the rest of his team arrive to provide aid and spirit away an injured Vision to Wakanda to get help from Black Panther and Shuri. In the second trailer, there's a brief scene of Shuri examining the Infinity Stone in Vision's forehead.
CONFIRMED: Loki Gives Thanos The Space Stone To Spare The Asgard Refugees; Thor Is Severely Beaten And Cast Into Space
As seen at the end of Thor: Ragnarok, Thanos' ship intercepts the Asgardian refugees on their way to Earth. In the first trailer, Loki can be seen offering the Tesseract to Thanos.
In the second trailer, there appears to be a continuation of that shot which shows Thanos destroying the outer shell of the Cosmic Cube and placing the Stone in his Gauntlet.
Does Loki's bargaining work? Other rumors state that Thanos proceeds to destroy all of the refugees despite getting a Stone. However, if the Mad Titans' end goal is to "bring balance to the Universe" by destroying 50% of all life, it stands to reason that he would let half of the refugees live.
CONFIRMED: Bruce Banner Escapes Thanos Initial Attack In An Escape Pod But Can't Turn Back Into The Hulk
In the very first trailer for Avengers: Infinity War, we see Bruce Banner appear to crash through the roof of Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum. Iron Man then arrives on the scene and the three form a team with Spider-Man as they prepare to square off directly with Thanos. The release footage for Infinity War thus far implies that goes disastrously bad.
CONFIRMED: Black Panther Unites The Wakanda Leaders To Prepare For Thanos' Arrival. Bucky Is Awakened From Cryosleep And Given A New Arm
It looks as if Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther has all of Wakanda united as they prepare to repel the assault by Thanos' forces. Cap and Bucky are reunited and joined by Hulk, Black Widow, War Machine and Falcon on the front lines.
Based on the footage from the two Infinity War trailers, it seems the Scarlet Witch is keeping a watchful eye on the Vision from wherever he's being safely hidden away.
CONFIRMED: Doctor Strange Develops A Grudge Against Ebony Maw After He Steals The Time Stone
Ebony Maw, seemingly enters the inner recesses of the Sanctum Sanctorum and proceeds to have his way with Doctor Strange. Their rivalry actually stretches back to the comics as the two waged a deadly battle which also saw Strange lose, divulging the location of the Infinity Stones in the process.
The screengrab above is from the most recent trailer, however, the rumor from last November made mention of their onscreen battle months ago.
UNCONFIRMED: Valkyrie Leads The Surviving Asgardian Refugees To Safety
Do any Asgardian refugees survive Thanos' attack on their ship? Conflicting reports say Thanos wipes everyone out save Loki and Thor but that seems unlikely if there's to be a fourth entry in the Thor franchise. It's also unlikely Valkyrie would be introduced in Ragnarok only to perish in her very next onscreen appearance.
Leading the refugees somewhere far away from the conflict would be a nice way to usher Tessa Thompson's character safely away from all the death and destruction about to be unleashed on Midgard.
CONFIRMED: After The Guardians Pick-Up Thor, The Team Splits Into Two Groups
The Reddit rumor post from March stated that Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, and Mantis head to Knowhere to consult with The Collector but find him getting tortured by Thanos and that Thor, Rocket Raccoon and Groot Search For Eitiri the forger of the Infinity Gauntlet. It seems Thanos cut off his hands to make sure he never forged something powerful enough to destroy it.
Ther's a scene in the second trailer that appears to show Star-Lord and his group arriving on Knowhere. The second trailer also sees Thor, Rocket, and Groot in what looks like Eitiri's forge just as the Odinson powers it up with a bit of lightning.
UNCONFIRMED: Eitri Is Called A Dwarf but is Really A Giant
This seems a bit odd and out of place, but the November rumor stated that there's a gag that Eitri the Dwarf will actually be a giant.
Is this why there's been no footage of the character rumored to be played by Game of Thrones' Peter Dinklage? The visual of a giant version of Peter Dinklage that doesn't have any hands certainly sounds like a surprise Marvel would want to keep under wraps.
UNCONFIRMED: Thor 'DOES NOT' Receive A New Eye
The very earliest of marketing and promotional material for Avengers: Infinity War depicted Thor with two working eyes, a fact that wasn't true by the end of Thor: Ragnarok.
Nevertheless, some fans are insistent that the Odinson will receive a new eye or technical replacement in the film, rendering the need for his CGI eyepatch.
While this makes sense from a cost-saving standpoint, the November rumor states that Thor will never receive a new eye from magical or technical sources.
CONFIRMED: When Star-Lord's Team Arrives on Earth, They're Joined By Iron Man, Doctor Strange And Spider-Man And Attempt To Take The Fight Directly To Thanos
"We've got one advantage, he's coming to us," says Iron Man in the second Infinity War trailer. Star-Lord also quips to Iron Man in the second trailer that he thinks his plan "sucks."
The half-Celestial might actually be right as both trailers show Iron Man and Spider-Man getting absolutely wrecked by the Mad Titan. How Doctor Strange and Star-Lord fare remains to be seen.
UNCONFIRMED: Hawkeye Shows Up During The Battle In Wakanda
There wasn't much detail on where Hawkeye went or what he's been up to since the end of Civil War, but the rumor stated that Hawkeye would turn up during the battle in Wakanda.
Was he off on a secret mission at Cap's behest or did he simply go off to be with his family? Also, does he show up in Wakanda to rescue Scarlet Witch, just like he did in Civil War? It seems the guilt of Quicksilver's sacrifice in Age of Ultron is still weighing heavily on his conscience.
UNCONFIRMED (?): During The Wakanda Battle, Bruce Hulks Out To Defeat Cull Obsidian
At this point, it's a poorly-guarded secret that it's Bruce Banner in the Hulkbuster armor this time around, not Tony Stark.
However, the trailer has shown that he'll eventually Hulk-out and really wreak mayhem on Thanos' forces. But is the catalyst behind Banner's transformation really the overwhelming might of Cull Obsidian?
In the comics, this character is named Black Dwarf and also led an invasion of Wakanda. He was defeated by Black Panther but it was later shown that his might was such that it took the combined forces of Ronan the Accuser, a Super Skrull, Gladiator, and Annihilus to take him down.
That strength definitely makes him a better matchup for the Hulk instead of Black Panther.
UNCONFIRMED: Red Skull Has A Brief Cameo
Fans have been curious about Red Skull's whereabouts in the MCU ever since it was revealed that the Tesseract was really the Space Stone and could be used to open teleportation portals.
That led fans to quickly surmise that Johann Schmidt was still alive and well somewhere out in the MCU.
The rumor doesn't say how and in what context the Red Skull will appear only that he'll have a brief cameo.
UNCONFIRMED: Thanos Kills Gamora To Get The Soul Stone
A flashback to Gamora's childhood and the moment she was abducted by Thanos certainly doesn't portend a happy ending for her.
Per the rumor, it seems you need to kill a loved one to get your hands on the Soul Stone and the Mad Titan loves his adopted daughter after a fashion. He loves the skillset she brings to the table as an assassin, he doesn't really care about her as a person.
If the rumor proves true, it seems Thanos might want to consider a second career as an attorney as he was able to find a loophole to satisfy the prerequisite to acquire the Soul Stone.