Marvel Cinematic Universe movies often leave room for fans to speculate about various plot lines and characters. Some of these fan theories end up making more sense than the franchise’s official explanations.
For example, Hela Odinsdottir (Cate Blanchett) in Thor: Ragnarok is the Asgardian Goddess of Death who shares a striking resemblance to Loki. This prompted fans to come up with this clever theory.With its sprawling source material and consistent release schedule, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is no stranger to fan theories. Some are more outrageous than others, but the best MCU fan theories can be surprisingly intelligent.
After Thanos wiped out half of the universe in Avengers: Infinity War, many fans came up with ideas for how the surviving heroes could reverse the snap. Some of these theories were right, and some were wrong.
1. Thanos Snaps the X-Gene
The Infinity War snap was a universe-shattering event that wiped out half of the galaxy’s population. But many fans believe it was also the catalyst for introducing mutants into the MCU.
According to this theory, after the Avengers acquired all six Infinity Stones from alternate timelines they used them to travel back in time and prevent the events of Ragnarok and bring their own timeline’s Thanos to their present-day home. But what happens when they destroy the stones with a second snap? It releases a massive amount of cosmic energy that creates mutants. The X-Men have always been controversial characters and having them created as the result of Thanos’ actions could make them even more disliked.
2. Ant-Man Goes Inside Thanos
One of the more bizarre fan theories to make the rounds in the wake of Avengers: Infinity War was that Ant-Man could defeat the genocidal Mad Titan by crawling inside him. Paul Rudd even addressed it during a recent interview with ComicBook.
This was a popular idea, and it’s probably not going anywhere. Josh Brolin embraced the theory in a reddit post, and the Russo Brothers mocked it on Instagram.
But it turns out that the deeply silly (and disgusting) plan might actually work. It’s just a matter of how soon Avengers fans get to see it play out in the next movie. And the answer to that question might be coming sooner than we think.
3. Thanos Snaps the Avengers
The Snap had universal repercussions, but it also had a devastating effect on the Avengers. Many fans thought that Iron Man (Mark Ruffalo) might accidentally kill Captain America (Chris Evans), allowing Bucky to take up the mantle in the aftermath.
But the Avengers would have to lose their original team in order for that to happen. That’s because the Infinity Stones affect everything they touch – even things that aren’t present in time where the snapper wants to change the future.
So, the loss of Odin, the Ancient One and Ego the Living Planet could have changed the outcome of Thanos’ plan. But that’s just a theory. It was never going to happen.
4. Ant-Man Goes Inside The Mind Stone
The Mind Stone is one of the most intriguing Infinity Stones to be featured in the MCU, primarily because it’s able to control minds. It’s also a pure source of energy, capable of melting pure vibranium armor.
In The Avengers, the Scepter allowed Loki to connect with The Other and send his thoughts to them. It’s possible that the scepter was able to communicate information across space and time, which is something that could happen again with Scott Lang and the Quantum Realm.
The Quantum Realm opened up a tunnel to the future, allowing the Avengers to collect the Infinity Stones from different timelines and undo Thanos’ snap. It’s likely that Steve Rogers / Captain America will bring the Mind Stone with him back to the present.
5. Ant-Man Goes Inside Doctor Strange
While the Ant-Man movies aren’t the MCU’s biggest hits, they serve as important signposts. They prove that low-profile comic actors like Paul Rudd and a modest story can succeed in big-mythology MCU movies. And they establish firm narrative limits for future movies that don’t need to feature Iron Man-level stars.
It seems likely that Doctor Strange knew about Scott Lang entering the Quantum Realm in Ant-Man and the Wasp. After all, the film’s mid-credits scene saw Janet van Dyne warn the heroes to be careful around “time vortexes.”
Additionally, it was revealed in Avengers: Infinity War that Strange could look into the future and see one narrow path to defeating Thanos. That path required setting the heroes adrift in multiple timelines at precisely the right moment.
6. Thanos Snaps the X-Men
With its massive amount of source material and relentless release schedule, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a fertile ground for fan theories. But not all of them are created equal. Some actually make a lot of sense.
Fans were quick to theorize that Hela (Cate Blanchett) — an overpowered Asgardian goddess and the MCU’s version of Lady Death — was responsible for snapping away half the universe. The theory was never proven or explored in-film, but it did offer a far better explanation of the Infinity Stones’ actions than what Marvel Studios came up with on their own.
Another popular theory was that the MCU’s version of Heimdall could have held an Infinity Stone, since he’s so close to Odin Borson and has eyes the same color. But this proved to be untrue, too.