Even after a trailer, how Avengers: Infinity War will alter the state of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a mystery, but there are new hints.
Although Avengers: Infinity War is still five months away from release, that doesn’t mean that Marvel isn’t hard at work on the next film in the subseries — once Infinity War Part II, and now nameless, presumably until after we all see Infinity War and probably have lots of fights on the Internet about it.
That means its actors are hard at work as well, and, thanks to CBR, we know that Sebastian Stan is among them. And, in fact, CBR offers two explanations for why the man who plays Bucky Barnes would be at a location that no longer exists in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Tony Stark’s collection of previous Iron Man suits.
The first is the more practical — that there will be flashbacks in this fourth Avengers film. After all, flashbacks and video from earlier times has played a part in Bucky’s story as the Winter Soldier before.
However, what CBR also hints at is the possibility of actual time travel, and that’s where things get interesting. Although Doctor Strange is currently in possession of the Time Stone in the form of the Eye of Agamotto, that does not mean that he will still have it post Infinity War. Thanos could leave the Avengers scattered throughout time, looking for ways to get back to the present and confront him, assuming he is not just a one-movie main villain. (That could be asking a lot of the MCU, but hope springs eternal.) That could explain the time discrepancy … and offer a new explanation as to how Captain Marvel can show up while her standalone film is set in the ’90s.
As CBR also reminds us, Dec. 16, 1991 is the date that the Winter Soldier took out Tony Stark’s parents, but it’s also set in the ’90s.
Next: 5 things standing between Avengers: Infinity War and total failure
Call it a bit of a conspiracy theory, but it does seem all a little mysteriously convenient. Avengers: Infinity War can’t come soon enough. We need answers, Marvel!