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Four Ways 'Captain Marvel' Could Seriously Impact the MCU

With the release of a handful of out-of-context photos from Marvel Studios’ next film, Captain Marvel, the fanboys are getting their theory on.

When up-and-coming cartoonist Keef Knight has a traumatic run-in with the police, he begins to see the world in an entirely new way.

The 21st film in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, and first to be solely driven by a female character, isn’t set to hit theaters until March 8, 2019 (aka International Women’s Day), but for a certain Marvel stan (present company included), those images are more than enough to get ticket buyers hype for how this new character will help shape the post-Infinity War MCU.

It’s an intriguing game of fantasy booking that Marvel fans play. The rich Marvel Comics history means that Marvel Studios have a number of different avenues to take their film properties down. They also have a tendency to remix the comic book history for their films, for good or ill. That’s a recipe for failed theories, but the thrill is in the chase, not the kill.

Now that we’re clear, and there’s no word on when the first proper Captain Marvel trailer will hit, it’s high time to round up these theories. Not only will it allow us to get an understanding of what Marvel could be brewing up for Captain Marvel, but it’ll give us even more insight on what makes Carol Danvers tick. Grab your tinfoil hat and legal pad and let’s do some theorizing.

Captain Marvel battling Thanos’ Children?

The first theory doesn’t have roots in the Captain Marvel first-look photos at all. It comes from an Easter Egg in Avengers: Infinity War. When the film hit digital retailers, fans pored over each frame, looking for new information. One of them comes early on in the film when Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian (two of Thanos’ goons) confront Tony Stark, Doctor Strange, Bruce Banner, and Wong. If you zoom in on Cull Obsidian’s belt, you can see a cloth hanging from his waist. Said cloth is very similar to the outfit that Captain Marvel wears (which was teased at the end of Infinity War, when Nick Fury pulled out that pager).

The easy (and wrong) thought is that “oh, Captain Marvel takes place in the ‘90s; this must mean Cull Obsidian must have murdered her and we won’t even see her in the modern Marvel films.” What’s more likely is that a previous Captain Marvel did battle with Cull Obsidian, lost, and Cull took a piece of their outfit as a souvenir. Could that battle be something we see in Captain Marvel? It’s possible; this film will not only show us a young Nick Fury, but Ronan (who was the main villain in Guardians of the Galaxy) will also play a part in Captain Marvel. It’s something to stick a pin in, at least.

The beginning of the “Secret Invasion”

From June of 2008 to January of 2009, the Marvel Comics universe was fighting a major war against the Skrulls, an alien race who possess the power of shapeshifting, effectively allowing them to become anyone. These sleeper agents infiltrated the Earth, with some key Marvel figures actually being revealed to be Skrulls. Seeds for the “Secret Invasion” storyline were laid in Marvel books almost a year prior to the crossover event, and the mere sight of the Skrulls in Captain Marvel has fans wondering if the Secret Invasion, like Marvel’s “Civil War” and “Infinity War” comic book events, will be the next crossover to hit the silver screen.

Some fans have gone further, even speculating that we could be getting the Secret Invasion as quickly as Avengers 4, although that feels like a lot of story that’d need to be provided in Captain Marvel as well as time spent un-disappearing MCU heroes in Avengers 4. That said, this could be a longer play, similar to how the Infinity Stones were laced through the first 10 years of MCU films. We already know that Talos (who is played by Ben Mendelsohn) is a leader of a Skrull team, and that we’ll see that the Skrulls have infiltrated SHIELD. Maybe we’ve already seen a Skrull in the MCU and just didn’t realize it yet.

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