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The 5 Biggest Unanswered Questions Left In The Marvel Cinematic Universe

When it comes to the films in the MCU, there are many unresolved questions that fans still have, but these five queries are the ones that bother me the most and that have yet to be answered.

By Zane SandersPublished 6 years ago 5 min read
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Being a huge Marvel fan — of both the comics and the cinematic universe — I love knowing all of the details and idiosyncrasies of the characters and storylines that have been brought to us over the years. When it comes to the films in the MCU, there are many unresolved questions that fans still have, but these five queries are the ones that bother me the most and that have yet to be answered. I'm sure that in the next few movies some of these will be figured out (and more questions will be added to the list), but let's just take a peek into these ones and see if you have any theories or guesses as to their answers.

1. When Will We Hear Anything About The Supporting Characters From 'The Incredible Hulk'?

This movie was the one in the MCU that has been purposefully held at a distance (presumably, due to the casting change for Bruce Banner), but with General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross having such a big part with the Sokovia Accords in the upcoming Captain America: Civil War, I can only wonder: What happened to the rest of those characters? The Abomination is being held somewhere secure (as stated in the Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant). But what about Betty Ross? The Hulk has been around for quite some time since his first solo venture in the MCU, so why hasn't she reached out to rekindle her flame with Dr. Banner?

Granted, that might be exactly how he wants it (with his momentary infatuation with Black Widow). Or how about Samuel Sterns (a.k.a. The Leader)? Did S.H.I.E.L.D. get a hold of him as well or are there bigger plans for him later as the MCU continues to expand? Could we see the Red Hulk, Red She-Hulk, and Red Leader at some point down the line? Only time will tell, but we can hope that General Ross' inclusion in the next installation of the MCU is the beginning of some these answers.

2. Why are there 2 Infinity Gauntlets?

The gauntlet pictured on the left with "replicas of the Infinity Stones" was discovered early in the MCU, being spotted in Odin's vault from Thor, while the gauntlet pictured on the right was wielded by Thanos at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron. After that tantalizing post-credit scene many presumed that Thanos had stolen the gauntlet from Odin's vault, but Marvel Studios Head Kevin Feige clarified to CinemaBlend last year that the gauntlet Thanos has is not the same one (in fact, you can see they belong on different hands).

The Infinity Stones seen in Guardians of the Galaxy

So, what in the world is going on with that? Can more than one gauntlet be used at once? Are there fakes floating around the MCU? There are only 6 Infinity gems, so unless only one of these is the real deal, I haven't the foggiest idea what is going on.

For those of you that don't know about the infinity stones, in short, Thanos seems to be searching for them in order to dominate the MCU. Although, if we're honest, he really hasn't been doing too much other than floating in his space chair; in fact, he's lost more stones than he's found... which may be the reason he says, "Fine. I'll do it myself," after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron.

I mean, really, out of the four stones we've seen so far, Thanos has zero of them (or minus one, if you count Loki losing the Mind stone for him). Let's go over the infinity stones we've seen thus far:

The Space Stone

  • Stone Color: Blue
  • Original Containment Unit: Tesseract
  • Last seen in The Avengers
  • Current Location: Asgard (since 2012)
  • Current Owner: Heimdall (since 2012)

The Mind Stone

  • Stone Color: Yellow
  • Original Containment Unit: Scepter
  • Last seen in Avengers: Age of Ultron
  • Current Location: Earth (since 2012)
  • Current Owner: Vision (since 2015)

The Reality Stone

  • Stone Color: Red
  • Original Containment Unit: Aether
  • Last Seen in Thor: The Dark World
  • Current Location: Knowhere, inside the Collector's Museum (since 2013)
  • Current Owner: Taneleer Tivan (since 2013)

The Power Stone

  • Stone Color: Purple
  • Original Containment Unit: Orb
  • Last Seen in Guardians of the Galaxy
  • Current Location: Xandar (since 2014)
  • Current Owner: Nova Corps (since 2014)

The Soul Stone and the Time Stone have yet to be revealed in the MCU, but according to wikia,

"Prior to the movie Doctor Strange, the Time Stone was hinted by Kevin Feige to be the Eye of Agamotto."

Over the course of the next few years, building to the Infinity War, I imagine much of what comes with this question will be answered, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on why there are two gauntlets.

4. Where is Odin?

While many assume Odin to be dead after the events of Thor: The Dark World, it seems that even the voices over at Marvel studios aren't communicating the same things. Screencrush reported that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige seemingly dodged the question, saying,

Like all of our plans at Marvel Studios, we know where we would like to go if given the opportunity. We have very good ideas whether the All-Father is with us or not.

While director Alan Taylor was more direct with his answer, suggesting that Odin's fate was final:

That was a big twist. It took us a while to realize that we were actually going to kill him. And then it took us a while to realize that we were going to do that at the end.

While his death does seem to be the logical answer, and right up Loki's alley, you would think that the All-Father's final breath would have been shown in some kind of resplendent battle and not made into an off-screen assumption. I would be shocked if we didn't see Odin again, be it in some form or another, in Thor: Ragnarok or even playing an important role in the Infinity War saga.

5. Who else will we see joining the MCU?

While you can assume we won't be seeing the Fantastic Four or any of the X-Men anytime in the foreseeable future, Marvel Studios still has plenty of characters to add to their movie roster. In fact, during a panel at Wizard World New Orleans, rumors started circulating that the Russo brothers had said that there would be 67 different characters in the Infinity War movies.

"During a special IMAX screening of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the Russos clarified their statement saying 'We were being figurative when we said [67 characters] and people took it as literal but there’s a lot of characters...
Infinity War is meant to be the culmination of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe up to that point.' they continued. 'It’s very ambitious in its scope, it wants to take everything that you’ve seen before and coalesce into some kinda of climactic ending. It’s complicated , ambitious storytelling… We’re not talking about lead characters, just people that make an appearance.'” (comicbook.com)

I can only hope, with a number like that casually being thrown around, that this means we'll soon see many more heroes as the Marvel Cinematic Universe expands.

Again, I'd love to hear the thoughts, theories, and questions that you have about the MCU, as well.

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About the Creator

Zane Sanders

An enneagram 5, prone to absquatulate when around crowds for too long. A lover of family, music, coffee, and Marvel movies, with a heart to help others better understand how to actively engage culture with intelligence and creativity.

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