The MCU's Biggest Unanswered Questions

With the ever-expanding narrative of the Marvel Cinematic Universe comes the burden of mystery. There are many unanswered questions about the MCU, some of which have simmered on the back burner since almost the very beginning. What happened to Betty Ross? The Abomination? What exactly happened to Odin in Thor: Ragnarok?

As the first MCU movie to end without a resolution, 2018's Avengers: Infinity War left us with a lot of unanswered questions. While many of those mysteries have since been solved with 2019's Avengers: Endgame, some remain and we have a whole host of new questions. Where is Gamora? What happened to Mjolnir after Steve Rogers brought it back in time? Will Thor wrestle the leadership of the Guardians of the Galaxy from Peter Quill?

It's likely not everything will be resolved. The answers to some of these questions may simply be left up to our imaginations. To help you keep track, here's a look at the biggest unanswered questions in the MCU.

Both Ant-Man films offer some of the lightest, most comedy-centered fare in the MCU, so it would be understandable if the kinds of fans who always have their ears and eyes sharp for potential "secrets" let their guard down and missed a couple of things. But with the release of Ant-Man & The Wasp, one of the biggest unanswered questions of the MCU may have something to do with who the new Big Bad of the MCU will be after Thanos is finally defeated. 

Early in the film, both Wasp and Ghost easily dispatch the thugs of Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins), yet Burch remains undeterred because he's working for someone who doesn't take no for an answer. In case you were too busy laughing and didn't notice, Burch never reveals exactly who it is he's working for. He mentions his employer to Wasp and we hear him talking on the phone with them, but we never get a name. 

Obviously, it's too early to tell. It may be that director Peyton Reed was simply setting up the villain for the third Ant-Man film. But considering the possibilities of Pym's quantum technology, whoever's hunting for it isn't looking to rob banks and knock over drug stores. A heavy hitter is coming for Pym's tech, and they might occupy Thanos' empty chief antagonist throne after Avengers 4.

A single line of dialogue in Captain America: Civil War not only has major implications for the relationship between Bucky and Black Widow, but suggests Natasha Romanoff has been lying to Steve Rogers and the rest of her friends since Captain America: The Winter Soldier. After Zemo sets Bucky loose from the CIA's detainment facility, Bucky fights his way through the film's heroes, including Black Widow. As the two fight, Bucky slams Black Widow onto a table and Romanoff hisses at him, "You could at least recognize me!"

Marvel Comics fans know it was eventually revealed in the comics that Bucky and Romanoff not only worked together before the fall of the Soviet Union, but were lovers. That one line of dialogue during their fight in Civil War strongly implies that the same, or part, is true in the MCU. Sure, they fought each other in Winter Soldier, so she could be referencing that, but why would Black Widow be disappointed he didn't recognize her if that was their only contact — and why would she say it so that no one but she and Bucky heard it?

If it proves true and the truth is exposed, it could mean friction between Black Widow and her friends. She told Rogers she knew Bucky only as an adversary in Winter Soldier. We may learn more in her solo movie, due for release on May 1, 2020.

If you saw Iron Man 3, then you know despite the advertising, Ben Kingsley didn't actually play the Mandarin. Instead, he played Trevor Slattery — a failed actor and drug addict hired by Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) to play the part of a terrorist. Regardless, when the smoke cleared, Slattery found himself in prison for his part in Killian's schemes. 

Slattery's story didn't end there. Kingsley reprised his role in the short Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King, initially only available on the Thor: The Dark World Blu-ray and digital home releases. The short shows us Slattery's life in prison, where a loyal cadre of starstruck inmates protect the actor from the more predatory prisoners. All Hail the King is initially introduced as a faux documentary about Slattery by a man calling himself Jackson Norris (Scoot McNair). Norris eventually reveals himself to be a servant of the true Mandarin, who is none too happy with Trevor's performance. Mandarin sent Norris to the prison to kidnap Slattery so he could face the Mandarin's justice. The short ends with the dim Slatterly clueless about what's happening. 

All Hail the King confirmed that a true Mandarin exists in the MCU, and now we know we're actually going to meet the guy. The news broke during the 2019 San Deigo Comic-Con that February 12, 2021 would see the release of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, featuring Tony Leung as the genuine Marvel villain the Mandarin. However, the question remains exactly who this guy is and whether or not Shang-Chi will bring us the return of Trevor Slattery.

Thanos captured the first of the Infinity Stones off-camera: the Power Stone, a.k.a. the Orb. We see Nova Prime put the Orb in a vault on Xandar in the last few minutes of Guardians of the Galaxy. The Mad Titan already has the stone when he and the Black Order attack the Asgardian refugee ship in Infinity War, and later in the film, we learn that Thanos "decimated" Xandar.

But "decimate" isn't a precise word, particularly not when it comes to Thanos. We know his usual M.O. is to wipe out half the population of a planet. If half the population of Earth were wiped out, you could use the word "decimate" without sounding melodramatic. So did Thanos and the Black Order literally destroy the Nova Empire? Or did they just bring it to its knees? Is it possible we might see Nova Prime (Glenn Close) or Corpsman Dey (John C. Reilly) again?

Regardless, it would seem strange to not have the events on Xandar trigger more repercussions down the road. It may even be the narrative tool Marvel Studios uses to bring the hero Nova into the MCU. 

Sif was not only missing from Avengers: Infinity War, she was M.I.A. for Thor: Ragnarok as well. According to Jaime Alexander, she didn't show up for the third Thor because of a scheduling conflict. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige gave a narrative explanation that leaves the door open for Sif's return, saying Loki would want Thor's closest allies far away from him so — just as we find out from Skurge in the beginning of Ragnarok that Heimdall was falsely accused of treason — Loki (disguised as Odin) got rid of Sif. "Sif was probably banished," Feige said. "She's off somewhere."

If Sif wasn't on Asgard when Surtur destroyed it, then she wasn't on the refugee ship either. Sif could still be alive out there in the cosmos, waiting to hear back from a world that's long gone and a people who aren't doing much better.

Strangely, a name we haven't heard used at all in the MCU yet is "Elders of the Universe," in spite of the fact that three of the Elders have appeared in the films and one of them — Ego from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – was a major villain. In the comics, the Elders are a group of powerful cosmic beings who share three common traits: each is powerful, each is the last surviving member of their respective race, and each is obsessed with a specific pursuit, like collecting, gaming, gardening, or in some cases, just good ol' killing. 

Though neither the Collector nor the Grandmaster have been shown to have any overt relationship to one another in the films, in the comics they're both counted among the Elders. Physically, they've both been given similar marks on their chins. It may be that they're both meant to be related to another in some way, but that it's just a footnote for the fans, not something that will ever matter that much in the overall story of the MCU.

But there are reasons to think the two could mean much more than we think. Both potentially have some kind of relationship with Loki — remember that it was Loki disguised as Odin who sent Volstagg and Sif to deliver the Aether to the Collector in the mid-credits scene of Thor: The Dark World. And in Ragnarok, we never learned exactly how Loki won Grandmaster's favor.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 gave us the answer to the origin of Peter Quill. We learned who his father was, and how that lineage allowed Quill to hold an Infinity Stone without dying. That leaves us with one Guardian whose origin remains shrouded in mystery: Rocket. 

We know very little about Rocket. We know he's the product of scientific experiments. We know the Nova Corps refers to him as "Subject 89P13" in the first Guardians film. And of course we know Rocket isn't exactly thrilled about the nature of his existence as a "little monster." We don't know the identities of the scientists who made him, why they did what they did, or how Rocket escaped them. 

Gunn has said he doesn't plan to stick strictly to Rocket's comic book origin. "It's a little bit more horrible than what it is in the comics when you come down to it," he told an audience at the 2017 HASCON in Providence, Rhode Island. "We will learn more about that."

The second season of Netflix's Iron Fist ends with a tease. Danny Rand (Finn Jones) and Ward Meachum (Tom Pelphrey) are globetrotting together to find Orson Randall. In the comics, Orson is an Iron Fist who turned his back on his duties to protect the sacred city K'un-Lun. The Netflix series ends with the reveal that Danny Rand acquired Randall's pistols, which appear to be infused with Iron Fist energy. While in the comics there was nothing special about Randall's pistols — he simply knows more ways to use his Iron Fist abilities than Danny, like infusing bullets with his deadly Chi — the scene is a clear reference to the comics.

Unfortunately, we may never know what happens to Danny. In October 2018, Iron Fist became the first of the Netflix Marvel series to get the axe. Danny Rand's travels are briefly mentioned in the final season of Jessica Jones, but not in a way that provides closure or any details. While fans hoped the upcoming Disney+ streaming service might resurrect Iron Fist and the other Netflix Marvel series, Variety reported in December 2018 that Marvel's contract with Netflix states its characters cannot appear in a non-Netflix film or TV series until two years after the series is canceled. That means if we're ever going to get a resolution to Danny's story on the big or small screen, it won't be until 2021 at the absolute earliest. 

Avengers: Endgame brought the Gamora from 2014 into the present, filling Star-Lord with the hope that he could have the love of his life back in spite of her untimely death during Infinity War. Unfortunately, this Gamora has never met Quill and their first meeting doesn't exactly go well. She's nowhere in sight after the battle with Thanos and his armies, leading some to wonder if Tony Stark's snap unintentionally killed her along with her adoptive father. We know now that a scene was filmed with Gamora after the battle, showing she did survive Tony's snap, but it was deleted. 

So where is Gamora, and what are her plans? Shortly after Endgame's release we made some educated guesses, but it's still just speculation. We won't know where she is until, in most likelihood, we learn a lot more about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. 

The fact that this is a Gamora from the past — and from another timeline — fills her return with a lot of potential. This new/old Gamora could go in any direction. She could rejoin the Guardians, she could become a villain, or something in between. This is a Gamora who never met Peter Quill and who never fought alongside him and the other Guardians. Who knows who she'll become?

Avengers: Endgame's resolution teases the possibility of Thor joining the Guardians of the Galaxy and perhaps challenging Peter Quill for the team's leadership. Before boarding the Guardians' ship, Thor tells Valkyrie he's just using them for "a ride," but once he's on the ship he makes it clear who he thinks would be the best leader for the Guardians, and most of the rest of the team seems excited at the prospect of Thor and Quill having a knife fight over it. 

Will Thor become a full-fledged member of the Guardians of the Galaxy? He certainly shows great chemistry with them in Infinity War and Endgame. As we pointed out when discussing a possible new status quo for Gamora, Thor's presence in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 could add an interesting element to Quill's search for Gamora. 

A couple of things raise questions, though. When Endgame came out, the future of Thor's solo films was unknown. Now we know Thor: Love and Thunder is scheduled for release in November of 2021, so Thor doesn't need the Guardians to remain in the MCU. Also, we know Guardians writer/director James Gunn plans for Vol. 3 to be his final Guardians film. Considering that, and how careful Gunn has been to keep the Guardians story separate from the MCU, it would be surprising for him to want one of the Avengers as a brand new member in his last shot with the Guardians. 

The reveal at the end of Avengers: Endgame that Steve Rogers takes his final Avengers mission as an opportunity to remain in the past and live a full life with Peggy Carter is a beautiful and touching moment, but it raises questions. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly shortly after the film's release, co-director Joe Russo answered one of the biggest questions, but it just leads to more. 

Russo confirmed that this new life Steve gets with Peggy is lived in a timeline other than the prime MCU one. "If Cap were to go back into the past and live there, he would create a branched reality," Russo explained. "The question then becomes, how is he back in [the prime MCU reality] to give the shield away?"

Russo doesn't bother to answer that last question. In fact, he says, "Maybe there's a story there," implying he doesn't know the answer.

Exactly how does Steve Rogers get back to the prime MCU reality? It's an interesting question for a couple of reasons. First, because Rogers is an old man when he returns. Surely in the world of the MCU there are plenty of adventures a hero can embark upon to accomplish whatever they want, but there would seem to be fewer adventures when you can't dropkick like you used to. Second, however he returns, does Rogers have it figured out before he leaves, or does he wing it and trust he'll find a way? 

Both T'Challa and Shuri return with the other resurrected heroes at the end of Avengers: Endgame, but five years passes between their deaths and resurrections. What happens in Wakanda in the interim? Who, if anyone, sits on the throne? Will whoever it was that made the decisions when T'Challa was dead going to be willing to give the throne back now that T'Challa has returned? No one in Wakanda has any reason to believe he'll be resurrected, so why would they keep his seat warm for him? Why wouldn't they choose a new king? We know from her communications with Black Widow that Okoye clearly still enjoys a position of leadership during the five years between the movies, but that doesn't necessarily mean she's in charge. 

We know that, immediately upon his resurrection, T'Challa must have some influence. When he and Shuri arrive for the battle at the climax of Endgame, they bring Okoye, M'Baku, and a Wakandan army along with them. But that doesn't mean T'Challa is necessarily the king. Remember: it's right after T'Challa makes the controversial decision to open Wakanda's borders that the nation loses most of its royal family, half its population along with everyone else, and many of its warriors to an assault by monsters from another world. In light of that, there may be a lot of Wakandans who were happy to see T'Challa stay dead and won't want to see him retake the throne now that he's back. 

Carol Danvers is pivotal in the battle against Thanos. She saves Tony Stark, destroys Thanos' ship Sanctuary before it can kill the other heroes, and one-on-one she proves to be one of the most capable against the Mad Titan. In spite of her importance, she's gone for most of Endgame. While communicating with Black Widow via holographic image she lets Nat know not to expect her for a while, and then she's gone until the final battle.

We probably won't know until Captain Marvel 2 where exactly the hero is for most of Endgame, but a good possibility is that she's trying to stop everyone else in the galaxy from killing one another.

While we get to see how the Snap impacts Earth, we have yet to see how the rest of the galaxy responds to losing half its population. It's possible, if not likely, that when it comes to some of the interstellar empires out there in the cosmos, there are a lot of power shifts in the wake of Thanos' snap. After all, immediately after, most of the galaxy has no way of knowing why half its people simply disappeared and most galactic powers are probably pointing their fingers at one another. The Kree probably blame the Skrulls, the Skrulls probably blame the Kree, etc. War is likely raging all over the spaceways after the conclusion of Infinity War, and that's probably what Captain Marvel is dealing with — but we still don't know for sure.

The aftermath of Infinity War is so drastic that one of the biggest changes in the MCU in the years before Thanos' snap seems utterly forgotten in Endgame — the Sokovia Accords. There's no mention in either Endgame or Spider-Man: Far from Home clarifying whether international law still requires the Avengers to operate under United Nations jurisdiction. Rhodey predicts he'll be court-martialed when he hangs up on Secretary Ross in Infinity War, but we never hear about that happening. After five years, Captain America is regularly visiting the Avengers compound and attending a support group, so it doesn't seem like he's a fugitive. Ant-Man's in the Quantum Realm, Hawkeye's gone rogue, and the rest of Captain America: Civil War's anti-registration heroes are erased by Thanos' snap. 

It seems clear that after the end of Infinity War either the Sokovia Accords were repealed or that no one was willing to enforce them. Either possibility makes sense. After all, Bruce Banner is allowed to roam free and take selfies in diners even though the last time he was on Earth he was wanted for destroying half of Johannesburg. Regardless, we never learn exactly why Cap is allowed to roam free or what the UN thinks about the Avengers' new talking raccoon and blue-skinned cyborg. 

Living for revenge is often a dead end. While he doesn't say so, Drax seems to learn this as early as the end of Guardians of the Galaxy. For the rest of the film his goal has been the death of Ronan the Accuser. Once Gamora congratulates him on a mission accomplished, Drax corrects her, saying that since Ronan was working for Thanos, the Mad Titan is the one he really needs to kill. 

As soon as his quest for vengeance is complete, Drax needs a new target. By the end of Endgame, Thanos is dead with Drax not having a whole lot to do with what made him dead. 

What does Drax have left to live for? There are no more servants of Thanos for him to hunt. Ronan, Thanos, and the Black Order are all gone. Somehow Drax is going to have to find a new focus for his vengeance, or find something new to live for. 

Taneleer Tivan, a.k.a. The Collector, remains one of the most enigmatic figures in the MCU. Adding to his mystery is the simple fact that we have no idea whether or not he's alive. 

While we see the Collector in Infinity War, it isn't actually him. When we see Thanos torturing the Collector for the location of the Aether, it's an illusion the Titan creates to fool the Guardians. The Collector is long gone by the time the Guardians arrive on Knowhere. Thanos has already captured the Aether and Tivan's famous collection is ablaze. 

Thanos may kill the Collector before the Guardians arrive, but it's just as possible — perhaps even more likely — that the obsessive Tivan escapes and leaves the Reality Stone behind. The Guardians don't find anyone alive on Knowhere besides Thanos, meaning the Titan probably slaughters everyone in the place. If his bloodletting begins before reaching the Collector, Tivan may have warning he's coming. If he does, then as much as he treasures it, he probably wouldn't take the Reality Stone with him, since that would force Thanos to pursue him. Without the Stone, Tivan means nothing to the Titan.

We don't get to see what happens to Mjolnir in the resolution of Endgame. Captain America has the hammer with him him when Hulk sends him back in time, but it isn't there with him when he reappears as an elderly man. Presumably, he would have returned the hammer to Asgard circa 2013 along with the Aether. Otherwise, he'll be leaving the Thor of that time hammer-less when he still has Malekith and the Dark Elf army to deal with. 

Still, we don't see it happen. It's doubtful that Steve would be selfish enough to keep Mjolnir for himself. But it's possible something went wrong. Did Steve find the Thor of that time and hand Mjolnir to him, or did he just leaving it standing on the ground somewhere, trusting that it would answer Thor's call when needed?

Before the announcement that Natalie Portman would not only be reprising the role of Jane Foster in the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder, but that she would actually appear as a female Thor, the question of exactly how Steve Rogers returned the hammer may have seemed to not matter all that much. Now that we know Jane Foster is somehow going to gain the power of Thor, that brings up the question of how that happens — since Mjolnir was destroyed in Thor: Ragnarok. It could be that whatever method Steve chooses to return the hammer is what leads to Foster becoming the MCU's new thunder god. 

In Endgame, the Ancient One initially refuses to hand over the Time Stone to the Hulk because it would leave her corner of the multiverse without the Stone for protection. Bruce explains to her how he thinks he and his allies can make sure their timeline doesn't branch off into separate dimensions, and Cap's trip at the end of the movie is meant to accomplish that goal. But does it?

We don't see what Cap does to restore the timeline and have no way of knowing if it works. In fact, we know there are at least three timelines branching off from the prime MCU timeline because of the events of Endgame. The first one is created by Loki's escape. The second new timeline is created when Thanos brings his army to 2023 to attack the Avengers compound. Steve creates the third one himself when he chooses to stay in the past and marry Peggy Carter. So even if Cap does his job perfectly, the multiverse has been altered in ways he can't fix. 

The title of the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness could be a big clue all on its own. What exactly has gone "mad" with the multiverse? Could it be Strange's job in the film will be to mitigate the damage done because of Endgame? In Doctor Strange, Mordo seems obsessed with maintaining the "natural order." How will he react when he learns how Strange and his friends stop Thanos?

When Maria Hill and Nick Fury (or their Skrull doubles — depending on how long the Skrulls replaced them) arrive in the wrecked town of Ixtenco, Mexico, their dialogue introduces a new minor mystery. As they leave their car, Hill's first line of dialogue to Fury is "Nick, this was a tragedy, but it's not why we're here." Shortly afterwards the Earth elemental illusion appears, followed by Quentin Beck playing the multiverse hero.

So... what are they doing there? If the destruction of Ixtenco or Mysterio's machinations have nothing to do with their presence, why are they in Mexico? We don't hear about the real reason for their trip again in Far from Home. 

It's difficult to even speculate for this one. There's nothing from any of the upcoming announced Marvel projects that would specifically point to Mexico more than anywhere else. It could be a reference to one of the announced upcoming films or one of the upcoming Disney+ miniseries. Or perhaps it's connected to a project we haven't heard about yet. Who knows? Maybe after Howard the Duck showed up for the climax of Avengers: Endgame he decided to go south of the border and settle in Mexico. Maybe Nick and Maria were investigating reports of a talking duck fighting Mexican criminals with his deadly Quack-Fu. 

Spider-Man: Far from Home's post-credits scene has inspired a lot of fan speculation about who we've been calling "Nick Fury." The scene reveals for at least part of Far from Home – if not longer — Talos the Skrull replaced Fury while Soren replaced Maria Hill. In the meantime, the real Fury is shown on some kind of space station with a bunch of other Skrulls.

The first and most obvious question is how long Talos and Soren have been playing their roles. Since the Skrulls are introduced in Captain Marvel, which is set in the '90s, it's possible Talos and Soren have been disguised as Fury and Hill for multiple films. Talos could have been disguised as Fury as early as 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron. That's his first appearance after Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and it's doubtful that film's Fury could've been a Skrull because Talos probably wouldn't be able to retain his disguise after being nearly murdered by Bucky.  

The next question is exactly what Fury is working on with the Skrulls. Talos and his brethren likely feel indebted to Fury after he helps save them from the Kree, but that doesn't tell us what they're doing with him. One guess is that Fury is building S.W.O.R.D. — an organization in the comics which acts as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s counterpart in space. 

Speaking of the Skrulls we know have been hiding in plain sight, what about the ones we don't know about?

We made some of our own guesses a while back about the best candidates for Skrull replacement in the MCU — and at least one of them, Nick Fury, turned out to be right. But that Spider-Man: Far from Home post-credits scene did more than reveal Hill and Fury were replaced by Skrulls — it showed us the Skrulls have been working with Fury for a while. And if that's the case, then what are the odds this is the only time Fury's asked them to use their shape-changing abilities for his benefit? They don't seem terribly high.

If that's the case, then there are likely more Skrulls out there on MCU's Earth, strategically placed and disguised as regular humans. Who knows? Maybe all the Skrulls don't share Talos' loyalty to Fury. Maybe some of them left the fold and are in disguise for their own reasons. 

If you saw Spider-Man: Far from Home, then you know it gave us the return of a very minor character from 2008's Iron Man — William Ginter Riva, a scientist Obadiah Stane rages at when Riva tells him he hasn't figured out how to miniaturize the Arc Reactor the same way Tony does earlier in the film. Riva is played by Peter Billingsley, who is best known for the role he played as a child — Ralphie in the 1983 comedy A Christmas Story. In Far from Home, Quentin Beck recruits Riva as part of a small army of disgruntled Stark employees. Unlike Beck, Riva survives the events of the film. 

And he apparently does more than survive. In a mid-credits scene, we learn that an altered video has been released seeming to prove that Spider-Man needlessly murdered Quentin Beck and the hero's secret identity is revealed to the public. Since Riva was recording the events remotely, he seems the best candidate for J. Jonah Jameson's source. 

If Riva is the one who sets up Spidey, we have to wonder why. Is Riva just trying to get back at Spider-Man, or does he have something bigger planned? He doesn't come off as a guy with the stiffest backbone in the MCU, so it doesn't seem like he's gunning to be Mysterio's successor. Maybe Riva didn't release the information to the public. Maybe he sold it to someone else we haven't met yet.

Long before Disney's acquisition of Fox was completed, fans started trying to figure out exactly when and how the X-Men and Fantastic Four would be folded into the MCU. A number of Avengers: Endgame fan theories expressed the hope that the latest Avengers film would set up the FF and the mutants for their MCU arrival, but nothing has panned out so far. 

We don't know much at all about Marvel's plans, but at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige confirmed that, at the very least, the Fantastic Four are on their way. There was nothing about scripts, release dates, or casting mentioned, however.

One possibility is that the Fantastic Four will come to the MCU before the X-Men because they make a more natural fit in terms of the possible exploration of the multiverse, as well as the notion that in the MCU, Earth's people are getting more aggressively involved in space. The Fantastic Four has always had a strong exploration facet to their stories. With alternate timelines and Skrulls getting heavily involved in the MCU, this may be the perfect time for Marvel's First Family.