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A villain just spoiled his ‘Avengers 4’ return, and it may hint at how the Avengers beat Thanos

Published Oct 26th, 2018 1:01PM EDT
Avengers 4 Spoilers
Image: Marvel Studios

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Earlier this week we shared pictures of Gwyneth Paltrow from the set of Avengers 4, showing her Pepper Potts character all suited up in an Iron Man costume. That may have seemed like an innocent leak, but it’s enough to confirm that the film will introduce a new superhero, Rescue. It also has fans speculating on why Potts is in full combat gear. That still doesn’t mean we know who or what Potts will rescue, but this is at least the second time Paltrow has told us something about her character, after previously confirming that Pepper and Tony will have a baby.

Now we have yet another Marvel star leaking details about the upcoming movie. His character isn’t as big, but these new revelations are still important.

Frank Grillo has already appeared in two Captain America episodes, including The Winter Soldier and Civil War, and he confirmed to the host of the UFC Unfiltered podcast (via Digital Spy) that Crossbones, the villain he plays, will make an appearance in Avengers 4. He’s even credited on IMDB for the part, even though it won’t be a big part.

Time travel you ask? No, this time it’s through flashbacks. “I’m allowed to say whatever I want because I’m never doing another Marvel movie,” Grillo joked. It’s good that Grillo mentioned it’s a flashback. Otherwise, it would have been easy to assume that we’re looking at more time travel. And that Grillo’s character might not die the way he did back in Civil War.

Grillo’s spoiler may seem like a small one, but it’s enough to have us wondering about the importance of this particular flashback. It must be significant if the brains behind the Infinity War movies have decided to include this character in the upcoming film. Let’s not forget that Crossbones is to blame, in part, for the actual civil war between heroes. And following the events in Civil War, we all know that the Avengers split up into two factions. We also know that Tony and Steve Rogers aren’t on speaking terms.

It’s not as simple as I’m about to put it, but were it not for Crossbones’ shenanigans and especially his death, the Avengers may have had a better chance to fight Thanos in Infinity War, because they may have still been working together. So one way to fight Thanos in the recent past would be to prevent Crossbones from setting the Civil War events in motion — again, it’s a flashback, not time travel.

We do know there’s going to be time travel in Avengers 4, as leaked set photos showed us two Tony Stark appearances during the New York battle, one in Iron Man gear and the other in a SHIELD uniform. Also, it’s pretty clear to anyone following all these tiny spoilers and leaks that those time vortexes in the Quantum Realm will be used for time travel.

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.