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Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Widow might return to the MCU in a shocking way

Published Jan 11th, 2021 10:15PM EST
Marvel Movies
Image: Marvel Studios

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  • A leaker who claims to know Marvel’s MCU Phase 4 plans going forward said that Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Widow would make an appearance in an upcoming movie in the most unexpected way.
  • The characters are either dead or retired in the main MCU timeline following the heartbreaking events in Avengers: Endgame.
  • There have been plenty of theories about how Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and Natasha Romanoff can return to the MCU, although there’s no sign that Marvel is planning any sort of reunion.

Avengers: Endgame

gave us the perfect ending to the Infinity Saga; there’s no question about it. Marvel’s huge gamble paid off, and the intertwined stories it crafted for over a decade turned Endgame into such a massive success. But the iconic superhero movie also robbed us of some of our favorite characters. Iron Man and Black Widow died, and Captain America retired. There’s no real way to bring them back to the MCU present day, although we could always see the heroes in cameos, flashbacks, and prequels.

There are theories on how to bring back to the MCU any Avengers, including Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and Natasha Romanoff, and Phase 4 will open the door to that possibility. The multiverse will offer us various versions of our beloved superheroes, and Spider-Man 3 will be the first proof of that. Marvel would keep the Endgame legacy intact and still have Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, and Scarlett Johansson return to their iconic roles in Marvel adventures happening in the aftermath of Endgame. Only time will tell if Marvel and the actors will want to embark on such a journey. There are plenty of stories to be told until we’d get to meet a different version of Tony Stark hailing from a different reality if that’s ever happening. But a new leak tells us that Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Widow are about to return to the MCU in the most unexpected way, and it’s all happening sooner than we thought. Beware, some spoilers might follow below.

A person who claims they have access to Marvel insiders who know what’s coming next posted plenty of details about all the upcoming MCU adventures on 4chan. We learned when Avengers 5 might launch, who the next Black Panther will be, and the title of Spider-Man 3. None of the information can be verified for the moment, so you should take everything with a grain of salt. But the same person has offered more details about what’s easily one of the most exciting films of Phase 4, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

The leaker said that Scott Derrickson left the project because he didn’t want to have America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) in it and wanted more horror and more villains than Marvel. Other than that, Sam Raimi’s Strange 2 that we’re getting will be pretty similar to what Derrickson would have helmed.

The leaker said that Miss America, Clea, and Drumm would be secondary supporting characters. It’s unclear who will play Clea and Drumm, but the roles have already been cast — Charlize Theron supposedly passed on Clea.

Evan Peters, who played Wanda’s brother in Age of Ultron and will return in WandaVision, is rumored to appear in Strange 2 as one of the villains. That’s hardly surprising, considering what we’ve heard about WandaVision so far. Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) will also return, but he’s in the film just in the first 20-25 films. Notably absent from the leaker’s remarks are Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams) and Wong (Benedict Wong).

The film will set up evil interdimensional beings like Dormammu joining forces with a different foe, the leaker said, without elaborating.

As for Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), she’s expected to be the film’s second lead. The leaker doesn’t say she’s the villain of the sequel, as other leaks have claimed.

The film will offer “a lot” of multiverse cameos, without spoiling which these characters are — and yes, this is where the Avengers cameos might come into play. The leaker did say that Bruce Campbell will make a cameo, a rumor we’ve heard of before.

The Avengers who will appear in the film include Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Black Widow, Doctor Strange, Vision, and Falcon. But these versions will all be Zombie versions of the Avengers. That’s why Doctor Strange appears listed in this particular Avengers lineup. If this sounds familiar, that’s because we did see a What If…? trailer recently that offered us a look at a zombie Captain America.

The leaker did not reveal other details about these seemingly dead Avengers but said the zombie scene would be one of the two to three “jaw-dropping, terrifying but exciting action sequences” of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. On top of that, there’s one small crossover scene, which doesn’t sound surprising either. Strange 2 will be the final part of a story that starts in WandaVision and continues on Spider-Man 3. In fact, the same leaker did say that Benedict Cumberbatch will appear in the final episode of the upcoming Disney+ show, and we know he’ll have a role in Spider-Man 3. The leaker did address Strange’s presence in Spider-Man 3 as well, saying the character will be in the film for 8-12 minutes towards the end.

If this information is accurate, then we’ll indeed see Iron Man, original Captain America, and Black Widow again in the MCU much sooner than we’d have expected. Sadly, it won’t be the kind of reunion we wanted.

The leaker said in other comments that Marvel is looking at giving Raimi Strange 3, with Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel supposed to be the new faces of this storyline, just like Iron Man and Captain America were the faces of the MCU for the duration of the Infinity Saga.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will premiere on March 25th, 2022.

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.