MCU Phases 4 and 5 Were Kind of a Mess & These 15 Loose Ends Confirm That
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MCU is currently in the middle of phase 5 of what appears to be the Multiverse Saga of the MCU, and things are at the moment confusing, to say the least. MCU has dropped Kang the Conqueror as the villain, presumably his story will be hastily wrapped up and Doctor Doom needs to be set up quickly and efficiently for things to make sense.
Phase 4 however left plenty of unresolved plot points, or things that otherwise appear to be plot holes and it’s going to take a lot of projects to make sense of them all. Considering that phase 4 so far has the lowest approval rates out of all phases in the MCU, there’s a lot here that doesn’t make sense (currently) we decided to put together a list with some of the most glaring abandoned storylines, so let’s go.
The Celestials and Eternals
‘Eternals’ was truly where the end began for the MCU, as the movie introduced an incredibly complex and ambitious storyline with characters larger than life only to abandon it outright. You can argue that Celestials and Eternals alone merit their own Saga within the MCU without focusing on other threats. But it is what is it.
The Celestials are furious that Tiamut was turned to marble by the Eternals before it could fully form and potentially destroy Earth. At the end of ‘Eternals,’ Arishem, the Prime Celestial, abducted Sersi, Kingo, and Phastos, the Eternals responsible for this act of betrayal. Arishem announced that the Celestials would spare Earth for now but would review the captured Eternals’ memories to determine humanity’s worthiness of survival.
Eventually, nothing came out of this storyline, and Feige recently confirmed that ‘Eternals 2’ is not planned in the future. Nobody even acknowledges the massive remains of Tiamut except for that funny reference in ‘She-Hulk.’ However, there is a potential to revisit this storyline in ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ as it was confirmed that Celestials will be the source of MCU’s adamantium, in the trailer Wilson and Falcon can be seen flying around Celestial corpse.
Hulk’s son
Skaar was introduced in ‘She-Hulk’ but the identity of his mother and under what circumstances he was conceived were never discussed. He was kind of dropped like a bombshell on fans and we can’t even start to wonder what are the possible implications for Hulk’s son in the MCU. This storyline might possibly be revisited in ‘The Younger Avengers’ as Skaar was a natural replacement for Hulk in the future of MCU.
Whatever happened to White Vision?
In the ‘WandaVision’ finale, we saw that the new version of Vision was created by S.W.O.R.D. called White Vision. Wanda’s Vision tries to restore White Vision’s memories by using the Mind Stone from his own forehead, which leads to a philosophical debate about what makes a person a “real” Vision. In the end, White Vision remembers who he is and takes off without any explanation, leaving the fate of the character unclear.
The thing is, White Vision has a solo show coming up, but fans have already noted they no longer care about the character since too much time has passed since his last on-screen appearance.
Sharon Carter turning evil
Sharon Carter’s turn to villainy was, expected to say the least, given that her life was upended after helping Steve, Bucky, and Sam in ‘Captain America: Civil War’. Although it’s clear she feels betrayed by her government, a deeper exploration of her motives and her role as Madripoor’s Power Broker would be valuable, especially considering her family’s S.H.I.E.L.D. legacy. It’s possible that her story will be continued in ‘Thunderbolts*’ given Valentina’s involvement in the movie.
The Ten Rings are WHAT!?!
Danvers and Banner discussed the rings with Shang-Chi at the end of the movie. Danvers noted that the rings’ technology was unlike any alien tech she had encountered, while Banner observed that they were older than the thousand years Xu Wenwu had used them and not made of vibranium. Wong revealed that the rings emitted an unknown signal and were sending out a beacon. He explained that this was not documented in the Codex and warned Shang-Chi and Katy that their lives had irrevocably changed. So far, this storyline hasn’t been addressed and we have no idea who or what or who the rings called, but Simu Liu recently confirmed that ‘Shang-Chi 2’ is being worked on so that will probably settle it.
Starfox
Starfox played by Harry Styles was introduced during the mid-credits scenes of ‘Eternals.’ Even then fans were confused as to why he was introduced at that moment considering that his story was always tied to Thanos, and Thanos is no more. This only opened up several plot holes regarding Thanos’ origin in the MCU considering that the Mad Titan was apparently not half-Eternal like he is in the comics. Once again, considering that ‘Eternals 2’ is currently not in development, we don’t know when we are going to get a resolution to this storyline.
Moon Knight
‘Moon Knight’ was always supposed to be a limited series and the prospects of the second season were low, the character however turned out to be a fan favorite, and several potential directions were teased with the conclusion of the mini-series. We don’t know when we might see Moon Knight next, there are however several rumors that Moon Knight will be a part of a highly interesting project focusing on ‘Midnight Sons.’
Clea and incursions
Clea is a sorceress from the Dark Dimension and Dormammu’s niece, who comes to Earth seeking Doctor Strange’s assistance. But with what? It was never answered. The incursions are mentioned, and those incursions are seemingly what’s going to lead to ‘Secret Wars’ if we are following the comic-accurate potential storyline. There are also rumors that Dormammu will appear in the MCU again, meaning that Clea is bound to have a more solid storyline as well.
Is Hercules waiting for ‘Thor 5’?
Hercules Panhellenios, the son of Zeus, is assigned by his father to hunt down and kill Thor after a conflict with Thor and his team against the Council of Godheads at Omnipotence City. Since then, not a smudge of reference was made to acknowledge that the character has ever existed. This character’s storyline will likely be addressed in ‘Thor 5’ which is currently being developed according to the latest reports, and no Waititi is not returning to direct it.
Valentina Allegra de Fontaine is recruiting people, why?
Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, who appeared in ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ and ‘Black Widow,’ has been actively recruiting. In ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,’ she rebranded the disgraced Captain America, John Walker, as U.S. Agent. In ‘Black Widow,’ she was shown as the boss of Yelena Belova, who was already working with Valentina. Valentina seems to be assembling a team with looser morals, working in the murky, gray areas of geopolitics, rather than a traditional Avengers-style squad.
Well, this one is kind of obvious, as this storyline will be addressed in next year’s ‘Thunderbolts*’ in which Valentina will play a massive role, with her own ulterior motives of course…
Black Knight and Ebony Blade
It would seem that ‘Eternals’ was quite a treasure trove of storylines that ultimately led nowhere… Dane Whitman played by Kit Harington was introduced during the events of the movie and the last we’ve seen of him was his interaction with Ebony Blade and well, Blade. Harington recently confirmed that he has no idea when he will appear next, but it’s likely going to be either ‘Blade’ reboot or ‘Midnight Sons’ project. With ‘Blade’ being the most likely candidate considering that Ebony Blade is confirmed to play a big role in the movie.
Venom Symbiote in the MCU
In the ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ post-credit scene, Venom exposes Eddie to different universes, leading him to the Tom Holland ‘Spider-Man’ universe. However, in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’s’ post-credits, Eddie is returned to his own universe, leaving behind a piece of symbiote goo. Well, this one was sort of acknowledged in the trailer of ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ although it is confusing, to say the least.
In the trailer for ‘Venom: The Last Dance,’ the bartender from ‘No Way Home’ (played by Cristóbal Fernández) is about to touch the symbiote, but Chiwetel Ejiofor’s character traps it in a containment tube. Ejiofor seems to play a military commander linked to an organization studying symbiotes. His forces appear to have the ability to travel across dimensions, as they are later seen pursuing Eddie and Venom. Alternatively, the symbiote fragment might have traveled to a parallel bar in Venom’s universe, with an identical version of Fernández’s bartender, which could be quite confusing. In any case, this will be resolved in the upcoming ‘Venom’ movie.
What happened to Sokovia Accords?
The Sokovia Accords caused a significant split in the Avengers, with Steve Rogers and Tony Stark clashing over the future of superheroes. Considering Snap’s impact, the world’s condition during the five-year gap, and the post-Blip chaos, it’s understandable that the Accords would be abandoned, especially with the Avengers disbanded. However, the exact timing and specific reason for their abandonment remain unclear. It was confirmed in ‘She-Hulk’ that the Sokovia Accords had been repealed but it remained unknown how and when and why.
What’s the deal with Skrulls?
Skrulls caused quite the ruckus with ‘Secret Invasion’ one of the greatest MCU failures in recent times, and then nothing came out of it. We don’t know how the Invasion was dealt with and what happened during the treaty that took place after Fury and his wife departed for S.A.B.E.R. all we know is that Skrulls had a planet in the first place, Tarnax, that Captain Marvel knew about. Tarnax was subsequently destroyed during the events of ‘The Marvels’ so we’re back to square one I guess, and there’s no possible resolution for this storyline in sight.
What happened to G’iah and why wasn’t she entangled with Rambeau, Khan, and Danvers?
Early in ‘The Marvels,’ Carol Danvers, Monica Rambeau, and Kamala Khan discover that their powers are entangled, causing them to switch places whenever they use their abilities simultaneously. The movie attempts to explain this by suggesting their light-based powers are intrinsically connected. However, this raises confusion because, in ‘Secret Invasion’s’ finale, Emilia Clarke’s G’iah was enhanced with DNA from several notable MCU characters, including Captain Marvel. This enhancement should have caused G’iah to be entangled with Danvers, Rambeau, and Khan, yet she isn’t mentioned in the Phase 5 film, despite the movie being sort of marketed as the “sequel” to ‘Secret Invasion’ as well.
We don’t know when we might see G’iah next, but it’s likely going to be during bigger crossover events.
Have a loose end that needs mention? Let us know in the comments below!
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