Tony Stark's Visions Aren't Foreshadowing Infinity War, Says Olsen

Tony Stark's Scarlet Witch-induced vision in Avengers: Age of Ultron wasn't a foreshadowing of the events of Avengers: Infinity War, Elizabeth Olsen said. In the said nightmare, Wanda heightened Stark's fear of seeing his Avengers pals die on his watch after they failed to defeat an unknown threat. The horrifying nightmare was capped off with Captain America telling him that he could've done more - further fueling his motivation to push through with the Ultron Program.

One of the contributing factors to the MCU's successful world building is the fact that Marvel Studios has almost mastered the art of foreshadowing. Seemingly throwaway lines eventually mean a whole lot more when looking at the bigger picture giving the sense that the franchise has a carefully laid-out plan. But apparently, one occurrence in the cinematic universe that has been generally perceived as an indication of what eventually transpired in Infinity War wasn't really meant to be a form of foreshadowing.

Appearing at ACE Comic-Con at Chicago over the weekend (via ComicBook), Olsen was asked about Tony's dreadful hallucination in Age of Ultron that was caused by Scarlet Witch, which a lot of fans took as a premonition to Thanos' win in Infinity War. According to the actress, while she didn't take it that way, thinking about it now convinces her that it's a more interesting way of perceiving the occurrence.

“I don’t know. I don’t know if that’s what could have happened if Ultron took over. I’m not sure. I think it’s up to interpretation. It wasn’t something that I remember someone was saying that we’re going to go full circle to Infinity War — there wasn’t an Infinity War at that time [laughs]. But I think I always thought of it being what would happen if Ultron won. But I think it’s more interesting the way you’re thinking about it.”

Tom Hiddleston, who was also in the panel with Olsen chimed in on the conversation and pointed out that “maybe Tony has got the long view,” which isn't outside the realm of possibility considering that Stark is dubbed as futurist. Even before Scarlet Witch messed with his head, he was already haunted by the thought that there is an unnamed threat out there just waiting to strike Earth at their most vulnerable following his near-death encounter towards the end of the Battle of New York. Lo and behold, several years after, Thanos made his move and handed the Avengers their first real defeat. It didn't help the heroes' cause that there weren't only unprepared, they were also scattered following the events of Captain America: Civil War.

Who's to say, however, that the Avengers would've successfully defeated Thanos if the team were together? After all, according to Doctor Strange, they had to lose first before they can eventually win. That said, the events of Avengers: Infinity War will definitely be enough reason for Steve and Tony to set aside their differences and come together for the common good. As for the Avengers: Age of Ultron nightmare, there's still a chance that a version of it might come to fruition in Avengers 4 with several principal MCU heroes expected to say goodbye from the franchise.