The Marvel Cinematic Universe doesn’t seem to be letting go of its cultural choke hold, with the likes of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law currently airing and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever coming soon after. Most of the Multiverse Saga's plans have been revealed until the epic and fated crossover, Avengers: Secret Wars. Even beyond that point, Kevin Feige has shared that they have already concocted their master plan for the next saga too.
As such, there’s so much to look forward to. However, while the foundation that nearly fifteen years of films and TV shows created is strong, there are still some strange and confusing elements to ponder. In retrospect, several moments and character decisions are, frankly, illogical and confounding, but these might be the most confusing of them all thus far.
Tony Abandoning His Suits
There were several perplexing moments and decisions in Iron Man 3, but the most bewildering comes at the height of the climax. As a seemingly-romantic gesture to Pepper, Tony orders that all his suits explode themselves in a firework celebration after defeating the forces of AIM. After The Avengers, he was haunted by his near-death experience saving New York City from the nuke sent to eradicate the Chitauri.
While his decision makes sense in the context of his journey throughout the film, what follows confusingly contradicts that development. By the time of Avengers: Age of Ultron, he was back up to his typical antics, even having created more new toys – the Hulkbuster and Iron Legion. It’s a shame that his noble act was reversed, but that’s just part of Tony Stark’s character.
Bruce And Natasha
The strange relationship between Natasha and Bruce never sat well with fans. In part, it was nice to see these two loners – two heroes with severe insecurity, thinking themselves monsters – connect. However, it still doesn’t feel all that warranted, especially since many saw other viable partners already in the films.
However, as Tony was with Pepper, Clint is married and a father, and Betty Ross abandoned since The Incredible Hulk, this was the choice to bring in some romance to the story. It does show how the team has evolved since The Avengers for them to not only become friends but potentially romantic partners. Yet, like the Iron Man 3 choice, this decision wasn’t really touched on when they reunite in Avengers: Infinity War.
Vulture And Scorpion
At the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming, after a fun film with a fantastic performance by Michael Keaton, Adrian Toomes AKA Vulture withholds Spider-Man’s identity from Mac Gargan, the man who would become Scorpion. This was a cool way to end the film, teasing Vulture and Scorpion’s future in the MCU, and yet neither have appeared since then.
In fact, Vulture leaves the MCU and crosses over to Sony’s Spider-Man Universe in Morbius somehow thanks to the botched spell in Spider-Man: No Way Home. As for Scorpion, there’s still hope he could come back whether in a future Spider-Man film or elsewhere. While at D23, they revealed the roster for Thunderbolts, perhaps he could still come into play there.
Sprite and Ikaris
Phase Four has been partly underwhelming, and the film that has felt the brunt of that fan response has been Eternals. In particular, the most confusing element of that movie was Sprite’s choice to betray her family and work with Ikaris.
Overall, her internal motivations are sound. As she was created to connect with youth, she was cursed with always looking like a child, never to be taken seriously. That’s compounded with the feelings she has for Ikaris, which were established quite randomly, and her choice could make sense. In the end, it turns out that Sersi transformed her into a mortal, so she could age. While Sersi somehow didn’t fully understand her powers, perhaps she could’ve always just helped her sister out and aged her up.
Thanos Giving Up The Mind Stone
Before Thanos ever truly arrived in the MCU, he gave Loki his scepter, a powerful weapon containing the Mind Stone. Thanos, the person whose whole purpose was acquiring the infinity stones to complete his glorious mission, gave up one.
Of course, it could just turn out that he never knew the scepter held the Mind Stone, that he thought it was just a special weapon of its own right like the Quantum Bands or Tactigon. However, if he did know, it would only show his hubris in giving up the Mind Stone, thinking it was easy to recover.
Howard Stark's New Element
Tony lived in Howard’s looming shadow, harboring a deep resentment, yet as his journey progresses he comes to understand his father more, up until their reunion in Avengers: Endgame. Before that, though, comes a moment in Iron Man 2, which is still quite confusing.
While Tony struggles with his failing health and is put under house arrest by SHIELD, he begins watching videos of his father, one of which included a special message about creating the fateful new element that would save his life. Howard stated he didn’t have the means to accomplish this goal, but he laid his hopes in the blueprints of the Stark Expo. That begs the question of why Howard never just told Tony about the idea for the element or left him something more definitive than a cryptic message.
The Leader
One post-credits scene establishes the eventual creation of one of Hulk’s classic enemies, The Leader, when Samuel Sterns is exposed to the gamma radiation and his head grows. The Incredible Hulk has been largely forgotten by the masses, but it shouldn’t be by Marvel itself.
However, recently at D23, it was announced that Tim Blake Nelson would finally be returning as the Leader in Captain America: New World Order, set to premiere in 2024. This was something many fans have been wanting for years, especially since was revealed to be back for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Some even theorized The Leader could’ve been the villain in Thunderbolts, which isn’t entirely out of the question.
Mitchell Carson, HYDRA
HYDRA was a uniting force during the first two phases of the MCU, up until Avengers: Age of Ultron when the Avengers hunted them down to the last man. They even had a whole party to celebrate the fact that they defeated HYDRA after their resurgence in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. However, Ant-Man negated that milestone by bringing them back.
Mitchell Carson, a former high-level SHIELD operative, was among the people vying for the Yellowjacket technology for HYDRA. That in itself isn’t all that confusing, but again in retrospect, this doesn’t lead anywhere. Basically, this just shows the truth of HYDRA’s phrase, “cut off one head and another grows in its place”.
Najma's Sacrifice
Najma and her Clandestine were defined as the main villains for Ms. Marvel rather quickly, but in the penultimate episode, she uncharacteristically sacrifices herself.
The veil to the Noor was ripped open, and for some reason, it was vaporizing her fellow djinns. It could be seen as a noble decision to sacrifice herself to close the door to that dimension, while also transferring her powers to her son Kamran. The problem is that this wasn’t really translated particularly well to the show. That’s not a fault necessarily of the character, and it felt rushed to complete the action without actually exploring the lore and clarifying the logic, but perhaps it could still have long-lasting effects in Kamala's future.
Old Cap
Avengers: Endgame was rightfully praised and is upheld as an epic conclusion to a decade of films by fans, but it does end in a polarizing way. Steve’s choice to live a life of his own after his remarkable service as Captain America is more than deserved, and the moment between him and Peggy is touching and well-earned. However, it did create some probably unexpected ramifications among the fanbase.
Many believe the choice for him to live in the past and not try to change the course of the future he knows to come is out of character, and some say Old Cap coming back messes up the timeline. There’s not even consensus among the film’s creators of what happened – whether he simply traveled back in time or if he actually created an alternate universe by doing so.