Avengers: Endgame sure is sounding like a barrel of laughs. The prospect of trying to revive half of the MCU, as well as it being Chris Evans’ last bow as Cap is bad enough, now Earth’s Mightiest Heroes might have some new Avengers 4 villains to contend with. Worse still, they could be caught in the crossfire between Thanos and the new Big Bads, if an extract from an official Marvel novel turns into more than a wink and a nod towards the future.
Thanos: Titan Consumed, a prequel of sorts to Avengers: Infinity War charting the Mad Titan’s ascent before getting his hands on the Infinity Gauntlet (via Screen Rant), is an interesting enough concept in and of itself. But two things turn it into a delicious setup for Avengers 4: 1) It’s an official Marvel Studios book and 2) This extract from towards the end of the book…
"[The Infinity Stones] are hidden, Thanos," the Lorespeaker said, as though badgering a child, "because they are too powerful. And because the Celestials and the others, the ones whom the Celestials fear, keep close watch on the Stones from afar."
Welp. The Celestials, the universe-shaping beings first glimpsed during the Collector’s great big Power Stone exposition dump in Guardians of the Galaxy, aren’t exactly to be trifled with. But there’s someone (or something) out there that even they fear. They may well have Thanos in their sights now, too. Like I said, fun times ahead in Avengers 4.
This also lines up with what we already know – how an Avengers 4 toy leak promises new foes for the likes of Thor and Iron Man to deal with – but their identities are a mystery. Your best bet might be to flick through the cosmic-themed adventures in the comics and try and pick out a group. The Builders, essentially creators of the universe, would be my guess, and have been recently involved in the comics as forming part of a two-pronged attack of Earth involving, you guessed it, Thanos. Hmm…
Yet it’s going to be a Hulk-sized task to try and cram everything in. Time travel? Thanos’ (possible) defeat? Whoever the hell these new villains are. Maybe there was something in the rumour of Avengers 4 having a three-hour runtime?
