This leaked Avengers 4 art raises a lot of questions

A piece of Avengers: Endgame promo art has hit the web, and naturally fans are formulating theories left and right about what it all means. We'll get into that soon enough, but first, let's just take a gander and drink it all in:

Okay, so first thing's first: yes, this is a blurry, off-screen photo, which means one of two things: either this is a fake, and the blurriness is meant to hide errors and giveaways to its unofficial nature, or this is a leak, and we're all getting a look at the next Avengers movie (which still hasn't revealed its title, by the way) earlier than Marvel and Disney would like. I'm not saying that to crush anyone's hopes, just saying I hope you have some salt shakers at the ready.

Assuming this is legit though, it raises some questions. We don't have definite answers yet (and probably won't until Avengers 4 hits theaters on May 3, 2019), but come along on the speculation train with us and let's see what we can glean from this sneak peek.

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Where are we?

The sci-fi, cosmic vibe of the picture suggests we're in outer space. The spiky rock formations look to be the same ones we saw in Avengers: Infinity War. That suggests the team is back on Titan (or in the case of Tony and Nebula, possibly never left). But why, and why is it tinted dark blue and black now? Mysteries for another day. Or night, which might explain the color scheme.

When are we?

One of the biggest Avengers: Endgame theories is that it's a time-travel movie, with our heroes jumping across space and time in order to defeat uber-villain Thanos. And several elements of this image suggest that may be the case. Captain America is sporting his old costume (notice the star, which was absent in Infinity War, is back). Plus, his beard is gone and his hair is short again. And speaking of hair, Black Widow has ditched the peroxide-bleached eyebrows and blonde for her natural auburn. Now, it's possible our heroes found time to give themselves a makeover between The Snap and a rematch with Thanos, but I lean more toward these being past versions of our protagonists.

Hulk's looking fashionable?

The average person might not know every bit of minute trivia about the Hulk, but they can tell you three things: he's strong, he's green, and when he transforms, his clothes always rip except in the most important of places. Being muscular and shirtless is kind of Hulk's thing, so why is he donning a onesie here? His pose is also upright and less bestial compared to previous appearances, and he doesn't have a toothy scowl on his face. If I had to guess, I'd say that this shows a greater connection and synergy between Hulk and his human half, Bruce Banner. It's happened in the comics, and a being with the physical strength of the Hulk and the mind of Banner would be a force to reckon with.

Hawkeye by day, Ronin by night?

Hawkeye was conspicuously absent from Avengers: Infinity War, which was quite the bummer to some. But it looks like he's back and ready to shoot some arrows at a demi-god (again) in Avengers 4. One thing interesting to note is the yellow accents on the costume that can juuuust barely be seen through the blur. It's been rumored that Hawkeye would ditch his old costume and identity for that of "Ronin," a sort of samurai/ninja-themed hero from the comics. The Ronin identity has been passed around a few times, but Clint Barton has indeed played the part before.

War Machine gets an upgrade?

Tony Stark's buddy James "Rhodey" Rhodes seems to have gotten an upgrade to his War Machine armor. There's not much to extrapolate here, but the suit certainly looks beefier and more heavily-armored. Probably a good idea when you're going up against someone known as The Mad Titan.

Ant-Man looks lonely?

Unless she's in tiny form, Ant-Man's partner in heroism, The Wasp, seems to be missing from this picture. Does this portend a bad ending for the upcoming Ant-Man and The Wasp movie? Or maybe Hope van Dyne just needs to stay behind and take care of problems elsewhere in the galaxy? It would kinda suck to have the character spread her wings (literally) only to have them immediately taken from her.

Captain Marvel saves the day?

Yep, Captain Marvel - the most powerful of the MCU heroes - has arrived on scene and looks ready to put up her dukes. Good thing Fury got that beeper message out, huh? There's not much of a question here other than "Just how excited are you for the Captain Marvel movie and to see her kick Thanos' butt?"

And speaking of Thanos...

The Avengers weren't the only ones glimpsed in leaked Avengers 4 promo art. A new image of Thanos, wearing his battle armor and wielding a massive spear-like blade (because a gauntlet that lets you do literally anything isn't enough, apparently?) was also spotted, and you can view it below:

Dread it, run from it, Avengers 4 arrives May 3, 2019.