Avengers: Age of Ultron/WMG

Uatu is dreaming everything
After seeing a crew of human astronauts die pointlessly, Uatu has constructed an elaborate fantasy world. Unfortunately, he can't keep everything straight and keeps involving characters who are already dead in his imagination. This leads him to continual revisions, which become more complex, requiring further revisions.

Captain America's death will be changed to that of someone else through Retcon.
In a few years, the Captain who died will be posthumously revealed as a low-level mutant who used the identity. Around the same time, the real Captain America will be thawed out, and the mess of his life and death before will be given an unsatisfying Hand Wave.
 * Nope. This is very similar to an earlier explanation of how Captain America was active after his apparent death near the end of WW 2, but they went a different route with his most recent death.

Captain America will be resurrected by Uatu the Watcher.
This is unlikely to be confirmed, but it should happen this way.

It's never been done before. The Watchers have a strict non-interference policy that Uatu has bent in the past, but not on this scale. It's easy, and it won't require anyone to go digging through back issues to see how it was totally all "set up" before Civil War even started. And Cap deserves a to be a bit of a Christ figure.
 * Nope.

Captain America will be resurrected by use of a Cosmic Cube.
It makes sense to end it as it started. And it will make it have all the good things about being "set up" while avoiding all the pitfalls.
 * Nope.

The Captain America who died was a Skrull sleeper agent.
Seriously guys, with the Secret Invasion thing, what else do you expect?
 * Jossed.
 * Oddly enough, Avengers Earths Mightiest Heroes seems like they're going to be using this as a plot point for Season 2.

Iron Man never left the Skrull ship in New Avengers: Illuminati.
Civil War and Secret Invasion have all happened in his head.

Cap's Shield is the result of Time Travel
The shield's unique composition is because of a Freak Lab Accident; the "Lab Rat" monitoring the shield fell asleep, and an "unknown factor" caused it to become indestructible. Trying to re-create this led to the development of Adamantium by Myron Mclain. Lady Deathstrike goes back in time to try to stop the Shield from being made so that no Westerner has the means to create Adamantium, leaving her father the true inventor. Wolverine, or another Adamantium-using individual, stops her, and while doing so dips his claws (or Deathstrike's) into the shield mix, adding Adamantium, thus ensuring that the Shield is invulnerable and that Adamantium is invented right on schedule.

Cap's Shield is an Empathic Weapon
The reason only Cap can throw it like he does, and the reason its molecules are "the weirdest of all".

Johnny Storm will eventually join the Avengers.
Reed, Sue and Ben have already been members, and that sort of jealousy can't last too long without being acted upon.
 * Much as I would enjoy seeing a mildly darker Johnny Storm (as he is depressed about being the only non-avenger member of the Fantastic Four), he's kinda dead.
 * He got better.

Everything that Happened since Avengers: Diasassembled is metaphor of comics' history
Avengers: Disassembled was a shattering event that almost destroyed Earth's mightiest heroes. So was publication of “Seduction Of The Innocent”. Scarlet Witch went mad, just as Wertham was claiming kids reading comics may. This was the end of Golden Age of Avengers. New Avengers was beginning of the Silver Age. Looks at first Avengers rooster (after adding Cap) – four greatest heroes of that days – Captain America (comics), Iron Man, The Mighty Thor, The Incredible Hulk, and two additional heroes – Ant-Man and Wasp. New Avengers? Captain America (comics), Iron Man, Wolverine, Spider-Man – four most popular heroes, Luke Cage and Spider-Woman – additional male and female members. Next upgrade of classic Avengers were Hawkeye, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch – Badass Normal and at last one very powerful person. New Avengers got Ronin and Sentry. Everything that happened from Civil War to Secret Invasion was a metaphor od Bronze Age, where far more serious themes were introduced in comics, including pollitical commentary. So we got commentary on 9/100 and Patriot Act and terrorism. Sure, it was done poorly, but still. Dark Reign is Dark Age in this equation. Suddenly people starts to love the villain and wants to give their safety in his hands, just like comics fans wanted more “dark” and “edgy” superheroes in the 90's. Dark Avengers roster contains Sentry, who serves as a Deconstruction of classic superheo and symbol of superheroes taking darker routes, four psychopaths in heroes' costumes, as symbol of very much loved back then Anti-Hero Substitute, Ares, who shares many traits of Nineties Anti-Hero, and Noh-Varr – who is a symbol of all those naïve, young superheroes who were hanging out with all those jerks and run away, when they realized who's they're dealing with. Siege and Osborn's downfall is an end of Dark Age and start of Modern Age, which will be Heroic Age.

Madeline Berry is a mutant.
Her powers first appear when she's a teenager and under great stress, and she has no conscious control over them at first. There's also no explanation, even in comic book logic, for why she has them. Obviously she's a mutant, with almost the same power as Dust from the X-Men. This raises the question of why none of the people who were hunting for mutants ever found her. But Norman Osbourne had a obvious motivation to keep her secret from both the X-Men and the mutant haters, and the resources to do it.

All-purpose theories for characters in Avengers 2
No theory is too outlandish, nothing is out of bounds.
 * The Silver Surfer, as mentioned below, will show up as The Cavalry when the team goes up against . They'd have to buy the rights to him from 20th Century Fox, but it wouldn't feel like a   movie without the Surfer.
 * The Vision will appear, either as an original character or as, possibly as his LMD.
 * Hank Pym and The Wasp, if only to quiet the fanboys who were angry about them not appearing in this movie.
 * Captain Mar-Vell or Ms. Marvel. Since the sequel is definitely going interplanetary, it would make sense to include the Kree as alien allies of Earth. At the very least, Carol Danvers will likely be introduced as one of the team's higher-ups at SHIELD.
 * She Hulk, if only to pad out the team's female characters, or to act as an upbeat foil for Bruce Banner.
 * Doctor Strange will introduce elements of magic into the mostly sci-fi themed Marvel Cinematic Universe, and will ultimately use a spell to help turn the tide against.
 * Disney's movie wiki states that a Doctor Strange movie is being planed. No release year is set though.
 * Black Panther will be introduced as a powerful African monarch who will become the team's ally when they (inevitably) get involved in some kind of international intrigue. Midway through, they'll discover that he's a powerful warrior in his own right.
 * Spider-Man, if The Amazing Spider Man is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This is the real reason the franchise was rebooted.
 * Hasn't that one already be Jossed by Sony?

The Silver Surfer will be a major character in the sequel
I have no idea how they would iron out the legal difficulties surrounding this, but come on...it just wouldn't feel right  but without the Silver Surfer. Then again, considering Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer wasn't exactly a resounding success, 20th Century Fox probably isn't that desperate to hold onto the movie rights to the character. If they really wanted to, the guys at Marvel Studios could probably buy the rights to him. And a role in Avengers 2 would probably be a good lead-in to a solo Silver Surfer movie (hopefully, one where Galactus isn't just a floating cloud in space).
 * I had heard that Fox was indeed trying to reboot the fantastic four. So this one looks unlikely for the near future.
 * Potentially not likely. I forget what was the reason, but Marvel couldn't use Silver Surfer in the World War Hulk animated movie. It's also possible that Fox may try to continue using the Fantastic Four license to cash in on Marvel's successes. Or they could choose to be jerks and hold onto the rights as long as possible just for spite. Wouldn't be the first time a company has secured production rights just to sit on them.

Jane Foster wasn't being protected from Loki
Jane Foster was put in protective custody to protect her from Joss Whedon. We know how he feels about happy relationships.

Director Fury's superiors...
Are the Commission on Superhuman Activities, Mark Gruenwald's famous Omniscient Council of Vagueness from the 80s Cap comics. Just 'cause.

Tony will be revealed to be a Captain America fanboy.
Possibly due to Howard telling him some old war stories about the "Star Spangled Man with a Plan".
 * Apparently, going by some interviews with the cast, it seems that Tony won't be filling this role (and then again, if the "Genius Billionaire Philantrophist" scene is any indication, we'll have a more "complex" relationship with Steve/Tony), and that will be revealed to be a huge Captain America nerd.
 * Sorta Jossed.

Hawkeye is going to betray the rest of the team about halfway through.
Only to be brought back to the side of the Avengers near the climax. I don't have much in the way of evidence, it's just a feeling I'm getting from the trailers and the released info about him.
 * Half Jossed, half confirmed.
 * Half Jossed, half confirmed.

The Big Bad of the film will be the Void.
And the plot will be as close to Siege as possible without having either Spider-Man or Norman Osborn in it. Yes, this means.
 * Jossed.

== At one point, the Villains will have basically won- New York will be a occupied territory, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the U.S. Military will be on the run, the President will have been sent to a undisclosed location, countries around the world will be surrendering in fears they will be next, etc. The climax will be the Avengers' last-ditch effort, intended to either save the world or take out Loki trying. ==
 * Hence why Tony says that while the team might not be able to save the world, they'll be sure to avenge it.
 * Jossed.

In the film, Thor will arrive via Arc Reactor.
Red Skull is destroyed by Cap's shield. The result is, and it's very heavily implied (almost insultingly so) that. To wrap up, in Iron Man, Stane was KO'd when Pepper blew the reactor, resulting in a beam of light shooting into the sky. With the application of the.
 * Except, the novelization states that . Also,  is an, while  is an.
 * The idea of Tony is further supported in The Avengers when.
 * Maybe it was Vibranium and he just pumped it full of arc reactor energy or something like that. Isn't vibranium supposed to be able to absorb ungodly amounts of energy?
 * A/The Arc Reactor may still be responsible for bringing Thor back to Earth. Though destroyed at the end of Iron Man, it could have been rebuilt...and, re-destroyed? How else, other than by being destroyed, ?
 * Though not confirmed to appear in the first movie, Jane Foster could still have completed her research - which would probably lead to.
 * Maybe she's Thor. Maybe she will be  at the end of the first (in a cameo), or in the second (be part of the cast).
 * As happens in the comics, Asgard (with Thor) could appear in the sky, floating above some place on Earth. That could be a reason people (especially those not discharging weapons) were looking at the sky, in the trailer.
 * Jossed.
 * Specifically, he said.
 * Specifically, he said.

There will be more than one returning villain in The Avengers, and they'll be teaming up with Loki.
didn't get vaporized at all; he was warped to instead. If the team of heroes is an All-Star Cast, shouldn't the team of villains be, too?
 * To add further credence to this theory: in the first full trailer, around the 0:56 mark,.
 * I'm pretty sure that's the.
 * Jossed, kind of. Skull is out, as are the other villains people went with - the Skrulls, but another alien race is hinted at. Leading to...
 * Jossed. Loki is the only returning villain.

The alien army Loki will have will be the Frost Giants
If one considers extradimensional beings as aliens, Loki's army could be the Jotun: he cons them into thinking Thor and Odin are responsible for the Bifrost Massacre, and convinces them to attack Midgard in revenge. He hates the Jotun as well, but they don't need to know that - I can totally see Loki being the sort of person who wouldn't care which bystanders and nameless pawns die in the conflict - human, Aesir or Jotun - as long as he sees those he hates pay as much as possible and acquires his aims.
 * The Assemble trailer gives a few brief shots of the aliens and they do indeed look very much like frost giants. That would make sense seeing as how the portal that Loki fell into at the end of Thor was connected to Jotunheim. Where they got lasers and space planes however remains a mystery. It's also possible that the army he is referring to is the Kree. Or Red Skull really did survive and now makes a living selling Hydra stuff to the frost giants. (This ties in nicely to my "Red Skull wound up on Jotunheim" Theory actually.)
 * One of the aliens faces is shown in the "Head Count" Tv spot and they are definitely not frost giants. I'm also doubting they are the Kree at this point. Someone in the comments of an earlier trailer made the claim that they were dark elves but thats a youtube comment so it should probably be taken with a very large grain of salt.
 * Zombies? They looked like that to me.

At some point in the movie, Steve will talk to Tony about Howard.
And he will tell him "[y]ou're a lot like him". Maybe insultingly at first, but the next time will be a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.
 * Jossed

Black Widow and Hawkeye will have a romantic subplot in this movie.
They had a relationship in the comics, albeit one that ended very badly, and they're the two Avengers we know the least about. It stands to reason they'll have a good storyline of their own.
 * All the other characters already have love interests, so that seems very likely.
 * Except, Cap missed his date with his love interest . Of course, there is . Or, maybe, Cap.
 * Cap has Sharon Carter, who appeared at the end of his movie, though she may hold off appearing in order to show up in the Captain America sequel. Anyways, this WMG is pretty much confirmed by Word of God, sort of. According to the actors, Hawkeye and Widow had a prior relationship that Hawkeye "clings to."
 * Beautifully Jossed by Scarlett Johannson herself -- "There's no time for romance, we have shit to Avenge."

The Wasp will appear, if not in the first, in a second Avengers movie.
And her tendency, in the comics, to switch costumes a lot, each one more flamboyant than the other, will provide an excellent opportunity for an Actor Allusion. Which young female celebrity has a similarly bizarre fashion sense?
 * as Wasp? No. God, no.
 * I think they would use as Wasp.
 * You disgust me.
 * Jossed

Spider-Man will have a cameo in the film
Think about it logically. Granted, Spidey wasn't in the original line up for the Avengers...but The Avengers is out in 2012, and so is The Amazing Spider-Man; it makes sense that they ask Andrew Garfield to do a spot of filming alongside RDJ and Chris Evans; they could have Spidey act like a fanboy around Tony and Steve; Tony cause he's a technological genius, and Steve cause he's... Well Captain America (comics). He could even phone Gwen after and say "[Hey Gwen, guess what? I just met CAPTAIN AMERICA!" And for one more tip of the hat, if the Avengers takes place after the events of TASM, then Spidey could have his original red and blue costume on.
 * Wouldn't work. Marvel Studios doesn't have the rights to Spider-Man or X-Men, which kinda puts a wrench into the works.
 * X-Men First Class may or may not be in continuity with these films (they sure as hell aren't in continuity with the other X-men films), but it's not outright stated. It's possible that future Spider-Man and X-Men films will make reference to the Avengers or the the events of this film without the characters actually showing up, at least not until Marvel can get the rights to them back.
 * Jossed
 * Further jossed based on commentary from The Incredible Hulk. They had asked Sony if they could use Empire State University, but Sony declined. They also asked if they could have Spider-Man swing by in the background of a scene or just have Tobey Maguire standing in a crowd scene. Both were declined, so the likelihood of Sony connecting Amazing Spider-Man with a rival company is improbable.

Someone very important will die in an absolutely heartwrenching way
Joss Whedon is directing. Try not to get too attached to anyone.
 * My money's on Coulson.
 * I'm skeptical. In interviews, Marvel Studios has mentioned potential interest in a spinoff TV show starring him. He's the "logical" candidate, from a Whedon writing philosophy perspective, but I'm dubious of Marvel actually approving such.
 * Jossed on Coulson, his actor confirmed he would make it out of this one. On the other hand, Hawkeye seems to have a patent on getting killed...
 * I don't think even Whedon would be heartless enough to kill a major superhero in his very first film. Even if he is, I feel that Marvel wouldn't be cool with it.
 * Some leaked set-pictures and -videos, while , possibly in a scene seen in the trailer. Well, them , so there were .  and here.]
 * I'm going to bet and say that it's going to be Loki in a case of Redemption Equals Death.
 * I doubt it. It may seem that way, but as comic!Loki said, "After all, the first thing a sorcerer of quality learns is to make himself as difficult to kill as possible."
 * Confirmed
 * Actually, Jossed.
 * Yeah, well, that wouldn't be the first time Joss Whedon has lied.
 * Maybe it was  that lied.

The Avengers will go on an epic bender
Stark is a connoisseur of spirits and near-alcoholic. Thor is a Boisterous Bruiser given to the celebratory tub of meed. Widow is Russian. Cap doesn't get drunk. I mean, come on!
 * What about The Hulk? When his pulse rises, no one is likely to like him. Of course, he could be the designated driver.
 * Technically, that should be Cap, but maybe he still gets a high blood-alcohol level despite never getting drunk.
 * They definitely should! And maybe do something stupid, too?
 * "Whoa, whoa Hulk-- whiskey's probably not the best thing for you. You know, I bet that temper of yours would qualify for medical marijuana..."
 * I am trying to imagine Bruce and Steve as the straight men to the entire rest of the team.
 * Jossed.

Steve has a problem with Tony because of Replacement Scrappy issues

 * Steve's just woken up after being good friends with Howard Stark who's slightly off, but still a good and loyal friend, only to find that his son is just similar enough to evoke painful memories while being this insensitive arrogant brat. Naturally it will take a while for Steve to warm up to Tony and see him as more than a flawed version of his old friend!
 * Jossed.
 * Actually, it's entirely possible that this was true, if internalized. Steve really doesn't like Tony at first, and Tony has a bit of a sibling rivalry complex with Steve--his dad had such respect and affection for this man, yet didn't show any towards Tony.

The Avengers will leave S.H.I.E.L.D.

 * The events of the first movie will cause the Avengers to quit in order to work as an autonomous group.
 * Alternately, S.H.I.E.L.D. will consider the Avengers a failure for one reason or another (probably against Fury's wishes) and shut the program down, but Tony and/or Cap will basically say "You can't fire me, I quit!" and reform the group, making it operate out of a Stark-owned mansion in NYC.
 * Jossed.

Joss Whedon is going to Troll the audience
Every Genre Savvy viewer is well-aware of Joss's love for killing off one of the main character, especially in Film franchises. And Joss is well-aware that most viewers are aware of this, so he's going to screw with the audience and have someone killed off before the mid-way point...only for it turn out to be Disney Death. Then he's going to "kill off" someone who can't die, because they'll be future movies, but then it will look like they really are dead... only for them to turn up in a Big Damn Heroes moment.
 * If this does happen then my money is on
 * This does not bode well.

Loki is going to go all I Have You Now, My Pretty on Black Widow
He definitely seems to eye bang her in the trailer which I can not blame him for in the slightest but this troper saw a video on set of Johansson wearing what looks like a bright red bed robe. Given who we are talking about this is probably going to end very poorly for him. And it might also give us some nice Fan Service.
 * Jossed.

Cap will be the one who gets to shout "AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!" in the film's climax.
In the comics, whenever that iconic phrased is uttered, it's usually Cap who says it to rally his fellow Avengers against whatever threat they're facing. And given the nature of the threat they're facing, just imagine how freaking amazing it would be to see the Avengers, believed to be beaten and on their last rungs, suddenly rallying together when Captain frigging America shouts out "AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!", thus leading to an-all out epic finale to the movie. I can see many fans rejoicing in the theatres with that one scene.
 * Jossed.

Cap and Thor will clash over how to handle Loki
Cap wants to stop him, Thor wants to protect him. Possibly Cap will come around to Thor's side, as he once had a surrogate brother (Bucky) who he had lost.
 * Then Tony will build an inter-planetary/dimensional communication device, they phone Odin and Loki get's grounded. The rest of the movie is the Avengers hanging out in the break room.
 * Which will be then followed by the Avengers having to fight the Hulk, who gets angry after some minor incident (involving Tony?), which then becomes a full blown fight.

Jenny Agutter's character is Peggy's daughter

 * Possibly Falsworth's, too, for maximum Britishness.
 * Jossed. She's apparently gonna play a Obstructive Bureaucrat character that's with the "World Security Council".
 * Assuming she's human, she's got to have parents. Two of them.

Steve will respond to Tony's 'Playboy Genius' boast with an armor-piercing statement

 * It'll probably be something pertaining to Tony's father, and might be a bit harsh, but fair.
 * Respond he did.

Thor vs. Steve happens because...

 * A classic superhero misunderstanding on the part of Cap, who's tasked with dealing with the supposed threat by Nick Fury.
 * In the comics, Loki is known for his mind manipulation, and the situation in the forest could be our favorite Magnificent Bastard Norse God of Lies doing his usual thing in tricking Cap that Thor's an enemy to be taken down.
 * Jossed. According to the movie tie-in storybook
 * Jossed. According to the movie tie-in storybook

The scene between Loki and Tony will be actually be a Heartwarming Moment

 * Just a guess, but we don't know whether Iron Man is part of the Avengers at this point. This may be the point where Tony unofficially states he's one of the Avengers, while staring down Loki!
 * Confirmed, but it's a Heartwarming Moment because  before he blasts Loki.

One or more of the following CMOH will show up

 * Mr. Stark and Captain Rogers referring to each other as 'Steve' and 'Tony' for the first time.
 * Someone making arrangements for Steve to go to England to be reunited with Peggy.
 * That depends if they managed to get Hayley Atwell to reprise her role in a surprise cameo. Or, if need be, they can simply imply that Steve goes to meet Peggy at the end. (With the second option, you can easily do the "full" version of the scene in Captain America 2 for those that want closure.)
 * Or Steve goes to England to visit Peggy at the beginning of the movie, having put it off since waking up, only to find that she has died shortly before arrival.
 * Not quite heartwarming.
 * Thor helping Cap up, accepting the mortal as an equal and worthy warrior at last.
 * We've already seen a snippet of that in the Super Bowl ad, so we're just awaiting full context of that scene.
 * Loki's Heel Realization.
 * Loki's Heel Realization.

The giant dragon thing at the end of the latest trailer is...

 * Fin Fang Foom?
 * Midgardian Serpent, given that it's Loki heading up the attack...
 * The enemy invaders' warship/weapon of mass destruction.
 * Confirmed
 * Fin Fang Foom is its name and it's also the Midgardian Serpent and its involvement means a Ragnarok plot for Thor 2.
 * A lost Decepticon from the Transformers movies.
 * Serpenterra!

Part of why this movie was made is to create a universe for all future Marvel Studios movies.
Because why not?
 * Pretty sure that was the first Iron Man's job.
 * Iron Man 1 started it, and The Avengers will expand upon it even more.

The Hulk is friends with Tony because of how he treats Bruce Banner

 * After getting "forcibly recruited" by S.H.I.E.L.D., Bruce probably got treated as a cross between a ticking time bomb and a potential experiment, so Tony (for all of his teasing) was probably the first person to treat him like a human being. Hence the reason why the Hulk saves Iron Man's life in the trailer.
 * Between the poking and the mocking over turning into a green rage monster, I don't see where treating him like a human being comes from.
 * Perhaps that ends up being character development for Tony, as he learns to treat Banner with more dignity. Either that, or he's just being playful with him. You know how Tony is...
 * Yeah, he's a dick. If anything, Steve seems to treat Banner better, shaking hands with him and rebuking Stark's antics. Could be that Hulk is saving Tony because it's what Cap would want, thereby teaching Tony to get his head out of his ass.
 * In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, there's one episode where we see Cap telling the Hulk that he is indeed a hero, so maybe we'll have something to that effect in the movie, which leads to that scene Hulk saving Iron Man?
 * Confirmed

Black Panther will appear in the Captain America Sequel, and Doctor Strange will appear in the Thor sequel to set up appearances in Avengers 2
Stan ' the man' Lee would love those 2 in the sequel. And we know how good Marvel films are in seamlessly introducing characters even in cameos. Of course Black Panther would have a Ultimate like version with claws and Doctor Strange would have to be played by Johnny Depp.
 * No. Please no. Get someone else. Depp is permanently stuck in the role of Jack Sparrow.
 * Oded Fehr as Dr Strange. Isaiah Mustafa as Black Panther. Deal sealed.


 * This does make sense, and Marvel has been pushing Ms Marvel quite hard in recent years.
 * This does make sense, and Marvel has been pushing Ms Marvel quite hard in recent years.

Robin Sherbatsky is Maria Hill's civilian alias

 * Barney, Marshall and Lily appear in the epilogue, in a blink and you'll miss it scene, on one of the news broadcasts. This is the only justification for this idea.

Tony Stark is preparing to finance the Avengers outside of SHIELD.

 * Why do you think  Also note that they don't seem to be in a hurry to put the S, T, R and K on the tower...

Loki took on the Hulk out of hubris.

 * Thor's "falling death trap" escape made Loki think that he truly was immortal and perhaps impervious. So why not threaten the most powerful member and prove yourself worthy? Alas, the trickster god is Genre Blind to his own schemes...
 * And/or because Loki was at the end of his rope: injured, tired, disarmed, and psychologically stressed by his plan starting to unravel. He probably didn't have the energy left to do much other than monologue.

The Avengers Initiative and SHIELD are a part of UNIT.

 * That helicarrier that they use looks quite similar to the Valiant from the Whoniverse. So who's to say that it's not actually from the same universe? After all, both SHIELD and UNIT get involved in protecting the Earth from extraterrestrial threats. I bet they're part of the same organisation.
 * Wait, SHIELD (first appearance: 1965) and the Helicarrier (again, 1965) both predate UNIT, so wouldn't it be the other way around?
 * And in setting, SHIELD's predecessor, the SSR, dates back to 1941. ..

The Avengers movie has, and the following movies will have, a subtle theme of the

 * In the Avengers, Loki's Staff/spear
 * Were those the true gems? Maybe like some artifacts placed in a museum, the Asgardians just put fake gems in the gauntlet for display purposes. And about the staff, it is speculated to use the same type of energy used by the Tesseract, not necessarily powered by the Tesseract itself. Captain America says it's like one of Hydra's energy weapons more than anything.
 * Except they weren't in a display, they were in a weapons vault guarded by the Destroyer and the other artifacts in there are real. And Selvig says the control rod is powered by the Tesseract to the Black Widow. And Hydra's weapons were powered by the Tesseract.
 * Except that's not the version actually in the movie, the version in Thor has the big blue gem in it.
 * To my knowledge, there has been no specific indication of how much time has passed between Thor and The Avengers. But clearly, some time has passed. In the meantime, the Gauntlet has been sitting in Odin's vault, a vault that has recently been robbed of its primary guardian after Thor trashed the Destroyer. And the guy who would want the Gauntlet happens to have as his minion, a trickster god who knows several back doors into Asgard that could get him in and out without being noticed. Keep in mind, we have no idea what is going on in Asgard after Thor's movie ends. There's a very good chance that something happened in the meantime.
 * Except that's not the version actually in the movie, the version in Thor has the big blue gem in it.
 * To my knowledge, there has been no specific indication of how much time has passed between Thor and The Avengers. But clearly, some time has passed. In the meantime, the Gauntlet has been sitting in Odin's vault, a vault that has recently been robbed of its primary guardian after Thor trashed the Destroyer. And the guy who would want the Gauntlet happens to have as his minion, a trickster god who knows several back doors into Asgard that could get him in and out without being noticed. Keep in mind, we have no idea what is going on in Asgard after Thor's movie ends. There's a very good chance that something happened in the meantime.

Tony Stark is The Heart of The Avengers team. (Well, A Heart.)

 * It's not immediately obvious, since at first Tony displays few of The Heart's sterling qualities: he's aggressively arrogant with almost everyone he meets here, he rushes in headfirst and brushes off early attempts at battle planning and teamwork, and half his teammates don't like him (Steve, Thor) or find him exasperating (Natasha, Fury, Coulson).
 * But Tony's also the most insistent that SHIELD be honest with its intentions, that advanced technology should not be made into weapons, and that the Avengers are not soldiers or weapons to be deployed blindly at government will.
 * He's the first person to genuinely reach out to Bruce Banner with empathy and respect, encouraging him to accept his "condition" as a gift that can help people. Tony's the only person who believes Bruce will join them for the final battle,
 * Finally, the climax of the final battle is
 * Tony's role as The Heart is complicated: Tony's breaking the team apart more often than bringing it together like a proper Heart, and he shares the role with  Steve, who as The Good Captain is always the moral center of the Avengers. But while The Hero Steve keeps the team together,  The Lancer Tony made sure the team was worth forming in the first place.

There's something going on with Nick Fury's left eye.

 * If you look at Nick Fury in The Avengers, his left eye seems to have something similar to what Stark was going through in Iron Man 2. It may have to do with why he has an eyepatch. This will probably be elaborated on in later movies, most likely in Avengers 2.
 * Not intending to burst a potentially-good plot detail, but the design for Ultimate Nick Fury (which Samuel L. Jackson lent his likeness to in the beginning) has that nasty scar lines around his eye socket too. It might be that Fury's past missions were simply that hellish. Hey, after all, we did see the All-Father Odin with a nasty, empty eye socket in Thor.

Agent Phil Coulson will be reborn as The Vision

 * Tony hints of a "Life Model Decoy" when Coulson tries to contact him. And considering that the Vision can change brain patterns.....

But, after the medical team arrives on scene and
 * There could be some merit to this.
 * Wait a minute now. Did we actually here the medics say it, or just Fury say that they called it?

And with SHIELD having this hi-tech helicarrier with hi-tech equipment on board, who knows what happened in the med-bay? What if Marvel is planning to bring back Agent Coulson as Vision?

It's said at least 3 times in The Avengers that Coulson was dating a cellist. Guess who's a cellist in the Marvel Universe? Wanda Maximoff aka The Scarlett Witch. And who is Scarlett Witch's husband in the comics? Vision, the human/synthetic reincarnation of a dead hero. both are Avengers.

Gregg's contract is for more films than he's been in so far, and while the original Vision was an android created by Ultron, so far Marvel hasn't been afraid to change certain details to fit the story.

Now you may be thinking, "But Fox currently holds the right to use mutants." But that isn't necessarily the complete truth. Kevin Feige brought this up at the red carpet premiere. According to him, both Marvel and Fox have rights to Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver jointly. I'm guessing the deal is that Marvel can't refer to them as 'mutants' and connect them to Magneto or the X-Men in any way, while Fox can't refer to them as being associated with The Avengers.

What's even more interesting is that he brought up those two characters specifically as characters who could appear in Avengers 2. why would he mention Scarlet Witch now? It all seems too good to be a coincidence.

''From here on, it can only be noted that talking about any possible developments in this series will have a high probability of ending in frustration. I mean, we know who's been holding the strings.

.
 * Ok. At the end of The First Avenger, Skull is burnt alive by the Tesseract and undergoes what looks a lot like a Bifrost transport. The Avengers establishes that the Tesseract can open a portal to the far reaches of space. The theory is that Skull is transported to wherever  hail from, whereupon   takes him on as a servant. The Other's physical dissimilarities to Skull can be explained however one likes- genetic alteration, damage from the Tesseract itself or the transportion process. His age (and continued survival after seventy years) can be explained by Erskin's serum, which was explictly mentioned to provide Cap's cells with a protective layer of healing (hence why he can't get drunk).
 * Isn't that an awful lots of arbitrary 'could be explained by'? I think its much more likely that.
 * If the

Tony knows

 * Tony seems to have a revelation when looking at right before he starts on his rant about Loki's ego being similar to his own. Maybe he was beginning to suspect that Fury was lying about  . Additionally during his talk with Loki, Tony uses present tense to refer to  . Now this could just be nothing but still, it's odd. He was also one of the first people to suspect Fury was lying about


 * By SHIELD, to save his life (and have a trustworthy superhuman as a nice bonus). Or maybe having been has nasty side effects. One way or another, he'll become orange, superpowered, and eventually be instrumental to defeating . And yes, this assumes  has an, as per another WMG above.

The next move of

 * Very basic reasoning. The Tesseract can open a door to  area of space, from either end. At the end of the Avengers, both the Tesseract and   Infinity Gauntlet are sitting in Asgard, he's got an obvious motivation to get his hands on both objects, and Earth has just shown it's not an easy target, so   is unlikely to strike it again soon without his cosmic toys. What do you want to bet the plot of Thor 2 or Avengers 2 involves an invasion of Asgard by   minions?

Tony's comment with Bruce means most, if not all, of the 2003 Hulk movie is canon within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Tony mentions how Bruce miraculously survives his exposure to gamma radiation that results in the Hulk. In the 2003 film, his father experimented on himself, and it passed onto Bruce which lay the seeds for the Hulk.
 * Unnecessary. The rebooted origin also had him surviving gamma exposure.
 * Actually, the 2003 film connects nicely to the rest of the movies. The first one tells what happened before banner started hiding in remote countries, and the next movie connects to the first one and the actual Avengers movie by starting out in a remote country, and showing  the fact that the first two movies have two different actors portraying banner is irrelevant considering he was replaced again for the Avengers.
 * The 2008 film is said to be a spiritual sequel to the 2003 one, referencing the fact by starting Banner off in a south american country. The intro to the 2008 film shows that the Hulk's origin is similar to the one in the TV show, the exposure to the gamma radiation was deliberate. And it was said in the 2008 film that Banner was attempting to recreate the Super-Soldier Serum, and was sure Gamma radiation was the answer, it's possible he used an experimental serum before the exposure that allowed him to survive, with the Hulk as an unfortunate side effect.

Loki's non-SHIELD minions are AIM

 * When Selvig asks Barton where the mooks came from, Barton mentions that SHIELD has plenty of enemies. In the comics 'verse, this is usually HYDRA or AIM, and since HYDRA was dismantled during WW 2...
 * Presuming, of course, that remnants of HYDRA didn't survive and continue to be a pain for the SSR and its successor, SHIELD.

Maria Hill will become the new Coulson.
With Coulson, Hill will take on a similar role, making appearances in other MCU films to provide a sense of continuity.

The old man that stands up to Loki in Germany and is narrowly saved by Captain America is a Holocaust survivor.
It would explain why he was so defiant to him in the first place; he's already spent a very tumultuous period in his life being forced to kneel to people that despise him; he's not going to take this shit from anyone ever again. He's even says, "There are always men like you." Cap goes into a bit more of a Nazi analogy immediately afterward, which I think gives this a bit more credence.

The waitress who's grateful for Captain America saving her will become a side character for Cap, and may even appear in Captain America 2.
Yes, there's deleted scenes from the movie that show said waitress was flirtatious towards Cap, and I'm going to assume that she'll be a romantic foil or a supporting character for Steve, to go along with Sharon Carter being his SHIELD partner. Or something.
 * As I recall her name tag said Beth on it. Are there any continuity savants around to tell us whether or not there were any Cap supporting characters with that name? I can't find any in the MCD. The movie focused on her three times which makes me think this WMG has some substance to it.
 * The only close one from the comics I can think of is Elizabeth "Betsy" Ross, and she was around in WW 2 not modern era. (IIRC some retcon places her as grandma of Hulk's GF Betty Ross). But of course the movies have combined characters before (Whiplash/Crimson Dynamo & I'd say movie Red Skull is a combo of RS & Zemo. So it could be Betsy combined with some modern love interest of Cap)

Shawarma will become incredibly popular thanks to this movie.

 * Greek and Middle Eastern restaurants will attract many more customers. Panda Express will petition to have fried rice mentioned in the Avengers 2 movie.
 * Confirmed???

Cpt. Rogers is rich in this film.
He was on active duty when he went under. Odds are, he's owed seventy years of back pay. Add in pay from SHIELD, inheritance (really, what are the odds that his parents are still alive?) and interest on savings from the 40s, and at the very least Steve's living comfortably. He's not Tony-level rich, but he's definitely got a good deal of money.
 * He's also Airborne-qualified, so mo' money. Though his parents were dead before he joined the Army.
 * And I presume that Steve's parents were struggling to make ends meet. In other words, they're not quite poor, but they're certainly not rich enough to have large sums of money for inheritance.
 * One of the early scenes in the Captain America film mentions that both of his parents had already died.

Natasha and Barton were released from active SHIELD duty after the end of the film
In order to protect them
 * Unlikely. The current word on Captain America 2 is that Cap will be working with SHIELD. Its unlikely that he would still be working with them, yet two actual SHIELD agents wouldn't.
 * Seeing as how they are government agents and they caused almost no property damage (as compared to say... the Hulk) they probably wouldn't get into too much trouble. Not unless the Senator wants to hold the Police Officers and National Guard personnel who were present for the battle responsible as well. If he doesn't then fury can just say "What makes Hawkeye and widow any more responsible for the plasma damage to the city?" This would probably cover Captain America's ass too seeing as how he's Captain Goddamn America and if you try and hold him responsible for what alien invaders did then you hate freedom. It should also be noted that the Car that Black Widow and Hawkeye left in had a S.H.I.E.L.D insignia on the door.

You-Know-Who is not dead and will return.
Plain and simple. No Vision, no LMD; He's either in a coma, or simply being ordered to remain underground for an indeterminate amount of time.
 * The powers that be would be incredibly remiss to ignore the shitstorm of massive proportions that has erupted from the whole affair and not do something to fix it.
 * Additional WMG: To tie the new Spider-Man film into this continuity, he'll appear as, just like he does on Ultimate Spider-Man. Fwip fwip.
 * Additional WMG: To tie the new Spider-Man film into this continuity, he'll appear as, just like he does on Ultimate Spider-Man. Fwip fwip.

Black Widow is going to get a spiffy new pair of laser bracelets in her next (Chronological) appearance.

 * They are going to be reverse engineered Chitauri laser muskets mounted onto her braclets to give her some more oomph in future films. It might not be in her movie seeing as how there has been talk of an origin prequel but maybe in something else. Like Iron Man 3 or the Avengers 2.

Loki's alien backers never intended to support his rule of Earth.

 * This explains why it was so easy to defeat the Chitauri army just by . All   was interested in was the Tesseract. It's entirely possible that once Loki delivered it to him, the Chitauri army would be automatically shut down and Loki would be free to try to rule Earth on his own. After all, what's one primitive world to the  ?

Loki let himself be captured again in the end.
It looks like he chose to stay down when the Hulk smacked him down. But then the Hulk left....He could have at least turned invisible. But he had just failed. The Other did say there was no place he could hide. Well, the safest place would be in an Asgard Prison.
 * I think Loki not moving after the Hulk beat the tar out of him really had more to do with the fact that the Hulk just beat the tar out of him. He also seemed surprised when he saw the team was behind him, so he probably thought that he had more time before he got there.
 * In the end he probably did surrender with that in mind, choosing the lesser of two evils.

The Tesseract is Reaper technology.

 * Its teleportation effect, like that of the Bifrost Gate, is very similar to that of a mass relay. The bio-synthetic Chitauri are using their conquest of Earth as a smokescreen for the real reason they want the Tesseract: they are the Cinematic Universe's version of Collectors, and intend to open the way for the Reaper fleet.
 * Additionally, Loki is indeed controlling people's minds through the technology given him, but not in the manner he suspects: everyone touched by the spear is Indoctrinated, and only following him because it coincides with the Reapers' plans (to paraphrase some lines in the film: "The Tesseract... showed me things; I have clarity now"). Also, note how their eyes turn electric blue, and briefly acquire glowing facial scars: they are in the initial stages of being transformed into a.) Husks, or b.) Reaper emissaries, such as Saren and.
 * This WMG certainly makes the "Space Magic!" meme funnier.

The Sequel will feature another team of superheroes...

 * ... Nextwave, Agents of Hate. Because that'd be awesome.

In Avengers 2, Loki will be the Avengers' Hannibal Lecter
Since he's the only one who had contact with  who will probably be the Big Bad in Avengers 2, the Avengers will have to go to him for information on   and how he works. Loki will probably be his normal self around them, but might be motivated to help since the Chitauri warned him that if he failed to get them the Tesseract then they would find him and take vengeance on him.
 * Besides, giving him that mouth-gag in the custody of the original Hannibal Lecter himself is just too sweet to pass up.

Nick Fury will use a Laser Blade in the next film.
And it will be purple, mainly as a reference to Samuel L. Jackson's role as Mace Windu.

The Stinger at the end of Avengers sets up the Deadpool movie.
I mean c'mon, some people do know that Deadpool and Death have a thing. And the only who stands between them is It could turn out that Deadpool was cursed with immortality, and we get to see Death on screen.

The Tesseract originally belonged to
That's why he knows about it and wants to back. Thousands of years ago, he and the forces of Asgard fought, the Asguardians regarding  as an upstart who thought himself a god. During the battle,  lost the Cube to Odin, who after keeping it for a time, left it on Earth or lost it in the battle with the frost giants. What's really dangerous is that  is the only one who knows the Cube's true power of Reality Warping. If he gets it back he could wish half the universe dead. The gemstone that he gives to Loki was an attempt to replicate the cube's power.

Deadpool exists in the same universe as Avengers.
If his movie will come out before any other, and if  will make an appearence.

The entire invasion was a massive Xanatos Gambit for Loki and
The full theory is spelled out here, but the short version is basically this: while Loki may (or may not) have wanted control of the Earth as revenge against Thor, the whole thing was basically a means for to get Loki back into Asgard under reasonable pretenses so that Laufreyson could somehow deliver the Infinity Gauntlet.
 * I had a similar thought. Considering how risky the invasion plan was to begin with (YMMV on that, but see the Headscratchers page for a long, long discussion of its flaws), Unless Loki got dumber between movies, he was probably aware all along that his plan could easily fail and even if it succeeded he'd just be a vassal to a Bigger Bad that was strong and getting even stronger. But directly due to Loki's attack in this movie, a confrontation between  and the Avengers is likely. If the Avengers win, then the force that traumatized Loki in unspecified ways between movies has been punished and there's a cosmic Evil Power Vacuum he can step into. If   wins, Earth is really, really doomed, so Loki would have Revenge by Proxy on Thor for the events of Thor. Either way, Loki arguably winds up better off than if his invasion had won.

The Other is a Time Lord
This can't be a WMG page without saying that someone is a Time Lord and there's a character called The Other in Doctor Who.
 * He's on his last regeneration so his appearance is unattractive (like Crispy!Master).

Nick Fury was once known as Jules Winnfield

 * Who better to run a law-enforcement agency than a badass ex-gangster who has dedicated his life to protecting others? In the interim he shaved his head and lost an eye somehow.
 * For his new identity he borrowed the name of a legendary WWII commando.
 * This also suggests that the Tesseract was the shiny thing in the briefcase.
 * However, that was gold-colored, unlike the Tesseract.

The Avengers was at least partially a deconstruction of Watchmen, particularly the film version.

 * Yes, a deconstruction of a deconstruction. Does that make it a reconstruction? I have no idea. But besides the issues of the theatrical posters being nigh-identical, there's also Loki's lip service to the idea of essentially frightening the world into peace by making all of humanity worship him (the film version of Watchmen ends with the world being terrified into peace out of fear from retribution from Dr. Manhattan). He may have been intended as a dismantling of the more noble, Necessarily Evil archetype presented by Ozymandias- the kind of person who'd think peace bought through fear is worthwhile very likely would be more like Loki than like Ozymandias, crazed and dangerous rather than analytical and basically willing to break his own moral code for what he sees as a genuine greater good. However, the ending also criticizes actually thinking like Ozymandias, which is what the Council does in their decision to nuke New York because it might stop the Chitauri (just like Ozymandias was willing to psychic-bomb New York in the original graphic novel and essentially nuke 15 major world cities in the film because it might have prevented WWIII).
 * This is awesome. The parallels are definitely there, whether they're intentional or not.

Scarlet Witch will appear in the next Avengers movie, tying it together with the X Men movies

 * She will be introduced escaping a Insane Asylum to warn SHIELD about the new movie's villian. No one will believe her so she will use her powers over chance and probability force ridiculously unlikely circumstances to bring the Avengers together at the right place and time to face the threat. She will also rant about and make references to events and people from the comic book universe including her two non-existent sons, everyone will dismisses it as mad delusions.