Eagle-Eyed Fan Seemingly Spotted A Touching Avengers: Endgame Nod To The Dusted Characters

Eagle-Eyed Fan Seemingly Spotted A Touching Avengers: Endgame Nod To The Dusted Characters

It was shocking to see half of all life in the universe turn to dust at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, but it was arguably equally as devastating seeing the reactions of those who survived having to watch their loved ones disappear. Avengers: Endgame showed the survivors coping with these losses five years later, and in Rocket Raccoon’s case, it appears he paid tribute to the fallen Guardians of the Galaxy, namely Peter Quill, with a wardrobe choice, as you’ll see below.

Over on Reddit, an eagle-eyed Marvel fan noticed that Rocket Raccoon is wearing the same crimson scarf that Peter Quill wore in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, or at least one that looks just like it. I’m leaning towards the former, because Quill wasn’t wearing that scarf during Avengers: Infinity War, so it wouldn’t have turned to dust with him.

Those familiar with the Guardians of the Galaxy comics, particularly the ones from before the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie’s release, will recognize that Bradley Cooper’s Rocket Raccoon finally wore the same costume as his comic counterpart did. The scarf isn’t part of that ensemble on the printed page, but it’s a subtle, yet nice way for him to honor the Guardians, i.e. his family.

Rocket Raccoon was one of the only two Guardians who survived Avengers: Infinity War, Nebula being the second. Those two were hardly close in the first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies, but at the beginning of Avengers: Endgame, they held hands in grief over their fallen allies.

In the following five years, it looks like those two worked closely together on various missions, and when the opportunity to came to time travel through the Quantum Realm, retrieve the Infinity Stones and snap the dusted back into existence, naturally both were on board with the plan. Rocket accompanied Thor to 2013 Asgard and Nebula joined War Machine on Morag in 2014.

One time heist and massive battle against 2014 Thanos and his army later, and the Guardians of the Galaxy are whole again. Peter Quill, Drax the Destroyer, Groot and Mantis were among the many heroes who arrived during the portals sequence, and while the present day Gamora is still dead, her 2014 self followed in her earlier self’s footsteps and betrayed Thanos, which luckily meant she wasn’t turned to dust when Tony Stark sacrificed his life to destroy the Mad Titan and his forces using the Infinity Stones.

Even though it’s been five years since Rocket Raccoon last saw the Guardians of the Galaxy together again, he didn’t miss a beat getting back into his usual rhythm with them, offering knives to Peter Quill and Thor for a fight to decide who will lead the team. I also wonder if Quill is going to ask for his scarf back or let Rocket keep it.

Now that all the Guardians of the Galaxy members are back in action, that sets the stage for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which is rumored to begin filming sometime next year. No plot details have been revealed yet, but along with Thor potentially coming along, it also looks like we’ll follow Peter Quill searching for the past version of Gamora, who doesn’t have that history with the Guardians that her older self did.

You can still see Avengers: Endgame in theaters now, and we here at CinemaBlend will let you know once Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has an official release date. For now, you can browse through our Marvel movies guide to learn what other movies this superhero franchise has coming up.

Jennifer Lawrence Wouldn't Return For Dark Phoenix Unless Simon Kinberg Directed, He Says

Jennifer Lawrence Wouldn't Return For Dark Phoenix Unless Simon Kinberg Directed, He Says

After writing and producing several of the X-Men movies, Simon Kinberg finally sits in the director's chair for Dark Phoenix, the last film of Fox's superhero franchise. This is Kinberg's feature debut, and while taking on the final film in the saga may seem like a daunting task for a first time director, Kinberg had full support from the cast. In fact, Jennifer Lawrence apparently wouldn't return as Mystique unless he was the director, Kinberg recently said.

Since X-Men: First Class, the X-Men franchise has been led by Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Nicholas Hoult. The actors signed deals for three movies, and it was unclear if any of them would return for Dark Phoenix after X-Men: Apocalypse. Eventually, all of them eventually signed on for one more ride, and while it was unclear to all of us what was going to happen, Kinberg didn't doubt they'd be back.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Simon Kinberg revealed that they had always written drafts of the script expecting the actors to return. Kinberg knew they would be back because they had told him they would as long as he directed.

We presumed the First Class core cast — Fassbender, McAvoy Jennifer, and Nic [Hoult] were coming back for this film. Part of the reason I presumed that was at the end of finishing X-Men: Apocalypse, when it was clear Bryan Singer was not going to direct the next movie, it was the actors that approached me about directing the next of the X-Men movies. Jennifer especially. Jen said she wouldn’t come back for another movie unless I directed it. So, I had a lot of support from them.

With Bryan Singer -- who is the subject of multiple cases of alleged sexual assault on minors -- not returning for Dark Phoenix, Simon Kinberg was the logical choice to take the reins. He likely knows these characters inside and out, and the actors clearly had an admiration for him if he's the whole reason they came back.

Ultimately, everyone is back for one last hurrah. While this will be the last of Fox's X-Men movies, it wasn't always clear that would be the case. The Disney-Fox merger seemed to put an expiration date on the franchise, but according to Simon Kinberg, he went into it knowing that this would likely be the end.

I feel as though the notion of this being the last of this cycle of X-Men movies is tied for a lot of people, at least in the industry, to the Disney-Fox merger. In truth, when I sat down to write this movie, which was three years ago, I thought about it as the culmination of this cycle of X-Men movies.

The X-Men will one day be seen in the MCU, but until then, Dark Phoenix arrives in theaters on June 7.

Daisy Ridley Doesn’t Want Rey To End Up With Kylo Ren

Daisy Ridley Doesn’t Want Rey To End Up With Kylo Ren

We have no idea what the future has in store for our favorite Star Wars characters when The Rise of Skywalker arrives later this year. Fans have been coming up with ideas and theories almost since the beginning. However, the other thing fans have been doing since the beginning, because this is the internet, is building relationships between characters.

Many are deeply invested in whatever is going on between Finn and Poe, but just as many are wondering what might happen between Rey and Kylo Ren. However, one person who is not into "Reylo" is Daisy Ridley herself. According to the actress...

I do know about Reylo. I don’t know how I feel about it, because everyone’s talking about the toxic thing of a relationship when it’s essentially emotional [abuse]. It’s a tricky road. I do feel like, deep down, Kylo thinks what he’s doing is right and he doesn’t think he’s wrong, but he has also killed so many people. So I can’t really get behind it, no, in a personal way.

And just like that, millions of 'shippers cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

Daisy Ridley just isn't on board with the idea of Rey and Kylo Ren getting together romantically. She recognizes that whatever sort of relationship the two do have isn't exactly healthy. Ben Solo, however right he may feel he is, has left a lot of bodies in his wake to get to where he wants to go, including one who was his actual father. While Ridley, of course, stays quiet about what we will actually see in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, she tells Steele Wars that personally, she doesn't support the relationship.

Daisy Ridley does tease that redemption for Ben Solo, or at least exploration of the idea of redemption, might be part of the new film. Star Wars: The Last Jedi even teased the idea with Kylo Ren killing Supreme Leader Snoke, and fighting alongside Rey, though it eventually turned out that ultimately that was all for his own selfish reasons.

Ren wanted Rey to join him and use the First Order to remake the galaxy. Now Ren leads the First Order and with The Rise Of Skywalker seeing a significant jump in time after the events of The Last Jedi, it's likely much will have changed in the organization when we see it next.

Thus far the new Star Wars trilogy has been decidedly light on romantic entanglements of any kind. At the end of The Last Jedi we saw that Rose has feelings for Finn, but where that will go, and if relationships are in the cards for any of our other characters, we'll have to wait and see. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker arrives December 20.

Wait, Was Captain Marvel’s Mid-Credits Scene Darker Than We Thought?

Wait, Was Captain Marvel’s Mid-Credits Scene Darker Than We Thought?

Spoilers ahead for Carol Danvers' origin story.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been going strong for well over a decade, and Phase Three brought a new success to the massive franchise. Every single blockbuster in the current slate of films has been a financial and critical success, as Disney continues to bask in the winning nature of the MCU. This includes the newest release, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck's Captain Marvel, which is earning a ton of money at the box office and breaking new ground for the shared universe.

Captain Marvel introduced Brie Larson's Carol Danvers to audiences, after fans waited years for the origin story to finally arrive in theaters. The film also brought the cosmic side of the MCU back to the silver screen, as Captain Marvel and her new buddy Nick Fury got involved the Kree/Skrull War. She ultimately navigated her memories and awesome powers, and even shared a brief scene with the surviving heroes in the mid-credits scene.

Its the mid-credits scene fans have been waiting for for nearly a year, after Nick Fury heralded Captain Marvel right before fading to dust during the final moments of Avengers: Infinity War. Carol Danvers was finally brought to the present MCU timeline, and is shown rocking longer hair than in Captain Marvel. She arrives at the Avengers facility seeking Nick Fury, but a new theory indicates her meet-cute with the surviving heroes might be darker than we thought.

The Captain Marvel mid-credits scene shows Carol Danvers coming face to face with Black Widow, and immediately asking where Fury was. But a new theory indicates it might not be Carol at all, but yet another shape shifting Skrull. This would indicate a major twist ahead for Endgame, as well as a stronger tie-in to the events of Captain Marvel. And perhaps the real Captain is still somewhere in the cosmos, and therefore able to rescue Tony Stark and Nebula from their precarious position stranded in space.

Of course, there is one major factor that may stop this fan theory, (which comes to us from THR) from gaining more steam: the characterization of the Skrulls in Captain Marvel. While they were set up to be villainous shape shifters, it turns out that the Skrulls were actually a refugee alien race who were simply trying to live our their time in peace, away from the Kree War. As such, it might be unlikely that they end up being imposter villains in Avengers: Endgame.

Then again, Endgame is set decades after the events of Captain Marvel. While Ben Mendelsohn's Talos and his compatriots were friendly Skrulls, things may have changed in the years that Carol Danvers has been in the cosmos. What's more, the Skrulls are an entire alien race, so there could still be some bad guys out there. And the idea of Captain Marvel starting off Endgame as an imposter would certainly be a fascinating plot twist.

The war between the Skrulls and Kree framed the narrative of Captain Marvel, while the title character attempted to navigate her memories and mysterious past on Earth. The trailers and first act of the movie make the shapeshifting aliens the enemy, as Carol Danvers is seen scrapping with a seemingly innocent old lady, that turned out to be a Skrull in disguise.

But Talos and the rest of the green aliens got a much more sympathetic edit in the final product, as it was revealed that they're refugees trying to escape Carol Danver's alien allies, The Kree. In the end, Captain Marvel herself was a victim of the Kree, who manipulated her into joining the Star Force, and used a disrupter to tone her abilities down. Carol Danvers ultimately sided with The Skrull, while laying the beat down to Ronan's forces and Jude Law's Yon-Rogg in the process.

It should be fascinating to see how Captain Marvel and her supporting characters continue to factor into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Carol Danvers' origin story has already made a ton of money during its first week at the box office, all but guaranteeing a sequel in the process. Phase Three also introduced Black Panther and Spider-Man, who have quickly become major presences in the overall franchise. Smart money says Captain Marvel follows suit, especially given how many OG Avengers' contracts will be up with Endgame.

Brie Larson was announced as Captain Marvel years ago, so her Marvel debut has been a long time coming. The character is teased to have a major presence in Avengers: Endgame, especially after so many heroes turned to dust as a result of Thanos' finger snap of death (aka The Decimation). The surviving heroes are going to need all the help they can get if they hope to vanquish the Mad Titan, and reverse the affects of the snap. Luckily, Captain Marvel has been teased as the most powerful hero in the MCU, so they've got the big guns. As long as Carol Danvers doesn't end up being a Skrull in disguise, that is.

With just one movie left before Phase Three concludes, it seems like just about anything is possible in the future of the MCU. Marvel Studios hasn't revealed its plans after Spider-Man: Far From Home, guarding the next slate of films until Endgame hits theaters. But Kevin Feige has teased that the cosmic side of the shared universe will be a focus in Phase Four, with Captain Marvel helping to expand the fictional galaxy. Smart money says we haven't seen the last of the Skrull or Kree races, although whether or not they factor into Endgame remains to be seen.

Luckily, the wait is almost over for Avengers: Endgame. Anticipation has been at a fever pitch, and things should only get crazier for the rabid fanbase in the month leading up to its release. Thanos' snap seriously upped the stakes, and fans are eager to see how it all turns out.

Captain Marvel is in theaters now, and you can see Carol Danvers return to the silver screen when Avengers: Endgame arrives in theaters on April 26th. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Bob Iger Says Disney Is Proud Of Captain Marvel

Bob Iger Says Disney Is Proud Of Captain Marvel

The Kree have the Supreme Intelligence and The Walt Disney Company has Bob Iger. He is the CEO and Chairman of the Mouse House’s constantly expanding entertainment empire. His approval means a lot, and just like the Supreme Intelligence, you don’t want to let him down. Fortunately, Carol Danvers did not disappoint and Bob Iger took to social media to say how proud he and Disney are of Captain Marvel. Take a look:

As savvy as they come, Bob Iger, who is held accountable by shareholders for Disney’s financial success, congratulated Captain Marvel not on its box office performance, but on how it was received by audiences. In his tweet, he said how proud he and the other Disney bigwigs are of the film while citing Captain Marvel’s “A” CinemaScore, which indicates that opening night audiences really liked the latest Marvel film and the newest superhero in the MCU.

While the film business is just that, a business, and financial matters will always take precedence, Bob Iger obviously still prefers audiences to enjoy Disney’s films and it is gratifying when a film that you believe in is so well received by general audiences. Not everyone loves the film and some actively want it to fail, but that has done nothing to diminish its success.

Of course, the audience spoke with more than their answers to CinemaScore ballots, they also spoke with their wallets, justifying Disney’s pride in the film with dollars and cents. Captain Marvel broke records in its opening weekend and has already cleared $500 million worldwide at the box office in less than a week in release. So critically, commercially and in terms of audience reception, there is a lot for Disney to be proud of with Captain Marvel.

Disney is not one to rest on its laurels though, and as Bob Iger says, now it’s on to Avengers. That constantly moving forward mentality bore out this morning when the third trailer for Avengers: Endgame was released and wouldn’t you know it, with the assumption that many people have already seen Captain Marvel, this trailer had the character appear at the end and share a cute moment with probably the only other Avenger who is on her level power-wise: Thor.

Something tells me Disney will have plenty to be proud of with that film as well, and really 2019 as a whole. This is a huge year for the company and it is having a huge month of March. On top of Captain Marvel being a hit with audiences and adding a hefty and growing sum to the company’s coffers, on March 20 Disney will complete its purchase of 21st Century Fox.

Captain Marvel is now playing. Check out what we thought of the movie and see where we rank it in the MCU canon of films and take a look at our 2019 release schedule to keep track of all the big movies still to come this year.

Avengers: Endgame Will Complete Captain America’s Arc, According To Chris Evans

Avengers: Endgame Will Complete Captain America’s Arc, According To Chris Evans

Although the Marvel Cinematic Universe isn’t going anywhere, Avengers: Endgame does mark the end of an era. Concluding both Phase 3 and this incarnation of the MCU that began in 2008 with Iron Man, the expectation has been that Endgame will either be the last time we see certain characters or mark their final appearance as major players in this franchise. Chris Evans’ Captain America is one of the top candidates on this particular list, and while we’re still not sure what fate holds in store for the Star-Spangled Man with a Plan, Evans did confirm that Endgame will wrap up the hero’s arc in the MCU. In Evans’ words:

I think just the completion of the arc. That’s safe to say, right? This movie does kind of provide an ending… He’s been through so much.

Chris Evans would have said more on that subject, but then he was interrupted by Robert Downey Jr. making a buzzing noise and saying “Judges?”, which was unquestionably a warning to Evans that he was too close to spoiler territory. From there, Evans spoke the “connections and friendships” he’s made during his time working in the MCU, prompting Downey to troll Evans about not making it to Paul Rudd’s birthday party. So while no more beans were spilled plot-wise, tea was spilled regarding cast gatherings.

This was just one of many topics discussed during the recent Avengers: Endgame press conference that CinemaBlend’s Eric Eisenberg attended, but it’s safe to say that what will happen to Captain America is one of the biggest concerns fans have going into this movie. When Chris Evans joined the MCU nearly a decade ago, he signed a six-movie contract (not including cameo appearances), though because that only took him through Avengers: Infinity War, he had it extended to he could appear in Endgame.

Beyond that, there’s been no indication that Evans will be around for Phase 4 and beyond, and Evans’ latest comment reaffirms that the arc that began with Steve Rogers being injected with the Super Soldier Serum in World War II, will reach a conclusion of sorts. However, just because the arc will end doesn’t necessarily mean that Avengers: Endgame will permanently conclude Steve’s story. Either way, hopefully fans will be pleased with the final stretch of this journey that kicked off in 2011 with Captain America: The First Avenger.

There hasn't been any shortage of theories of how Avengers: Endgame will end for Captain America, from being killed in battle to somehow traveling back in time to live out the rest of his years with Peggy Carter. That said, after Chris Evans tweeted about officially wrapping Endgame last October that indicated this was his final MCU appearance, the actor clarified soon after his post should not be taken as a spoiler.

Several months later, Avengers: Endgame co-director Joe Russo said that Evans is “not done yet,” and that audiences would soon understand what he was talking about. That seemingly indicates that Captain America won’t die in Endgame, although let’s be honest, even if Cap did meet his demise, that doesn’t prevent the character from popping back up in flashbacks, hallucinations, etc. Whatever Endgame holds in store, given how the upcoming slate of Marvel movies looks, it’s reasonable to assume that Cap will be taking a backseat in this world as new and recently introduced characters are more prominently featured.

Avengers: Endgame hits theaters on April 26, so stay tuned to CinemaBlend for continuing coverage. For those wondering what’s coming up after this gigantic spectacle, look through our Marvel movies guide to learn what’s lined up for Phase 4.

Captain Marvel Box Office: This Went Pretty Well, Huh?

Captain Marvel Box Office: This Went Pretty Well, Huh?

Leading into Captain Marvel's debut box office weekend, there was an unusual amount of uncertainty, at least for a Marvel movie. There were plenty of early reports about the presales being among the MCU's best, but all of that positivity was counterbalanced by very vocal frustrations from a portion of Internet users who downvoted the film and complained about it a lot on message boards. Well, the proof is in the final results, and it seems a hell of a lot of people wanted to see the finished product for themselves.

When the money is finished being counted, it looks like Captain Marvel is going to end up in the $153,000,000 range, which is a very good (although not great) performance for a recent Marvel movie. It will also probably be enough to make 10X its nearest competitor, How To Train Your Dragon 3, which feels like it might be some kind record. I don't have any real data on that though. So, if you wanna tell your friends that maybe fact, don't involve me. Regardless, you can check out the full box office table below as per Box Office Mojo...

Obviously the real story here is Captain Marvel. $153,000,000 is a monster opening weekend, and everyone involved should be pleased with these results. Expecting a much bigger number than this would be the equivalent of expecting a movie to have one of the biggest opening weekends ever. Those expectations simply are not fair or realistic, even with a family that had as big of a budget as Captain Marvel. So, this is definitely a win. Hard stop.

That being said, it's still worth comparing Captain Marvel's results to other recent MCU movies, and analyzing that is a little more complicated. These figures are not finalized, but based on where the other films ended up, Carol Danvers and company are going to finish in either 7th or 8th place for MCU opening weekends. That puts its behind the 3 Avengers movies, behind Captain America: Civil War which was basically an Avengers movie, behind Black Panther and Iron Man 3 and very close to Guardians Of The Galaxy 2. That's really solid, and it clearly differentiates itself from franchises like Ant-Man that are on that second tier. Given these numbers and the critical (80% RT) and social media responses which have been reasonably positive, though, it's fair to say there is less buzz and perhaps less long-term potential here than with Black Panther, which opened to over $200,000,000 and 97% positive reviews.

Beyond Captain Marvel, there's not a whole lot worth talking about here. The LEGO Movie 2 still not breaking one hundred million at the domestic box office has to be considered a disappointment. It's also seeming increasingly likely that How To Train Your Dragon 3 will finish its domestic run with the lowest grosses of the entire franchise. As such, it's probably a good thing it's coming to an end.

Next week we'll get a look at Captive State, Wonder Park and Five Feet Apart, though the real story will probably be how well Captain Marvel holds. Ultimately, that percentage will likely be the strongest indicator as to how profitable the new MCU entry will prove to be.