MCU - a list of loose threads, plot seeds, and the like *SPOILERS*

[pukunui]

The cats woke me up early this morning, and I ended up lying in bed thinking about the MCU's various loose threads, clues, and plot seeds that have yet to come to fruition.

This post contains spoilers for Ms Marvel, Thor: Love and Thunder and She-Hulk, as well as other recent MCU showings. Please read no further if you don't wish to be spoiled.

In no particular order:

• Mordo: Based on the credits scene at the end of Dr Strange, I was expecting Mordo to be the primary antagonist of the next Dr Strange film, but instead we got a variant of him as a secondary antagonist (plus a throwaway line from Strange about how his Mordo had snapped and dedicated his life to killing him). As far as I can tell, both versions of Mordo are still at large and could thus potentially show up again in a future show or film.
  
  
• Sharon Carter: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has set her up to be a future antagonist. It's unclear where/when she will show up again - perhaps they're saving her for a future Falcon / Winter Soldier season or "Falcon as Captain America" movie or something.
  
  
• The Ten Rings: I expect we won't find out about the origin/purpose of the rings or revisit the eponymous criminal organization prior to the Shang-Chi sequel. Shang-Chi and his rings could potentially show up sooner than that, though.
  
  
• Eros: Thanos’ brother was introduced in an Eternals credits scene. We don’t yet know what his future involvement in the MCU will be.
  
  
• Dane: Eternals also set up Dane to become the Black Knight, but we don’t yet know what all that entails. Will he get his own show or movie?
  
  
• Venom: Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock left a piece of Venom behind in the MCU. Does this mean Venom can now appear in the wider MCU, or is he still limited to Sony/Marvel co-productions?
  
  
• Clea: She showed up at the end of Dr Strange 2, but I presume we won't see her again until they make a Dr Strange 3, whenever that may be.
  
  
• America Chavez: Introduced in Dr Strange 2, we saw her learn to control her multiverse-traveling power and also join the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj. I'm not sure when/where we'll see her next, but I'd like to know why/how she is unique in the multiverse (with no apparant variants), and I expect we'll eventually see her reunite with her moms.
  
  
• Monica: WandaVision introduced Monica as a new superhero and included a brief scene directing her to meet with Fury in outer space. We still don't really know what all she can do, and she still needs to pick a superhero name! I expect we won’t see her again until next year's The Marvels, though.
  
  
• White Vision: WandaVision also introduced White Vision. Will we ever see him again? Will he incorporate Wanda's Vision's memories and become like original Vision, as per the comics, and will he reunite with some version of Wanda? Hopefully Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen are up for continuing this story line!
  
  
• AIM: The Iron Man 3 antagonist Killian's organization may still be in operation. Some people thought the beekeeper guy in WandaVision was an AIM employee, but that proved not to be the case. Will AIM ever show up again?
  
  
• Arc Reactor: Tony's arc reactor was supposed to be able to provide limitless clean energy, but so far we haven't seen it do anything other than power his mecha suits. Will we ever see a version of Earth powered by arc reactors?
  
  
• SHIELD/Hydra: At the end of Winter Soldier, all of SHIELD/Hydra's intel was leaked online. Not much seems to have come of this yet, however. (Also, is Hydra still active somewhere? When we've encountered them previously, they made a big deal about how you couldn't get rid of them.)
  
  
• Wakanda Outreach: What effect, if any, have the Wakandan outreach centres had? I suppose the Snap/Blip disrupted things for a few years, but even so, they ought to have had some kind of impact on the world by now. Perhaps not in the form of a proliferation of vibranium tech but something noticeable. Hopefully this will be addressed in the upcoming Black Panther sequel.
  
  
• Justin Hammer: Tony's wannabe competitor and second-rate antagonist from Iron Man 2 was last seen stewing in prison along with Trevor, who later showed up in Shangi-Chi. If Justin shows up again, the upcoming Armor Wars show seems like the most likely place.
  
  
• Mysterio's crew: With Mysterio dead, has his crew of ex-Stark Industries employees disbanded, or are they planning something else nefarious? We could potentially see one or two of them crop up in some other context in the future.
  
  
• Clandestines: During the fifth episode of Ms Marvel, we were told that the Clandestines aren't really djinn. If that's the case, what are they really? And why did the Veil separating our world from theirs kill them when they touched it? And how did Najma use it to give/awaken her son Kamran's powers? Also, were the people with glowing purple eyes that we saw when Kamala first put on the bangle the same people as the Clandestines, perhaps in their natural habitat, or were they some other group? I'm guessing The Marvels won't really go into any of this, so I'm hoping we get another season of the Ms Marvel show that goes a bit deeper into the origins of the Noor and the Clandestines and such.
  
  
• Kamala's Bangle: We still don't know the origins of this bangle. While it may not be the source of Kamala's power, it certainly has power of its own, including the ability to send visions, open dimensional barriers, and do a teleport swap. I hope its origins are revealed in The Marvels as I don't think it comes from wherever the Clandestines come from. Instead, there appears to be some kind of connection with Captain Marvel, which could mean it is ancient Kree tech. Hopefully we won't have to wait more than a year to find out more about it (and whether or not it does have any connection to Shang-Chi's rings).
  
  
• Hercules: At the end of Thor: Love and Thunder, an angry Zeus commands his son, Hercules, to hunt down Thor and kill him. I'm guessing this will be explored further in the next Thor movie.
  
  
• Pepper Potts / Stark Industries: Is Pepper still the CEO of Stark Industries? Does she have anything to do with the Department of Damage Control? Will we perhaps find out what Pepper and her company are up to in Armor Wars?
  
  
• Stakar's team: These guys are partly just an Easter egg for diehard comics fans, but one of the many Guardians of the Galaxy 2 credits scenes sees Stallone's character get back together with his old mates to go on adventures again. It's unclear if they will appear again in any future stories or maybe even get their own story going forward. It's possible they will simply remain an Easter egg.
  
  
• Love: Clearly there's something special about Thor's adopted daughter, Love. Ostensibly the resurrected daughter of Gorr the God Butcher, she has all or part of Eternity inside her. I don't know when we will see her again, but I'm looking forward to it.
  
  
• Jane Foster: Jane lost her battle with cancer and was summoned to Valhalla at the end of Thor: Love and Thunder. I understand that Kevin Feige still has plans for the character, so it's likely she will either get resurrected or we'll see a variant of her from elsewhere in the multiverse in some future production.
  
  
• Bruce Banner / Hulk: In She-Hulk, a Sakaaran courier ship shows up. We later see Bruce/Hulk leaving Earth in that craft. Why is he going back to Sakaar? When will we see him again?
  

This is by no means an exhaustive list, so feel free to (kindly) let me know what I’ve missed and I’ll be sure to add it.

 

[Nikosandros]

White Vision seems to have acquired independence of thought at the end of WandaVision. What will he do?

 

[Parmandur]

Adam: We have not yet seen who Ayesha created in the GotG2 credits scene. Presumably he will make an appearance in GotG3.

Yup, Adam Warlock is in the cast for GotG. Randomly, the guy who was Eustace in the theatrical Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

One you missed was what was up with the Abomination after the Incredible Hulk movie, which is being addressed in She-Hulk.

 

[MarkB]

Most of those feel too recent to be called loose threads, they're just set-ups from shows and movies that are there to be picked up in their sequels.

It does sound like 616-universe Mordo was relegated to being backstory in the latest Doctor Strange movie - his crusade against sorcerers set up in the first movie's stinger seems to now be something that's been dealt with.

 

[Parmandur]

Most of those feel too recent to be called loose threads, they're just set-ups from shows and movies that are there to be picked up in their sequels.

It does sound like 616-universe Mordo was relegated to being backstory in the latest Doctor Strange movie - his crusade against sorcerers set up in the first movie's stinger seems to now be something that's been dealt with.

Well, the MCU has been pretty good overall about not leaving loose threads: it's kind if it's shtick. Either they follow up, or they killed a character off.

Another one, @pukunui is Justin Hammer from Iron Man 2. He was in pruson during that ine short with Ben Kingsley, bit he is bouncing around in the universe still, could still play a role somewhere.

Most other villains are super dead.

 

[pukunui]

White Vision seems to have acquired independence of thought at the end of WandaVision. What will he do?

Good catch. I've added him to the list. I am still hopeful he'll transform into regular vision and reunite with some version of Wanda again.

Yup, Adam Warlock is in the cast for GotG. Randomly, the guy who was Eustace in the theatrical Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Thanks for confirming that.

One you missed was what was up with the Abomination after the Incredible Hulk movie, which is being addressed in She-Hulk.

Ah. I haven't seen the Hulk movie since it's not on Disney Plus. He's the one who was in the ring with Wong in Shangi-Chi, right?

Most of those feel too recent to be called loose threads, they're just set-ups from shows and movies that are there to be picked up in their sequels.

Yeah, I know. Maybe "loose threads" wasn't the right word. I've updated my OP so it's more about plot seeds as well as loose threads.

It does sound like 616-universe Mordo was relegated to being backstory in the latest Doctor Strange movie - his crusade against sorcerers set up in the first movie's stinger seems to now be something that's been dealt with.

Strange says to America that his universe's Mordo "snapped and dedicated his life to killing me". To me that seems fairly ambiguous as to whether or not 616 Mordo has been dealt with off-screen.

Another one, @pukunui is Justin Hammer from Iron Man 2. He was in pruson during that ine short with Ben Kingsley, bit he is bouncing around in the universe still, could still play a role somewhere.

OK. I haven't seen any of those shorts. I'll have to watch them.

 

[Parmandur]

Ah. I haven't seen the Hulk movie since it's not on Disney Plus. He's the one who was in the ring with Wong in Shangi-Chi, right?

Correct.

OK. I haven't seen any of those shorts. I'll have to watch them.

There is some fun there: the Mandarin one is the only one with serious long term implications.

 

[Davies]

• Sharon Carter: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has set up her to be a future antagonist as Madripoor's Power Broker, especially now that her official pardon has given her access to US state secrets. It's unclear where/when she will show up again - perhaps they're saving her for a future Falcon / Winter Soldier season or Falcon as Captain America movie or something.
  
  
• Val: The contessa has shown up twice now. It seems she's setting up some kind of anti-Avengers or something, but it's unclear what exactly her plans are or where/when she'll show up next. Will she end up as a primary antagonist at some stage or will she stay in the background?

I expect both of these to play some sort of role in Secret Invasion. Say rather that I hope that this is the case.

 

[trappedslider]

The cats woke me up early this morning, and I ended up lying in bed thinking about the MCU's various loose threads, clues, and plot seeds that have yet to come to fruition.

In no particular order:

• Mordo: Based on the credits scene at the end of Dr Strange, I was expecting Mordo to be the primary antagonist of the next Dr Strange film, but instead we got a variant of him as a secondary antagonist (plus a throwaway line from Strange about how his Mordo had snapped and dedicated his life to killing him). As far as I can tell, both versions of Mordo are still at large and could thus potentially show up again in a future show or film.

Cut scene for MoM had him go after Wana and loose his head, without her turning around

 

[Richards]

Did we ever find out what happened to that monster running around on Earth at the end (post-credits scene) of Thor: The Dark World?

Johnathan