The Coolest Fan Theories About Upcoming Movies

With every new blockbuster comic book adaptation or sci-fi epic comes the legions of fans those movies attract—and with those fans come theories ranging from fanfiction-esque hopes that two characters will end up as a couple to massive 15-page masters' thesis papers on why every movie in the franchise is happening in someone's dreams. 

They run the gamut from plausible to absurd, from rationally underwhelming to absolutely brimming with optimistic naivety. Be it a bold prediction about future crossover potential or a big theory that undermines a fictional universe's fundamental ideology, all manner of fan-beloved hypotheses lie below, waiting for you to give them the validation they so deserve.

For anyone paying attention to the DC Extended Universe, it's not exactly shocking news that some stars aren't too keen on sticking around—and Ben Affleck is reportedly among them. Rumored to be in discussions with his contractual headmasters at Warner Bros. about hanging up the cowl and shedding the batsuit for good, Mr. Affleck's not-so-secret disappointment with the current state of the DCEU begs the question: how can the studio let him go without causing massive continuity errors across their interconnected movies?

One fan has quite the theory. Simply put, because Wonder Woman ages much slower than normal humans and she's Warner Bros.' first breakout cinematic success, the alleged plan is to have her set the pace of a new timeline post-phase one DCEU. This means the next Batman solo film will take place 20 years in the future and be a Batman Beyond story, revolving around the end of the Batman and subsequently the end of Ben Affleck. From there, Warners can start the DCEU's second phase with Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman, Henry Cavill's Superman and Jason Momoa's Aquaman; any other characters and external factors can be reset, giving the executives a window with which to soft-reboot a DCEU no longer marred by the memories of Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad.

While anyone can correctly assume that a new Jurassic Park/World/Universe movie will invariably be about dinosaurs snacking on human flesh, the lead up to Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has been mysteriously silent, leading people to wonder what exactly the setup for the dino-munching sequel will be. They can't do the theme-park-gone-wild shtick again as that's already been done twice, which means Fallen Kingdom needs to bring something entirely new to the table. Thankfully, if this fan theory is to be believed, it will.

Layered with evidence comes a brilliant hypothesis from avid Jurassic fan Chris Pugh, who's constructed a potential plot synopsis that can be summarized as follows: Fallen Kingdom will be a rescue movie centered around saving the dinosaurs from re-extinction at the hands of Isla Nublar's dangerously active volcano. Not only does the title "Fallen Kingdom" reinforce the idea that some sort of catastrophic occurrence will cause an extinction-sized event, but Pugh has also noted one of the movie's producers as having referenced a volcano-centric plot on Twitter. On top of all that, the idea just sounds really cool. Let's hope Pugh is right about this one.

A new Predator movie is on its way—and it's neither a sequel or remake, whatever that means. It's being loosely described as a reboot that maintains the other movies' continuity, which simultaneously opens creative doors for Shane Black and his team while also closing others. Chief among those new possibilities: a theoretical third Aliens vs. Predator movie.

With actors Keegan Michael-Key and Olivia Munn letting slip that the AvP movies are included among the canon in Black's eyes, this means 20th Century Fox could easily segue into AvP 3. And, given that this would once again marry the Alien and Predator franchises into a single canon, the effects of such a crossover might even bleed over into a truly shared universe wherein future Prometheus sequels feature Predator influences, and vice versa. The potential possibilities are endless—we could even get a AvP movie that truly takes advantage of either franchise's sci-fi/horror strengths.

Captain Marvel is set to take us back in time to an age before the Avengers and, most importantly, before Nick Fury needed an eyepatch. This golden era of binocular sight, otherwise known as the 1990s, leads to an easy fan theory in regards to potential avenues of character development for Fury, who'll reportedly appear in the standalone adventure. 

What's one major event that could take place? Well, if all the talk of eyes hasn't spelled this one out for you, we will: the theory is that Fury loses one of his in this movie. Should this theory come true, no doubt it'll be during a scene of epic conflict and sacrifice and serve as a very easy "oh $&!%" moment for audiences—a rare sliver of actual impact in a Marvel movie that the writers would be silly to pass up.

Ah, the age-old question of who would win a battle between Godzilla and King Kong. The colossal lizard with atomic bomb-flavored bad breath, or the comparatively puny monkey with a weakness for blondes? Everyone's got their own personal preference, but the facts generally favor the skyscraper-sized lizard. It's how it is, people: a giant Komodo dragon with radioactive fire-breath is just statistically more likely to kill an unarmed gorilla than vice versa.

But that hasn't stopped the fan theories. Kong lovers the world 'round refuse to accept the idea that the upcoming Godzilla vs. Kong won't end in their favor, so they've concocted some theories as to how Kong could come out on top. Chief among them is the primate's intelligence, which has routinely enabled him to utilize environmental weaponry and external advantages in pursuit of victory against an opponent. That, coupled with the prediction that in this upcoming movie he might grow to a size comparable to Godzilla, means that both brains and brawn might actually be in Kong's favor by the time the two kaiju titans go head to head.

Now this would be something crazy. The Marvel Cinematic Universe's Tony Stark has crafted all manner of armor before, spread across dozens of different suits all designed to serve unique purposes, though he's yet to incorporate anything truly alien into his designs. But what if that's set to change during Avengers: Infinity War? 

According to this fan theory, one born from a Facebook post by Robert Downey Jr. himself, a fancy new cosmic armor is in the playing cards for Infinity War. Fans speculate that we're in store for Tony's first alien-derived duds, crafted either by or with the assistance of some friendly Asgardians. This sounds plausible for a couple of reasons: one, the movie is going to feature plenty of locations besides Earth, and Asgard is a strong contender given its prominence within the MCU. Second, for a story as big as Infinity War, it's totally plausible that Tony Stark might need to travel beyond Earth in order to get the kind of weaponry he'll need to face Thanos. All this, coupled with Marvel's love of showcasing new cinematic armors for the obvious merchandising windfall that comes shortly thereafter, means this theory could be (literally) on the money.

Deadpool played it pretty close to the vest when deciding just how hard to align itself with Fox's official X-Men continuity, meaning the lines are still pretty blurry as to whether Deadpool 2 will play it canon or go rogue. There's one fan theory that imagines a scenario in which the Deadpool team can have their cake and eat it too: stay in line with the current continuity, but use time-travel shenanigans to have any potential universe complications exclusively affect the nonexistent, completely alterable future.

According to this theory, the Cable in Deadpool 2 (played by Josh Brolin) might very well be one of the mutant children that escaped from Transigen in Logan. This means that Deadpool 2 would still be in line with X-Men canon—it would just employ a canonical character that hasn't been born yet. Thanks to Cable's notorious use of time travel in the comics, this is a theory that's not only foolproof, but a completely plausible way for the writers of Deadpool 2 to shoot a wink at their X-Men cohorts.

The New Mutants movie is basically one big secret with a name. Little is known about the Fox-fronted flick beyond its general ties to the X-Men universe and superhero movie classification.

Yet, for as secretive as the production is at present, fan theories are already springing up. One big one? An appearance by Josh Brolin's Cable—which would offer a big boost when the movie begins its promotional cycle while making a nod to the character's very first appearance in 1990, which just so happened to be in the New Mutants comics. While not a terribly elaborate theory, it's an exciting—and plausible—possibility, which makes this a "what if" worth mentioning.

As Disney continues to drift further from the original George Lucas-helmed saga, it only makes sense that they'd act to mold the Star Wars brand into their own creative vision—and YouTuber Dash Star has a pretty plausible theory as to why we might see the extinction of Jedis and Siths by the end of the new trilogy.

The franchise's seventh installment, The Force Awakens, very rarely mentions either group. At most, it seems like main characters Rey and Kylo Ren are neither Jedi nor Sith—they just happen to vaguely align with the core tenets of either ideology. And the title of Episode VIII: The Last Jedi makes it easy to assume we're being steered away from the strict good-versus-evil struggle that's defined the story thus far. With the moral landscape tilted away from black and white, the ninth Star Wars chapter could very well introduce find fans in shades of gray—the color embraced by the ancient order known as the Whills, who taught that rather than embracing light or dark at either's expense, the two sides needed to be kept in balance. Of course, it's all speculation at this point, but there's an undeniable appeal to the idea of ending this blockbuster saga with its galaxy far, far away finding true harmony at long last.

If you haven't seen Wonder Woman yet, spoiler alert: Steve Trevor, the most perfectly named character in all of comic book history, is dead by the end of the movie, thanks to a big plane explosion. Rest in peace, guy.

But what if Trevor is still alive? He was a fan favorite character, after all, thanks in no small part to Chris Pine's stellar performance. If nothing else, it'd make financial sense to bring him back solely for drawing in crowds that loved Diana and Trevor's dynamic the first time around. Of course, this sparks the question: how does one come back from the dead, exactly?

If a popular fan theory is to be believed, Trevor survives death by never dying in the first place, having accidentally gained immortality by bathing in the Fountain of Youth during the events of Wonder Woman. If this is the case, he could return for Wonder Woman 2, depending on that movie's time period. If it takes place post-Justice League, maybe he's been in hiding the whole time?

This is a theory with so little backing that its inclusion is based mainly on how incredibly inventive it is. Basically, here's the scoop: The Incredibles 2 will arrive 15 years after its predecessor, which is notable because of Syndrome's complaint about Mr. Incredible being 15 years too late to fix their relationship during the emotional climax of the original film. According to this theory, this wasn't just a reference to the past 15 years, but also to the future—and opens up all sorts of possibilities, including giving Syndrome and Mirage a secret love child that continues his villainous legacy as a full-grown teenager.

Genius.