After the credit scene of the Incredible Hulk, we realized that all these Marvel movies are indeed connected with each other and take place in the same universe. The Avengers marked the first crossover event that got us all our favorite heroes fighting side by side. As we were rejoicing our heroes coming together, our joy was soon disrupted as we got our first tease at the greatest threat our heroes will face – Thanos. Since then, every installment in the MCU has been a build-up to the ultimate showdown between our heroes and the Mad Titan. Nearly 23 films later our heroes relinquished the threat of Thanos but since then we are all are wondering who is the next big bad for our heroes? Whatever we’ve seen so far in MCU’s Phase 4 doesn’t really offer an answer to it. There have been hints and theories but nothing concrete. Can The Marvels change that?
Phase 4 until now is feeling directionless and quite frankly mediocre with the type of content Marvel is churning out. With Phase 5 near, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feigi had hinted that the story of this saga will soon be clear. The TV series Loki gave us a first look on He Who Remains – Kang the Conqueror. Considering that Antman and The Wasp had an Easter egg about the Kang’s City in the Quantum realm, it is likely. With Sylvie killing Kang at the end of Loki and the confirmation that Kang has multiple versions, a Secret Wars Saga is on the cards. However, the recent twist in Ms. Marvel’s finale has got us thinking about another possibility. Check out out review of Ms. Marvel.
Ms. Marvel Finale Sets-up Annihilus’ Arrival?
Ms. Marvel’s post credit scene saw Kamala Khan and Carol Denvers, i.e., Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel to swap places across the universe. This mishap was caused by Kamala’s bracelet. This is similar to the predicament shared by Rick Jones and Captain Mar-Vell in the comics. In the comics, both characters had an identical set of bracelets called the Nega-Bands which were connected together by an interdimensional bond. This was unknown to both the characters.
Mar-Vell’s Nega-Band imprisoned him an unknown mysterious dimension called the Negative Zone while Rick discovered his on Earth. However, when Rick banged the bands together, he swapped places with Captain Mar-Vell. Due to this connection of the bands, the two characters could not co-exist at one place. One of them could be on Earth and the other had to be trapped in the Negative Zone. As this is somewhat recreated in the post credit scene of Ms. Marvel, it is fair to say the Negative Zone will be key to the upcoming The Marvels’ storyline.
For those of you unaware of the Negative Zone, it is the comic version of an empty realm full of anti-matter. However, you can expect the MCU to make some changes to this, but the basis principles will be the same. The core concepts from the source materials should be directly applied. The interpretation of the Negative Zone in The Marvels or the MCU as a whole could cause Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel to cross paths with characters tied to this particular corner of the Marvel Universe. If this happens, The Marvels could feature the debut of Blastaar and Annihilus, the two most prominent denizens of the Negative Zone. The two sides were caught in a centuries old war for the control of the Negative Zone.
The Marvels – Can Annihilus be the next Big Bad of the MCU?
If you’re wondering about the capability of Annihilus as a villain, well he once forced all the Marvel Cosmic heroes to team-up with Thanos himself. He is a villain of incredible might. This happened in comic event called Marvel’s Annihilation. The amount of threat Annihilus poses to the MCU makes it clear that if introduced, his role in Phase 5 would be huge- possibly the next big villain. His primary goal just like his comic counterpart could be to escape his long awaited escape from the Negative Zone.
If that’s the case then he might serve as the secondary antagonist in The Marvels with someone like Blastaar or a completely different character being the main villain. We’ll have to look at how The Marvels ends, as, if the film ends with Annihilus escaping the Negative Zone then that might be the beginning of the MCU version of Annihilation. In Annihilation, Annihilus launches an Annihilation Wave- a massive intergalactic army tasked of wiping anything in its path.
Annihilus wreaking havoc in the Marvel universe could be a good reason for a crossover of cosmic proportions in MCU Phase 5. Prior to this there were rumors of Annihilus appearing in the MCU in Avengers: Endgame. At the time the film was unnamed and was rumored to be titled as Avengers: Annihilation. Even if fans didn’t get to see it then, there is a big possibility it might happen now. Although, seeing the Multiversal conflict MCU is going with at least for this Phase, Kang is the frontrunner as the next big bad.
Who do you think will be the next big bad? Will Annihilus appear in The Marvels? The Marvels is slated to release on 28th July 2023.
If you have any questions regarding the Marvel Cinematic Universe, feel free to ask in the comments below. For more content, stay tuned. As usual, like, subscribe and share our articles as we here are trying to build a community of people High on Cinema!
