In case the grand crossover spectacle of Avengers: Infinity War didn’t make it clear enough, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has become a grab bag of famed superheroes with outlandish powers, lending itself not just to an assortment of entertaining character dynamics, but also a wide variety of fan theories that can combine the arcs of contrasting characters in the most unexpected of ways. If you need an example, look no further than this recent post from Reddit, which finds a means of connecting Bruce Banner’s recent difficulties in bringing out his inner beast with Janet van Dyne’s extended trip to the Quantum Realm in a single piece of Avengers 4 speculation.
Of course, one of the biggest obstacles to the mother of Hope van Dyne doing anything in next year’s movie is the post-credits twist of Ant-Man and the Wasp, which saw Michelle Pfeiffer’s character, along with the rest of her family, turn into dust as a result of Thanos’ genocidal finger-snap. While Redditor Beardicorn doesn’t fuss to much about this complication, they do vaguely hint at a means by which the character could be brought back into the fray.
“This is in conjunction with the theory that the Captain Marvel Movie will introduce time travel, or quantum time travel, and either stop The Snap from happening or bring the fallen Avengers back somehow.”
With that hurdle cleared, Janet is now free to help her fellow heroes in the fight against Thanos, with the Reddit user going on to argue that van Dyne’s last movie showed powerful potential in the character.
“When Janet Pym comes back from the Microverse we find out she’s harnessed quantum energy from the Microverse’s Kosmos and acts a conduit to transfer this energy, as well as a heightened physiological understanding of the human mind. We see the former when she transfers quantum energy to Ghost, with just the touch of her hands ending her cellular breakdown and pain. The latter is shown when Hank goes into the Microverse to bring her back, he starts to crack as the Microverse begun messing with his mind.
Janet is able to calm him down and keep him from losing his mind, again by manipulating and transferring quantum energy to Hank by the simple touch of her fingers. Another ability we see is how she’s able to use quantum energy metaphysically on a mental level. When Scott was in the Microverse, Janet metaphysically transferred quantum energy into Scott’s mind, sharing memories and a consciousness with him. By doing so she turned Scott into a beacon or physical antenna to where she is able to channel her presence into him.”
So, what does any of this have to do with Avengers 4? Well, it just so happens that one of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes is currently experiencing some struggles of his own on the mental plane.
“Now that Janet has escaped the Microverse with these new powers, abilities, and deeper understanding of the human mind/psyche, she could be the key element in Bruce and Hulk’s battle in coexisting. Using these powers she could metaphysically bring Bruce and Hulk into a state where they are able to work(fight) our their differences and come to a resolution that neither can exist physically or mentally without the other. Janet then melds their psyches together into one mind and soul and uses Hulk’s physical form to house them. Introducing Professor Hulk.”
While this is just one of many potential plotlines in the upcoming movie, it could certainly make for an intriguing climax to the inner conflict of Bruce Banner, while potentially paving the way for an unusual new chapter for the character’s arc at the dawn of Marvel’s Phase 4. In any case, we’ll find out if and how the Hulk manages to work things out with his brainy alter ego once Avengers 4 hits theaters on May 3rd.