Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige hints that the Avengers 4 title will spoil Infinity War, and that Phase 4 may not be what we expect.
For the longest time I was convinced that Avengers 3 was going to be the Infinity Gauntlet story and that Avengers 4 was going to be the Infinity War story, but now that Gunn has said Adam Warlock (and thus Magus) is being saved for GotG 3 and now that Feige is confirming that the title of Avengers 4 is spoilery, I’ve got a pretty good guess...
Masters of Evil (as a lead in to the Thunderbolts).
I know, I know I’m beating a dead horse, you guys are sick of me bringing it up. I’m just saying! All signs are pointed there and they. keep. on. pointing!!!
In the Gauntlet story Thanos did kill all of the Avengers. All of them. Not one. Not two. The entire group. (Don’t panic, once Nebula got the gauntlet off of Thanos she reset the universe and ALL the heroes came back with nary a hair out of place). But what if, while they’re dead, before they come back, back on earth, this plot takes foot...
The death of the superheroes created an opportunity for Zemo and the Masters of Evil. Zemo realized that the world needed superpowered champions, and that his team could fill that need. By posing as superheroes, the Masters of Evil could gain the public trust and build a position of power that rivaled the status of the Avengers. Once they had gained the public's faith, Zemo believed they could gain access to all the secrets of the Avengers and the paramilitary organization S.H.I.E.L.D. once they were in ultimate power. Zemo then planned to sell the secrets they found to the criminal underworld.
The above was a plot for the Masters of Evil. So when the universe gets reset the Avengers come back from dealing with Thanos, this is what they have to clean up back on earth because they can’t even come back alive in peace.
Evidence:
Zemo was left alive at the end of Civil War. Thaddeus Ross was brought back into the MCU, seemingly at random because they needed a guy (ri-ight, sure Russo brothers, whatever you say) and Red Hulk was a Thunderbolt. The Raft was used in the film instead of Prison 42 (the negative zone)... the Raft has significant Thunderbolt ties. We never did find out who hired Crossbones to be in Lagos and Crossbones, like Ross and Zemo, was a Thunderbolt.
...Like at this point I’m almost ready to take bets.
