Avengers 4 CONFIRMED: The Ancient One and THIS villain will return but NO time travel

Fans are pretty sure that somehow all those who were dusted in The Snap will becoming back.

Nobody has the faintest idea how, but some of those heroes already have other movies lined up so tehir return is guaranteed.

But what about characters who were killed before the events of Infinity War? How are they suddenly also coming back to the screen?

One major hero and and very popular villain are both now confirmed to be making an appearance in Avengers 4 and one of them just might be the key to saving the universe and everyone in it…

Frank Grillo just explicitly confirmed that Crossbones will appear in Avengers 4.

He also made it very clear that it will not be part of any kind of time travel scene, which undermines the major theories which suggest teh remaining heroes will journey back to key scenes from the past to somehow retcon important moments.

The actor told the UFC Unfiltered podcast: “[Crossbones] makes an appearance in the next Avengers movie, but it’s a flashback. And I’m allowed to say whatever I want because I’m never doing another Marvel movie…because I’m 117 years old.”

This almost certainly confirms the use of Tony Stark’s BARF machine, rather than time travel.

The Russo brothers already hinted that a five-minute scene from Civil War featuring advanced technology would be important in the Infinity War sequel.

Sure enough a box marked “Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing” was spotted on the Avengers 4 set, which appears to point to the remaining heroes using it to explore major moments from the past for new clues.

The other character confirmed to return is one of the Marvel characters with the greatest understanding of the alternate dimensions, time and the Quantum Realm. She really could hold the key to everything.

Confusingly, this news was revealed by a different Grillo, Michael. The Marvel producer and director was at the Austin Film Festival Avengers with screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.

He casually dropped the following information: “When we got Tilda Swinton, she was just a one-day availability.”

Clearly The Ancient One will only have a brief role in the movie but her importance can not be underestimated.

Will she encounter Doctor Strange somewhere in the afterlife or in another dimension or plane of existence? What could she tell him or perhaps Ant-Man about the past, the present or even the future?

Her extraordinary knowledge and power could be the key to defeating Thanos and reversing the Snap.

ORIGINAL ANCIENT ONE STORY AT SUPERBROMOVIES

CROSSBONES STORY AT COLLIDER