Top 10 Superhero Theories That Turned Out to Be TRUE

#10: Thunderbolts* Is Secretly an Avengers Movie

“Thunderbolts*” (2025)

Fans weren't sure what this team's place would be in the MCU. As mercenaries and criminals, they didn't exactly scream “superhero”. So were they heroes? Villains? Or something in between? The asterisk in the title only added fuel to the speculation. Some thought they'd be a covert unit like the Secret Avengers. Others guessed that they'd be rebranded as the Dark Avengers, a team of ex-supervillains from the comics. After all, Bob Reynolds, the Sentry, was one of them, and he was all but confirmed for the movie. Both guesses were partly right. By the end, the misfit team is officially dubbed the New Avengers. And with the U.S. government's approval their status isn't just symbolic. They're the real deal; on paper, anyway.

#9: Chief Is a Demigod

“Wonder Woman” (2017)

This superheroine faces off with plenty of gods and monsters. In her movie she battles the god of war Ares, but fans noticed something else. In the film, Diana allies with American pilot Steve Trevor, Moroccan spy Sameer, Scottish sharpshooter Charlie, and Native American smuggler Chief. When Chief introduces himself in Blackfoot, he says his name is Napi. This happens to be the name of a trickster God in Native American mythology. Some viewers believed this meant Diana wasn't just fighting a god – she was traveling with one. The theory gained traction and it was confirmed. Chief's actor, Eugene Brave Rock, revealed that this subtle detail was in the script.

#8: The Real Mandarin

“Iron Man 3” (2013), “All Hail The King” (2014), & “Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings” (2021)

Fans had wanted to see this villain on screen for a long time. But “Iron Man 3” flipped expectations, boldly revealing him as an actor named Trevor Slattery. Fans were even more thrown off when the villain Aldrich Killian claimed that he was the Mandarin. That twist led to speculation that the real one had to be out there somewhere. Marvel fed this mystery with “All Hail The King”, a short film where a Ten Rings agent breaks Trevor out of prison. Naturally there were many theories about where he'd finally pop up. “Shang Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings” finally answered our questions. There we finally met Wenwu– a powerful warlord and the true Mandarin.

#7: Aquaman Saved Superman

“Man of Steel” (2013)

When we first meet Clark Kent, he's saving workers from a burning oil rig. He holds up a collapsing tower before falling into the ocean. The next time we see him he's somehow made it back to land. At this point in the film he hasn't learned to fly, so did he get there by swimming? Well just before he surfaces, the camera lingers on a pair of whales passing by. Some thought that this was a clue hinting that Aquaman rescued Clark. According to Jason Momoa, that was always the intent. Director Zack Snyder had quietly planted the idea, making it a hidden crossover that most people missed.

#6: Iron Man Saved a Young Peter Parker

“Iron Man 2” (2010)

Spider-Man didn’t appear in the MCU until 2016’s “Captain America: Civil War”. But fans wondered if Peter Parker had been there already. One theory claimed that he was the kid in the toy helmet during “Iron Man 2”, which came out in 2010. He does seem like he'd fit Peter's age, which would have been ten or eleven. And we do know that he’s an Iron Man fan. However, this detail would have to be a retcon, since Marvel didn't have the rights to Spider-Man in 2010. It seemed like an unlikely thing to happen, but then Tom Holland confirmed it. The child was in fact Peter Parker. He and Kevin Feige “liked the idea that [he] has been in the universe since the beginning”.

#5: Yukio’s Prediction

“The Wolverine” (2013) & “Logan” (2017)

One standout character from “The Wolverine” was Yukio, played by Rila Fukushima. A deadly assassin who could see the future, she warned Logan that he would die on his back bleeding and with his heart in his hand. That vision nearly came true in the movie but, thankfully, he survived. And as fans had pointed out, he never literally held his heart. So was Yukio wrong for the first time? Or was his death still coming? Flash forward to 2017's “Logan” where Wolverine dies holding his daughter's hand. Naturally, many saw this as the prophecy being fulfilled. Director James Mangold would later confirm that this was the intent. It’s a heartbreaking piece of foreshadowing that few people saw coming.

#4: Alfred’s Fantasy Come True

“The Dark Knight Rises” (2012)

Nolan's trilogy ends with John Blake set to carry on Batman’s legacy. But clues suggest Bruce Wayne was still alive. Gordon finds the Bat-Signal mysteriously repaired. Meanwhile Lucius Fox learns that Bruce fixed the Bat vehicle's auto-pilot. Then comes the scene where Alfred sees Bruce and Selina Kyle at a cafe. Some took this as proof that he survived the bomb that the Bat carried away. Others saw this as a dream, based on a fantasy Alfred described earlier in the film. Nolan is known for open-ended finales so the debate lingered. But Christian Bale later said that the ending was real. Bruce survived, retired, and Alfred saw the peace he always hoped for.

#3: Red Skull Survived

“Captain America: The First Avenger” (2011) & “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018)

The third Avengers film delivered a shock to longtime MCU viewers. One of its biggest reveals confirmed a theory that's been floating around for years. Back in 2011's “Captain America: The First Avenger”, the villain Red Skull was teleported to space by the Tesseract. His fate was left a mystery. Some assumed he died off-screen, especially since actor Hugo Weaving didn't plan to return. Others still hoped he'd show up again. That hope paid off when the Soul Stone's keeper was revealed to be none other than Red Skull–resurfacing decades after World War II. It was a jaw-dropping reveal that rewarded fans who had been speculating since day one.

#2: Peter-Three’s Redemption

“The Amazing Spider-Man 2” (2014) & “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (2021)

It was all but confirmed that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield would return for “No Way Home”. The real mystery was how their stories would continue in this new universe. Fans especially hoped for Garfield’s Peter to find redemption, as his last film ended with him failing to save Gwen Stacy. When the trailer showed Tom Holland diving to catch falling MJ, it echoed Gwen Stacy’s tragic fall. That moment fueled theories that Garfield would get a second chance. And thankfully he did. He caught MJ and ended the guilt he'd been feeling for years. It's a rare instance of both a character and audience getting closure from one scene.

#1: Captain America Was Worthy

“Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2015) & “Avengers: Endgame” (2019)

It's safe to say we were all waiting for this payoff. In the second Avengers movie, members of the team take it in turns to try and lift Thor's hammer. The only one who got it to budge was Steve Rogers. To Thor’s relief, he wasn't worthy. Fans debated why in the following years. Some said it was because Steve still had to come clean to Tony about his parent's murder. Others believed he needed to learn how to live without war. But the “Endgame” directors later said that Steve was always worthy. He just held back out of respect. Either way, “Endgame” confirmed what everyone had hoped all along: Captain America was worthy to wield Mjolnir. And like us, Thor knew he was worthy too.

If you had to change one of these moments how would you do it? Not show Bruce at the end of “The Dark Knight Rises”? Have Steve casually pass Mjolnir to Thor? Let us know your ideas below.