Avengers 4 Set Photos Teasing S.H.I.E.L.D. Connection?

Robert Downey Jr. is donning some rather interesting apparel for Tony Stark in the latest set photos from Untitled Avengers 4. Most of the population has yet to see even a frame of official footage for Avengers: Infinity War – and many have yet to even see Thor: Ragnarok – but Marvel Studios is already working hard on the fourth Avengers flick. Unsurprisingly, the movie is shrouded in secrecy, not only when it comes to its title, but even in the smallest plot details. The secrecy is understandable considering the films Marvel has still yet to debut, but attention will be on the film as it continues through production.

Avengers 4 has been filming since the middle of the summer and set photos have continued to arrive from the Atlanta set. Details such as Hawkeye’s new costume and a partial Japanese setting are just a few of the tidbits that have come out unofficially, but Robert Downey Jr. recently showed he was back on set too. Now, he’s front and center in new set photos that may tease a few new story beats for the film.

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Just Jared posted a bunch of new photos from the set of Untitled Avengers that feature Robert Downey Jr. back as Tony Stark in two different scenes, along with a few photos of Mark Ruffalo doing performance and motion capture for The Hulk. The photos are particularly intriguing thanks to the tactical safe suit Stark is wearing in a few photos that look like they feature S.H.I.E.L.D.’s logo on the shoulder. The other photos feature Stark wearing a recognizable shirt, possibly alluding to this being some sort of alternate reality or flashback sequence.

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The S.H.I.E.L.D. logo is difficult to confirm thanks to the distance and quality of the photo, plus what appears to be a glare from the window of the building Stark is inside. However, it has the same grey background and black, pointed, bird-like figure that S.H.I.E.L.D. members wore on their uniforms back in The Avengers. Stark also appears to be standing in the same building as Ruffalo’s Hulk (based on the windows), so this could be a flashback to Avengers where Stark puts on some non-threatening (but still protective) suit to try and calm Banner down. He is wearing a front-facing camera on his chest – possibly to try and record the transformation process, or so that others can see the stream and come rescue Stark if things take a turn for the worse.

A flashback is probably the most likely scenario, but what substance this particular scene (or one similar) would add to the MCU’s history and Stark/Banner’s relationship is minimal at best. It’s also potentially important to note Stark is wearing the same Black Sabbath shirt from his talk with Loki in The Avengers, indicating this is a flashback or something even bigger. These clues could be indicators that Avengers 4 takes place in some sort of alternate reality (something fans have long speculated), potentially where Stark becomes part of the S.H.I.E.L.D. system and is tasked with trying to stop Hulk’s latest rampage.

This could be a case of reading too much into things, but in the instance where this does take place in the present day in the regular timeline, it would confirm that S.H.I.E.L.D. is back in a very big way and/or Banner is losing control. Stark’s Avengers shirt is the confusing piece of the puzzle, but maybe he’s returned to his closet for a lucky shirt. Last time he wore it he successfully stopped the Chitauri invasion (and nearly died), so he could be looking for a good luck charm as every hero in the MCU tries to stop Thanos. We will certainly start to get a better understanding for what this all could mean as we get closer to the movie’s 2019 release.

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