I do think it’s possible! I’m glad we had the same thought; that’s how we know narrative beats are legit. I talked about it here to some length too!
@VisionOfScarlet on Twitter posted this wonderful breakdown in her feed about the instances of Paul Bettany indicating he is in Avengers 4. She mentions an interview she doesn’t have the source of, which may be this one.
Now, it is possible (as the OP mentioned) that these are older photos, and there’s also the possibility of reshoots and misdirection… but this is everything I know of so far that would indicate he is in Avengers 4. Take it to mean what you will.
The writers have said that those dead are going to stay dead. I think probably they’re trying to to word things carefully so that what they really mean is: “Characters who are ACTUALLY dead at the end will stay dead”, and we’ll learn that the dusted Avengers are still alive, so they were never technically lying. But it did get me thinking.
So if they do really mean the dusted Avengers are for sure dead and will stay dead, while also accepting there’s no possible way they are permanently killing off Spidey, Black Panther, and Strange there’s really only one solution I can think of:
What if, in an alternate universe, the Avengers that got turned to ash in our reality are the ones that survived, and those that lived got turned to ash?
And, ultimately, the way to “fix” what happened is to merge the two realities? That would mean the “original” Avengers we knew are dead and stay dead, but we still have these characters going forward.
Hello can get a reservation for my funeral and please send the bills to Marvel Studios
Mm… I’d believe it if they hadn’t said the dusted Avengers are permanently dead too. That’s not happening. Maybe it’s like weasel words and the Avengers that come back are from an alternate reality and therefore the original versions are dead or something… But they’re coming back.
Awww, I’m sorry anon. I mean, we’re all hoping really hard he’s in it, so we’re leaping on the crumbs we can find. And IW has a lot of clickbait articles that are purposefully misleading hopeful fans about what happens in A4, which makes matters worse.
If it makes you feel better, this interview from Bettany has him outright stating he went back for filming in September–which was in Avengers 4 was being filmed. I actually forgot he was so direct about it. That could be reshoots for IW, or he could even by lying, but it’s pretty solid.
I think for both Lizzie and I, it’s the most exciting plotline for each
of us so far. I really loved making the first [Infinity War], we had a
ball doing it, and I’m going back in September to continue and it’s the
biggest production that I’ve been on…ever. It’s just huuuuuuuge.
So this was a rabbithole to follow. A tumblr of an Insta of a photo of an article of another articleis a lot of layers, which come out to:
All we know about you in Avengers: Infinity War is
that you’re in it. I know that you can’t say much more than that, as far
as details about the film go, but what was it like to be a part of a
movie that quite possibly has the biggest cast of characters of any
film, ever? Did it feel that way when you were making it?
BETTANY: Yes, it really did. It felt like the biggest movie that I’ve
ever made and will ever make, and we’ve still got to make the [next]
one.
I posted about this a long time ago, and I said then that it sounded like he was confirmed for A4, so I get the read. But it’s not truly a confirmation and without posting the source, it’s maybe sending the wrong message to say that not only is it a confirmation, but that he could possibly be in more.
He may be. I do think he’s going to appear in A4 in some capacity.
If you have a different source, I’d love to see it! He has said in another interview something that would lead me to believe he was in A4, but still I’ve never seen anything as fact.
Those Celestial Bodies 