This 'Avengers: Infinity War' Photo May Be Thanos' Vault, But How Does That Reframe What We've Already Seen?

We know that Josh Brolin's Thanos is going to be fully unleashed in Anthony and Joe Russo's upcoming Marvel movie Avengers: Infinity War. But the duo have shared a photo on Twitter that has us wondering if we should rethink what we know about Thanos so far, because his timeline may not be quite as solidified as we once thought. Hit the jump to check out the Infinity War Thanos vault photo and learn how that could change the MCU chronology.

Here's the photo in question:

The filmmakers' Twitter account has typically been used to share more impressionistic photos from the sets of their films that can be read as little hints and games for hardcore fans, like the time they shared a picture of the Sokovia Accords a year before Civil War was released.

CinemaBlend speculates that this might be a new look at Thanos' vault, the same one which houses the gauntlet we saw a brief glimpse of during the post-credits sequence in Avengers: Age of Ultron when the Mad Titan suits up and says, "Fine, I'll do it myself."

But if that's true, it might put the timeline in question.

So far, most of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's post-credits scenes have taken place in the immediate aftermath of the films that precede them. Here's a small, incomplete list of examples:

But there's also a history of some of Marvel's post-credits scenes being repurposed and actually appearing (at least partially) within other movies. At the end of Captain America: The First Avenger, Fury meets with Steve Rogers in a gym, which appears in The Avengers. After Ant-Man, we see Bucky Barnes in a vise grip while Cap and Falcon discuss what to do with him; this scene appears in Captain America: Civil War.

So assuming the new photo is truly of Thanos' vault and not just some new Stark Industries gadget we don't know about, it's conceivable that the "I'll do it myself" scene was actually a flash-forward to the events of Infinity War.

And let's think about Thanos' line for a second. It's conceivable he could be talking about Loki and Ronan the Accuser, but doesn't it make more sense that he'd be frustrated that his own children couldn't accomplish the task he assigned them? In light of yesterday's rumor about how the origins of the group known as the Black Order might be reworked to make them Thanos' offspring in Infinity War, it seems plausible that Thanos would send his minions to do his work for him, and when they fail, he finally suits up to take care of things himself. Hell, it's even possible that line could be the last line of Infinity War, leading us into an even bigger battle in its sequel that's currently scheduled to debut in 2019.

Avengers: Infinity War hits theaters on May 4, 2018.