Even though it’s a solid standalone film, no Marvel Cinematic Universe movie has generated quite as much hatred as Captain Marvel. However, in a twist worthy of O. Henry (or at least Stan Lee), the most hated MCU movie might just have a special connection to the most beloved one.

According to one compelling fan theory, Ronan the Accuser’s attack in Guardians of the Galaxy was a very belated payoff to his vow to return at the end of Captain Marvel.

Marvel Does the Time Warp Again

This theory is a little timey-wimey, so buckle up: Ronan the Accuser was introduced as the Big Bad of Guardians of the Galaxy, where he was killed in a battle with Star-Lord after an aborted attempt to destroy the planet Xandar. But he popped up again in the prequel film Captain Marvel, leading a Kree attack force to the planet Earth. There, he was driven off by Carol Danvers, but he promised to come back for “the weapon,” which he clarified to a henchman was Danvers herself.

Most Marvel fans assume that the Kree counteroffensive promised by Ronan never actually happened. However, Redditor Darth_Tycho has a theory that Ronan’s attack in Guardians of the Galaxy actually was the same offensive that he promised back in Captain Marvel. But because more than 30 years have passed, most Kree no longer care about what happened on Earth, which is why Ronan’s forces have been reduced from a vast fleet down to a relatively small handful of cult-like followers.

Ronan the Accuser’s Secret Mission

What does Ronan’s vendetta in Guardians of the Galaxy have to do with his promise to return for Captain Marvel specifically? In the film, he has stolen the Power Stone from Thanos and wants to abide by “the ancient laws of my people” by “[punishing] those who do not follow” Kree doctrine. Basically, once he got himself a nearly unstoppable super weapon, Ronan decided to clean house and get vengeance on everyone who had pissed him off, starting with the planet Xandar.

Ronan has old-school beef with Xandar because it’s the home of the Nova Corps, the space cops that once got into a bitter war with the Kree. But according to this fan theory, Ronan didn’t intend to stop there and would have continued wreaking havoc on other targets after he reduced this planet to space dust. Given enough time, he would have tried to hunt down Captain Marvel and quite possibly have invaded the Earth in place of Loki.

Head, Meet Canon

There has been nothing in the tangled MCU canon to directly support this theory, but it makes for some great head canon. Thus far, Ronan’s refusal to make good on the threat he issued at the end of Captain Marvel has been one of the lingering mysteries of this long-running cinematic universe. Therefore, it’s fun to think that the mystery was actually solved long before Captain Marvel even blasted its way into theaters (not to mention into a zillion rage-bait YouTube videos).

This theory probably won’t convince everyone, and it’s particularly unlikely to make Captain Marvel haters suddenly like Marvel’s most hated movie. But it’s now my own official headcanon, and I’m really digging any chance to further connect the handful of cosmic movies in the MCU. Because let’s face it: at this point, a good fan theory is more than likely to be far more entertaining than anything coming out of modern-day Marvel!