Since Avengers: Infinity War ended with such a cataclysmic cliffhanger, many MCU fans spent the next year or so until Endgame came out feeling pretty restless. We all wanted desperately to know what happened next, so we spent our days formulating fan theories based on any scene or line of dialogue from past MCU movies that seemed to have any semblance of hidden meaning attached to them. By the time the movie came out, it was astounding that anything in the plot managed to surprise audiences. But to the filmmakers’ credit, there was a lot of stuff we didn’t guess. So, here are 10 Avengers: Endgame Fan Theories That Turned Out To Be Totally Wrong.
10 10. Tony & Pepper’s eWdding
At one point during production, Sebastian Stan said there was a scene he wasn’t allowed to talk about that had every single cast member in the same shot. He mentioned Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer by name, which ruled out a battle scene, since their characters haven’t been in fighting form since the ‘60s. So, a lot of fans speculated it would be Tony and Pepper’s wedding, possibly in a dream sequence. As it turned out, this scene was Tony Stark’s heartbreaking funeral, but Tom Holland says the scene was referred to as “the wedding” on the set to avoid spoiler leaks, so that technique worked out a charm. Everyone thought there would be a wedding and got hit with a funeral.
9 9. Ant-Man Defeats Thanos: The Butt Theory
This one hardly counts, because it wasn’t a serious theory. Even though the theory went viral and led to some pretty funny memes, no one actually expected it to happen. But then, maybe that would’ve made it the perfect ending. The Russo brothers could’ve hidden the ending of their hugely anticipated movie in plain sight with a bunch of silly memes.
The Ant-Man character is comical by nature, so it wouldn’t really be uncharacteristic for him – and it would’ve made an interesting moviegoing experience. But no, it didn’t happen. The movie was much more mature and emotionally charged than that.
8 8. Hawkeye Revealed To Be A Skrull
Based on the fact that the Skrulls were introduced to the MCU in Captain Marvel, just a month or so before Endgame was released, some fans expected the shapeshifting aliens to play a huge part in the plot. The most prevalent Skrull theory was that Clint Barton would be revealed to be a Skrull in disguise. In the actual movie, the Skrulls were nowhere to be seen. Hawkeye’s dark new characterization turned out to be a result of losing his family and the Skrulls weren’t even among the armies that got teleported onto the battleground in the final fight sequence.
7 7. Dusted Characters Went To The Soul World
Most of the Endgame fan theories revolved around all those characters who turned to dust at the end of Infinity War, because what the hell was going on with that? It wasn’t like they actually died. They turned to dust. It was totally unexplained. So, there were a lot of theories. One was that they were all transported to the Soul World, or some other parallel universe. As it turns out, they actually were dead. The Avengers would have to make their own Infinity Gauntlet and collect all the Infinity Stones themselves to bring them back with another finger-snap. For the survivors, it was five years and a concerted effort against Thanos. For the fallen, it was an instant. They ceased to exist, and then they came back into existence.
6 6. Captain Marvel Defeats Thanos
This theory was based on the fact that everyone else failed to kill Thanos in Infinity War and the only new superhero joining the cast was Captain Marvel, who was being touted as the most powerful character in the MCU to date. It seemed like a no-brainer that she would kill Thanos. However, in the end, while Captain Marvel brawled with the Mad Titan a couple of times, it was Iron Man who defeated Thanos in the most incredible way possible. This was more dramatically fulfilling, since Iron Man started the Infinity Saga, so it made sense that he would end it. Plus, he had more personal history with Thanos.
5 5. Thanos Is Not The Main Villain
One popular fan theory suggested that Thanos would not be the main villain in Avengers: Endgame. The theory went that he would be killed in the first 20 minutes and a new, even more powerful villain would rise up to take his place. But while the Mad Titan was killed in the first 20 minutes, he was still the main villain of the movie as his past self showed up to wreak havoc on the Avengers one last time. Some fans expected an immensely powerful character like Galactus or Death to show up and make Thanos seem like a petty crook. In the end, Thanos proved to be powerful enough.
4 4. Tony Dies Stranded In Space
A lot of people assumed that Tony Stark would die almost immediately in Endgame after he was stranded on Titan at the end of Infinity War. The trailer showed him leaving a tearful farewell message to Pepper in the middle of outer space with no fuel or food left, so it seemed like his days were numbered. As it turned out, Endgame had a much more expansive character arc planned for Tony. He was actually brought back to Earth in the first few minutes of the movie when Captain Marvel found him. This contradicted the post-credits scene from her solo movie, but it gave audiences a pleasant surprise and settled them in for an unpredictable cinematic experience, so really, who cares?
3 3. Clint Barton Passes The Hawkeye Mantle To Kate Bishop
In the comics, after Clint Barton relinquished the title of Hawkeye, it is taken by an equally skilled archer named Kate Bishop. As soon as the first Endgame trailer showed Barton showing a young girl how to use a bow and arrow, fans theorized that it was Kate.
However, this clip turned out to be from the very first scene in the movie, and the girl turned out to be his daughter, who we’ve met before. Seconds later, she turned to dust, and although we know she’s still alive, she hadn’t taken on the Hawkeye name by the end of the movie.
2 2. Thanos Was Already Dead
Thanos was shown to be permanently damaged by his destructive finger-snap at the end of Infinity War and living a peaceful life of solitude as a farmer in the trailers for Endgame. So, some fans thought that the snap killed him – as it would eventually do with Iron Man – and he disappeared inside the Soul Stone to live an ethereal, orange-tinted afterlife for the rest of eternity. This seemed like an insane theory anyway, so it was no great shock when it turned out to be untrue. Plus, it would’ve been a little disappointing if the Avengers never got to exact revenge on Thanos.
1 1. Captain America Would Die
Ever since Chris Evans posted on social media that he was hanging up the shield and would part ways with the character of Steve Rogers after wrapping production on Endgame, every MCU fan in the world took it as an assumption that Cap would die in the movie. Evans’ contract was up, the Avengers were making their last stand against their most dangerous foe – this was as good a time as any to kill him off. And although he did get battered and bloodied in the final battle and his shield was torn in half as Age of Ultron foretold, he didn’t actually die in the movie. He got a much sweeter ending than that, going back in time to settle down with Peggy and live a simple married life in suburbia. Still, now that’s he’s super old, he probably will die soon.