Avengers: Endgame News Update

With Endgame just two weeks away the news is coming fast and furious, although happily we still don't really know how the Russo's intend to resolve the Snap.

To kick things off two separate scenes were screened at CinemaCon, one of which was identical to what was shown to Disney shareholders less than a month ago. It confirmed everything reported from there, only adding details the poster couldn't remember (as he subsequently Tweeted). Since then ten minutes of the film were shown to the press (consisting of the aforementioned footage and an elongated look at Tony and Nebula trapped in space). The later doesn't add much to what's already known about the plot of the film. We then had a minute dropped on Good Morning America (here), showing the discussion to attack Thanos.

The above was followed by a myriad of interviews as part of the promotion and from that only two things stood out to me (keeping in mind none of them have seen the finished film):

• Mark Ruffalo claiming five different endings were shot
• Scarlett Johansson saying there were three separate units filming

The former may well be the Russo's working to confuse the cast about the ending--it may even be Ruffalo's confusion. The only thing it reminded me of was a 4chan post from January that talked about "wish-fulfillment scenarios" in an epilogue. That leak has not yet been debunked, largely because the predictions in it are so vague and safe (it did call for Steve's wedding, which Ruffalo specifically mentioned).

As for Johansson's comment, this seems at least partially true as the Battle of New York photos only include Tony, Cap, Banner, and Ant-Man. There's no hint at what the others are doing (or whether anyone else is with them). It would also fit the primary approach from Infinity War of using smaller groups for much of the movie.

Another tidbit of news that came out is that the Russo's were actually still working on the movie up until a few of days ago--it was picture locked back in March, so this was simply to finish VFX. The directors also confirmed that none of the Fox IP will appear in the film (which is no surprise--not only is the focus of the film wrapping up the first three phases, but filming was locked before that was possible).

I didn't mention in my speculation article about how much Doctor Strange's words must eat away at Tony--that Tony believes there's a way to win and that his survival is the key to that. I see a lot of people wondering how Strange is the key to unlocking the relationship between he and Cap and I think it could be as simple as that the hope Strange gave to Tony allows him let go of his anger. I have more speculation about Tony below.

We are back again with the Stark Gauntlet (passim) via a supposed toy leak. Confirmation bias is a funny thing, because to me, looking at it, the flaws of this being real are pretty obvious: there's no Power Stone and there's an extra, superfluous red stone in the 'new' gauntlet. You can't even argue the former is in the Time Stone's slot because that doesn't appear either. The other problem is the packaging (it doesn't say Endgame), so what we've got is some knockoff that has people who like this theory excited (We Got This Covered bought into it in now deleted Tweets, which gives you an idea of how careful they are with their reports).

I've been assuming the Avengers are trying to prevent the Snap from happening, however, let's at least consider the idea that they are going to undo what occurred (the difference is that they must assemble and use a gauntlet themselves, whereas in the former they simply have to prevent Thanos from gathering the stones in the first place). To do so they need all the stones, but when do they get them? Since the idea is revisiting prior films, these would be in the movies where those stones are most prominent and that list is:

Avengers (Space)

Thor: The Dark World (Reality)

Guardians of the Galaxy (Power)

Age of Ultron (Mind)

Doctor Strange (Time)

(The Soul stone doesn't appear until Infinity War, so it doesn't count)

One of the problems with this idea is that, while the Space, Reality, and Power Stones are never featured again (ergo, safe to pick up at the end of those movies), the Mind Stone is in Vision's head and the Time Stone is guarded by Doctor Strange. These aren't insurmountable problems, but in terms of avoiding timeline issues the Mind Stone would have to be removed after Civil War at the earliest. You then worry about causality issues, which is why my theory involves things being changed just as Infinity War begins (meaning the only event that's changed is that film).

The other issues to me are on a story level. This idea is incredibly busy--can you really re-visit all these films in a meaningful way within the confines of one or two acts in the film? I don't think so. We also have the ethical quandary (link above) that occurs by having the heroes solve the problem by using what caused it in the first place. Beyond that is the fact that this has been a popular theory since Infinity War came out and if we take the Russo's at their word, no fan theories have figured out the plot yet. I'd argue in the context of my theory they don't need to get all the stones--that the Space and Power Stone are enough to prevent the Snap from happening (even, arguably, just the Space Stone)--these are the tools that allow Thanos to so easily gather the other Stones. What this means is just one (or two) visits to the past are all that is necessary for the plot, likely focusing on the Battle of New York from The Avengers (given the set photos we've seen).

I've theorized for the past year that, if any of the OG Avengers die, Tony Stark is the logical one to do so. I wanted to revisit that idea and go over why, especially since most people believe Steve Rogers is the man to go out on his shield. Let's list them in point form:

• If Endgame is to bring the first three phases to its conclusion, Tony kicked it off and dying to save everyone at the end is as impactful a bookend as you could ask for--no one has had more screen time or appearances in the MCU than he has
• In Iron Man Tony talks about how he must have survived for some reason (you could argue that's becoming a hero, but it would dovetail nicely into saving half the universe--what better redemption could there be for a narcissistic merchant of death?)
• In the first Avengers film Cap tells Tony he's not willing to die for others (you could argue he answers this criticism at the end of the film, as he's willing to die, but he doesn't die--something that Cap does, essentially, in his first appearance)
• In Age of Ultron Tony's dream has him survive while the rest of his teammates die--you could argue the deaths in Infinity War pay off this nightmare, but Tony hasn't made the sacrifice that's implied by that comment
• His words to Peter in Homecoming give him Uncle Ben's role without suffering his fate--his death here would fulfill that role
• The baby McGuffin in Infinity War could be, rather than a sacrifice Tony has to make (as has been speculated), but a sign of rebirth after he's gone (I also think the idea of sacrificing the baby or child is ridiculous anyway--one of Jeremy Conrad's contributions)
• There's not much left for Tony to achieve as a character once he makes peace with Steve and becomes a team player--his continued presence makes it virtually impossible for another character to become the face of the MCU
• It's less expected--while speculation about him (other than my own) began mildly back in December, the general consensus is still that Steve dies (all that's changed is people will add that Tony might too)
• RDJ is expensive, making 50 million a movie
• RDJ is aging out of the role--he'll be 54 this year

While you can argue a couple of these elements also apply to other characters, no one has as much cumulative foreshadowing and other factors as Tony does. That's not to say I believe it's an absolute certainty that he dies, but that if we're looking for hints and evidence he has more than anyone else.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)