Avengers: Endgame

Question: In the final fight scene, why were the Avengers trying to get the gauntlet to the van? What were they planning to do with it?

Answer: The van had a quantum tunnel which they could use to get the gauntlet away from Thanos forever. It was a last ditch effort to prevent Thanos from obtaining it.

lionhead

Answer: He was probably contemplating what to do with himself and the stones now he had fulfilled his purpose.

lionhead

Also, he was nursing his wounds from the first snap. He knew that he should be healed before letting a 2nd snap damage his body badly again.

Question: Was there an explanation in-film, or perhaps in the comics, why Thanos (and even Hulk and Iron Man) had to physically snap his finger to get rid of half the population? He seemed to be powerful enough to be able to wield the power of the stones with just his mind. I don't remember him having to snap any fingers to instantly change reality, etc. Shouldn't he have just been able to think about wiping out half the population?

Bishop73

Answer: The gems are so powerful together nobody could wield all of them directly, not even Thanos. The glove is especially made that they can be worked in unison. But there are limitations, since they are being operated indirectly. It's like the staff Loki was using with the mind gem inside. He had to physically touch people with the staff to take control of them. Same goes with Ronin using the Power gem to destroy Xandar, he had to physically touch the ground with his hammer to use it. Same goes for the glove, you have to physically use it to use the gems inside it. He has to do this to to use any of the powers of the gems, he closes his hand into a fist to use one of the powers. The snap is for using all of them at once.

lionhead

Answer: In the comics, the Infinity Stones (where they are known as the Infinity Gems) do not require gestures such as snapping to carry out of the desires of the wielder. They simply respond to that person's will. In the comics, Thanos does indeed snap his fingers in order to wipe out half of all life in the universe, but that was more of a visual gesture for the readers. The Stones in the films are significantly less powerful, as it would no doubt make Thanos virtually unstoppable if all he had to do to use the power of the Stones was think about what he wanted them to do. In the comics, Thanos is defeated by his own notion of being unworthy of omnipotence. The Gems in the comics also do not kill their wielder from an overwhelming amount of power.

Phaneron

Question: Where was Gamora during the funeral scene and when the Guardians leave at the end. Was she just hiding on earth or something?

Gavin Jackson

Answer: This version of Gamora had abandoned Thanos, but she is also not a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, so she flees to parts unknown. There's an alternate version of the scene when Tony dies showing all the heroes bowing to him, with Gamora looking back at Tony momentarily before heading off all by herself.

Phaneron

Question: Why did time not end when Thanos destroyed the stones, and what happens in now there aren't any? The Ancient One stated that the stones control the flow of time, and removing even one of these opens up the world to unimaginable horror. Well why did nothing happen after Thanos destroyed them all? And now that our timeline has no stones, how would Dr. Strange be able to stop Dormammu from coming back?

Answer: The way I understood it, removing the stones from one timeline into another timeline is what The Ancient One was talking about. The "new branched reality" is what would be overrun by the forces of darkness. But, even if she meant this reality, the reality where Thanos destroyed the stones, The Ancient One said it was their chief weapon, not their only weapon. Bruce then tells her Doctor Strange gave the time stone to Thanos and The Ancient One says maybe she made a mistake. However, since Thanos eliminates half the population of the universe, including the forces of darkness, whatever forces she was talking about may not have been around to try and attack Earth. Or in the 5 years that we don't see, there was an attempt and other weapons were sufficient.

Bishop73

Answer: In the comics the stones will be replaced by something else equally powerful to compensate for their loss. I suppose the same applies to the MCU. These powers need to have a physical presence in the universe, in one way or another.

lionhead

The only problem is the films never insinuate this at all. The Ancient One flat out states that not having the stones would be bad for the universe, and yet Thanos destroys the stones with absolutely no adverse affects to the universe whatsoever. This movie played very fast and loose with the rules they established regarding the stones and time travel and I feel like things like this were massive flaws.

BaconIsMyBFF

The universe is a pretty big place, though. There could very well be bad things in another part of the universe that have yet to affect our galaxy. Additionally, the forces of darkness that could potentially threaten the universe may be curbed by a cosmic entity such as the Living Tribunal, whose existence in the MCU was acknowledged in "Doctor Strange" and could very well appear in "The Eternals" or "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3."

Phaneron

I just believe the ancient one didn't even know. The ancient one isn't always correct, as Bruce proved. And the bad thing was taking the stones away from their timeline, creating timelines where they are not supposed to be, it says nothing about destroying them.

lionhead

That to me is still bad writing. You have a character whose entire purpose in the movie is to give exposition, and the exposition she gives is apparently incorrect. That's all well and good but that still needs to be addressed at some point. Some character should have brought up the fact that the stones were destroyed (and incidentally, remain destroyed in the main timeline) and the Ancient One should have addressed that fact. Otherwise, like the original question points out, it leaves a bit of a gap in the film's logic.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: I believe the filmmakers have said that the energy of the stones was dissipated into the universe when their crystal vessels were destroyed. So that while they didn't have a physical form anymore, their essence remained and continued to regulate the flow of existence of the Universe. Presumably the energy can't then be reconstituted into the stones without some sort of profoundly intricate magic/science, the kind of power only possessed by gods and/or ancient elemental beings. Also, the Ancient One says that Hulk taking the time stone would be good for his timeline, but would leave hers without their weapon, which I presume means they wouldn't have the time stone to help the Sanctum's usual efforts in holding dark magic at bay. The actual effect of removing the essence of a stone from its timeline is still open to speculation.

Vader47000

If the ancient one was only talking about the time stone then Cap wouldn't have to bother bringing all stones back. No, she was talking about all infinity gems. Remove a stone and that universe is doomed.

lionhead

Answer: The sorcerers may have other ways to stop Dormmamu from returning (even if those ways are currently unbeknownst to them). This could be addressed in the sequel. Additionally, since Dormmamu would have to know that the Time Stone was destroyed in the first place, he may well just stay away rather than falsely believing that he can be trapped in a time loop again.

Phaneron

Answer: She said the world not the universe. She said "without our chief weapon against the forces of darkness our world will be overrun." Theory: since Thanos used the stones to destroy the stones and Hulk heard what the Ancient One said, he could have used the stones to bring back their stones along with everyone else. He couldn't have know who all died in the universe, he could have just undid everything from 5 years ago.

Question: Is 2014 now in danger or basically completely screwed? Quill would have woken up and probably have been caught by either Korath or Yondu as he had been knocked out. Even if he didn't, he would have gone to the broker with the orb, but this time there would be no Gamora outside to try and take it, he may have still been arrested with Groot and Rocket, however they wouldn't join them as they have no chance to bond over Gamora. Without the Guardians, Xandar would have probably fallen, but more horrible is Ego may have found Quill, and without the Guardians he wouldn't have been able to stop him so guess what...Ego destroys the universe.

Answer: Short version is probably...yeah, basically. Despite "snip all the branches", certainly a few new timelines spin off from the original (Loki disappearing in 2012, Thanos/Gamora not being around in 2014, Old Steve being in our timeline or a new one, etc.) The "rules" aren't 100% clear, but that set of outcomes seems pretty likely.

Jon Sandys

Answer: All the timelines are screwed, each time they went back, they altered that timeline in ways Captain couldn't have known about to fix.

Answer: As the guardian of the Soul Stone, the Red Skull presumably just showed Steve the spot where he needed to return it. As for how Steve got to Vormir in the first place, he could have either borrowed a spaceship from Asgard or had Heimdall teleport him there via the Bifrost after returning the Reality Stone.

Phaneron

Asgard doesn't exist at the time Steve would return the stone.

It did when they took it so its still there when he brings it back. It's shortly before the dark elves attack.

lionhead

Yes it does. Clint, Natasha, Rhodey and Nebula all traveled to Morag in 2014 when Quill took the Power Stone, at which point Clint and Natasha took the Guardians' ship and traveled to Vormir to retrieve the Soul Stone. Steve can travel to Asgard in 2014 and ask Heimdall to teleport him to both of those planets. Asgard wasn't destroyed until just before the events of Infinity War.

Phaneron

Question: At the beginning of the movie, it was shown that both Tony Stark and Nebula are stuck inside Peter Quill's spaceship after Thanos' snap. Here, Tony Stark says, "Oxygen will run out tomorrow morning." However, this doesn't make any sense. Why didn't the two of them just stay on Titan? It's not like they needed special equipment in order to breathe on Titan before. They could just stay there until help arrived.

Answer: If they have no way of communicating with anyone, they have no chance on Titan either. That planet is dead too—might actually be hazardous to stay there too long. Nobody knows they are there either. They took their chance with the ship and getting to Earth.

lionhead

Answer: What help? Nobody knew where they were, where to start looking, or if they were even alive. Tony had a wife and daughter on Earth; he had to get back.

Question: How is Rogers alive at the end? Shouldn't he have died of old age?

MikeH

Answer: It's safe to assume that due to the treatments he received that gave him his super-powers, he also ages a bit more slowly compared to other people. At least that's the way I took it.

TedStixon

Answer: While he may not really look like it in the film, based on information dates given in the film, Rogers would be 106 at then end. While not a common age to live to, it's certainly obtainable as non-super enhanced people have lived past that age (122 years old being the verified record). Also, it should be noted, people don't "die of old age." Being old doesn't kill you, disease, illness or injuries do.

Bishop73

Answer: It's a healthy, plant-based smoothie. Tony is drinking them in several MCU films.

Answer: He mentioned in an interview that a lot of characters were going to die. Recently on the Graham Norton Show he revealed that he had his phone on and was live streaming the premiere of the movie towards all his followers, by accident. Only for 10 minutes or something and only audio.

lionhead

Answer: He does it for three reasons: 1) They served their purpose. His goal was to wipe out half of the universe and he succeeded. 2) To avoid the temptation to use them ("they served no purpose, other than temptation.") and 3) So that the destruction (his "work") will always be, that is to say it can't be undone.

Bishop73

Answer: He said "they had served their purpose" So he is arrogant enough to believe that once the stones had done what he wanted them to do he destroyed them as they were no longer useful. But its also possible he didn't want anyone to reverse what he did.

lionhead

Question: Did it actually have to be Tony that had to snap Thanos and his army? What difference would it have made if somebody like Clint or even Peter Quill snapped them? As long as Thanos and his army were destroyed the world was safe.

Answer: Yes. It HAD to be Tony. Strange said there was only ONE timeline where they succeeded. Also, Tony's armor provided some level of protection, letting him live long enough to snap. Most others, besides Hulk, would've died just by putting the gauntlet on. But, Strange foresaw this. He SAW this one reality where our heroes win. He SAW Tony die. It's also why he pointed and nodded at Tony. There were probably other timelines where someone else got the gauntlet but couldn't survive long enough to perform a snap. Clint would've died without armor, and Peter no longer had his Celestial powers after Ego died, so Peter would've died too.

JokerInTheBronx

Answer: It was whoever was able to get to it first. It was a frantic tussle trying to get the stones and the gauntlet. Tony happened to be in the right spot to snag them, and he had to act quickly before losing them again.

Quantom X

Answer: Cassie was born in July 2007. So during the future scenes, she is either 16 or 17.

LorgSkyegon

Question: After the main battle, Captain America only had half of a shield left, so where did the shield that he gave Sam at the very end come from? Did he go to Wakanda and have another made?

Answer: The Russo Brothers confirmed that Steve lived out his life in an alternate timeline before travelling back to the main timeline. Presumably his shield was never destroyed in that timeline.

Answer: Yeah that's just another one, just a regular shield or even vibranium. How he got it can only be speculated, but there are many different ways. It could just be symbolic to give to Sam.

lionhead

Question: How come Gamora had no idea that an infinity stone was in the orb in GotG but does in Endgame?

Answer: She knew what was in the orb. That's why she was so intent on keeping it away from Thanos. It's why she insisted to Ronan that SHE retrieve it instead of Nebula. It's also why she tried to sell it to The Collector behind Thanos and Ronan's back. She stated that she had hoped he had the ability to contain its power. She just didn't tell the rest of the Guardians because she had just met them and didn't trust them.

Could you please provide a quote where she states that thought the collector could keep the orb safe?

Sam Montgomery

Question: Why did Rocket deliberately hide the fact that he knew where Thanos was? Cap told Tony they couldn't find him but Rocket detected him two days ago.

DetectiveGadget85

Answer: They detected an energy surge that they suspect to be Thanos 2 days ago. Tony and Nebula had only just returned and Nebula confirms to them that's where Thanos is. Rocket didn't hide anything, they just hesitated to act on it.

lionhead

Cap told Tony that they had done various forms of searches and scans and they didn't know where he was. So they didn't know. So it wasn't a matter of "hesitating to act." "Hesitating to act" is also out of character of all the heroes and makes no sense that if they did all that searching only to hesitate when they found him?

DetectiveGadget85

No no no. I mispronounced. Nebula tells them where he is, probably told Rocket on the spot where the planet was located and Rocket explains that an identical energy surge that occurred on Earth occurred there as well. They didn't know that was Thanos, they didn't look for it, it may have happened 2 days ago but they didn't notice it. Not until Nebula told them he is there, the energy surge simply confirms he is there and that he used the stones again. I do still think they hesitate, they got no plan, no confidence. They all feel defeated and unable to beat him. They just do all they know, react.

lionhead

That's not what happened in the movie. Rocket announced the surge and what planet it was and Nebula confirmed it. Not "probably" the other way around. How could they not notice a power that strong? They aren't incompetent. Especially when half of the universe is destroyed. Who else is going to create that? No plan, no confidence? They have Stormbreaker and it stood up to the power of the stones. To the point Thanos had to run and hide. Cap America has never been one to simply "react" when he has time to create a plan. Even if, as you said, all they know is react...You just said they hesitated. Which one is it? They had almost a month. Lastly, again why are they searching for Thanos, if they are defeated and without a plan? what were the expecting to happen when they found him? Send him a postcard?

They wanted revenge, they are the Avengers after all. The plan was to take the stones, but they aren't sure if they could since they failed the last time and Thanos is pretty much unstoppable with all stones, so they are hesitant. Thanos didn't run and hide from Stormbreaker, he just retired and prepared to destroy the stones, he could have turned Stormbreaker into bubbles. Nebula first said she knew where Thanos was, in the next scene Rocket tells about the planet and the power surge there. He talks about it because Nebula told him that's the right planet. Captain Marvel convinces them to just act right now, so they go there. They don't have anything else anymore.

lionhead

Thanos took an axe to the chest. He isn't unstoppable. "The plan was to take the stones, but they aren't sure if they could..." that's not a plan. Thor had the ability to kill Thanos in his hands. They just needed to find him and take his head off. Thanos couldn't turn Stormbreaker into bubbles. He didn't do it when it was coming at him the first time. Nebula said he had a plan for retirement. Not where exactly. All of this is pointless. I figured it out. Two days is how long it took for that energy surge to reach Earth and be detected. Much like any other interstellar event. When we finally see it, it happened in the past.

DetectiveGadget85

I said this before on this website, Thor caught him by surprise, probably the last time anyone could. Thanos had only just gotten the stones and was distracted. We don't know how much power he really has when he had all 6 of them (not as much as in the comics) but I'm pretty sure that if you can eradicate half of all life in the universe you can destroy a simple little axe with them as well. Nebula said she knew exactly where he is, even named the planet. Rocket said there was another power surge 2 days ago, not that it took 2 days to detect the surge.

lionhead

Continuity mistake: In the final battle, Wasp and Ant-Man are in the van trying to get the quantum tunnel operational. We cut back to the fight and we can see Ant-Man there too, fighting in his giant form. (02:22:20 - 02:23:00)

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: He needed to hot-wire the van. It's quite possible he could have left the van for parts (he's seen slamming a Leviathan to the ground) or to protect it. It also could have been an illusion by one of Dr. Strange's people.

DetectiveGadget85

Sorry but the suggested correction makes no sense. For one Dr Strange's people have no idea what Ant-Man looks like, and secondly Ant-Man would have no idea where to get parts from in the middle of a battlefield, let alone know if alien technology would be compatible. Also the time frame given when the scene plays out allows no time for him to leave the van, this is a legitimate mistake.

Dr. Strange's people don't know what Ant-Man looks like? He entered the battle with them long before they went to the van. Earth has had access to the same Leviathan parts since the original Avengers. If Toomes can make wings out of it in Spider-man Homecoming, it's possible he can figure something out. Clint had passed the glove to Black Panther before Ant-Man is seen in the background. There was plenty of time. He also could have been defending the van while they brought the glove.

There is plenty of time for Ant-Man to have left the van and returned to it. As the scenes play out, Ant-Man and Wasp are in the front of the van trying to hot wire it. The film then cuts to the battle for several minutes, as we see the passing off the gauntlet, which includes the brief shot of Giant-Man in the background. A few minutes later the film cuts back to the van and we see Scott opening the rear door of the van. So there's plenty of time for him to have gotten out of the van, saw potential trouble with the Leviathan, turned into Giant-Man to stop it while letting Hope finish activating the tunnel, and then returning to check the final settings. Now, all this raises another question that has to do with the apparent ease Giant-Man has in traversing the battlefield, as in why not just give Scott the gauntlet, have him turn into Giant-Man, take a few steps over to the van, and then shrink back down to take the stones back in time?

Vader47000

More mistakes in Avengers: Endgame

Thanos: I am... inevitable.
Tony Stark: And I... am... Iron Man!

More quotes from Avengers: Endgame

Trivia: The man talking to Cap at the support group about his date is Joe Russo, one of the directors of the movie.

More trivia for Avengers: Endgame

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.