Question: Why did 2014 Thanos bother to come to the future? As we are already aware, changing one time doesn't affect the other, and whether he knows that or not is sort of irrelevant. He could have stayed in 2014 and completed his mission, in fact he could have done it even more easily with the Pym particles he obtained without anyone ever knowing. He really had no reason to need to come forward in time. Knowing that Thor kills him in the future just means he could take steps to prevent that if/when it happens, he didn't need to act right then.
lionhead
14th Jun 2019
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Answer: As an alternative to the above answer, another thing to keep in mind is that Thanos believes that his vision of a better world shouldn't be fought against. Finding out that an alternate universe version of himself wins the battle and then ends up having his plans ruined makes him believe that the heroes of that universe are ungrateful, and that he should help the alternate universe version of himself that died to stay the winner. He's evil. He doesn't just want to win in this universe. He wants to win in all universes.
Answer: He probably also realises that if the Avengers can get all 6 stones, stealing them all at once would be easier than trying to collect them himself.
10th Jun 2019
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Question: Instead of telling Stark to turn the donut around why doesn't he use a sling ring?
Answer: The range of the sling rings hasn't been defined. They were in deep space at this point, so they may have been too far away for Strange to open up a portal on Earth for them to step through.
In Endgame, Strange opens at least one portal from across the galaxy. For example, we see the one opened from Titan that he, Spiderman, and the Gaurdians all come through. Unless his sling powers suddenly increased after the great purge, he should have been able to open a portal from deep space on the ship.
Answer: The Q Ship was travelling in some form of hyperspace. It would be reasonable to assume that the slingring could not work under those circumstances. When he does use it later, it is from the surface of the planet Titan.
And when they arrive on Titan his idea to protect the time stone changes. He instead looks at different time-lines.
Why would it be different in hyperspace? The ship has its own gravity.
By definition, hyperspace exists outside normal time and space. Depending on how the sling ring works, it may not be able access normal space.
2nd Jun 2019
Beetlejuice (1988)
Question: When Adam and Barbara start to age and die near the end of the movie, I don't get how they didn't "die" again. How did they end up completely fine at the end?
Answer: Otho is attempting to exorcise them (remember how the afterlife janitor said exorcism was death for the dead), but Beetlejuice interrupted the ceremony, restoring them.
Answer: It's not completely clear what was happening to them but it's somewhere along the lines of the ritual making them corporeal or even partially resurrecting them but the ritual wasn't done properly so their bodies started to decay. Beetlejuice reversed that process and turned them back into ghosts.
28th May 2019
Office Space (1999)
Question: While recognizing that this film is entirely fictitious, how likely is it that an IT firm in 1999 would have allowed a former employee access to the premises after being laid off, never mind continue to send him a paycheck as with Milton Waddams? I myself was fired the following year and got the walk of shame treatment ("you have 5 minutes to clear your desk - the taxi's waiting outside") which at the time already seemed pretty standard.
Answer: Simply because he is basically invisible to them. Anyone can walk into that place, no guard outside, no key-card required. Nobody cared. At least you got a taxi.
Exactly. These things can happen. It depends on the place and how they operate. As recently as January 2024, I read about one young woman who went into a Kroger grocery store and worked for six hours, as an experiment. She has also done this at Target and Walmart. She wears clothes that look like a real employee's.
Answer: They never told Milton he was fired, they just cruelly cut off his paycheck, figuring he'd eventually get fed up and leave (he'd actually been laid off years ago, but a payroll glitch kept him getting a paycheck). The management is hoping if they're cruel enough, he'll stop showing up.
This is actually the reverse of what happened. The glitch caused him to continue to receive a paycheck, even though he'd been laid off. The "Bobs" corrected the glitch, so he would no longer receive a paycheck. In an effort to avoid confrontation, they chose not to say anything to him, hoping he'd realise it and leave on his own.
26th May 2019
Groundhog Day (1993)
25th May 2019
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
21st May 2019
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
19th May 2019
Aladdin (1992)
Question: Two questions. 1) Why does the Sultan pick on Iago all the time - force feeding him stale crackers and when he's on the magic carpet, chasing after him? 2) Why is the Sultan so rough with the magic carpet? When he goes for a ride on it after Aladdin shows up at the palace as Prince Ali, he rides it around the palace in such a reckless manner that when he's finished, the carpet can barely walk.
Answer: Iago to him is just a parrot, not a sentient being like we know. He genuinely thinks Iago likes the cookies. The magic carpet is the one being rough, being in control since he is just giving the Sultan a thrill ride. It's trying to make a good impression for Aladdin by giving the Sultan a great time.
Answer: The Sultan is a goofy, clumsy guy who doesn't realise he's being rough.
15th May 2019
Back to the Future (1985)
Question: Given that the entire McFly family's circumstances have changed at the end of the movie due to Marty altering the past, shouldn't Marty's whole life have gone down a completely different path from childhood on? What are the odds that he even still knows Doc and Jennifer in the revised 1985 (let alone has the exact same date planned with Jennifer for the very same evening), given that everything else has changed?
Answer: It's definitely a paradox. Marty actually goes back to the life of 2nd Marty, but if that's the case then original Marty should have still faded away since he created a new timeline when he gave George confidence. Original Marty shouldn't exist anymore at all, he should have faded completely away on the stage. I've said it before and I'll say it again: time travel movies are a mess.
The new Marty isn't a different person entirely; he's just the same guy who was raised in a slightly different environment to the original timeline. Marty's actions in 1955 have ensured that his parents will have three children, and he will be one of them. His existence is completely secured in the timeline.
Answer: The suggestion is given that he was the only "normal" person in the family and when he changed the past his parents and siblings became more "normal" people as well whilst he stayed as he was, despitegrowingup with different parents and siblings, since he was "normal" anyway. This totally ignores the linear timeline idea given during the entire movie, but it's obvious that was the idea.
You're absolutely right about Marty being the only "normal" one in the family, but that doesn't ignore the linear timeline idea. There are two different Marty McFly's by the end of this movie. There's the one we follow, who grew up with unhappy parents, and then there's the other Marty McFly who grew up with cool parents. We see the 2nd Marty go back to 1955 when Marty gets back to the Twin Pines mall. The idea isn't to ignore the linear timeline idea, but rather to imply that unhappy parents or not Marty will still always be Marty.
Except for the fact Marty kept being in danger of disappearing if his parents wouldn't get together. If his old self would disappear from his parents not getting together then so he should if his entire life is different and he would be a different Marty just like his siblings. Even if it's only memories rather than an entire personality.
6th May 2019
Free Willy (1993)
Question: In reality, do orcas actually understand English? Willy seems to understand Jesse when Jesse teaches him tricks.
Answer: While sounds and words can be used to alert orcas and dolphins, they recognize the hand signals and movements as to what to do.
Answer: Dogs can learn words up to the level of a 3 yr old, and whales are smarter than dogs, so definitely.
Dogs don't learn words, they start to recognize the sound that comes with a certain word like "stay" or "fetch", it's got more to do with the intonation than the actual word. They don't know what the word actually means. They can't imitate it nor can they recognize it in a sentence.
6th May 2019
Band of Brothers (2001)
Replacements - S1-E4
Question: When Sgt. Martin is at the airfield before the jump into Holland, a lieutenant tells him him to tap him on the leg, but I can't figure out why and nothing else is explained about it any further. What's this about?
Answer: Because he was colorblind and couldn't tell if the light had jumped from red to green.
6th May 2019
Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
30th Apr 2019
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Question: Spoiler! Given Gamora is brought to 2019 from 2014 with no ill effects, presumably just spinning off a new timeline with no Gamora in it (or Thanos for that matter, making that new timeline pretty peaceful), why can't the Avengers just go and "retrieve" alternate-timeline versions of the other people they've lost? They don't seem too worried about the timelines that have branched off due to their actions, eg. Cap going back in time (a whole other issue), Loki stealing the Tesseract, etc. They could hop back to a day earlier and basically get their friends back.
Answer: They actually do have some concern for the alternate/branched off timelines - that's the whole reason Hulk proposes returning the stones (after they're done with them) to the point they were stolen from, so that those branched off timelines won't be royally screwed with a stone (or 2) missing from their timeline (i.e. The Ancient One telling Hulk that the sorcerers need the stone in order to combat the forces of darkness). Granted, some of the changes they've made they can't do much about - not without spending more time and further interfering (Loki escaping with the Tesseract in the alternate 2012 timeline, or the alternate 2014 timeline's Thanos and co. Traveling to main-timeline 2023 - leaving alt-2014 without a Thanos, which as you say, may not be too bad). With all that in mind, I think they would be hesitant to 'steal' their friends from the past because think about what they were doing just a few days ago... trying to figure out how to unsnap the 50% of the universe that Thanos dusted. If they take their friends, who were pretty integral to figuring out how to/and carrying out the undoing of that, they would be dooming that new alternate 2023 timeline to failure in their endeavors.
Since Thanos coming from the past didn't change 2023, I don't think taking their friends from the past would change anything either. They are constantly creating new time lines/universes. However, the only people they lost were Black Widow and Vision, and Hulk tried to bring Black Widow back and failed with the stones whilst Vision lived on the mind stone, which is gone (brought back to it's own timeline). So bringing those 2 back isn't going to be happening. Who else did they lose?
Chosen answer: There's really no reason that they couldn't. Probably an oversight by the writers. I think an easy fix could maybe have been the Ancient One or Doctor Strange warning the heroes that continually altering the space-time continuum could potentially lead to paradoxes that threaten the existence of the multiverse and it's better to just let sleeping dogs lie. It would have been somewhat of a cop-out, but it would have at least addressed it.
Answer: That would be kidnapping. Also, you would be killing someone else who would need to take their spot. Either way someone dies. Are you going to keep going back and saving a fallen comrade?
Not kidnapping if they agree to it.
You assume they would agree to it. Why would they agree to it?
Because of their imminent death in their own timeline. If they get told they're going to die if they stay, but hop over to our timeline where they can still do some good, that may well persuade people. And yes it makes their timeline more uncertain, it's not guaranteed they'd choose to leave, but they may well be willing to. Regardless, "kidnapping" is a stretch.
Gamora - she's not going to die in her own timeline. Her timeline's Thanos is dead. He's not going to be there to throw her off the cliff. Black Widow - you have to explain to her that her being alive can kill countless others. If you remove her from anytime line she doesn't do the good that she has in the last Avengers movies and as a Shield agent or Hawkeye (or another Avenger) has to take her place for the soul stone. That's counter to her sacrifice. Vision - You remove him, you remove the mind stone from that timeline. Which isn't good. If you remove them from their timeline without telling them all of this, yes that would amount to kidnapping.
19th Feb 2013
Aladdin (1992)
Question: Throughout the whole movie, why does Jasmine have such hostility toward Jafar? The scene where Aladdin was captured by the guards on Jafar's orders, she seems angry that Jafar had a stranger taken from the market place. In the scene of Jasmine's and Jafar's first appearance together, she confronts him angrily asking Jafar about the arrest. When his reply was justifiable she is still upset with him. And in the scene where the Sultan, Jafar, and Jasmine are all in the room discussing the incident, Jasmine says she wants to get rid of Jafar. (00:23:20 - 00:41:15)
Answer: Also, Jasmine reveals in that first scene that Aladdin's arrest wasn't justifiable. Jafar told her he had him arrested for kidnapping her, to which Jasmine reveals that he didn't kidnap her; she ran away. Then Jafar reveals that he had Aladdin executed, which can seemingly only be done upon approval from the sultan. Jasmine loathes him so much because he allowed for the death of an innocent boy without checking with anyone first.
27th Apr 2019
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Question: How did Thanos get to the present timeline? Wasn't Nebula left with just one dose of pym particles, which she used to get back?
Answer: It shows Nebula presenting the vial of Pym particles to Thanos, it's probable that he (or someone like Maw) was able to reverse engineer the particles so that they had their own supply to use.
Answer: 2014 Nebula would have needed the vial to power her future self's suit to get to 2023 so she could impersonate her. But Thanos would have had to re-create enough of the particles so that the time tunnel could lock onto his ship and pull it through.
Answer: She used the excess Pym particles that Tony and Cap brought back.
Is that your own personal interpretation of it? They don't show it in the movie, unless I am mistaken. And it should be Thanos to use the Pym particles to jump into the Quantum dimension, how does she having the particles in the present affect it?
Her robotic fingers seem to be red as they go into the machine, implying they're making use of the Pym particles. And they had Nebula's "GPS" unit they all wore on their hands - given Thanos' technology they could presumably have copied or adapted it in some way to work with the ship, positioning it in time and space if nothing else.
Yes that's my interpretation. The machine works differently than the suits. She did a lot of modification to it as well before activating it. She somehow managed to get an entire ship transported to the future in a matter of minutes. The only logical conclusion is that she used Pym particles to power the machine and then pull the ship through.
No. Thanos on his end, would need those particles to get small and enter the Quantum Realm. Like the others.
Answer: The directors have addressed this and confirmed that Thanos gave the Pym particles to Ebony Maw (a brilliant scientist) who then reverse engineered them and created more.
Answer: He could have gotten the Pym particles from Pym himself. Likely by force. He has Nebula's memory and saw their whole plan. But, the official answer that came out was Maw reversed engineered them.
25th Apr 2019
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Question: Spoiler! Time seems to be defined as somewhat linear, with alternate realities branching off rather than changing the past of any given timeline. But if that's the case, how can Steve go back in time and stay, which should branch off a new reality with him in it, but then "catch up" with "our" reality? Seems like if he stayed in the past he'll have made plenty of changes.
Answer: The Russo brothers have elaborated somewhat: "the old Cap at the end of the movie, he lived his married life in a different universe from the main one. He had to make another jump back to the main universe at the end to give the shield to Sam." They didn't explain his jump back, which leaves the door open for interdimensional travel. They certainly implied there's a bit more to the story which might get revealed in time. But thus far we know there's an alternate timeline where 2019 Cap was running around helping people (again, per Russo interviews), not interfering with "our" timeline.
Answer: He stayed behind but didn't reveal himself or change anything whilst there. That way the future isn't altered and stays "the same." This does mean that the timeline we have been following is the timeline where Cap stayed behind and there were basically 2 Steve Rogers at all times. That can theoretically work in a linear timeline idea.
True, I think that does mostly line up. Peggy told him she got married to someone he rescued, but that could easily have been a cover story so as not to tip him off about what happens too early.
He originally had the tools to go back return the stones and then return back to his timeline. Instead of returning back right away when the job was done he just hung around and lived his life. Then as an old man used the particle to return back to his original timeline effectively leaving the different timeline he had just been living in for the last however many years. He could always return back to the the original timeline at any point. He just decided to wait.
Yeah see I don't agre to this because if he had used the particles again to go back to the future after living his life in the past he would have ended up on the platform wouldn't he? I say he just grew old and waited for that moment of his younger self going to back to sit down on that bench.
That's not possible. (a) He was in the ice for 60 years. How would he know what not to do? (b) There's nothing he could do that wouldn't change the timeline. Anything he did means someone else didn't do it from the previous timeline. A house he rented, food he ate, places he went. Even whatever fake name he uses alters history as it wasn't there before.
The point is all those things did exist, but they didn't mess with the events that occurred in the movies. So not a different timeline than the one we have been following, but the same. This can only be done if the second Cap stays out of history. I'm not a fan of the butterfly effect, it doesn't have any basis, that's why I always explain timelines in this way. An extra spoon in the dishwasher or an extra tank of gasoline doesn't change the timeline so much that it can't be the one we were following anymore. So yes, he changed the timeline, but that's the timeline we have been following.
Answer: Since Cap was frozen for 70 years, he could potentially live out his life back in that time without risking interfering with his future self's actions which would allow him to arrive back to the same point where he left. It's not too dissimilar from the first two "Back to the Future" films where Marty arrives back in 1985 from 1955. As long as Marty takes no actions to prevent himself from going back in time in that moment, then he can arrive back to the same point he left without causing a major disruption in the space-time continuum. Consequently though, since Cap married Peggy when he went back, this would effectively erase the marriage she revealed having had in "The Winter Soldier," which could cause minor differences in the timeline.
This is the point though - it's made clear that they can't change the past, just branch off a new timeline. And given we know she got married in "our" timeline, him going back created a new one, one where she married him instead. And that's all well and good, but that leaves him stranded in timeline "B", with no way to jump back to "A." That said of course there's no real reason this couldn't be hand-waved away as using Dr. Strange or other tech to cross dimensions somehow, it's just mildly annoying they didn't clarify it. :-).
Well the way they did it makes it complicated I think. The Pym particles made a certain type of time travel possible I think, a different kind than the time gem for example can do. It's irreversible, but not linear. The linear timeline is what the ancient one explained about the gems. They had to be put back in their place in time in order for the fabric of the universe to stay in tact. Only that had to be restored, but not what Cap did, or even creating alternate timelines in general (which did happen with Loki disappearing).
I feel though that since two Caps were existing in the same timeline, one of which was frozen for several decades, then the Cap that went back to be with Peggy can still end up in the same spot as long as he doesn't interfere with himself or his fellow Avengers in their "future" missions. He might cause a slightly different timeline to happen, but as long as he lets his other self play out the events as they originally unfolded, it allows that other self to be in the same position to travel back to return the Infinity Stones and then be with Peggy, rendering any branching timeline to be inconsequential because he is putting himself in a time loop. Just like Marty in "Back to the Future." Marty's actions in the past create a slightly new timeline, but he is still traveling back to 1955 at the exact same point in this slightly different 1985.
Can't compare it to Back to the Future, there was always 1 Marty in Back to the Future since he goes back to a time before he was born. The changes to the timeline in Back to the Future should have butterflied a lot away. Not sure what you mean with "still end up in the same spot" if there are 2 Caps. The Cap that went back to be with Peggy didn't have to "end up in the same spot", just stay out of history until his past self goes back. Like you say, it's a loop for him.
By "end up in the same spot," I mean the Cap that coexists with the Cap that goes back in time is allowed to play out the events from "The Avengers," "The Winter Soldier," "Civil War," etc. without his alternate self interfering in matters, thus he is able to reach the same point in time where he goes back to return the Infinity Stones and then be with Peggy, which is what creates/continues his loop.
He wouldn't be stranded in "B" if he still had his TimeGPS device (which I imagine he would've held onto). That could have allowed him to make the jump back to the "A" timeline. That device is what links/keeps the time traveler tethered/able to return to their original timeline and not get stuck. Either he used it to make the jump back as he normally would have, or he could've employed some of the great minds of the alternate "B" timeline he was living in (i.e. Hank Pym, Howard Stark (if he prevented his assassination in the "B" timeline), Tony Stark, etc...) to use the GPS's 'tether' as a way to get back to "A"
Exactly. What people seem to miss is that throughout the movie, the time travelers are creating alternate timelines, but always return to their original one. That's the way time travel works in the MCU.
That's a good point - if they go to the battle of New York and make any change at all, that's a new timeline which they're technically in, but they can still return to their original one without any problem. That new one then carries on without them.
Answer: What's interesting is that during Civil War when Peggy dies and people are carrying her coffin, there is a white haired man of Steve's build carrying one side, but it never shows his face. I believe this is a little Easter egg to show he was there all along.
Answer: Remember Cap took three vials of Pym particles. One for himself and Tony and another for this reason.
Answer: Theory 1: The MCU as we know it is a product of Captain America going back in time and returning the stones. Theory 2: the older Captain America is from another timeline. That's how he got a new shield.
28th Jun 2004
Aliens (1986)
Question: If the company knew about the Aliens from the start and coveted them as a bioweapon, why did it take 57 years and the reappearance of Ripley for someone from the company to make another effort to get one? In the intervening 57 years, wouldn't the company have sent someone out to the derelict spaceship wreckage?
Answer: The company doesn't wait 57 years, they built a colony on the planet over 20 years prior to finding Ripley. The company was apparently unaware of the exact location of the derelict spacecraft. After finding Ripley and obtaining information from her, Burke was able to send the Jorden family to the precise location of the derelict spacecraft.
Answer: For me anyway, the company doesn't seem to be as hostile as they do in Alien. Won't surprise me that in 57 years there has been a change in leadership and they are no longer interested in capturing the alien, Burke seems to operating on his own. Minor plot hole ultimately.
I think the original answer is right and they simply didn't know where the crashed ship was located on the planet since the beacon was deactivated and all information was on the Nostromo and with Ripley. They built a colony there to find it eventually, just takes a long time. Until they got lucky and found Ripley. Burke is definitely not working on his own though, they still knew about the aliens and the original idea still remained, capture aliens and bring them back to study.
Yes that's right, because when Ripley has a run in with Burke he says that this specimen is worth millions to the bio weapons division and if we bring it back we will be made for life.
20th Apr 2019
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
21st Jun 2004
The Passion of the Christ (2004)
Question: Did Jesus really invent the table? I don't remember that in the Bible.
Answer: Um, no, he didn't. The Egyptians had tables (that wouldn't look that out of place in a modern house) around 2000 years before the birth of Christ.
Answer: I believe Jesus was just helping his Father Joseph who was a carpenter.
23rd Apr 2009
Jurassic Park (1993)
Question: Wouldn't John Hammond be just a little bit worried at how animal rights activists may react to his park feeding live animals (like goats and cows) to the dinosaurs, and the damage it could do to the park's future?
Chosen answer: There are several factors to consider. First, zoos do feed live food to some exhibit animals that will not otherwise eat, like feeding live mice to some types of reptiles. Also, Jurassic Park is still top secret and is not yet open to the public, and therefore Hammond and the staff are, at this point, unconcerned about that and may change their practices later. Another consideration is that the park is in a foreign country that may have less stringent rules and regulations regarding zoo and aquarium practices; Hammond is likely paying them well to establish his park there and is bringing in tourism dollars. Finally, Hammond simply may be unconcerned about it, convinced that his fantastic park will be such a huge success and public demand to see the dinosaurs so great that it will overrule objections by animal rights groups.
Answer: In Jurassic World they still use animals so this isn't a concern.
What happens in a later movie is irrelevant to the question.
Answer: They stole the power stone from his timeline, so he could never complete the gauntlet.
lionhead
And the soul stone.
Probably, yeah.
lionhead