That Avengers 4 time travel rumor simply refuses to go away, and based on the various photos we’ve been seeing and reports we’ve been reading, it may even turn out to be true.
If so, then just like every other time travel storyline, you can expect this one to come with its messy complications, whether that means new twists in the drama or new plot holes for the fans to nitpick. A recent theory that emerged on Screen Rant, however, has a few ideas for how Tony Stark could be turning back the clock while keeping the ripple effects of his retconning to a minimum.
The idea stems in part from a leaked pic of Robert Downey Jr. in a S.H.I.E.L.D. tactical vest during what appear to be the events of 2012’s The Avengers. While many fans have predicted that Iron Man could be journeying into this period to acquire the Infinity Stones before Thanos can get his big purple hands on them, it’s worth considering that this would likely lead to a thorough rewriting of MCU history. And now that Marvel Studios has spent a whole decade carefully fleshing out the specifics of this interconnected film world, you have to wonder whether they would be willing to distort the chain of events so suddenly.
With that in mind, this latest piece of speculation offers the alternative suggestion that Tony will subtly approach Loki for crucial information on the Mad Titan. This would keep the timeline relatively neat while still potentially giving Earth’s Mightiest Heroes an important edge in the inevitable final fight.
Naturally, all of this theorizing could be way off base as far as we know, but we’ll find out when Avengers 4 hits theaters on May 3rd, 2019.