The redemption of half the life in the universe was made possible by the humble rat in Avengers: Endgame. It’s something so simple, yet so crucial at the same time. The significance of the little rodent’s actions has drawn a great deal of attention to its overall place in the grand MCU and a new fan theory considers the possibility that Endgame wasn’t the rat’s first screen appearance.
As we see in the film, the rat’s scurrying about the van in the storehouse and presses a button (either deliberately or unintentionally) which, in turn, returns Ant-Man from the Quantum Realm. Eventually, Scott Lang realizes five years have passed since his entrance into the microscopic universe and his return spurs a plan to defeat Thanos, altering the course of history. So, obviously, this rat’s pretty important and a new fan theory says that this rodent and the one Scott bumps into in Ant-Man (2015) when he’s ant-sized are actually one and the same.
This is certainly an intriguing notion, that this rat has a personal attachment to the hero and has been covering his back for years. It would kind of be like the MCU’s own little Remy from Ratatouille. However, other fans have pointed out one big flaw in this idea, which has to do with the lifespan of an average rat.
The eldest of rats on record, named Rodney, lived to the ripe old age of 7. This fact conflicts with the span of time between the plot of Ant-Man, set approximately in 2015, and Scott’s release from the Quantum Realm in Avengers: Endgame, circa 2023.
That means at least eight years would have passed, pushing the rat’s age well beyond the typical life expectancy. But who knows? Perhaps Hank Pym or some other scientist has been working on lengthening the lifespan of rodents.
While the theory certainly has some holes, it remains an amusing notion concerning the backstory to the rodent’s involvement in the big picture of the MCU.