Ever since Tony Stark made that rousing, devastating sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame, the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has begun dipping into uncertain territory. Not only did the Avengers lose the man that so many Marvel fans owe their passion to, but they also lost a nigh-irreplaceable source of income and stability.
We saw this in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, of course, when Sam Wilson’s biggest enemy in the whole miniseries was neither the Flag Smashers nor John Walker, but the bank teller that refused to offer him a loan after five years of no income, since he and the rest of the Avengers had Tony to fall back on in that department. It may not have been the most riveting part of the show, but it did raise an important question; who’s going to fund the Avengers from here on out? The folks over at r/marvelstudios proved keen to get to the bottom of this.
Perhaps concerningly, there’s no shortage of Marvel heroes who have proved to benefit from capitalism, so the list of possible candidates has a marked depth to it.
Others toyed with the idea of the Avengers downsizing from millions in funding to the superhero team equivalent of a mom-and-pop shop. “Avengers Limited” has a charming ring to it.
And Reddit may be no stranger to bad ideas, but they’ve never flirted with such dystopian possibilities as this.
Of course, when you’re dealing with nuances like timelines and multiverses and magic and “quantum” physics, a team’s source of income will probably be the least of a comic book franchise’s worries. Nevertheless, anyone familiar with the Marvel fandom knows they never leave a stone unturned, and the identity of the Avengers’ next sugar daddy is no exception.