Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Last year, the greatest heroes of the MCU fought the most brutal and powerful villain in the universe, Thanos. While many of the MCU films have showcased the heroes of each film triumphing over their foes and stopping world-shattering events, Avengers: Infinity War changed everything we knew about the MCU when Thanos not only defeated the heroes but successfully used the Infinity Gauntlet and stones to (SPOILER ALERT!!).... erase half of the lives of the entire universe, including most of the heroes we’ve come to know and love over the years. Only the original Avengers team and a couple of other new heroes have survived the event, leaving the survivors blindsided and seeking to avenge their fallen friends.

That’s why this coming year’s Avengers: Endgame is such a highly anticipated film. The remaining heroes are left shocked and defeated, and there’s nothing left to lose. Thanos survived his war, and with the heroes scattered across the universe, it’s no wonder that Tony Stark and Steve Rogers appear so grim in the first Endgame trailer. With the film coming in a few months, rumors and speculation for the film run rampant throughout the online MCU fandom, and it’s hard to know what theories have merit, and which theories are too ridiculous to believe.

Today we are going to explore twenty-five of the most ridiculous and out there fan theories for Avengers: Endgame. From minor character developments to universal villainy, these theories are sure to baffle many of you diehard MCU fans.

25 Pepper Potts Saves Tony Stark

One of the more outlandish theories we’ve seen is that Pepper Potts is going to somehow save Tony Stark in space.

In the Endgame trailer we see he is out of supplies, drifting in space with no way of contacting anyone.

Not only would she have no way of knowing where he is, but we don’t even know if she survived the infamous “snap” of Thanos in Infinity War, so this is less and less likely to be the case.

24 Tony Gathers Infinity Stones And Reverses The “Snap”

Another fan theory that seems less likely than others is that Tony Stark is not only rescued in the film but hunts down the infinity stones for himself and uses them to undo the snap Thanos did that decimated the MCU population. First of all, the gauntlet itself was shown being damaged by the snap. Second, it nearly destroyed Thanos using it, and he was an all-powerful Titan, while Stark is still just human. Third, there is no evidence that the effects of the gauntlet can be undone in real time.

23 Scott Lang Isn’t At The Front Door Of Avengers HQ

One of the highlights of the Endgame trailer came when Cap and Black Widow saw the Ant-Man himself Scott Lang ringing the front gate’s doorbell. Watching a security feed, they witness the hero they thought was lost along with everyone else trying to get their attention, making for a humorous and hopeful end to the trailer.

Scott is expected to have a huge impact on the next Avengers film, but some fans theorize that he isn’t actually there after the snap, instead arriving in the past via time travel and what Cap and Widow are watching is archive footage. However, this seems far too unlikely and complicated to an already complex plot.

22 Thanos Teams Up With Avengers

This is a truly absurd theory. Yes, Thanos may well regret his actions in the weeks and months following his snap. Yet, no matter how regretful he may feel, neither he nor the remaining heroes would ever have a desire to work together. While in the original comics Nebula steals the gauntlet and becomes an even bigger threat than Thanos, the directors have always been known to change events from the comics to create new stories for the films, and it’s far more likely that Thanos will always remain the Avengers' enemy.

21 Hawkeye Lost Family Before Snap

One of the big highlights of the upcoming Avengers film will be the return of Hawkeye. However, this is going to be a far more broken and ruthless Clint Barton, as he’s seen wielding the Ronin moniker in the trailer. Theories suggest, and seem plausible, that he lost his family we were introduced to during Age of Ultron when Thanos snapped his fingers.

This would make sense as to why the hero has turned to a more ruthless approach.

However, some more absurd theories suggest his family was lost in a more tragic and permanent way before the snap. This seems unlikely as it wouldn’t fit into the story quite as well as losing them to the snap, and would seem crueler by Marvel’s standards.

20 Nebula Ends Thanos

Yes, Nebula is the angry and often forgotten “daughter” of Thanos. She certainly has reason to have a grudge against the Mad Titan, especially after ending Gamora in Infinity War, her sister she had begun to make amends with. However, the theory that she will be the final one to strike down Thanos is a bit hard to believe. It is far more likely that with this possibly being Cap and Iron Man’s final MCU film (at least for now), it would fall to either one or both of them to take down the Titan.

19 Hawkeye Is A Skrull

One of the upcoming MCU films this year is none other than Captain Marvel. Set in the 90s before most of the other MCU films, this film not only introduces one of the MCU’s most powerful heroes but one of the Avengers' longest running enemies, the alien race known as the Skrulls.

These shape-shifting aliens are known to steal and take the place of heroes and villains in the MCU, but the theory that Hawkeye will be revealed to be a Skrull (hence why he’s become Ronin in the Endgame trailer), is far too outlandish, even for an Avengers film.

18 Ant-Man Takes Avengers To Quantum Realm

Another unlikely scenario to take place will be Scott Lang taking Cap and the rest of the Avengers from Earth and into the Quantum Realm, the world discovered in Ant-Man & The Wasp. It’s hard to believe Lang would be capable of getting the entire Avengers team into the microscopic world when he himself was left stuck there, to begin with. Getting out is going to be a big challenge for him, so why take the team there at all?

17 Thor Creates Army In Alfheim Realm

One of the Avengers who will feel the most defeated has to be Thor. He went through the wringer, losing his best friend and his brother at the same time, not to mention half of his people that survived the destruction of Asgard. He went deep into space to find a weapon powerful enough to stop Thanos, returned to Earth, and nearly stopped the Mad Titan.

Yet a crucial mistake on the son of Odin’s part allowed Thanos to snap his fingers, leaving Thor to sit in his own defeat.

One theory suggests he will travel to one of the nine realms fans haven’t seen before, Alfheim, and build an army there to take on Thanos once and for all. However, if the snap affected all realms, wouldn’t Alfheim’s population be cut in half as well?

16 Snapped Heroes Live In Alternate Universe

One theory suggests that everyone who got taken out by the infamous “snap” didn’t just pass away. No, instead they theorize that these characters all got transported to an alternate reality. One in which heroes like Cap and Iron Man never existed and the events of the MCU never took place. This seems unlikely as it’s impossible to move forward in the MCU without acknowledging the past of the other films, and it would diminish the loss of these heroes.

15 Tony Doesn’t Get Rescued

One of the more tragic and unlikely theories we’ve seen floating online is that the MCU will shock audiences by not saving Tony Stark as he floats in space.

The theory posits that he will quietly pass on due to a lack of food, water, or oxygen, leaving the Iron Avenger to leave the MCU quietly.

This not only would leave fans boycotting the film altogether, but narratively it doesn’t make sense to end one of the most vocal, and not to mention the first, Avenger of the MCU in such a quiet and uneventful manner.

14 Thanos Travels To Past

One of the early theories that arrived out of the Avengers: Infinity War film was that the Mad Titan traveled not to some distant world, but to the past when his homeworld of Titan was thriving. As a rationalist, this would be totally out of character for the villain, especially since he dreamed of “looking out at a grateful universe” as he put it, desperate to see how his exhausting and tough campaign to get the stones made the universe a better place.

13 The X-Men Will Make MCU Debut

While the theories for this one suggest it would be nothing more than a cameo, the idea that the long-awaited debut of the X-Men into the MCU (with the closing of the Disney/Fox deal that sees the mutant heroes and the Fantastic Four, along with all associated characters, revert back to Marvel), would come as a cameo during one of the Avenger’s most anticipated concluding chapters, is hard to believe. These heroes deserve a far grander entrance, and the Avengers heroes who are essentially “retiring” from the MCU deserve not to be overshadowed by these new heroes entrance.

12 Loki Survived By Disguising Himself As Bruce Banner

This theory has popped up time and again online. The first scene of Infinity War saw the demise of everyone’s favorite and most charming villain, Loki, at the hands of Thanos. Redeeming himself in his brother’s eyes, this was a pivotal moment in the villain’s story, but some fans suggest the trickster hadn’t changed that much. Instead, they think he switched places with Bruce Banner, whose alter ego The Hulk lost his fight against Thanos on Thor’s ship. However, Thanos seems to have summed it up best when he told Thor, “No Resurrections this time,” in regards to Loki’s habit of surviving his demise.

11 The Reality Stone Recasts The Avengers

One of the most unlikely and truly bizarre things to occur in the upcoming final chapter will be the reality stone being used to recast the MCU heroes. Actors like Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans are the pivotal actors to bring Iron Man and Captain America to life, and recasting these roles before the actors have had a chance to really retire them seems far too unlikely a move on Marvel’s part. This would not only make sense, but seem like a slap in the face to many fans.

10 Captain Marvel Is In The Quantum Realm

As we mentioned previously, before the final battle between Thanos and the Avengers, we are going to be introduced to the MCU’s most powerful hero, Captain Marvel. A former Air Force pilot and soldier, Carol Danvers will find herself with fractured memories and living life as a member of an elite team for the Kree Empire, fighting as a powerful soldier. One theory for the fourth Avengers film is that somehow after the events of her film, she will be trapped or lost in the Quantum Realm. However there is no evidence of her involvement or interaction with this realm, and having both her and Scott trapped inside seems far too unlikely.

9 Some Avengers Are Skrulls

Not only is the idea that Hawkeye is one of the shape-shifting aliens absurd, but making the assumption that other Avengers and characters that survived the Snap by Thanos are part of the alien race invading Earth is outright ridiculous. This mirrors the Secret Invasion story from the comics, and while fans are eager to see this story brought to life, it’s far too unlikely that the MCU would want to diminish the story being told of Thanos and the Infinity Stones in favor of this far more complex, espionage-style alien invasion story.

8 Original Avengers Fall In Battle

While fans are expecting either Captain America, Iron Man, or both of them to fall or sacrifice themselves in the upcoming final battle, it is far more unlikely that all of the original Avengers will fall as well. Narratively speaking, Cap or Tony meeting their end sadly makes sense, as both have been on quite a personal journey through the MCU. However, the other Avengers can still exist in the MCU without falling in battle, setting up the new group of Avengers to take their place while still making cameos or even helping to form the new team.

7 Dr. Strange Went Back In Time To Warn Nick Fury About Thanos

One of the pivotal moments from Infinity War came when Dr. Strange astral projected himself throughout the infinite realities that focused on their battle with Thanos, and revealed that in all the millions of possibilities, only one saw them come out victorious against the Mad Titan.

Some fans theorize that while he was doing this, he went back in time to the 90s during Nick Fury’s time with Captain Marvel, and warned him of the upcoming invasion by Thanos. However this doesn’t make sense, as there is no indication either of these characters know of each other, and Nick Fury still seemed unprepared for the snap when it hit them.

6 Ultron Reveals Himself As Ultimate Villain

One of the theories that is harder to believe is that James Spader’s Ultron will somehow not only make a comeback but reveal himself to be the true villain of this final chapter. Fans have theorized that a piece of the mechanical villain’s mind survived in the mind stone alongside Vision, and he will corrupt the gauntlet and emerge as an all-powerful galactic foe. While seeing Ultron’s return and getting an upgrade in his approach would be nice to see, it’s far less likely as all signs point to Thanos being the final foe the original Avengers lineup will face together in this final chapter.