An Avengers: Endgame theory posits Captain America (Chris Evans) will die sacrificing himself to save a pregnant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), allowing her fiancé Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) to kill Thanos (Josh Brolin) and retire Iron Man.
Reddit user farores_winds, posting to the site’s r/FanTheories subreddit, argues themes of family and parenthood steer the arcs of both Avengers, pointing to Steve Rogers’ best friend Bucky Barnes’ (Sebastian Stan) murder of Stark’s parents as driving the former allies apart.
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Stark has subsequently served as mentor and father figure to Peter Parker (Tom Holland), a.k.a. Spider-Man, and has since had a lifelike dream convincing him the future Mrs. Stark will have Tony’s child.
Rogers, meanwhile, opted to trade his life at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger, going down with a ship carrying multiple weapons of mass destruction — a move that left him frozen for 70 years, robbing him of potential domestic bliss with then-paramour Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell).
During Avengers: Infinity War, when Vision (Paul Bettany) offers making a risky play to prevent Thanos from claiming the Infinity Stone that gives the android life, Rogers declines, saying “we don’t trade lives,” despite being repeatedly willing to trade his own.
Because the contracts of both Evans and Downey are up with Endgame, the user writes, the Infinity War sequel will culminate with Rogers laying down his life to allow Tony the life the weary armored Avenger now seeks.
A pregnant Pepper will suit up as Rescue — a tailored armored suit of her own — and will attack Thanos, the theory continues, forcing Rogers to sacrifice himself and save Pepper.
Tony will then “earn that sacrifice,” the user writes, and ultimately yell “Avengers Assemble” — the rallying cry typically belonging to Captain America — using both the Iron Man armor and Captain America’s famed shield to overwhelm and then kill Thanos.
Stark,spared by Thanos at the request of Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), who offered to trade the coveted Time Stone to ensure Stark’s survival, will then retire Iron Man after Rogers, the perennial soldier, dies “sacrificing himself so that others could live the life they wanted, and the life he never was able to have.”
Evans previously told Good Morning America “we’ll see” when asked about potentially staying on as Steve Rogers post-Endgame, noting the fourth Avengers signals the expiration of his contractual duties alongside those belonging to Downey and Thor star Chris Hemsworth.
“Myself, Downey, Hemsworth, we all kind of started roughly at the same time, and I think we all, through Avengers 4, kind of wrap it up,” Evans said. “So at this point, I don’t know what’s next, but yeah, by 2019, that’s it.”
Avengers: Endgame opens April 26.
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