Is Legends of Tomorrow Doing the NSFW Thanos/Ant-Man Idea?

Could a viral fan theory be coming to life -- but in the wrong universe? Remember back when Avengers: Endgame was coming to theaters and everyone was talking about how unstoppable Thanos seemed in Infinity War? This is back before they realized that the Mad Titan was going to get his head cut off in the first few minutes of Endgame, and there was a working theory that the Avengers, working at half-power, would have to figure out a way to defeat what would basically have been a full-powered Thanos. The most popular -- never especially likely, but popular -- theory held that Ant-Man could kill Thanos by becoming incredibly small, crawling up Thanos's purple butt, and then expanding himself to Giant Man size, blowing up Thanos from the inside.

It's the kind of thing that fans have seen size-changing characters do in the comics before. For the sake of Endgame, though, it never seemed especially likely

"Listen, here's the thing," Avengers: Endgame co-director Joe Russo said an in interview with ComicBook.com. "Thanos is incredibly strong. His skin is almost impervious. The question would be what would happen to Ant-Man if he did that. Would it work? Would it not work? If it didn't work, it would be really bad."

"Thanos could take a punch from the Hulk, we've seen that. And it stands to reason his whole body is at least as strong as that," Endgame co-writer Christopher Markus jokingly added during an appearance on the Empire Podcast. "If Ant-Man expanded, he would be simply crushed against the immovable walls of Thanos' mighty rectum."

Ignoring the physics of the act, there's another reason it wouldn't happen: Avengers: Endgame took itself pretty seriously. Of course, if there's one group of heroes who don't do that, it's DC's Legends of Tomorrow. And while The Atom (Brandon Routh) has size-changing powers, what he doesn't have is the need to go up against anybody who could be described as having a "mighty rectum."

In the newly-released trailer for the upcoming fifth season of Legends of Tomorrow, there's a shot that seemingly depicts Ray Palmer growing to his "full size" and blowing up a person or being that had been standing in that spot just moments before.

Now, in a lot of cases that might feel like a coincidence...but not on Legends. This is the same show that had a little fun with the whole Superman "Mustachegate" thing.

Of course, now the questio becomes...who the heck did Ray just blow up?!

Legends of Tomorrow Season 5 will debut in late January, after the season bows as part of the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover.