Avengers: Endgame Star Paul Rudd Calls Thanus Theory a Lost Opportunity

Avengers: Endgame had quite a lot of speculation surrounding it, as fans were eager to see exactly how the Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s heroes triumphed over Thanos (Josh Brolin). There were a pretty wide array of theories surrounding how that would play out — and one NSFW suggestion involving Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) rose above the pack. During a recent appearance on the Hot Ones web-series, Rudd was asked about the popular “Thanus” theory, which suggested that Scott Lang kill the Infinity Saga’s Big Bad by crawling inside of his butt and then expanding into giant size.

“I consider it a lost opportunity,” Rudd revealed.

The “Thanus” theory began well before Infinity War, and only gained more and more traction after Ant-Man was confirmed to definitely be in Endgame. A petition was briefly spread around in the months leading up to Endgame, asking for the scene to be a reality. The idea even caught the attention of Brolin, who responded with a video of himself sitting on a toilet.

“I don’t know what that whole thing is about! I really don’t!” Brolin explained. “Does Thanos have a butt? Did you see what I posted today? That’s a peach, man, that’s a peach. That’s a purple peach if I’ve ever seen one, that’s a beautiful, purple peach.”

“Listen, here’s the thing,” Avengers: Endgame co-director Joe Russo said of the theory 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.”

“I wish we had [thought of that theory first].” co-director Anthony Russo said in a previous interview. “Yeah, no, look, we love the fact that fans are out there really thinking very deeply about these characters, very deeply about these stories, thinking about all the places they could go, even of certain places. My brother and I have a real certain youth ourselves, so we get a big kick out of it. Look, we were fans long before we were filmmakers in the MCU, so we understand that point of view of participating in the narrative as a viewer and loving these characters and thinking about all the possibilities about where these characters can go, and really understanding their experiences and their journey. So yeah, the fact that the fans are enthusiastic about participating at that level is amazing. That’s the best place to be.”

Do you agree with Paul Rudd? Do you think that the “Thanus” theory was a missed opportunity in Avengers: Endgame? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Upcoming Marvel Studios projects include Black Widow on May 1, 2020, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in Fall of 2020, The Eternals on November 6, 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, WandaVision in Spring 2021, Loki in Spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, Spider-Man 3 on July 16, 2021, What If…? in Summer 2021, Hawkeye in Fall 2021, Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021, and Black Panther 2 on May 6, 2022.