Which Major Fan Theories Came True in Avengers: Endgame?

Now that it’s been out for more than a month, just about every comic and movie fan on the planet has been out to see Avengers: Endgame, most of us probably more than once. The flick has been steadily breaking records left and right, and is inching ever closer to Avatar‘s all-time box office record. It seems as though the conversation around Endgame has finally died down a bit, now that people have had a chance to see it multiple times, but we’ll likely never be able to forget the treasure trove of fan theories that consumed the Internet ahead of its release.

In the months leading up to Endgame‘s debut, you couldn’t go anywhere online without seeing new predictions about culmination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s honestly hard to think of something that wasn’t guessed at one point or another, no matter how crazy it might of been.

There were quite a lot of theories that never ended up coming true. That was to be expected, though, with as many theories as there were floating around. That said, there were also a few theories that actually came to pass.

From Captain America’s ending to some very specific ideas about bracelets, here are the most important fan theories that actually came true in Avengers: Endgame.

Captain America Stays in the Past

One of the most talked-about endings leading up to Avengers: Endgame pertained to Captain America, and tied into the theory of time travel. 

The overall gist was that, for one reason or another, Steve Rogers would choose to stay behind in 1945 and finally meet Peggy Carter for that date they always talked about. Some believed that Steve would somehow need to do this as a sacrifice, much like he did when he flew the plane into the ice. Others thought it would simply be out of love for Peggy, and that he wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to live his life the way he always wanted to.

The latter of those groups were the ones who were 100% correct, as Steve stayed in the past after returning all of the Infinity Stones to their rightful places in time.

Tony’s Sacrifice

There was one other ending theory that became true with the release of the movie, but this one was a lot more emotionally devastating for fans of the franchise.

Most guessed that one of the main Avengers would die in Endgame, specifically either Captain America or Iron Man, considering Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. both seemed ready to finish their work with Marvel Studios. Of course, it wound up being the latter, which brought his story full-circle.

Just as many people assumed, it was Tony who made the ultimate sacrifice, which is something he’s been hinting at doing for years.

Fat Thor

There’s no telling where the rumor started, but Reddit users spent a lot of time talking about some “different version” of Thor in Avengers: Endgame.

Whether it be an older Thor, a fatter Thor, or just a generally washed-up Thor, people had a hunch that there would be some big changes coming to the God of Thunder when he returned for the final chapter of the Avengers saga. That was certainly the case, as a serious battle with depression and guilt led Thor to put on a lot of weight during the five-year time jump.

Fortunately, nothing kept Thor from being worthy, as he was still able to wield Mjolnir when the time came.

Quantum Realm Time Travel

Thanos had to be stopped and the Avengers needed to find a way to bring back all of those lives that were lost when the Snap occurred. Most believed that the only way to do this would be some type of time travel element.

As much as time travel has been a problem in film and TV to this point, particularly in cases where there is a connected universe timeline at stake (Here’s looking at you, X-Men), Avengers: Endgame utilized the device rather well. Yes, there are some continuity questions stemming from the ending of the film itself, but a couple of important conversations helped keep things mostly above water. 

Thankfully, the overall MCU timeline is still largely intact, though adding in alternate dimensions in Spider-Man: Far From Home could make that challenging. 

Time Travel Bracelets

A lot of photos from the Avengers: Endgame set teased some sort of bracelet being worn by most members of the Avengers at one point or another, particularly in scenes that fans had pegged for potential flashbacks or time travel sequences. 

Of course, this had folks thinking that the bracelets would be connected to time travel in one way or another, and that’s exactly what they were.

Tony designed the matching bracelets as navigators to get everyone through the Quantum Realm, allowing them to choose where to travel to and when. This came in handy when he and Steve had to call and audible and head back to get more Pym Particles.

Battle of New York

Speaking of time travel and set photos, there was a notion for quite a long time, thanks to some leaks online, that the Avengers would be returning to the Battle of New York from the 2012 team-up film.

That seemed like a difficult feat to pull off, but Joe and Anthony Russo pulled it off just fine. The iconic battle was recreated, in more ways than one. 

The film showed off some parts of the battle that hadn’t been seen before, as well as some of the important pieces of its aftermath.

Professor Hulk

For years, fans of the MCU have been hoping to see Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk drop the towering brute act and finally take on the intelligence of Bruce Banner. It’s been a big deal in the comics, why not bring it to the big screen?

That came to fruition in Avengers: Endgame, as Bruce and Hulk actually became one. We didn’t see it happen because Bruce figured out how to merge the two during the time jump, but it was quickly explained without too much fuss.

Now, if Hulk is going to appear in any future MCU movies, he will be the fully-sentient version that we saw in Endgame. It’s a new era for Hulk going forward.