As the only entry in the Avengers series with a plot that isn’t directly connected to Thanos and his quest for the Infinity Stones, Avengers: Age of Ultron feels very much like an outlier in the MCU saga, which perhaps makes it only natural that we’ve been seeing quite a few fan theories lately that try to find ways of connecting the 2015 film to the events of the upcoming Avengers: Endgame.
To be fair, one idea that holds up pretty well is that Tony Stark teases the title of next year’s Avengers: Infinity War sequel in the scene where he offers a justification for creating Ultron as a defensive measure. As you may know, Iron Man warns the team about the “hostile alien army” he witnessed in 2012’s The Avengers, adding that “We can bust arms dealers all the live long day but that, up there, that’s the endgame.” A new piece of speculation posted on Reddit, however, goes one further to suggest that this very scene foreshadows which of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes will meet a tragic end in the impending fight.
To elaborate, after speaking of ominously of the upcoming “endgame,” Stark asks his peers “How were you guys planning on beating that?” to which Steve Rogers answers, “Together.” When then Tony remarks that “We’ll lose,” Cap responds, “Then we’ll do that together, too.” From this exchange, the theory concludes that the film might be hinting that Tony and Steve will perish in the events of Endgame.
While the two Phase 1 heroes may well meet their end in their next film, this seems like a very thin basis for such a prediction, not least because the “we” of the dialogue is seemingly referring to the Avengers as a whole, not just Iron Man and Captain America. Besides, how many action movies don’t hint that their heroes might die, regardless of whether this ends up happening or not? In any case, we’ll find out if there’s a future for these characters yet when Avengers: Endgame hits theaters on April 26th, 2019.