The first Avengers: Endgame trailer left us on quite a cliffhanger when it comes to the fate of Tony Stark, with the Phase 1 hero seen drifting through space and on the verge of starving to death if the lack of oxygen doesn’t kill him first. But according to one fan theory on Reddit, the solution to Iron Man’s problems could be surprisingly straightforward.
User NaughtyDawgs has shared a screenshot of a tool used by Rocket to repair some damaged parts of a ship. The image also features an old tweet from Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn, who explains that the equipment stores the design of the spacecraft in its memory, comparing the device to “an incredibly sophisticated 3D printer.” From this, the Redditor suggests that perhaps Tony “just finds one of these in a drawer or something” and uses it to get the Benatar ship up and running again.
All in all, it’s an interesting idea, but the theory definitely has its issues. For one thing, as commenters have pointed out, the problem with the Benatar may not be structural damage but rather an issue of fuel supply, since we don’t see the spacecraft take a considerable beating after arriving on Titan in Avengers: Infinity War.
What’s more, after the trailer built up Stark’s predicament as such a major problem – dedicating almost its entire first minute to the scene – it would be very anticlimactic if an easy solution was just lying in a draw somewhere on the ship. In fact, seeing how Iron Man has apparently been stuck in the Benatar long enough to be on the brink of starvation, failing to notice that a lifeline was under his nose the whole time seems downright embarrassing. Imagine Tony having to tell his fellow Avengers about that when he gets home.
In any case, you can expect the internet to offer plenty more suggestions in the coming months for how Stark makes it back to Earth, but whether his salvation comes in the form of Rocket, Captain Marvel, Pepper Potts, or someone that the fans haven’t even considered yet, we’ll find out when Avengers: Endgame hits theaters on April 26th, 2019.