This fan theory got a lot of play this week, and while it’s probably the closest to being a “bad fan theory” by the traditional standards of this column, it’s mostly fine. Though they surely weren’t the first to suggest this idea, a Redditor theorized that Thanos actually sent all the “dead” characters to a parallel universe in Infinity War.
“What if the snap killed none of them,” they wrote. “Its possible. We have all been making fun of Thanos by saying that death wasn’t necessary with the near infinite power of the gauntlet, What if it simply split the reality in two taking half of everyone into each version missing the other half but retaining the same resources.”
The theory goes on to speculate that Ant-Man, by virtue of having access to the Quantum Realm, will be able to jump back and forth between the two universes.
While this theory is possible (Marvel is going to undo these deaths for sure, so why not do it from the beginning with a huge, alternate universe technicality?), it seems unlikely. It would even further cheapen the ending of Infinity War while complicating it a bit (Spider-Man’s death scene very much read as a death scene, not a whisking away to another realm. Dude left ashes on the ground behind him.) Also, if Endgame is going to be the final hurrah for the original Avengers, why split the focus of the movie into a clear A and B team of heroes as they both try to save the day and reunite?
Even though this theory has problems, it’s not fatally flawed from the start. Don’t bet on this happening, but don’t feel bad for entertaining the possibility, however briefly.
Anyway, that’s it for this week’s weird installment of The Week’s Worst Fan Theories, Except They Weren’t Actually That Bad This Week. Things will probably be back to normal next week.
