Avengers: Infinity War is still not done and dusted even if many characters which were in the movie have disintegrated. The movie kept throwing thrills after thrills with everything it did. We got so much to digest that it became impossible to do that with just one viewing, which is why this movie actually made more than $2 Billion as people kept rewatching the movie multiple times before they could own the Blu Ray edition. It revealed so many things and one of the biggest reveals which were part of the movie was that Thanos actually knew Tony Stark. We will look forward to Avengers 4 to reveal the reason.
He said,
“You’re [Stark] not the only one cursed with knowledge”, to which Tony had his typical reply, “Well, my only curse is you”.
But apart from that, there was nothing else revealed as to why or how he knew Tony Stark, it was certainly left for Avengers 4 to break the ice. The Creatives behind the movie also gave us a hint as to how Thanos knew Tony as the two really had common agendas and only different ways to achieve them if you think about it.
Co-Director Joe Russo and Co-writer Christopher Markus have something interesting to say on this:
“Christopher Markus – Which is why he’s aware of Stark from the original Battle of New York as the person who undid the plan.
Joe Russo – It’s interesting because, as Thanos moves forward from this moment, once he disposes of his armor, he almost becomes a holy warrior where he doesn’t spend a lot of his energy intentionally trying to murder people unless they are, in some way, a threat to his agenda. Almost no one ends up being a threat to the agenda except for Tony who I think he feels has a sort of existential connection to Thanos.”
This was a great reveal, so it more or less confirms that Thanos knows Tony Stark because of the New York battle that happened in the first movie. As we saw in The Avengers that that Stark was the one who flew into the portal with the nuclear missile and destroyed all of the Chitauri and their ship. So, that is probably why he knows very well who Stark is. Another possibility could be that Thanos knows each one of those Avengers who beat him in the previous encounter, sending the Chitauri to Earth and we saw him appear in that post-credits scene which may confirm that he found out about the Avengers.
Now, a new theory has come into light as a Reddit user named AVigz proposes that Thanos knew who Tony was because the two characters have faced off against each other in the past. Here’s what his theory reads:
“Thanos knows who Tony is because he already fought him back in time in a timeline where Tony had already fought him in Infinity War.”
Just how on Earth is this possible?! I’m sorry, I’m gonna have to rephrase that. Just how on Titan is that possible? This theory not only gives the reason for Thanos knowing Tony, but it also suggests that Thanos has already fought him in the past as in Avengers 4, the Avengers would go back to the past to take on Thanos at a different time, so Thanos would remember all that.
But for this to make sense, the Avengers going to the past should not change the timeline of the future till the time Thanos faces Tony in exactly the same way that he did on Titan. The writers could play around with this but it is highly unlikely that this is going to happen! Hopefully, Avengers 4 explains us well that how does Thanos know exactly who Stark is. He will surely encounter him in Avengers 4 as he was left alive because of Doctor Strange, so let’s see how things would unravel then.
Avengers 4 comes out on May 3, 2109, and here’s the official Synopsis:
“A culmination of 22 interconnected films the fourth installment of the Avengers saga will draw audiences to witness the turning point of this epic journey. Our beloved heroes will truly understand how fragile this reality is and the sacrifices that must be made to uphold it.”
