Avengers: Endgame Theory –
The events of Avengers: Infinity War shook the Marvel fandom to their core. Thanos descended on the Marvel heroes and ripped them to shreds with his uncompromising drive in a bout to ‘save’ the universe from itself by restoring the balance between life and death. Although the motivations of Thanos were radically different from the comics, the movie chose to represent Thanos as a missionary trying to do something good, trying to ‘save’ the universe instead of annihilating and/or crippling it. The horrific genocide committed by Thanos was justified by his convoluted argument of trying to correct the course of life.
But what if I tell you there was a higher purpose to the actions of Thanos, that his carnage was not a hollow attempt at some unproven belief. We have seen Thanos systematically disassemble the team of earth’s mightiest heroes and Guardians of the Galaxy but it seems that the Mad Titan was on a warpath for redemption and not for annihilation. There is this new theory doing rounds on Reddit r/Fantheories that sheds light on this peculiar modus operandi of the Mad Titan.
The theory has been reproduced below for your scrutiny please take a look at it and realize that there is a much bigger threat looking in the background of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, something or someone much more sinister than a purple giant with a couple of infinity stones. Who is this powerhouse and what does he want from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and why does Thanos try so hard to avert this threat? Read on and find out.
The idea proposed by u/jlefrench is that Thanos was annihilating civilization after civilization to delay the Advent of Galactus himself. The Russo brothers and other plot leaks from Avengers: Endgame have already talked about ‘a greater threat’ in Avengers: Endgame. The idea is rather sinister and becomes even more feasible when you read the above theory. The theory posted by the fan seems rather feasible when you think about it, Galactus would be a great place holder for the hidden final antagonist of Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
For the uninitiated, Galactus is a huge villain used as an apocalypse trope in the Marvel comicverse. Story arc after story arc has seen Galactus as the looming threat in the Marvel comic multiverse. But why is Galactus so intimidating? Why is he considered such a big threat that Thanos had to resort to the infinity stone just to delay this monster?
Well, you see Galactus is not of our universe. He is an elder, a creature belonging to an old iteration of creation which he ended with his insatiable hunger for energy of life. The role Galactus was given in the 616 iteration of the universe was for him to take control of this hunger and use it to correct life when it runs rampant. That sounds similar, does it not?
It is curious how the role of Thanos is based on the general acts of Galactus in the Marvel comics multiverse. The motivations of Thanos involved correction of life in Infinity War but what if Thanos was not trying to correct life but just trying to delay Galactus’ arrival. His act would definitely dissuade the destroyer from consuming planets because they will now no longer possess enough life energy necessary to satiate his hunger.
The comic fans know that Galactus is not someone you oppose arbitrarily, even an infinity gauntlet powered Thanos would think twice about opposing the might of Galactus, not because he is a giant capable of magnificent things but because Galactus is an elder who has a seat on The Living Tribunal. The existence of this menace is an essential element of creation as per the current eternity. Eternity is the entity in Marvel comics that encompasses the entirety of the Marvel multiverse.
Maybe this theory is also evidence that The Living Tribunal will have a cameo in Avengers: Endgame. Maybe we will get to see all of the Avengers defeated in the climax of Endgame only to be rescued by The Living Tribunal and the unconditional Advent of Galactus himself. Or maybe when Thanos lies defeated and the deaths of Infinity War are reverted at the end of Endgame, we will get an after credits scene hinting at Galactus. Regardless the idea is interesting and the fandom will be overjoyed if this theory pans out.
