3 Unresolved Plot Holes in Avengers: Endgame That Still Puzzle Fans

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Endgame” wrapped up Marvel’s Infinity Saga grandly. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo skillfully blended personal character scenes with large-scale cosmic events, giving characters such as Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) a fitting end to their stories that left fans content. The film also expertly tied up loose ends from 22 previous films while offering memorable scenes: from Captain America lifting Mjolnir to the classic “Avengers Assemble!” call to action, to a battlefield filled with portals revealing revived heroes. These impactful outcomes, along with real threats (created through permanent character deaths), made for an experience that touched both audiences and critics, leading to a record-breaking $2.798 billion at the global box office.

Although the film “Endgame” delivers an impactful emotional experience, the inclusion of time travel and multi-universe concepts led to some logical discrepancies that have grown more challenging as the Marvel Cinematic Universe progressed towards the Multiverse Saga.

Three significant logical dilemmas in the movie “Avengers: Endgame” persist even years following its premiere, still sparking debate among fans and experts alike.

Thanos’s Plan Makes No Ecological Sense

In “Avengers: Infinity War,” the character of Thanos, played by Josh Brolin, was depicted as a complex antagonist motivated not only by power-hunger but also by environmental concerns. His plan to eradicate half of all life forms followed a warped yet coherent internal reasoning regarding resource conservation. When he showed Gamora (Zoë Saldaña) the aftermath of his “compassion” on her homeworld, he highlighted full-bellied children and clear skies as evidence that, in his distorted mindset, supported his actions. By this point, it was also hinted that Thanos deliberately targeted half of all intelligent life by personally eliminating each world’s population.

In a different phrasing, the movie Endgame contradicts Thanos’s portrayal by featuring certain scenes depicting the catastrophic consequences of the Snap. Unlike a world recovering from ecological damage, the five-year leap shows a shattered planet instead. The initial visit to the Compound after the time jump is accompanied by an ominous visual backdrop – dim and overcast skies, along with motionless water bodies, which hint at environmental deterioration. Most significantly, when Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) undoes the Snap, birds start chirping outside, indicating that Thanos didn’t just eradicate intelligent life but also half of all wildlife.

As a passionate moviegoer, if Thanos actually wiped out half of all living beings, as suggested by these scenes, he ended up obliterating the very ecosystems he claimed to safeguard. The vanishing of half our planet’s flora would instantaneously decrease oxygen production. Even if we exclude plants from this analysis and focus only on animals, Thanos’ scheme still doesn’t add up. The disappearance of half of all pollinators would wreak havoc on agriculture far beyond losing half of human farmers. Instead of doubling resources per individual, the Snap maintained the same ratio of consumers to resources while demolishing the infrastructure required to utilize what was left. Far from creating a universal utopia, this wasn’t a very smart plan for one at all.

Captain America’s Time-Travel Return Defies the Established Rules

In the Marvel film “Endgame”, the concept of time travel is elaborated upon by Bruce Banner. He explains that venturing into the past generates a different future, while one’s current timeline remains unchanged. This lays the foundation for a multiverse theory, in which deviations in the past give rise to alternate realities instead of modifying the original sequence of events. Yet, towards the end of the movie, Captain America is sent back in time to return the Infinity Stones to their specific locations where they were previously retrieved by the Avengers.

In simpler terms, the movie doesn’t explain how Steve’s time travel mission fits with the MCU’s rules about time travel. His return to the past wouldn’t correct the problems caused by the Time Heist, but instead would create new ones. The film seems to suggest that Steve’s mission could fix timeline issues, when in reality it would only make them worse. Additionally, the scene at the end of the movie shows an aged Steve Rogers, who apparently went back in time, grew old naturally, and is now an old man in the present. However, if the MCU rules about time travel are correct, an aged Captain America shouldn’t exist in the main timeline at all because going to the past creates new branches.

The Ancient One’s Decision Contradicts Her Knowledge

When Bruce Banner journeys back to 2012 to obtain the Time Stone, his dialogue with the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) reveals an apparent contradiction in the time travel handling of Endgame. At first, the Ancient One declines to hand over the Time Stone, illustrating a demonstration showing that taking out an Infinity Stone could lead to a risky alternate reality where “many would be harmed.” This underscores her extensive knowledge about multiverse rules and timeline preservation.

Initially, she held onto the Time Stone due to her understanding and experiences in the film. But once she learned that Doctor Strange had intentionally given Thanos the Time Stone at some point in the future, she decided to surrender it based on Banner’s word about returning it. This action goes against what she knew before, as well as the rules of time travel in the movie. According to Banner, returning the stone wouldn’t restore the Ancient One’s timeline but instead create a new reality. In accordance with the film’s logic, by giving up the Time Stone, her reality would be exposed and vulnerable to threats she previously used it to counteract, such as Dormammu.

In my opinion, as a movie enthusiast, the plot presents an intriguing conundrum: either the Ancient One lacks a comprehensive grasp of multiverse mechanics, or the film’s time travel regulations are inconsistent. Given her role as the Time Stone’s custodian and the protector of reality, one would expect the Ancient One to recognize that Banner’s pledge couldn’t genuinely safeguard her timeline, considering the very rules the movie sets forth. Her abrupt agreement, based on a resolution that contradicts the film’s internal logic, seems like a notable oversight, prioritizing narrative advancement over plot coherence.

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2025-04-04 18:42