‘Avengers 4: Endgame’ Spoilers: 1 Infinity Stone Is Key to Beating Thanos

Thanos needed all six Infinity Stones to cause chaos in Avengers: Infinity War, but one specific stone may be the key to his demise in Avengers: Endgame. Each Infinity Stone is powerful on its own, so if the Avengers can find some way to separate them, the Infinity Gauntlet could become unnecessary. It turns out all our heroes really need is the Reality Stone.

Possible Avengers: Endgame spoilers ahead.

A new theory by Redditor u/deathbat96777 claims the most important of the Infinity Stones used to thwart Thanos’ plans will be the Reality Stone. The theory banks on the fact that, while the other Infinity Stones will play a role in stopping him, Thanos’ defeat will ultimately stem from altering his reality and tricking him into believing his plan worked. Ant-Man would have to travel back in time (probably through the Quantum Ream) and steal the Reality Stone first so they can trap Thanos in an illusion and use that opportunity to beat him.

“Ultimately, I think the ‘plan’ is that since Thanos will only have two stones, the combined armies will be able to overpower him,” writes redditor u/deathbat9677, adding that along with the Reality Stone, the Time Stone could also be used to trap Thanos in a loop while the Avengers race to defeat him.

This theory also relies on the entire Avengers team working together, which means that heroes who turned to dust would need to come back. Of course, once time travel is introduced, that pretty much explains who characters like Black Panther and Spider-Man could be back in play.

The theory suggests that the Avengers could initially try to grab the Mind Stone and Space Stone by traveling back in time to the Battle of New York (which would explain those Avengers: Endgame set photos), but that even confronting Thanos in the past may not work.

“[They] will go to the Battle of New York to try and get the mind stone and the space stone, but I think this will backfire on them somehow and the past Thanos will intervene,” u/deathbat9677 writes. “The Avengers will then jump forward in time a week before the events of Infinity War to intercept Thanos as he is attempting to destroy Xandar.”

They already have the Time Stone, since Doctor Strange has been holding onto it all along, and getting the Reality Stone is as simple as making it to The Collector before Thanos does. After that, the Avengers should be able to head straight for the Battle of Wakanda with a fully assembled team and save the world.

Followed by some shawarma afterward, of course. They’ve earned it.

Avengers: Endgame hits theaters April 26, 2019.