'Avengers: Endgame' Theory Suggests Ant-Man Scene Is a Classic Misdirection

There have been three Avengers: Endgame trailers so far, but the first one might have been a complete misdirect. When Ant-Man appears at the door of the Avengers compound, Captain America asks Black Widow if the message is old. Fans have speculated that the two moments aren’t a part of the same scene, and an interesting new theory suggests the message is actually from someone else entirely.

The first Endgame trailer began with Tony recording a message for Pepper Potts. The third trailer also starts the same way. Redditor u/rustyphish claims the scene has been edited to make it look like they’re talking about Ant-Man (and also to provide some comedy), but it’s a cover-up.

The theory speculates the remaining Avengers intercept a message from Tony Stark: “The way the audio is processed when it pans back to Cap’s face is a little strange, I think it will later be replaced by the message we hear from Tony, and Ant-man will show up much later,” writes u/rustyphish.

Perhaps Tony, knowing he was about to die, also recorded a message for the Avengers as a way to say goodbye or to send them information about Thanos. This message could result in a mission to rescue Tony in space. The Avengers will already be venturing into space to find the Mad Titan, and saving Tony would be a minor detour.

Marvel has been known to heavily edit trailer scenes (in certain instances, some characters are removed completely) so as to avoid spoilers, and the Endgame trailers have been no exception.

The theory also suggests what gives away the fact that Ant-Man is not in the same scene is Black Widow’s hair. When speaking with Captain America, Natasha’s hair is shoulder-length and blonde, just like it is in Avengers: Infinity War. In the third trailer, however, Natasha is walking alongside her teammates and her hair is noticeably shorter and has been dyed red. This is also the only scene where Ant-Man is with the Avengers in present day.

The theory is plausible given what we already know about Endgame. Though we don’t know how long Ant-Man will be inside the Quantum Realm, we do know he’ll most likely be time-traveling to past events. The Avengers, wearing their new white costumes in the last trailer, similar to the Quantum suit Hank Pym designed, all but confirm this. The last we saw of Ant-Man, he was stuck inside the Quantum Realm in the post-credits scene of Ant-Man and the Wasp and, without help, there’s no way he would have been able to escape in time to make it to the Avengers compound at the beginning of Endgame.

If the message is indeed from Tony, it would be a great way to kick off an eventual reconciliation between him and Steve Rogers. The two have been at odds and haven’t spoken since Captain America: Civil War, and their reunion in Endgame is long overdue.

Avengers: Endgame hits theaters April 26, 2019.