Avengers: Endgame Discussion Thread

[Grey_Wolf_c]

So, what do you think are the odds of cameos from Tony Stark in future movies?

I'd say it depends on how much Samuel L. Jackson is enjoying his own cameos, and how much RDJ feels that is the thing for him.

On the other hand, every future cameo cannot help but feel like it cheapens his arc. Normally I wouldn't bet paycheck against artistry, but RDJ might feel that this is a work of a lifetime.

Grey Wolf

[The Glyphstone]

As a hologram or voice-recording, maybe. Unless you count stuff like the graffiti/wall art we see in the Far From Home trailer.

[Ramza00]

Some thoughts on Carol's flaws/perfection and how she fits into the MCU:

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If Thor's primary flaw that he had to overcome in his arc was pride, Carol's is impulsivness. (Not emotion in general, as her antagonist would have it; that's where she draws her commitment from.)

In her own movie, she blows up a jukebox to establish credentials. She runs pell-mell into an obvious trap at the beginning. She wrecks a spaceship she's currently on to escape it. In Endgame, she literally plows into threats headfirst.

In future movies, her challenge is not so much 'beat a stronger villain;' it is 'apply your power in a way that actually helps people rather than wrecking the nearest problem and assuming that will fix it.' There are some good examples in her comic arcs over the last few years. Take the 2014 Higher Further Faster arc - she could bust up a whole space fleet without being in danger, but that didn't help the people on the planet below. She could only be in one place at a time and the threat was too widespread to stymie completely that way. Whereas listening to them, identifying the source of their problem, and removing it from the equation did help them.

As far as future movies, her stated position is that the Earth has plenty of heroes for most things but there are thousands of other planets out there. She will almost certainly be getting GotG type cosmic adventures that leave her out of the Earth plot arcs and let them introduce bonkers scifi plots that will serve the kinds of problems I mention above.

Edit to add, apropos of nothing, that I am calling the next Big Bad now as

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Kang the Conquerer, due to all the messing about with timestreams and alternate realities. Probably capping in some kind of major alternate-worlds-collide event if we get that far.

So make Carol into Avatar Korra?

So, what do you think are the odds of cameos from Tony Stark in future movies?

Turns out Stark made his voice the natural language voice for Peppers' rescue armor. Years ago Pepper found this creepy much like she found Stark using the suits with no man inside in Iron Man 3, thus Stark while he was still alive created another natural language voice to the Rescue armor. Natural Language Stark is now stored in a disk much like Friday was in Age of Ultron.

So in a Spider-Man movie, Pepper gives this disk to Peter Parker. Peter at first replaces Karen with this AI Tony, it does not go well and thus Peter changes his mind and only uses AI Tony at one of Stark's old bases when Peter is doing something science, much like Tony used Jarvis in Iron Man 1, 2, and 3.

Or something.

[Kato]

I love RDJ but I will agree I wouldn't want him back. His story is over and unless there is some huge reason for it, I feel like bringing him back can only lessen his arc.

[LibraryOgre]

https://twitter.com/Hectorisfunny/st...19350655488000

A tweet explaining the alternate timelines, their creation and eventual destruction.

[Lethologica]

https://twitter.com/Hectorisfunny/st...19350655488000

A tweet explaining the alternate timelines, their creation and eventual destruction.

None of them get destroyed, though?

[Chen]

None of them get destroyed, though?

The ones where the stones are returned with no impact are presumably "destroyed" in that they are no longer alternate timelines. Cap putting back the Soul Stone probably has little impact on anything and thus any alternate timeline caused by the loss of the stone there was removed. If he didn't live out his life in the same timeline as the one where they took the Tesseract that one too should be pretty normal too. Putting the aether back (aside the complication of getting it back into Jane) could also have been ok, unless Frigga did do something because of her meeting with Thor. The battle of new york timeline and the power stone timeline are both ****ed though. They get to exist as alternate realities forever now.

[understatement]

Maybe with Thor on the (As)guardians of the Galaxy they can battle against, mmmm, Galactus or Eternity or the Beyonder. Cosmic battles never cease to awe.

[Rodin]

The ones where the stones are returned with no impact are presumably "destroyed" in that they are no longer alternate timelines. Cap putting back the Soul Stone probably has little impact on anything and thus any alternate timeline caused by the loss of the stone there was removed. If he didn't live out his life in the same timeline as the one where they took the Tesseract that one too should be pretty normal too. Putting the aether back (aside the complication of getting it back into Jane) could also have been ok, unless Frigga did do something because of her meeting with Thor. The battle of new york timeline and the power stone timeline are both ****ed though. They get to exist as alternate realities forever now.

The timeline with the Soulstone was already split off though. It's the same timeline that Nebula and Rhodey went back to, meaning that while the Soulstone remains in place that universe will be permanently missing its Gamora, Nebula, and Thanos. Oh, and Quill's encounter with Rocket, Groot, and Gamora plays out differently due to no Gamora and the chaos butterfly's wings are a-flappin'.

[Ramza00]

Maybe with Thor on the (As)guardians of the Galaxy they can battle against

Nope, snapped. Only Kate Bishop (Hawkeye) is allowed to point that stuff out.

[Draconi Redfir]

Guys, i just realized why Thanos fights with what looks like a helicopter blade... a golden/yellow one at that.

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CLEARLY It's a reference to his personal Helicopter!

[Palanan]

So, I just saw Endgame, and I’m completely confused.

Spoiler: Confusions Four

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1. What exactly happened at the end? How did Black Panther and Shuri return? Not to mention Peter Parker?

I mean, I know they came through Dr. Strange’s portals, but how were they un-dusted? And if Strange could un-dust them, why not everyone else?

2. What happened with the gauntlet? Why did Captain Marvel fly straight for Thanos with it? Was there some sort of switcheroo, and if so, when did that happen?

3. Did they just shred the storyline for half the movies in the MCU? With the tesseract stolen from S.H.I.E.L.D. in 1970, how could it be at a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility in 2012 when Loki used it to travel to Earth? And if Loki didn’t use it to travel to Earth, then how was he there for the Avengers to capture him, and then escape with the tesseract when future-Avengers tried to nick it?

Also, if Steve Rogers has been living with Peggy Carter for the past 70 years, why didn’t anyone ever spot Steve Rogers?

4. And do the people who were un-snapped know that they've been gone for five years? If so, why is Peter Parker back in high school, and why is Ned still there with him? Shouldn't Ned be in college by now?

Originally Posted by lord_khaine

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And i did find the bit where all the girls lined up to assist CM directly cringeworthy.

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Yeah, that was a bit much. It was too blatant a “message” moment in the middle of The Battle for Everything—and also ludicrously convenient that they would all be right there, rather than spread out over the battlefield actually battling.

Also….

Spoiler: Who Was That Guy?

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At the end, when Pepper set the wreath on the water, we had a long pan of all the heroes and their families.

Towards the back was a tall, teenage-looking kid who I didn’t recognize, standing all on his own. Who was this?

Spoiler: Best Bits

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I have to say, my favorite part was Iron Pepper. Second favorite, Cap lifting Mjolnir—because like Thor, we always knew he could.

Other than that...mainly a big pile of meh. Too much goofy hijinks with the Time Heist, too many side strolls down memory lane. And what they did with Thor was just sad.

[Draconi Redfir]

So, I just saw Endgame, and I’m completely confused.

Spoiler: Confusions Four

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1. What exactly happened at the end? How did Black Panther and Shuri return? Not to mention Peter Parker?

I mean, I know they came through Dr. Strange’s portals, but how were they un-dusted? And if Strange could un-dust them, why not everyone else?

2. What happened with the gauntlet? Why did Captain Marvel fly straight for Thanos with it? Was there some sort of switcheroo, and if so, when did that happen?

3. Did they just shred the storyline for half the movies in the MCU? With the tesseract stolen from S.H.I.E.L.D. in 1970, how could it be at a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility in 2012 when Loki used it to travel to Earth? And if Loki didn’t use it to travel to Earth, then how was he there for the Avengers to capture him, and then escape with the tesseract when future-Avengers tried to nick it?

Also, if Steve Rogers has been living with Peggy Carter for the past 70 years, why didn’t anyone ever spot Steve Rogers?

4. And do the people who were un-snapped know that they've been gone for five years? If so, why is Peter Parker back in high school, and why is Ned still there with him? Shouldn't Ned be in college by now?

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1. Professor Hulk used the gauntlet to snap-back everyone who was dusted in Infinity war. this happens right after they make a new gauntlent with stark-tech

2.Marvel was trying to get the gauntlet to the Van to send the stones back in time, Thanos was just in the way, and she probably thought she could power through him. there WAS a switcharoo when Tony got it though, he was able to manipulate his own tech to transfer the stones from the new gauntlet into his nanite suit's glove area.

3. Multiple alternate timelines were created. see a few posts above. Loki will have his own TV show now.

4. Initially no they probably didn't, Peter only knew because Strange told him. I'd imagine they got caught up pretty quick though. Ned also got snapped, which is why he's still in high-school.

Spoiler: Who Was That Guy?

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At the end, when Pepper set the wreath on the water, we had a long pan of all the heroes and their families.

Towards the back was a tall, teenage-looking kid who I didn’t recognize, standing all on his own. Who was this?

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That's the Kid from Iron Man 3. He helped Tony out a bit in getting through his PTSD, and served as one of many surrogate children for Tony. Tony also held up in the kid's Garradge for awhile.

[Lethologica]

So, I just saw Endgame, and I’m completely confused.

Spoiler: Confusions Four

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1. What exactly happened at the end? How did Black Panther and Shuri return? Not to mention Peter Parker?

I mean, I know they came through Dr. Strange’s portals, but how were they un-dusted? And if Strange could un-dust them, why not everyone else?

2. What happened with the gauntlet? Why did Captain Marvel fly straight for Thanos with it? Was there some sort of switcheroo, and if so, when did that happen?

3. Did they just shred the storyline for half the movies in the MCU? With the tesseract stolen from S.H.I.E.L.D. in 1970, how could it be at a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility in 2012 when Loki used it to travel to Earth? And if Loki didn’t use it to travel to Earth, then how was he there for the Avengers to capture him, and then escape with the tesseract when future-Avengers tried to nick it?

Also, if Steve Rogers has been living with Peggy Carter for the past 70 years, why didn’t anyone ever spot Steve Rogers?

4. And do the people who were un-snapped know that they've been gone for five years? If so, why is Peter Parker back in high school, and why is Ned still there with him? Shouldn't Ned be in college by now?

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1. Everyone was un-dusted when Hulk snapped them back.

2. They were trying to get the stones out of the present, and Ant-Man's van, the backup time machine, was where Thanos was.

3. Alternate timelines.

4. Yes, people know they've been gone for five years. Ned was also snapped, so he's still in Peter's year.

Spoiler: Who Was That Guy?

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At the end, when Pepper set the wreath on the water, we had a long pan of all the heroes and their families.

Towards the back was a tall, teenage-looking kid who I didn’t recognize, standing all on his own. Who was this?

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Kid named Harley Keener. He was in Iron Man 3.

[Lapak]

So, I just saw Endgame, and I’m completely confused.

Spoiler: Confusions Four

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1. What exactly happened at the end? How did Black Panther and Shuri return? Not to mention Peter Parker?

I mean, I know they came through Dr. Strange’s portals, but how were they un-dusted? And if Strange could un-dust them, why not everyone else?

2. What happened with the gauntlet? Why did Captain Marvel fly straight for Thanos with it? Was there some sort of switcheroo, and if so, when did that happen?

3. Did they just shred the storyline for half the movies in the MCU? With the tesseract stolen from S.H.I.E.L.D. in 1970, how could it be at a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility in 2012 when Loki used it to travel to Earth? And if Loki didn’t use it to travel to Earth, then how was he there for the Avengers to capture him, and then escape with the tesseract when future-Avengers tried to nick it?

Also, if Steve Rogers has been living with Peggy Carter for the past 70 years, why didn’t anyone ever spot Steve Rogers?

4. And do the people who were un-snapped know that they've been gone for five years? If so, why is Peter Parker back in high school, and why is Ned still there with him? Shouldn't Ned be in college by now?

Spoiler: Who Was That Guy?

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At the end, when Pepper set the wreath on the water, we had a long pan of all the heroes and their families.

Towards the back was a tall, teenage-looking kid who I didn’t recognize, standing all on his own. Who was this?

Taking these in order...

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1. The Hulk explicitly used the new Gauntlet to un-Snap everyone who had been dusted. That was the whole goal of the time heist! Maybe you hit the restroom at this point of the movie?

2. Marvel was going for the van, which everyone on the battlefield knew including Thanos; it was on the side of the battlefield held by Thanos' army; he got in her way, she didn't go for him.

3. Sorta? The time-travel rules of this movie establish that any changes only affect a new timeline that you spun off, so all the shenanigans may have invalidated those plots in alternate universes, but the timeline we start and end the movie in remain intact.

They also accidentally *saved* a spinoff timeline from the Snap when the Thanos of that timeline's 2014 traveled to the "main" timeline and got himself killed there.

4. Presumably they're going to go with 'All Peter's school buddies were also Snap victims and they're all picking up where they left off together.'

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Apparently this was the kid who helped Stark and got a garage of cool stuff out of it from Iron Man 3, as in the same character and literally the same actor.

[Chen]

The timeline with the Soulstone was already split off though. It's the same timeline that Nebula and Rhodey went back to, meaning that while the Soulstone remains in place that universe will be permanently missing its Gamora, Nebula, and Thanos. Oh, and Quill's encounter with Rocket, Groot, and Gamora plays out differently due to no Gamora and the chaos butterfly's wings are a-flappin'.

Oh true forgot the power and soul stones went together. Ok so really only the 1970s timeline is fixed IF its not the one cap lived his life in.

[Kyberwulf]

I don't know why you guys think it "created" a different timeline. I think of it of more as a "Net". Those "timelines" always have existed. They just intersect at certain points. It's also a flaw into your thinking. They aren't "Time Traveling" insomuch as Dimension hopping.


Also, does anyone else think that they could undo all the deaths... by making all the ones who died sskrulls?

[Palanan]

Okay, thanks, everyone. Apparently I did miss a major plot point. I almost want to go back and watch it again with that in mind…but I don’t think I can bring myself to sit through this a second time.

But I’m totally onboard for an Iron Pepper movie.

Spoiler: Speaking of Which...

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Okay, about that. I get that Stark created a suit for her to wear in emergencies, but how did she learn to fight like a pro in it?

Were they having couples therapy in His & Hers battlesuits?

Originally Posted by Lapak
They also accidentally *saved* a spinoff timeline from the Snap when the Thanos of that timeline's 2014 traveled to the "main" timeline and got himself killed there.

Spoiler: #5

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That was actually my fifth point of confusion. If Thanos jumped from 2014 into the Endgame year, thus bypassing the Snap, then…how did the Snap ever happen, if Thanos didn’t have the stones to Snap with?

Gah. This is why I hate timeloop stories. I had enough of that with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

[Lvl45DM!]

Okay, thanks, everyone. Apparently I did miss a major plot point. I almost want to go back and watch it again with that in mind…but I don’t think I can bring myself to sit through this a second time.

But I’m totally onboard for an Iron Pepper movie.

Spoiler: Speaking of Which...

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Okay, about that. I get that Stark created a suit for her to wear in emergencies, but how did she learn to fight like a pro in it?

Were they having couples therapy in His & Hers battlesuits?

Spoiler: #5

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That was actually my fifth point of confusion. If Thanos jumped from 2014 into the Endgame year, thus bypassing the Snap, then…how did the Snap ever happen, if Thanos didn’t have the stones to Snap with?

Gah. This is why I hate timeloop stories. I had enough of that with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

It's timetravel.
Don't worry about it.

[Lethologica]

Spoiler: #5

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That was actually my fifth point of confusion. If Thanos jumped from 2014 into the Endgame year, thus bypassing the Snap, then…how did the Snap ever happen, if Thanos didn’t have the stones to Snap with?

Gah. This is why I hate timeloop stories. I had enough of that with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

I think the fundamental point to make here is that Endgame is not a time loop story. It's a time tree story, with travel to the past creating new branches, and travel back to the present branch enabled by the Pym particles and Ant-Man's quantum realm machine.

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Which answers your fifth point: Thanos from the 2014 branch traveled to the Endgame branch. He's not the same Thanos who Snapped in the Endgame branch. Nothing he does changes what happened in the Endgame branch. In his own branch, however, the Snap will never happen, because he and his are gone from that timeline now.

[Devonix]

I think the fundamental point to make here is that Endgame is not a time loop story. It's a time tree story, with travel to the past creating new branches, and travel back to the present branch enabled by the Pym particles and Ant-Man's quantum realm machine.

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Which answers your fifth point: Thanos from the 2014 branch traveled to the Endgame branch. He's not the same Thanos who Snapped in the Endgame branch. Nothing he does changes what happened in the Endgame branch. In his own branch, however, the Snap will never happen, because he and his are gone from that timeline now.

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Exactly. They went into great detail to explain that it's impossible to change the past via time travel. They stated it at the start with how going back in time and killing Thanos as a baby would not change the future or stop the snap. It's why killing Nebula didn't kill her future self. Because it wasn't her future self, Nebula and the other one are alternates

The timeline Thanos came from now never has a snap

[LaZodiac]

Spoiler: Speaking of Which...

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Okay, about that. I get that Stark created a suit for her to wear in emergencies, but how did she learn to fight like a pro in it?

Were they having couples therapy in His & Hers battlesuits?

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Yeah, almost certainly. And don't forget Iron-Man 3, where under Extreminus and using one gauntlet she was able to kick Killian's ass far harder than Tony and an army of suits could. She is pretty tough!

[Zevox]

I think the fundamental point to make here is that Endgame is not a time loop story. It's a time tree story, with travel to the past creating new branches, and travel back to the present branch enabled by the Pym particles and Ant-Man's quantum realm machine.

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Which answers your fifth point: Thanos from the 2014 branch traveled to the Endgame branch. He's not the same Thanos who Snapped in the Endgame branch. Nothing he does changes what happened in the Endgame branch. In his own branch, however, the Snap will never happen, because he and his are gone from that timeline now.

Indeed. To compare it to another piece of media, I like to think of it like...

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Dragon Ball Z's time travel. It's multiverse theory: when you time travel, you travel to (or create) a different timeline/universe, separate from but similar to yours. It doesn't become yours, nor is yours changed by anything you do in it. So instead of trying to alter history, which wouldn't help the Avengers' main timeline at all, they grab the Infinity Stones, which were destroyed in their timeline, to bring them back to their timeline and use them there to undo the snap. Somewhat like how Trunks was able to destroy the Androids in his timeline after becoming stronger in the past main timeline of DBZ. The Avengers' goal in the movie is to restore those who died in their own timeline while leaving those they interfered in either the same or at least no worse off than they would be without their interference. Hence returning the stones and Mjolnir after they were done with them.

Ultimately, at least a couple of new timelines came about because of this. One when Loki escaped after Avengers 1 in one timeline, and one when Thanos and his forces time-traveled into the future (main timeline) from another. That latter at least is a change for the better though, so it likely bothers no one, and the Loki situation is apparently going to be a TV/streaming show.

[Rakaydos]

Indeed. To compare it to another piece of media, I like to think of it like...

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Dragon Ball Z's time travel. It's multiverse theory: when you time travel, you travel to (or create) a different timeline/universe, separate from but similar to yours. It doesn't become yours, nor is yours changed by anything you do in it. So instead of trying to alter history, which wouldn't help the Avengers' main timeline at all, they grab the Infinity Stones, which were destroyed in their timeline, to bring them back to their timeline and use them there to undo the snap. Somewhat like how Trunks was able to destroy the Androids in his timeline after becoming stronger in the past main timeline of DBZ. The Avengers' goal in the movie is to restore those who died in their own timeline while leaving those they interfered in either the same or at least no worse off than they would be without their interference. Hence returning the stones and Mjolnir after they were done with them.

Ultimately, at least a couple of new timelines came about because of this. One when Loki escaped after Avengers 1 in one timeline, and one when Thanos and his forces time-traveled into the future (main timeline) from another. That latter at least is a change for the better though, so it likely bothers no one, and the Loki situation is apparently going to be a TV/streaming show.

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thinking about it, TV Loki could also be from the Thor 2 timeline. That one has a universe least changed from the "main" timeline, which means they are limited in the stories they can extract from it without watching the butterfly effect at work.

The Space Stone Loki would cause timeline shattering shenanigans alone, not even mentioning the Hydra mix-up angle. We don't need to watch this timeline to understand how different it becomes.

Same for the "Thanos invades the future" timeline. We don't need post- thor3 Loki as a viewpoint to see how a power vacuum creates a different world.

And finally there's the "cap retires" timeline, where the first event he runs into is going to be Mar Vel and the Skrulls. Let's just call this the Secret Wars timeline. :P

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Lethologica
It's a time tree story, with travel to the past creating new branches, and travel back to the present branch enabled by the Pym particles and Ant-Man's quantum realm machine.

Did they ever specify this in the movie? I’m not arguing against your interpretation, just wondering if this was ever clarified in the narrative. I got the part about not being able to change the past, but I don’t remember anything explicit about alternate timelines.

Originally Posted by Lethologica
…Endgame branch….

Also…what year is it in Endgame, exactly?

Spider-Man: Homecoming explicitly told us that the main movie took place eight years after the attack on New York. If that’s in 2012, then Homecoming was in 2020, and Endgame is…2022? 2023?

Maybe my reckoning is off somehow, but it feels like they’ve telescoped the timeline a couple years past us here. I was never sure why they set eight years as the interval for Homecoming.

Originally Posted by LaZodiac
*Iron Man 3*

Yeah, but as I recall she wasn’t happy about it. I didn’t have the impression Pepper ever liked the suits, and she pretty definitely wanted Extremis out of her.

Given that, it seems odd that she would suddenly be dancing through a colossal firefight like she was born to it.

[deuterio12]

Indeed. To compare it to another piece of media, I like to think of it like...

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Dragon Ball Z's time travel. It's multiverse theory: when you time travel, you travel to (or create) a different timeline/universe, separate from but similar to yours. It doesn't become yours, nor is yours changed by anything you do in it. So instead of trying to alter history, which wouldn't help the Avengers' main timeline at all, they grab the Infinity Stones, which were destroyed in their timeline, to bring them back to their timeline and use them there to undo the snap. Somewhat like how Trunks was able to destroy the Androids in his timeline after becoming stronger in the past main timeline of DBZ. The Avengers' goal in the movie is to restore those who died in their own timeline while leaving those they interfered in either the same or at least no worse off than they would be without their interference. Hence returning the stones and Mjolnir after they were done with them.

Ultimately, at least a couple of new timelines came about because of this. One when Loki escaped after Avengers 1 in one timeline, and one when Thanos and his forces time-traveled into the future (main timeline) from another. That latter at least is a change for the better though, so it likely bothers no one, and the Loki situation is apparently going to be a TV/streaming show.

Thing is

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They still created a bunch of splits, and although caps from the "thanos dusted" timeline technically goes back in time to return the stones, all he's doing is creating further new timelines, meaning there's a bunch of doomed universes where the infinity stones weren't returned.

Not to mention caps deciding to stay in one of said new timelines just for his own satisfaction which could've really messed things up.

[Lethologica]

Did they ever specify this in the movie? I’m not arguing against your interpretation, just wondering if this was ever clarified in the narrative. I got the part about not being able to change the past, but I don’t remember anything explicit about alternate timelines.

The first time the gang tries to persuade Stark to try time travel, he states that you can't change the past. Also, Banner and The Ancient One in 2012 have a conversation about the creation of alternate timelines and the threat posed by removing Infinity Stones from a given timeline.

Also…what year is it in Endgame, exactly?

Spider-Man: Homecoming explicitly told us that the main movie took place eight years after the attack on New York. If that’s in 2012, then Homecoming was in 2020, and Endgame is…2022? 2023?

Maybe my reckoning is off somehow, but it feels like they’ve telescoped the timeline a couple years past us here. I was never sure why they set eight years as the interval for Homecoming.

Unfortunately, you've managed to land on the one date reference that is officially an error. Homecoming is now dated to 2016, according to Marvel Studios: The First Ten Years, per this source. So 'Eight Years Later' should have been 'Four Years Later'.

The same source dates Infinity War to 2017, making Endgame roughly 2022.

Thing is

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They still created a bunch of splits, and although caps from the "thanos dusted" timeline technically goes back in time to return the stones, all he's doing is creating further new timelines, meaning there's a bunch of doomed universes where the infinity stones weren't returned.

Not to mention caps deciding to stay in one of said new timelines just for his own satisfaction which could've really messed things up.

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It is, for better or worse, canon that you can return an Infinity Stone to a timeline. I don't know how, though.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Lethologica
Also, Banner and The Ancient One in 2012 have a conversation about the creation of alternate timelines and the threat posed by removing Infinity Stones from a given timeline.

I remember that very well; I’m glad Tilda Swinton had more than just a cameo.

At that point I was a little hung up on her explanation of the Infinity Stones, as well as trying to remember what everyone was doing in 2012. Definitely needed another pass at this.

Originally Posted by Lethologica
Unfortunately, you've managed to land on the one date reference that is officially an error.

Yeah, I would.

So, they’re kicking things around a bit in their “official” timeline. Since the one date reference I know is wrong, I’ll just roll with it.

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As for returning Infinity Stones to different timelines, they kinda lost me at that point. They have to be the biggest set of MacGuffins in cinematic history.

[deuterio12]

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It is, for better or worse, canon that you can return an Infinity Stone to a timeline. I don't know how, though.

Source please?

Also it just doesn't make much sense since if they can actually do that, then they could've actually changed their own timeline's past.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Lethologica
The same source dates Infinity War to 2017, making Endgame roughly 2022.

Actually 2023, according to this article, way down at the end.

Originally Posted by deuterio12
Source please?

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Pretty sure that was Cap’s last mission at the end of the movie…right?