So much for keeping secrets.
Ever since they witnessed half of their favorite superheroes disintegrate in Avengers: Infinity
War, Marvel fans have been on their edge of their seats wondering how things will turn
out in the fourth Avengers movie.
After what felt like an eternity, Marvel Studios released the movie's first trailer in December
2018, revealing the title of the film to be Avengers: Endgame.
But when the studio dropped the footage, it also broke a few hearts — the first look
at the film was hardly a triumphant one.
The teaser showed Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark floating aimlessly through space, low
on food and oxygen, and seemingly preparing to die.
Instead of rallying for a vengeful strike against Thanos, his nemesis, the only glimpse
we saw of Iron Man was him recording a farewell message to fiancée Pepper Potts.
While some began preparing to say goodbye to the billionaire bad boy, others started
speculating that another hero would swoop in to save Tony from the brink of certain
death.
One theory assembled evidence that Pepper herself would do the saving, by finally assuming
her comic book alter ego of Rescue to somehow bring her beau back home.
"Just for the record Being adrift with no hope of rescue is more fun than it sounds."
But a recent announcement from the car company Audi may have inadvertently spoiled who will
actually save Tony's life in Endgame.
During a presentation at January 2019's Consumer Electronics Show, Audi announced that it had
partnered with Marvel to develop a VR experience that ties in with Endgame.
The cross-promotion will allow fans to venture through space from the backseat of Audi's
e-tron Vision Gran Turismo.
The vehicle will be making an appearance in Endgame, supposedly with an alive-and-well
Tony Stark behind the wheel.
"Well you have driven it already?”
"Yeah, well as Tony Stark on Avengers 4"
This development seemed to confirm that Tony will make his way back to Earth in the fourth
Avengers adventure, and in good enough condition to feel like zipping around in a sweet luxury
two-seater.
The idea that Tony will survive his jaunt through space, if true, barely feels like
a spoiler.
It never seemed likely that he'd actually die out there.
But an important question remained: who would be the one to rescue him?
Aspects of Audi's promotion strongly suggest that the hero who saves Tony might be none
other than Rocket Raccoon — which would surely come as a hallucinatory experience
for the oxygen-starved, dehydrated Earthling.
The details are all in the title of Audi's VR experience, "Marvel's Avengers: Rocket's
Rescue Run."
The game will apparently have players slide into the e-tron GT's backseat, where they'll
control another vehicle as though they were Rocket on a space-faring rescue mission.
Though the name of the game alone doesn't specify who Rocket is rescuing, it certainly
implies that Rocket might be the one who comes to Tony's aid.
Tony is in Rocket's spaceship, after all — and at the start of Avengers: Endgame, it would
appear that he'll need rescuing more than anyone else.
Well, as long as we're not counting the people who got dusted.
Did Audi really release promotional details that spoil this aspect of Endgame?
Thanks to an in-depth account of "Rescue Run" from The Verge writer Sean O'Kane, it appears
pretty likely that that's exactly what's happened.
In a piece published on January 7th, just ahead of Audi's presentation at CES, O'Kane
wrote,
"Iron Man needs help.
He's being chased through outer space by some of Thanos' baddies, so Rocket Raccoon and
I rush to his aid.
We make a few jumps using the Universal Neural Teleportation Network, and a few rollicking
minutes later, I've helped blast the enemies to bits."
Small leaks about potential plot details happen all the time with movies this high-profile,
but it's pretty wild to think that the famously unforthcoming Marvel might have let this spoiler
slip.
It's possible that the studio could have revealed this info as a fakeout, as they've done before,
putting out misleading information to muddy the waters when it comes to actual leaks.
On the flip side, it's also possible that this reveal is genuinely a marketing miscalculation
that reveals too much too soon.
Both possibilities seem equally likely, and are sure to fuel online debate as the movie's
much-anticipated release draws closer.
As things stand now, there's a solid chance that Endgame will see the galaxy's most beloved
trash panda head to space, save Tony, and haul him back to Earth to reunite with the
other surviving heroes.
Then they can formulate a plan to take down Thanos, revive the fallen heroes, and then
take a joy ride in his cool new whip to celebrate a job well done.
I cannot believe it I haven’t driven one of these in a while."
So — does this theory hold water?
From a story standpoint, Rocket saving Tony would make a lot of sense.
The Endgame trailer revealed that Tony and Nebula will escape Titan onboard the Benatar,
the ship Star-Lord commandeered.
The last time we saw Rocket, he was stranded on Earth in Wakanda, watching helplessly as
several heroes, including his best buddy Groot, fell away to nothingness.
He's the only Guardian to have made it out of Thanos' decimation with his life intact,
but at the end of Infinity War, he has no way of knowing that.
So it's reasonable that Rocket will start off Endgame fiercely determined to locate
his missing teammates — and where else would he start looking for them than their own spaceship?
As plausible as all this sounds, right now it's only a theory, and no one outside of
Marvel knows for sure how Tony will make it back home.
We'll keep our eye on the developments, but the only way to be sure what really happens
will be to wait patiently for the movie's premiere on April 26th.
What's your secret?
Mellow jazz?
Bongo drums?
Huge bag?"