The MCU’s 94% RT Masterpiece Hits Harder Now Than Ever Before Thanks To 1 Weird Secret

No superhero fan will ever forget the moment when the heroes of Avengers: Infinity War finally fell, and Thanos snapped his fingers in victory. At the time it seemed like a moment years in the making, but the truth is even the writers of Avengers: Endgame didn't know what would happen next. The answer would come to shape the next decade of the MCU, but completely relied on the unthinkable: one lucky Google search.

Avengers: Endgame's Time Travel Wasn't Planned, But A Google Search

The Truth Behind The Central MCU Plot Device Was Revealed By Its Writer

In hindsight, the pieces of the MCU leading into Infinity War all seem to make perfect sense: individual movies all introducing the Infinity Stones as individual sources of power, and Ant-Man's technology making him an expert on the quantum physics the team would need to gather them from different realities. Of course, James Gunn has confessed he wrote Guardians of the Galaxy's Infinity Stone lore in 90 minutes, with no sense it would be important to the larger MCU. And the same goes for Ant-Man's crucial role in Endgame.

You see, the Russo Brothers and their writing team of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely had a tricky challenge on their hands: obviously Infinity War would build up to the famous "Thanos Snap" from the comics, and Endgame would pick up where it left off. Unfortunately, there was still Ant-Man 2 scheduled to release between the two, meaning Ant-Man fighting in the Infinity War would dictate a somber, defeated, and grim 'interquel.' Since nobody wanted that, a change had to be made.

As Infinity War and Endgame co-writer Christopher Markus explained during SDCC 2019, that limitation meant Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) would need to sit out the battle. So with Infinity War's story in place, and Ant-Man and the Wasp taking a diversion into some Quantum Realm hijinks, Markus got curious:

"It was a bit of a problem. We knew we wanted the first movie to end with this [snaps fingers]. Then we had to figure out how to fix that. We didn't want a 'get out of jail free' card, we didn't want to find out 'he didn't actually do this, he did this.' 'Time machine' comes up very quickly, the same way 'rocket jetpack' would come up. It's a cheesy science fiction idea that you throw out quickly and go, 'We can't do that, it's too stupid.'

"But we had this great thing happen, which was: we weren't allowed to use Ant-Man in the first movie... But we were allowed to use him for the second one, which opened up Hank Pym and the Quantum Realm. And literally we just... I Googled 'quantum realm.' This is how great things happen. I Googled 'quantum realm' and... time is different in there. I think I sort of raised my hand and went, 'We can do a time machine!' Because we have an excuse to do a time machine."

As Scott Lang was trapped within the quantum realm at the end of his sequel, he had no idea that Marvel higher-ups had decided his time spent in limbo would be the salvation of the entire MCU.

The Future of The Entire MCU Now Hinges On A Happy Accident

Doomsday & Secret Wars Are Now Built On The Least Likely MCU History

As the time travel shenanigans of Endgame now appear to be leading into the events of Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars, the true scale and impact of this cosmic coincidence is becoming harder and harder to believe. Without that fortunate justification to entertain a time machine, would Steve Rogers have gotten the chance for his alternate life with Peggy Carter? Would the incursions potentially inciting Doctor Doom (Robert Downey, Jr.) to start a war have been caused by something else, or would the MCU have gone a different direction?

These questions won't likely ever be answered, but as the future of the MCU now proves, it's just one more reason that Avengers: Endgame was truly a one-in-a-billion event. Behind the scenes, as well as in theaters.