Before you begin reading, I would like to warn of major spoilers for the ending of Avengers: Endgame.
In Endgame, The Marvel Cinematic Universe took everything we knew about time travel and had us throw it out the window. Rather than having something of a loop, where anything that is changed in the past would ultimately affect the future, Avengers: Endgame gave us a line that branches whenever something is changed. This caused two moments of confusion with the end of the film for me. I’ll only be focusing on one, which is Tony’s snap. To more fully understand my problem, I’ll explain what I took from the film’s explanation of time travel and the way the snap supposedly works in the MCU.
How Does Time Travel Work?
Upon the Avengers going back in time, they carry out separate searches for various Infinity Stones. Bruce Banner is in charge of getting the Time Stone from the Sorcerer Supreme. It is where we receive the most helpful information in regards to the MCU’s rules of time travel. The Sorcerer Supreme tells Bruce that if the stones are removed from their places at any point in time, the timeline will branch, and the new future for that branch will be very dark. This means as long as you go back and return the stones to the same point, nothing will have changed. The branches that could have begun to open will close again and everything will return to normal.
How Does The Snap Work?
Now, we don’t know quite as much about the nature of the snap in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We’ve only seen it used three times; once to wipe out half the universe, once to bring those people back, and once to wipe out Thanos and his army. We can conclude that the gauntlet only does whatever the wearer intends when they snap.
What Does This Mean?
That begs the question: What did Tony intend? If Tony intended to kill all of them, we must question what that means for the timeline. The Thanos they fought was from 6 years ago. This means one of two things could happen upon his death. One, the timeline could collapse in confusion as to what to do. Alternatively, a new branch could have opened in which the first snap never happened.
If Tony simply returned them to their time and the dusting was a way to illustrate that, it would be even simpler. The issue with that alternative is that Thanos would likely remember that battle and be more aptly prepared for the future. This would again open a new branch due to his new knowledge. Regardless, the way time travel was explained makes it rather simple. A new branch opened, leaving the present timeline we’ve come to know the same.
CHECK OUT: It’s A Snap: An Interview With Thanos and Infinity Gauntlet Creator, Jim Starlin