Avengers 4 Could Force Tony Stark to do the Unthinkable

If you thought Avengers: Infinity War brought out your emotions, this Reddit theory about Avengers 4 will have you in tears. Early in Infinity War Tony Stark has a vision of his child, something that seemed almost benign at the time. However, during a recent Vudu viewing party, directors Joe and Anthony Russo sparked a debate about what the dream actually meant.

Reddit user pluralizes took this dream concept and speculated on what it could mean for Avengers 4. According to him:

Post Infinity War, Tony has settled down with Pepper and they have a son. Soon thereafter, Ant-Man shows up and time travel is introduced, so now Tony hatches a plan to reverse the snap… However, this means forfeiting the current timeline where he has his son.

After they arrive on Vormir with direction from Nebula, they will be told a sacrifice needs to be made. It was introduced Red Skull can see everyone’s soul as the Stonekeeper when he addressed Thanos as “Son of Alars”, so it is possible he will peer into Tony’s soul and learn he is in a harrowing quandary: sacrificing the timeline where he has his son to save half the universe. As the Stonekeeper explains this, a tear rolls down Tony’s cheek.

Maybe this will qualify as a sufficient sacrifice to claim the soul stone?

Lending more credence to this, prior to Infinity War hitting theatres, the Pepper Potts actress herself Gwyneth Paltrow confirmed her character and Tony have a child.

Pepper and Tony have had a real long journey together, Paltrow said in a recent interview for Marvel’s Official Avengers: Infinity War magazine. She obviously starts as his dutiful assistant, and then the relationship evolves, and now this decade later they’re married, and they have a child. Their relationship has evolved in all of the ways that great romances evolve.

The only plot twist I could see adding additional weight to this momentous decision would be if the child name was Peter, named after Spider-Man himself who vanished in the Snappening. At this point, it’s all speculation, but this theory does match up with the spoilers and quotes from the cast themselves that have leaked out. We’ll find out soon enough when Avengers 4 hits theaters on May 3, 2019.