Avengers: Infinity War is almost here, but with less than two weeks to go before release fans are still feverishly trying trying to piece together the movie’s plot from the trailers - and one intriguing fan theory suggests the movie could revolve around multiple timelines. This isn’t too far-fetched, given that Doctor Strange plays a major role in the movie and he just so happens to have the Time Stone around his neck, inside the Eye of Agamotto. In Doctor Strange, he used his Infinity Stone to smuggle a time loop into the Dark Dimension and force Dormammu into a stalemate - which meant a montage of Dormammu killing him in creative ways.

Movies with multiple timelines offer the opportunity to kill off major characters in dramatic ways, but without any lasting consequences. Twilight: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 shocked fans with this particular trick - killing off multiple key characters in a brutal battle, before revealing that the scene was merely a vision of a possible future. X-Men: Days of Future Past also used its time travel antics to gleefully kill off beloved X-Men characters like Ice-Man and Storm, before resetting the timeline. And given the pressure on Infinity War to deliver a culmination of ten years’ worth of storytelling, directors Anthony and Joe Russo might choose to show many possible endings, instead of just one.

There are a few versions of this theory floating around, but Twitter user @mcuhollnd has pulled together some of the most compelling evidence for Avengers: Infinity War having multiple timelines.

AND AVENGERS FOUR IS THE FINAL PLAN!— ᴊᴏá´É´É´á´ (@mcuhollnd) April 13, 2018

It’s a crazy theory - so crazy, in fact, that it just might be true. Here’s our breakdown of the evidence we’ve seen so far indicating multiple timelines, and what it could mean for Avengers: Infinity War’s plot (not to mention Avengers 4).

  • This page: Evidence That Avengers: Infinity War Features Multiple Timelines

Evidence That Avengers: Infinity War Features Multiple Timelines

Perhaps the most compelling evidence that we’ll see various possible timelines in Infinity War is the fact that Doctor Strange says outright, in a recent trailer, “I went forward in time to see all the possible outcomes.” Tony then asks if the Avengers won in any of the possible outcomes, but Strange’s tone and expression don’t offer much hope.

We’ve also seen two distinctly different versions of the scene in which Spider-Man meets Doctor Strange. In the second full-length trailer, Spidey says, “I’m Peter, by the way,” and Strange shakes his hand and says, “Doctor Strange.” Peter responds with, “Oh, we’re using our made-up names. Then I am Spider-Man.” In the recent “Defend New York” TV spot, however, the two are standing at a distance, Strange does not shake Peter’s hand, and the dialogue is slightly switched around, with Peter saying, “I’m Spider-Man, then” instead. While trailers are known for their tricky editing, and often use varying takes, it certainly seems like we could see two different iterations of this scene in the movie.

Beyond the trailers, there are also clues in what the actors have said about the movie during the press tour. In this clip from The Graham Norton Show, Spider-Man actor Tom Holland explains that in some of his scenes he was acting opposite tennis balls on a stick, and had no idea which character(s) Peter was speaking to. This suggests that different characters could be placed in the scene depending on the particular timeline being shown.

THEY ARE REPLACING THE ACTORS. THERE WERENT REAL ACTORS THERE BECAUSE MOST OF THE CHARACTERS HAVE DONE THE SAME SCENE WITH SPIDER-MAN THEY JUST DOMT KNOW ABOUT IT! pic.twitter.com/PyLTdw5zJq— ᴊᴏá´É´É´á´ (@mcuhollnd) April 13, 2018

Then there’s the fact that none of the actors appear to know the whole story - except, that is, for Benedict Cumberbatch. In an interview on Good Morning America, Holland and Loki actor Tom Hiddleston say they haven’t seen the full movie or even read the full script, but that Cumberbatch has. “I had to understand what the context was,” Cumberbatch explains. “Strange has this wonderful role in it, and I’m kind of trying to hold the Multiverse together, so I needed to know what goes on between those brackets.” That certainly fits with the idea of Doctor Strange being the only character who has lived through all of the timelines.

BENEDICT IS THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS READ THE WHOLE THING BC HE IS DOCTOR FREAKING STRANGE. HE KNOWS EVERY OUTCOME AND EVERY SCENARIO. HE CONTROLS THE MOVIE! HOLY SHIT I JUST SOLVED INFINITY WAR! pic.twitter.com/yqlPZ86y54— ᴊᴏá´É´É´á´ (@mcuhollnd) April 13, 2018

Finally, there’s the footage that appears to show major Marvel characters on the verge of death. Teaser footage shown at D23 last summer included a brief clip of Peter laying on the ground, seriously injured, and saying, “I’m sorry, Tony” through his tears. The trailers have also shown Thor screaming in pain as Thanos squeezes his head, seemingly about to crush his skull. Another trailer clip has shown Vision lying on the ground screaming as the Mind Stone is forcibly ripped from his head. Finally, even Doctor Strange himself has been seen held captured, helpless, and screaming in pain as dozens of spikes start to pierce his body. All of these scenes could end with our favorite superheroes being horribly (but not permanently) killed.

If the multiple timelines theory is accurate, it might explain why a certain someone has been so carefully kept out of Infinity War’s marketing.

Is Hawkeye the Key to Defeating Thanos?

While @mcuhollnd’s theory suggests the bulk of the movie will be made up of the various possible timelines, there are other ways that Avengers: Infinity War could execute this type of plot. Based on the shot of Spider-Man lying on the ground, it’s possible that the Avengers live through one timeline, and when Peter dies Tony asks Doctor Strange to turn back the hands of time so that they can save him, so we only actually see two of the potential timelines. If Infinity War ends with Tony being killed off, it would certainly be a fitting conclusion for his character arc - sacrificing his own life to save his protégé.

Another possibility, of course, is that we see many of the possible timelines in a “Dormammu, I’ve come to bargain” style montage. We know for certain that Doctor Strange uses his powers to see all the possible outcomes of the battle with Thanos, and it seems like all of them end in defeat or disaster. If that’s the case, then it follows that the Avengers need to find the missing ingredient that will allow them to finally defeat the titan and prevent him from wiping out half of all life in the galaxy. And no ingredient has been more obviously missing from Infinity War’s marketing than one of the founding members of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Avengers: Hawkeye.

Avengers: Infinity War promos have gone so far to remove any hint of Hawkeye that they’ve even cropped him out of shots from previous movies, yet the Russos continue to insist that Hawkeye has a pivotal role to play. “We just cooked up a story for him that is a little bit of a long play,” Joe Russo promised recently. Indeed, if Hawkeye simply played a minor, unimportant role in the movie then it wouldn’t make sense to so carefully excise him from all the trailers. The best explanation for his absence is that Hawkeye’s role is so important thateven showing a glimpse of it might spoil the movie. With that in mind, it makes a lot of sense that he would be brought in at the end of the movie as the Avengers’ saving grace, and the “long play” involves him playing a massive role in Avengers 4.

Hawkeye attempted retired to be with his family at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron, but was brought back into action again for Captain America: Civil War, and ended up becoming a fugitive when Captain America broke him out of The Raft. Hawkeye’s absence in all the key scenes we’ve seen so far indicates that he’s still on the run or in hiding during Infinity War, and that the Avengers don’t exactly prioritize recruiting a guy who’s good with a bow and arrow when they’re fighting an all-powerful cosmic supervillain with an army of aliens.

Going back to @mcuhollnd’s theory that Avengers 4 will be the “final plan,” it could well be that Hawkeye’s role in Infinity War will be similar to Luke Skywalker’s role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens: extremely important in theory, but with the character only actually on screen at the very end. It would certainly be fitting for the Avengers to realize that they need every member of the team in order to defeat Thanos, and there’s a certain appeal to the idea of the mighty Thanos being taken out by a regular human with really, really good aim.

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Do you think this theory could be on the mark, or do you have your own idea about how Avengers: Infinity War will play out? Let us know in the comments!

More: Infinity War Theory: Thanos Will Cause His Own Defeat, Not The Avengers

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