Warning: SPOILERS for Avengers: Infinity War are ahead!
When Doctor Strange was on Titan in Avengers: Infinity War, he used the Eye of Agamotto, a.k.a. the Time Stone, to view over 14 million alternates futures to learn of all the possible outcomes of the upcoming conflict with the Mad Titan. Only in one of them did the heroes emerge triumphant, and despite Infinity War's depressing ending, Avengers 4 is expected to undo Thanos' now-infamous snap and show victory ultimately being achieved. But what if there were other options for defeating Thanos on the table? The folks over at How It Should Have Ended have taken it upon themselves to show some alternate endings for Infinity War, all of which result in almost every protagonist surviving. You know, unlike the actual movie.
After opening with Gamora attempting to trick Daddy Thanos into walking into a lake of acid lava to secure the Soul Stone (a futile attempt given how Thanos can use the Reality Stone to turn anything into bubbles), How Avengers: Infinity War Should Have Ended depicts five different ways the Infinity War heroes could have defeated the Mad Titan before he unleashed universal genocide. #1, Doctor Strange uses his Cloak of Levitation to ensnare Thanos' arm, thrust him into a portal and then closes that portal so it slices off his Infinity Gauntlet-wearing hand. #2, Doctor Strange uses his magic to turn Thanos into a baby, with Tony Stark subsequently bringing Baby Thanos home to raise with Pepper Potts. #3, Nebula knocks out Peter Quill before he can mess up their plan, she grabs the Infinity Gauntlet as it's pulled off Thanos' hand and uses it to kill her abusive "father." #4, back in Wakanda, Wong hops in and sends Thanos' army to the Mirror Dimension. Finally, Thor uses his axe Stormbreaker to chop of Thanos' arm, thus preventing the Mad Titan from using the Infinity Stones to wipe out half of all life in the universe.
Whichever one of these endings unfolded, they certainly would have been better than how things actually ended in Avengers: Infinity War, but this video chooses the Thor ending as the actual alternate ending. Of course, it wouldn't be a superhero-themed How It Should Have Ended video without the starring characters hanging out in that cafe with Batman and Superman, and the Justice Leaguers watch as the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy and more reminisce about all the good times they've had. But as the big kicker, Thor, now wielding the Infinity Gauntlet for himself, snaps his fingers and erases all of the bad guys (with the exception of his brother Loki) hanging out in the villain tavern. Emperor Palpatine manages to send a distress signal to Deadpool before disappearing, but I don't think the Merc with the Mouth is going to be as helpful in this situation as Captain Marvel will be in Avengers 4.
Avengers: Infinity War is playing in some theaters, but you can purchase it digitally starting July 31, and the Blu-ray and DVD copies hit shelves on August 14. The next chapter of the MCU unfolds this Friday with the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp, and don't forget to look through our Marvel movies guide to learn what other projects are in development for this franchise.
