A lot of people were wiped out by The Decimation at the end of Avengers: Infinity War. Half of all life in the universe, to be precise, but Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, was among the lucky half that survived. However, the Avengers: Endgame trailer revealed today that rather than jumping forward in time several years, the Phase 3 capper is picking up right after Infinity War, which unfortunately means for Tony that he's stranded in space with no food and water, and he's about to run out of oxygen. It's a troublesome predicament, but after watching the trailer, I have ideas on how he'll rescued and how his message to Pepper Potts, the love of his life, could put her on the path to superheroism.
Before going further, let's recap where we left off with Tony Stark at the end of Avengers: Infinity War. Despite their best efforts, Tony, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Star-Lord, Nebula, Drax and Mantis weren't able to defeat Thanos on Titan. Whether you place that loss squarely on Star-Lord's shoulders or believe it was destined to happen, the Mad Titan acquired the Time Stone from Strange, placing the heroes in the endgame (look how appropriate that word choice turned out to be). Minutes later, Thanos, with all six Infinity Stones in his Infinity Gauntlet, snapped his fingers and erased countless people from existence. Back on Titan, Tony and Nebula were the only ones to survive the dusting.
Which brings us to where we find Tony towards the beginning of Avengers: Endgame on board the Benetar (seriously, that's what it's called) and out in space, but devoid of resources. It's unclear whether or not Nebula is on board with Tony, but either way, the Armored Avenger clearly believes he's going to die soon and won't make it back to Earth, hence why he's recording one last message to Pepper Potts. But we can reasonably assume that this won't actually be the demise of Tony, and I suspect that soon he'll be rescued by Carol Danvers, a.k.a. Captain Marvel.
Next March, the MCU is winding the clock back to 1995 to delve into Carol Danvers' origin story. How that will specifically play out remains to be seen, but considering that no one on Earth's talked about a flying, half-Kree woman shooting energy blasts out of her hands, we can presume that Carol will leave our world to parts unknown, hence why she wasn't around for any of the present day MCU stories.
However, right before turning to dust in the Avengers: Infinity War post-credits scene, Nick Fury managed to transmit a signal from a spruced-up pager displaying the Captain Marvel insignia. In other words, he knew the time finally came to contact his silver bullet, and we can count on Carol heading back to Earth upon receiving Nick's message.
Carol Danvers is confirmed to appear in Avengers: Endgame, that's already a done deal. That said, while she may be the most powerful hero in the MCU, even she can't get back to Earth instantly. It will take Carol a while to head back home, so perhaps along the way she finds the Benetar, either accidentally or by receiving the ship's distress signal and following it back to the source. Once she finds one or two living people on board, she tows it to safety, thus creating another MCU alliance.
Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Carol's already familiar with Tony Stark, because although she's been a way from Earth for a long time, when she left, he was famous for being the young CEO of Stark Industries whose parents tragically died a few years earlier.
But what about Pepper Potts? The last time we saw her, she was watching Doctor Strange lead Tony Stark through a magical portal in the middle of Central Park, and we later heard her begging Tony to get off Ebony Maw's ship before the transmission cut off. She also survived The Decimation and is confirmed to appear in Avengers: Endgame.
No official details about her role in the movie have been revealed, but back in October, a picture leaked online of Gwyneth Paltrow wearing purple and silver-colored armor, indicating that she'll become Rescue, and now I'm thinking that Tony's dying declaration to her is the catalyst for her becoming a superhero.
I should note that this particular theory is dependent on the message Tony Stark records being transmitted back to Earth rather than just lingering in his helmet, so let's just assume for now that's what happens. Upon receiving Tony's message, Pepper would understandably be devastated, but that could also be what pushes her towards becoming Rescue.
Maybe by donning this special armor, she thinks she can venture out into space and find Tony. Or maybe she just feels a need to continue Tony's legacy as an Iron-hero, and she'll join Captain America, Black Widow, Ronin and the other surviving heroes in pulling off whatever plan they have in motion to undo Thanos' genocide.
Of course, one would imagine that eventually Tony Stark will find his way back to Earth, especially if Captain Marvel is the one to see him back safely. But that doesn't necessarily mean that even if she doe reunite with Tony, Pepper Potts still won't jump into action as Rescue. It seems like a waste of time to just have Gwyneth Paltrow wearing the armor and then not have it on again.
While I doubt that Pepper will be involved with the main mission in Avengers: Endgame, ideally there's still a way for her to contribute as Rescue on a side mission. Endgame won't necessarily be Pepper's final MCU appearance, as she's rumored to also be in Spider-Man: Far From Home, but having been around the MCU just as long as Tony, she deserves an opportunity to shine in this climactic event.
Avengers: Endgame is now opening in theaters on April 26, 2019, so keep visiting CinemaBlend for continuing coverage. Don't forget that there are plenty of other MCU movies coming down the pipeline, and you can look through our handy guide to find out what they are.
