When it comes to wrapping up the events laid out in the first 20-something movies in the MCU, Avengers: Endgame has a lot going for it. Against all odds, directors Anthony and Joe Russo managed to bring together a few dozen key players into one film, all while providing satisfying conclusions for Captain America, Iron Man and a few other major characters. Sure, the time travel shenanigans might be a breeding ground for potential plot holes and head-scratching explanations, but Endgame managed to deliver a worthwhile ending while not undoing the events of prior films – as promised by the Russo brothers.
Of course, as much as we enjoyed how Endgame concluded, there are still a ton of questions that need answering. The biggest one? What happened to Loki during the Avengers’ time heist?
If you’ve already seen the movie, you’ll probably remember how Tony Stark and Ant-Man focused on retrieving the Tesseract from S.H.I.E.L.D. custody following the Chitauri invasion. In order to create a distraction, everyone’s favorite bite-sized hero shrunk down and jumped inside Tony’s arc reactor in order to induce a brief episode of cardiac arrest. Unfortunately, an irate Hulk – who was forced to take the stairs down from the top floor – intruded on the plan, and Loki was able to grab the Tesseract and teleport away.
With all the talk of alternate realities and branching timelines, some fans were left a little confused as to what happened to everyone’s favorite trickster god. Thankfully, Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo have shed some light on the matter. As reported by CinemaBlend, it looks like Loki inadvertently created an alternate timeline during his escape.
“Loki, when he teleports away with the Time Stone, would create his own timeline. It gets very complicated, but it would be impossible for [Cap] to rectify the timeline unless he found Loki. The minute that Loki does something as dramatic as take the Space Stone, he creates a branched reality.”
While Avengers: Endgame may have introduced the idea of branch dimensions and timelines, it looks like they’re here to stay. Spider-Man: Far From Home will pave the way for the MCU multiverse, and fans are speculating that Loki’s Disney Plus series focuses on his time travel antics, since he’s in possession of the Tesseract.
Time will tell if that’s the case, but as soon as we hear more, we’ll be sure to let you know.
