Today is a momentous occasion for anyone who religiously follows the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with the real world having finally reached the date when the Battle of Earth took place in Avengers: Endgame, where Earth’s Mightiest Heroes finally vanquished the threat of Thanos for good.
Of course, you could argue that it’s been nothing but downhill for the franchise ever since bar few too many exceptions, but that’s beside the point. Knowing how the fandom tends to operate, you can expect the phenomenal conclusion to the Infinity Saga to be revisited by millions around the world, offering a reminder that the MCU might just have peaked at that very moment.
However, we’re looking half a decade before that for a fascinating proposition, one that Star Wars supporters will be gazing wistfully at in regret wishing it had come true. As pointed out on Reddit, the MCU timeline places the initial Snap that erased half of all living creatures in existence in the spring of 2018, months before production on The Rise of Skywalker began on the first day of August.
We know that Star Wars is MCU canon, so you’d expect the sequel trilogy is too, with Thanos theoretically doing everyone a solid by ensuring J.J. Abrams’ wet fart of a conclusion to one of the most iconic multi-film stories in history was at the very least shunted back by a number of years.
Of course, in the unlikely event nobody involved in Episode IX was dusted it might still have gone as planned, but it’s much more therapeutic to imagine a world where a purple alien warlord saved everybody from The Rise of Skywalker instead.
