When Thanos halved the population of the universe in Avengers: Infinity War, those who were dusted seemed to be randomly selected. Given this, fans have previously wondered if the Mad Titan shielded himself from the power of the Infinity Gauntlet when he made the Snap – a theory that’s been touched on by the filmmakers. However, here’s an intriguing new adjunct to this idea. What if Thanos spared others from the Snap as well?
ScreenRant came up with this, and they say that the villain deliberately saved Thor, Nebula and Iron Man from being affected by the Infinity Stones. So, what’s the reasoning here? Well, Thanos may be a loon but he’s a loon with some sort of sense of honor, and he owes each of these heroes their lives based on promises he made earlier in the film.
Firstly, Thanos nearly killed Thor at the beginning of the movie, ordering Loki to give him the Space Stone or else he would end his brother’s life. The God of Mischief does so, though he attempts to kill Thanos himself seconds later. However, Thanos isn’t a trickster like Loki, so may well have kept to his side of the bargain by sparing Thor from the Snap.
The same goes for Nebula. The Mad Titan tortured his daughter until Gamora told him where the Soul Stone was. Again, a deal’s a deal so he may have spared her to keep his promise to his favorite daughter. As for Iron Man, Doctor Strange pulled the same trick as the others – giving Thanos the Time Stone in exchange for keeping Tony Stark alive.
In terms of Thanos’ warped sense of living up to his word, this theory makes a lot of sense as it seems like the sort of thing the Mad Titan would do. We’ve also had it confirmed that the Snapper, if you will, can hide a secondary wish within their big one. Like how Tony wishes those who were in dangerous situations when they were Snapped – e.g. in planes – to be resurrected safely in Avengers: Endgame.
