Wednesday 15 May 2019

Captain America Returning the Infinity Stones Logistics


Avengers Endgame marks the end of an era, with Marvel deciding to "wrap-up" the long running story lines of Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. While Ironman bites the dust with an emotional death and funeral, Captain America is sent on a quest to return the Infinity Stones backwards in time to where they were stolen borrowed. Steve then decides he's going to stay in the past, and instead of time travelling back to the present, we see an old man sitting on a nearby bench. As effective as that might have been from a story telling perspective, it raises several questions.


1. In what order would he have returned them?

The order likely isn't very important, since he can travel to any point in time, forward or backward. We're not 100% sure if the Pym particles can also teleport him to different planets, but if he needs to procure a space-ship, he might want to knock the power, reality and soul stones off his list first. Get the inter-planetary travel out of the way and wrap it up on Earth. The only part of the order that really matters is where he decides to stay, which we can presume is during the 1970s. We see an old Steve Rogers at Avengers HQ but have no idea how long it took him to complete his mission.

2. What happens when he returns the soul stone to Red Skull?

It would be fascinating to see Cap have a reunion with old Red Skull, given the history that the two shared during World War 2. Returning the soul stone has a high degree of difficulty, given the potential for a conflict with his arch-enemy. This opens the door for speculation. Certainly, when Cap first sees him, it will be shield up, high alert. Would Red Skull attack him given their opposing ideologies and his desire for revenge? It would be a tense moment. 

Red Skull fans have asked the Russo Brothers for an explanation. They claim that big Red has lost his conciseness and is not the same character he was in Captain America: The First Avenger. The problem with this explanation is that in Infinity War, Red Skull says he sought out the Infinity Stones and even held one in his hand. He also says it's his duty and curse to know all who journey Vormir. So as soon as Cap shows up, Red Skull would say "Steve son of Joseph" (Captain America's father's name is mentioned briefly in the movies) or something along those lines. If he lost his memory, how could he remember these events? Surely he would recognize Steve Rogers if he came to return the soul stone.

3. Doesn't he have a small window to return the Power stone?

The greatest challenge returning the power stone will be getting there. It's possible that his time travel suits can also travel across light years of outer space, or he needs a ship. He'll need to return to the exact second they take the orb and make sure that Star Lord leaves the planet with it, making sure not to drastically change the order of events that are supposed to happen when he finds it on Morag. Cap will also need to make sure he evades the "hit squad" Thanos sends to retrieve the stone.


4. So Cap is supposed to re-infect Jane Foster with the reality stone?

Having Thor and Rocket borrow the reality stone from Asgard might have been easy for Thor and Rocket, but it will be a little trickier for Cap. It would have been less complicated if they went back to that vortex in London where Jane found and took it from there (which wouldn't have given us the emotional reunion between Thor and his dead mom). It's unclear how exactly Cap will go about putting it back into Jane's body. He'll be walking in there carrying Thor's hammer, so maybe that will work like a security pass. Or he'll go find Thor from that timeline and tell him what his mission is, then get his help.

5. So Cap returns the mind stone to Hydra?

Returning the mind stone would create some problems. Cap would have to put it back into Loki's scepter and return it to Hydra. A man of Captain America's integrity would have a problem putting a weapon of mass destruction in the hands of a terrorist organization. It's likely he would experience deep regret knowing Hydra now has control of the mind stone again, but it's also important to the future and restoring the original timeline. Otherwise Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch never get their powers and never join the Avengers. Additionally, not returning the mind stone means that Tony Stark would never create Ultron, which I guess also means Vision is never brought to life.

When he returns to that moment, there will be 3 Captain Americas in that timeline simultaneously. It would be fun to watch all three Caps fight each other and say they can do this all day, but at least one of them will think that both of the others are Loki in disguise and pick a fight. Or he'll return to a few minutes after he takes it the first time, try to avoid his past self, and just hand it back to Hydra. It probably wouldn't be an issue if he runs into the other time travelling version of himself, but he could tell himself that he's also from the future, putting everything back.

6. Which stone would be the easiest to return?

That's easy, the time stone. All Cap would have to do is stop be the Sanctum Sanctorum and hand it to the Ancient One. If anything, The Ancient One would probably expect Captain America's arrival. This would probably be the most important stone to return. As the Ancient One explains, the infinity stones keep what is known as the flow of time. Removing one would cause diverging timelines that could cause more devastation. Additionally, she says that the infinity stones are the greatest weapons against intergalactic threats (like Dormamu or Galactus). If they don't return the time stone, Dormamu destroys the Earth.

7. When/where does he return the Space stone?

Originally, Iron Man, Ant Man, the Hulk and Captain America go to the battle of New York in 2012. They mess up getting the space stone here and Loki escapes with it, which creates an alternate timeline. Due to this, Cap and Tony have to go back to the 1970's to retrieve more Pym Particles and the space stone, so he won't be returning the space stone to New York, he'll be returning this one last, and in the 1970s. This may not be too difficult to do, given how well he knows his way around that base, though if anyone sees him, they'll be surprised since Cap is supposed to be missing, frozen in the ice.

8. Doesn't staying in the past mean there will be two Captain Americas?

We assume that he returns the space stone last and stays in the 1970's with Peggy Carter. This creates a whole bunch of complications. Does him staying there create a new branch of the timeline? Won't there be two Captain Americas? His old self will be frozen in ice, so he'll have plenty of time to meet and marry Peggy. The guy who was supposed to marry her will be out of luck. Did they have any kids?

Now it's up for debate whether or not him staying here creates a branching timeline or not. If he doesn't change too many significant events in history the timeline remains stable, but he’ll also live that entire time knowing that his friend Bucky is captured and turned into the Winter Soldier. Would Cap want to go find Bucky and stop him from killing people? That would have a butterfly effect for sure. Cap will probably want to keep a low profile. He’s got 30-40 years before he comes out of the ice. Would he travel back to main future in 2011 or wait past that. Probably the latter.

9. Doesn't this mean that Thanos can complete the Gauntlet again?

One of the first questions that I asked after walking out of the theatre was "doesn't putting the infinity stones back in the past mean that Thanos is just going to complete the gauntlet again?" If you spend to much time thinking about the answer to this question, it can send your brain in a loop given the new rules of time travel that the Russo Brothers have created. History doesn't technically repeat itself, but time travelling backwards creates a new branch on the timeline, a sort of parallel dimension. You are basically creating a new parallel dimension every time you travel back. In theory Thanos will complete the gauntlet again in each new dimension, except the one created when he traveled to the future. There will be a new dimension where Thanos disappears shortly before the events in Guardians of the Galaxy 1.

 10. Will he see the previous time travelling Avengers?

 I'm not 100% sure what the rule is for these new branching timelines or if you can see previous time travellers when you travel back. When he goes to return these stones to the same moments in time that they were taken borrowed, will he see the other Avengers doing the previous missions? Will he be able to ask them for help? If he sees them doing their mission, he could go to them and say, don't take the one you are about to take, instead take this one. Use the stones from the future to bring back to the future, then leave the originals where they were.

Conclusion

Captain America going back in time to return the infinity stones raises questions that are difficult to answer. They seem to conveniently give a wide range of powers to these Pym particles. The more you think about the time jumping, the more confusing it can get. Especially the part at the end where he just stays in that timeline then shows up on the bench years later. He shouldn't be returning that spot in the original timeline, unless those Pym particles allow for inter-dimensional travel. Captain America ends his time travel journey by returning to the present to give his shield to Falcon. 

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