Time travel, but not as you know it: Avengers 4 could start with a five-year time jump

By now, we’ve all pretty much taken it as fact that Avengers: Endgame will feature time travel. But what if, instead of going backwards, the MCU upped the ante by jumping ahead five years into the future and really shaking everything up? That’s the latest rumour going around – so let’s dive into whether it could be a reality.

Firstly, where’s this all come from? Well, the news comes from Daniel RPK. Not familiar with the name? He’s a fairly trusted source on all things DC and – while we should still take things with a pinch of salt – he’s been right before. His assertion of DC’s new emphasis on standalone movies, for one thing, makes him look like Nostradamus in the wake of the solo Joker movie.

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Plus, he isn’t the only one who’s been looking forward into a potential Avengers 4 future. A previous casting rumour about a teenage Cassie Lang, Ant-Man’s daughter, appearing in Avengers 4 also chimes with the time jump. 

With Scott Lang being presumably trapped in the Quantum Realm post-Ant-Man and the Wasp, who’s to say he can’t find his way out and arrive on the scene five years later and comes face-to-face with a daughter who has grown up without her father? Ouch. Speaking of fathers, Tony Stark might also be one. Pepper Potts may have given birth by the time Avengers 4 rolls around - which adds further stock to that theory.

Not only would an Avengers 4 time jump really hammer home the losses felt in Avengers: Infinity War, it gives the Russo brothers carte blanche to mould their own MCU landscape – even if it does end up all being changed thanks to whatever is going to go down with the Time Stone. That’d also be a good a reason as any as to why the Avengers 4 title still hasn’t been revealed.

Either way, look forward (or backwards) to Avengers 4 taking all that we once knew and loved, and thought was familiar, and turning it on its head. Steve going half-a-decade without Bucky; Tony having to live with losing his protégé for so long; a down in the dumps Rocket coping without the Guardians of the Galaxy. It hurts just thinking about it – but it’d be the perfect move to make Thanos an even bigger baddie than ever before.

Want another peek behind the spoiler curtain? Here's what the cast have to say about the Avengers: Endgame ending...

Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.