Fixing Avengers Endgame's Spectacle Over Story Problem

Hey everyone, happy new year. Before we start, I wanted to mention a few things.

Number one, this rewrite is meant to be on-release accurate, meaning I will not be taking into account any Marvel project released after Endgame. Essentially, imagine that this project was the Avengers Endgame we all went to see in theaters on opening night.

Number two, I will come right out of the gate and say that I will be modifying Endgame time travel mechanics. It isn't that I think the original film's mechanics are bad or do not work. I think they do, but apparently the directors and writers do not agree with each other on their own movie's time travel rules. And that is seen at certain points in the movie, which I'll get into later. So, I will be adjusting them to make things more cohesive.

Number three, as always, this rewrite is not to bash anyone who helped make this film. Avengers Endgame is a very well-made film and was the culmination of 10 years of stories. That is very impressive. As with any rewrite I release, I do not hate the film I am covering. This is just a fun creative writing experiment for me that you all hopefully also enjoy. If you want, you can think of this as an entry in Marvel's What If series titled "What If Thanos Never Destroyed the Infinity Stones."

Finally, if you enjoyed the video, don't forget to subscribe. My goal for 2026 is to get this channel to a thousand subscribers. So, if you enjoy the content I make here, I would greatly appreciate any likes, comments, or subscriptions. Good support on this project will let me know if you guys want to see more Marvel content such as a potential larger multiverse saga rewrite series. Wink wink, nudge nudge.

Anyways, with those announcements out of the way, let's get into the video. Hope you enjoy.

The opening scene with Hawkeye's family getting dusted will remain the same. It is a very emotional scene on its own and it puts us right back into the end of Infinity War headspace. From there, the title card will play just as normal. Tony and Nebula will spend time on the Guardian ship, almost die, and then get rescued. A small change will be during the rescue. Tony opens his eyes to see Captain Marvel. At the same time, the Bifrost will open next to her, and Thor plus Rocket, who will be in the smaller pod from Infinity War, will be present there as well. Rocket is happy to see the ship intact. Tony and Thor smile at seeing each other. Thor nods to Captain Marvel and she grabs the ship. Thor then uses Stormbreaker to summon the Bifrost again and bring them all back to Earth.

Back on Earth, Steve finishes shaving as the Bifrost brings the ship to the ground. Tony and Pepper reunite and Tony and Steve have their same exchange. From here, the scene in the conference room with everyone reconvening will be the same. Rocket's snide, "Which of course he did fail," joke will be cut, but Tony's "Build Bear" joke will remain in. The scene ends with Tony going off on Steve and then passing out.

From here, Captain Marvel will propose that they find Thanos and use the stones to bring everyone back. Banner will agree to finding Thanos, but says the fallout of the snap is already being seen. Civil unrest, displacements, people thinking there is no hope. Not to mention the ramifications of just putting people right back where they were. There are things they don't even know the ramifications of yet. And undoing that could cause more problems. He says he needs to think about how to best do this once they get the stones.

Nebula reveals Thanos told her where they would go once his work was complete. To the garden, but she says Thanos never told her where that was. Rocket pulls up a hologram of the galaxy. "When Thanos snapped, Earth became ground zero for a spike of cosmic radiation never seen before. We'll monitor the galaxy. See if we pick up any more spikes. Even a smaller one may give us an idea of where Thanos is." Rodie sits down. "There's a trillion planets out there. We'll never find him."

So, this is a major change that I am making for this rewrite. In my opinion, Endgame kind of falls apart the exact second Thor chops off Thanos's head. It robs the story of its villain. And for most of the movie afterwards, the Avengers have no opposition. Also, having them fight a past Thanos just doesn't really work in my opinion compared to the more philosophical Thanos they faced in Infinity War. So, for this rewrite, Thanos will not use the stones again. So, the Avengers have no second spike of cosmic radiation to track them to the garden. They still have no way of bringing everyone back, even if the means to do so are still out there somewhere among the stars.

We will cut to 3 months later. Everyone is gathered for Tony and Pepper's wedding. We see among the groomsmen are Happy, Roadie, and Banner. Among the bridesmaids is Natasha. There are blank spaces in between some of the wedding party where a photo has been left for whoever was supposed to be there before being dusted. On Tony's side, Peter Parker has a photo. The rest of the Avengers are sitting in the front rows alongside other close friends and family. Notably, Steve and Barton are not present. After Pepper walks down the aisle, Steve quietly enters in the back and sits in the back row. Natasha notices him enter. After Tony and Pepper are pronounced husband and wife and have their kiss, Steve leaves quietly, exiting before Tony and Pepper walk back down the aisle. At the reception, Natasha and Banner look for Steve, but he is not present. It is clear that Steve wanted to be there for Tony, but it is left unclear whether or not he was invited. Throughout the ceremony and the reception, Natasha was also checking the back and vantage points. She knows Barton prefers to watch things from a distance, but she never spots him.

3 days later, Thor is sitting in the Avengers compound when he suddenly stands and walks outside. Rocket is making repairs on the ship when he sees Thor walk outside and summon lightning to change into his Asgardian clothing. "Thor, where are you going?" "Thanos is out there somewhere. I'm going to find him. And if you never find him, I will. And when I do, I'll go for the head." Thor summons the Bifrost and disappears.

Next, we enter the quantum realm. Scott Lang is floating there. He looks around for anything and tries his commlink again. "Oh, Hank, this isn't funny. Is anyone there? Let me out."

From here, I will include two quick scenes. The first is Natasha entering a house in Russia to find it empty. She picks up a framed photo showing her with her family from the Black Widow movie. She breaks down in tears. The second scene has Barton. He finishes tightening his gauntlets and sheathes a newly made sword. He then walks away from a wall showing pieces of evidence tying crimes to the tracksuit mafia.

These scenes require some explaining. As part of this rewrite, I proposed the addition of two more films in between Infinity War and Endgame. Between these two films, there was already Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel. For this rewrite, we would also have the Black Widow film and a Hawkeye film. The Black Widow movie would follow similarly to the original film with the major change being that the film would take place immediately before the events of Infinity War. Natasha would leave to reunite with Steve and Sam. And the final scene of this Black Widow movie would be her family in that Russian house eating dinner when all three of them suddenly dust. For Hawkeye, the scene of him leaving to hunt the tracksuit mafia as a ronin would be the first scene of the film. This would give an opportunity for the audience to see not only how far Barton has fallen because of the snap, but it would also flesh out the post-snap world in a way that the original Endgame was not really able to do. Throughout the film, Barton will do things that will then get reported to Natasha. She seeks him out a few times, managing to spot him once, but he gets away before she can corner him and talk. This Hawkeye film would then end with a lead that takes him to Japan after he slaughters a cartel in Mexico, which is investigated by Rodie.

We cut to one year after the snap. Tony and Pepper park outside their new house. They have started moving into the house they have in the original film. We see that Pepper is holding a newborn. As Tony starts bringing in boxes, Pepper smiles at him and Tony smiles back, but then his face becomes conflicted. We can see on his face that he doesn't believe he deserves this.

Two years after the snap, Banner is in a lab inside the Avengers compound. He enters the gamma chamber and activates it. He is trying to talk to the Hulk. "Hulk, listen, buddy. I know it's been a while, but we need to talk. You're not in danger." "No. Banner hate Hulk. Banner want Hulk gone." Hulk retreats and Banner can't get a hold of him anymore.

A few minutes later, Captain Marvel lands outside and Banner welcomes her in. "Thanks for coming, Danvers." "Don't sweat it. Did your little contact with him work out?" "No, but he did at least talk to me this time, so that's progress." Banner fetches a device that he has been tinkering with. At the same time, Wong emerges from a sling ring portal. Banner and Wong greet each other. "So, as I understand, your powers were derived from the Space Stone." "I got hit with a blast from the Tesseract. So I think so." "Okay. You might have residual Space Stone energy. Then if I can scan that energy, it may help to eliminate the background noise of the universe and help us track the actual Space Stone." "Background noise? The six Infinity Stones represent a different aspect of existence. Each of them has a unique energy signature that permeates across the cosmos. Unfortunately, that makes it very difficult to isolate the presence of the actual stone itself. So, if I can get enough energy reads from other sources, I may be able to eliminate some of that noise." Banner scans Captain Marvel and is able to eliminate some of the noise, but there is still no clear direction as to where Thanos and the stones are. Wong returns to the Sanctum and Captain Marvel bids farewell as she returns to space.

Meanwhile, Natasha contacts anyone she knows and forms a new team of Avengers to get reports from. The team consists of Rocket and Nebula, Captain Marvel, Roodie, and Coy. Roodie and Natasha converse after one of the meetings. Natasha expresses that she feels so lost. Before the Avengers, all she had was Barton and SHIELD. She lost SHIELD, but kept Barton and got the Avengers. Then she found her actual family. Then she lost Barton, the Avengers, and her actual family because of the snap. She says she'd do a lot if it meant getting that all back.

We get more scenes like this of the characters dealing with their grief and the loss of the snap. One of the issues with Endgame is that a lot of character development happens offscreen because of the 5-year time jump. Some of these issues are highlighted in this video. These scenes serve as a way to still show character development as we progress through time until finally the screen says "5 years later."

Steve is leading his group counseling like the original film. As the counseling session is finishing up, we cut back to the quantum realm. Scott has shifted slightly in his position, and in the distance, we can see a time vortex that Janet had warned him about. "Definitely not going to try that. I wonder, though." Scott examines the container containing the quantum particles he collected at the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp. He is able to use some spare pin particles alongside the energy from the quantum particles to reverse engineer one of his enlargement discs. He slots the vial of now blue liquid into his suit. "All right, first time better not have been an anomaly." He pushes the suit button. He suddenly finds himself lying in the middle of the road. He gets out of his suit and looks around. We get the same scene as the original movie with him seeing the obelisks with the vanished names and asking the kid what happened. He eventually makes it to Cassie's house and we get the same reunion scene of him and Cassie.

Natasha is getting a report from the new Avengers. Everyone disconnects except Brody. He reluctantly tells her about the Mexican cartel massacre that links back to Barton and then also disconnects. Natasha walks downstairs to find Banner sitting inside the gamma chamber looking defeated. The two will talk and it is clear neither of them have moved on from failing to stop the snap. The conversation then shifts to their brief romance when Ultron was around. Banner confesses that he may have been trapped as Hulk for 2 years, but the fact that her message was what snapped Hulk out of it on Sakaar was probably indicative that he never lost those feelings. "Me, too. But I think we're both emotionally a little bit in shambles right now." Natasha chuckles. "We'll figure it out later then." Steve then walks into the compound and finds them. He jokes that he can come back later, but they invite him to join them in sitting on the floor. He joins in. Most of the scene and dialogue will remain identical to what happens in the original movie when Steve comes to visit Natasha.

Scott then arrives at the compound. He relays the same information to them about the quantum realm and how it could be used as a time machine. Banner is a little resistant, stating that time travel is the least understood field in science. "I'm afraid that's outside my area of expertise. Is there anyone else we could talk to about this?"

We then cut to Tony's home. This scene will remain mostly the same. The only change will be that Steve elects to stay in the car when he sees Tony notice he is there and does not look pleased. Scott and Natasha will try to convince Tony to help them figure this out. He will still refuse. It will partly be because he has no desire to work with Steve anymore and partly for the same reason Banner is resistant. He does not understand moving across a timeline. So, he does not know what the ramifications of attempting it would be. Instead of the original film where he says no because he has everything he needs, he will say no as a mix of resentment and "I don't want to lose everything I gained because in his eyes he doesn't deserve it."

Back at the compound, Banner greets Wong again. He briefs him on the situation and what they are hoping to do. Wong is also hesitant. He never used the Time Stone, but he saw what it could do if used. "This much I do know, Doctor. Do not assume you will be able to change what happened. Even the Ancient One was not capable of undoing what had already been set in stone. You may be able to go back along the timeline, but that doesn't mean you'll stop Thanos from snapping his fingers."

We then get a very brief scene. On a hilltop overlooking a field of crops is Thanos's armor, sitting as a scarecrow. The shot of Thanos's hand picking up a fruit and dropping it into the basket remains in. No dialogue, and the only bit of Thanos we see is his non-gloved hand. We then cut away.

After dinner later that night, Tony is doing the dishes. He puts a dish away and notices a framed photo tucked away. It is a photo of him and Peter Parker. Tony goes to his workbench and has FRIDAY analyze everything they know about time travel and the quantum realm. While FRIDAY does that, Tony puts Morgan to bed in the same scene as the original movie. Tony smiles at hearing "I love you 3000," but his face drops after he shuts the door. FRIDAY shows him an analysis. He examines and figures out there may be a way to achieve time travel. He has to find a way of anchoring them to the present so they have a rope to pull them back to where they belong. He confides in Pepper in a similar scene, but he also expresses that he isn't sure what to do. He feels guilt that Strange gave up the Time Stone in exchange for his life. "I mean, I know he secretly couldn't bear the thought of losing me, but why did he value my life over half the universe? Didn't you mention 1 in 4,605 possible outcomes? Well, we got one of the other ones." He thinks back to what FRIDAY showed him. "Or maybe we didn't." Tony tells her about the possible anchor theory, but then he tells her how he could just box it up and throw it in the lake. He could just forget about it. "But would you be able to rest?"

Banner, Wong, Natasha, and Steve all help Scott suit up and attempt to travel through the quantum realm. Scott brings one of his enlargement discs just in case, but then the scene remains the same from the original film. Steve walks away to think outside. As he stands there, he watches an expensive car drive up to the front of the compound. Tony gets out, grabs some supplies, and sees him standing there. "Tony." "Hi." "Banner and everyone else is inside." "Cool." He walks past towards the door. "Tony, wait." Tony turns. "I..." Steve looks like he wants to say something else, but he decides against it. "I'm glad you're here." Tony nods and walks inside. He greets everyone else and starts sharing his findings with Banner. Wong listens in and offers input based on what he knows from the Kamar-Taj library. Natasha goes outside to make sure Steve is okay.

So, to talk about the change to this scene very quickly, I think the original scene where Tony and Steve are immediately cracking jokes with each other and are basically friends again does a huge disservice to the events of Civil War, Tony's reluctance to call Steve in Infinity War, and Tony's anger at the beginning of this film. I believe it is more beneficial to the arcs of both Tony and Steve for there to still be some animosity. At this point, they are working together out of a reluctant necessity rather than being besties again. Steve obviously wants things to get better, but he has to take his own counseling session to heart and accept he might not ever be on good terms with Tony ever again.

Natasha mentions to Steve that Scott wants to do a few more tests, but they may need to put out a call to everyone else. She then decides it's finally time to track down Barton. Despite Rod's concerns, Natasha finally convinces him to relay any information about the Mexican cartel raid to her. She traces some evidence and heads for Japan. Meanwhile, Tony sends a transmission to Nebula, asking her and Rocket to head to Earth and meet up with them. Banner sends a message to Captain Marvel asking the same. Both Tony and Banner also ask them to bring back Thor if they find him.

Meanwhile, Scott carefully extracts samples of the quantum particles he has left and gets them into smaller vials. Tony and Banner work with him and Wong and eventually work out a prototype for Tony's anchor theory. By having a store of quantum particles here in the compound, they can use the smaller vials to create a device with an invisible tether through the quantum realm. This device will allow them to travel freely through the time vortexes while still having a place to come back to. "You know, theoretically..."

We get this quick scene of Thor standing among ruins out in space. He holds Stormbreaker in his hand and screams in rage. All this searching and he can't find Thanos or the stones. Thor takes a moment, then invokes the same enchantment on Stormbreaker that Odin invoked on Mjolnir in the first Thor film. He then drops Stormbreaker.

Natasha arrives in Japan just as Barton begins the next raid. The scene of Ronin defeating the entire group of swordsmen will remain the same. Barton cleans his blade and takes his hood off. "You shouldn't be here." "Neither should you. I won't go easy. You know that, right?" "I'm not here to arrest you." Barton turns. "The others may have found a way to bring back everyone we lost. We need your help." "No, you don't. I'm just the guy with a bow and arrow. Who am I compared to someone like Thor or Wanda?" Natasha starts walking closer. "We're uncoordinated right now. Thor is out, who knows where. Banner is at odds with the Hulk. And Tony and Steve still barely talk to each other. What did Laura always say? She always said they needed me more than I know. Come back with me and help us fix this. I hate seeing you like this. Be the person Laura already sees you are." "Don't say you can fix it. Don't give me hope." "I'm sorry I couldn't give it to you sooner." The two hug and Barton follows Natasha back to the jet.

On board the Guardian ship, Rocket finishes the seventh jump and switches off the power, wanting to give himself, Nebula, and the ship a break and avoid a repeat of what he and Yondu experienced traveling to Ego. "All right, Nebula, we're here. Welcome to Nihil." The two disembark. In the 5 years since Stormbreaker was forged, Ri has repaired the forge quite extensively. Rocket asks why he is still here and states that he has made an oath to facilitate this forge until his dying day. At which point he will let the neutron star engulf the forge and put his people's memory to rest. Rocket and Nebula ask about Thor, specifically if he visited recently or if there is any way to track Stormbreaker. Thor did visit some time ago, asking the same as you, but about Thanos's gauntlet. There is no way of tracking it or Stormbreaker, but he did say he intended to return to the ruins of Asgard. "Be warned, if you do find him, he looks worse for wear." Rocket and Nebula depart for Asgard's ruins after relaying a message to Earth.

Back on Earth, everyone gathers in the lab to test the time travel system. After some back and forth, Barton volunteers to test the anchor system. As he gets suited up, Banner warns him to be very careful. "They don't know which time travel theory is true, or if any of them are, so best not to risk it." Barton gets sent through the quantum realm and lands on his farm 6 years prior. He looks around. He notices he looks semi-transparent, almost as if he isn't truly here. A rabbit runs by and acts like he isn't even there. After a few moments, the space-time continuum doesn't shatter, so he figures he's free to move around. He picks up his son's baseball gloves and he sees his hands become more solid. He hears his daughter and he calls for her. He then jolts backwards. He can feel himself losing his tether to the present time. He drops the glove and activates his wrist device just before his daughter finds him and he jumps back to the present. She shrugs it off and walks away. Barton reappears in the compound and he is absolutely panicked. Natasha hugs him to calm him down. He tells Banner and Tony what happened when he started affecting things. Banner proposes that none of the time travel theories are 100% correct.

This is where I want to propose my rewrite for Endgame time travel mechanics. In the original film, the movie can't decide if its time travel is traveling to a previous point on the timeline or if it is traveling to another universe. It is confusing and is only compounded by later additions to the MCU like Loki or Multiverse of Madness. My proposal for the mechanics of this film is more along the lines of Bran's abilities in Game of Thrones. In that show, it is described that the past cannot be changed because, quote, "The ink is dry." Long alluded to this earlier in the rewrite, stating that even the Ancient One could not change what has already been set in stone. In this rewrite, the Avengers can travel back to a previous point on their timeline. Initially, they are not fully tied to that point they traveled to because of their anchor to the present. As they begin to affect the past, the timeline attempts to resolve this paradox by severing the tether and making their present where in time they currently are. As an example, if Rodie traveled back to the Vietnam War and started fighting in a battle, his tether would be broken and he would be trapped in Vietnam in the late 1900s with no way to return. However, if he went there and observed, making no major changes to the past, he would be fine.

Banner proposes this explanation as his theory to the rest of the group. Wong finds it lines up with everything he knows. He however amends the theory slightly in that the Time Stone is likely the exception to this rule since it is the physical representation of time, which is why reversing time on an apple would not always result in something catastrophic. "Dangerous and potentially catastrophic, but not always." As Banner and Tony get back to work in figuring out the specifics of this theory, Barton has calmed down. He tells Natasha he heard his family's voices. "It felt so real." "We'll get them back, Clint. Don't worry. But would they want to see the man I've become?"

Rocket and Nebula jump to the ruins of Asgard. They get into the pod and find Thor standing among the wreckage. His hair has grown back out, as has his beard. It is also obvious he has put on some weight, but not to the point of the original film. Thor tells them how he feels like a failure. Five Earth years and he isn't anywhere closer to finding the stones. When Rocket mentions Thanos, Thor will still have his reaction to the original film. Nebula sits with Thor and tells him about everything she suffered under Thanos. Thor asks why she isn't also seeking out revenge, and Nebula replies that she tried that once before with Gamora, and it didn't make her feel better. Rocket then tells Thor about the plan the Avengers have to locate the stones. Thor starts to refuse, but Rocket slaps him, and he gives Thor the same pep talk he did in past Asgard in the original film. Thor agrees to go, but he leaves Stormbreaker behind. He doesn't even try to pick it up because he doesn't know what he would do if he found out he wasn't worthy anymore.

Steve sits alone in the compound. He is contemplating the mission ahead and he looks at the compass with Peggy's photo. Tony sees him, hesitates, and then walks over. "Rogers, we're a few hours out from having everything ready. Just need to figure out when to jump to." "That's good. Is there a contingency in case someone accidentally gets stuck in the past?" "No. If there's a way to rebind the tether, we haven't found it." "Well, just be careful. Pepper and Morgan need you." Tony is a little taken aback. "I... I wanted to ask." Banner is trying to find good points to drop in and gather energy readings. "Any point where the Tesseract was relatively unattended?" "Not that I can think of. Maybe after it drops into the ocean." He and Steve then see Captain Marvel arrive and Tony goes to brief her. Rocket, Nebula, and Thor land a few hours later. Thor greets everyone and notices the tension between Tony and Steve. Banner leads everyone into the conference room and briefs them on the plan, saying he wants everyone to agree to this. He fills Rocket, Nebula, Thor, and Captain Marvel in on the mechanics of the time travel. Tony mentions they've decided the group should find points where each stone is on its own. This will minimize the amount of people going back to one time and reduce the potential for someone or something changing the past and then getting trapped. After some discussion with input from everyone, the six time points are decided. Rodie and Nebula will go to Morag one year before Star-Lord stole the orb. Tony and Steve will go to Camp Lehigh just like the original film to get the Tesseract. Thor and Rocket will go to Asgard after Jane gets infected with the Aether. For the Soul Stone, Natasha and Barton have likely the most dangerous mission. Nebula shares that Thanos killed Gamora on Vormir and then returned with the Soul Stone. Everyone's best guess is the Soul Stone wasn't able to be claimed before Gamora was killed. So Natasha and Barton have to sneak up to Thanos after he claims the stone to get the reading. For the Time and Mind Stones, Scott, Banner, and Captain Marvel will go to the Battle of New York in 2012. Long shares the Ancient One was present to defend the New York Sanctum during the battle. So Banner elects to go get the reading from the Ancient One, while Scott will sneak his way up to Stark Tower and get the Mind Stone reading before Natasha and Dr. Selvig use it to close the portal. Captain Marvel will be there as backup and to get a secondary Tesseract reading from the portal generator if she gets the chance. Steve is initially hesitant about going with Tony, worried they may not work well together. But Banner insists. He says Steve knows Camp Lehigh better than any of them and Tony's father built most of the facilities once it became the SHIELD base, so he will know the best way to get the Tesseract. Tony nods to Steve and they both agree to the plan. Wong elects to stay behind. The Sanctum needs to remain guarded. He portals away after wishing everyone good luck. Right before everyone suits up, Natasha hands Steve and Tony face disguise tech like the ones she used in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. "Maybe worth having these just in case." Everyone suits up and gets onto the quantum tunnel platform. Banner distributes energy scanners like the one he used to scan Captain Marvel's Space Stone energy earlier in this rewrite. Steve gives the same speech as the original film. Everyone says their lines and the tunnel powers up. Everyone zips into the quantum realm and gets spit out in their respective time points. They are when they need to be. Now they just need to get the readings without losing their way of getting home.

From here, we will shift between the different perspectives. Rodie and Nebula make small talk as they navigate through the temple on Morag. They use their anchor devices to monitor if they are affecting the timeline. They occasionally see the percentage rise and they become slightly less transparent, but nothing requiring them to abort. Tony and Steve infiltrate the camp. They've been able to impersonate a businessman and a soldier respectively. Even though they are not perceivable to the people in this time point, as confirmed by Barton not being seen by the rabbit, they do their best to blend in. Importantly, they do not speak because Barton almost lost his anchor during the test when he spoke with his daughter nearby. Thor and Rocket sneak through Asgard. They move through the dungeons and witness the conversation between Loki and Frigga. Although Thor is having a hard time seeing his dead mother and brother, he's able to keep himself contained and they move towards Jane's room. We'll come back to Natasha and Barton.

In New York, we get the recreation of the "Avengers Assemble" shot as Banner, Ant-Man, and Captain Marvel appear. Captain Marvel sees the number of ships flying around and says she may not be able to get the Tesseract reading. If she tries to fly up there and accidentally hits a Chitauri ship, that could be the difference maker. She tries to sneak her way up there with Scott while Banner goes to the New York Sanctum. Banner finds the Ancient One on the roof of the Sanctum, stopping any ships that try to attack the building. Banner moves quietly and takes out his energy scanner. As he gets closer, the Ancient One suddenly turns and enters her astral form. She then hits Banner in the chest and two souls fly out. Banner watches as his body is falling, but only barely, and he sees himself and Hulk in astral form. "Ah, Doctor Banner, good to see it was just you." "I... I don't understand." He looks at his anchor device on his body and sees it did increase, but he is not yet in danger of losing his anchor. "My power offers me a small amount of foresight. It would seem it was fate for us to be here. Do not worry." Outside the astral plane, only a few moments have passed. "You are not in any danger here." Hulk's astral form suddenly stirs. "What happened?" "Hulk napping." There is a quick scene of Natasha and Barton arriving on Vormir. They are slightly ahead of Thanos and Gamora, but they still need to move fast. They start climbing the nearby mountain. We go through everyone again, seeing their progress. Rodie and Nebula get into the temple and see the orb. Rodie tries to get a scan of the outside, but it is not enough to get the Power Stone due to the force field and the orb itself. Nebula tells Rodie to pull her away if her anchor device spikes, as she reaches her hand into the force field and pulls out the orb. She starts becoming more solid as Rodie uses his suit tech to open the combination on the orb. The two of them are in a race against time to get the scan and put the orb back. Rodie finishes the scan and Nebula shoves the orb back through the force field. They both look at each other as their percentages begin to slowly tick back down. They elect to not take any more chances and tug the anchor, returning to the compound.

I want to have this scene first because it shows how dangerous this mission really is. Even with no one else around to witness the past being changed, the timeline is so precise that moving the Power Stone 5 ft almost got two of our heroes stuck 13 years in the past.

We then shift to Camp Lehigh. Tony and Steve continue through the SHIELD base. Steve goes to the security room to make sure Tony has a clear path to the Tesseract. Tony, meanwhile, slowly advances. Eventually, he finds a younger Hank Pym walking through the hallways. Tony follows him into the restricted section. Steve follows another guard and gets into a quiet office. Now that the two are alone, Steve and Tony activate their comm link and talk through the process. Tony finds the Tesseract safe. Rather than using his suit to cut open the safe, which somehow didn't trigger an alarm, Tony will recognize his dad's design and instead crack the cipher. He opens the door and sees the Tesseract. "Thanks for teaching me, Dad." He gets the scan of the Tesseract. "Between this scan, Banner's scan of Captain Marvel earlier and the potential energy scan coming from the Battle of New York, that should be enough. Steve, head outside. We're back in the game." Tony then hears voices. Someone calls out asking who's there. Tony quickly puts the Tesseract back, closes and locks the safe, and then hides. Howard Stark walks into frame with Hank Pym right beside him. "Howard, you got a screw loose? Could have sworn I heard someone." Howard unlocks the safe and sees the Tesseract is still there. He shrugs it off and leaves with Hank Pym. Tony, despite being shaken that he is so close to his dad, follows so he can get back outside.

Meanwhile, Steve turns off his comm link and gets ready to leave. Then he hears a familiar voice. We get the same shot of him looking through the blinds at Peggy Carter. Steve looks at the door. He wants so badly to open it and talk to her, but he knows he can't. He turns away. Just as he prepares to leave, he looks back at the desk. There's an object on it. It looks like his compass, the one with Peggy's photo in it. Before he can investigate further, Peggy starts moving towards her office door. Steve is forced to quickly exit to avoid her.

Tony is in the elevator with Howard and Hank. He is trying everything possible to not make any noise. While in the elevator, he is witnessed to a conversation between the two men. "So nice to see your wife's pregnancy has made you start hearing things. Didn't think that was one of the symptoms." Tony looks weird, realizing his mom is pregnant with him. "The one that don't tell you about is that she can't stand the sound of my chewing." Tony follows them outside, hearing more of the conversation. Despite Steve spotting him from across the courtyard, Tony motions that he wants and needs to listen more. "You know, Hank, I'll be honest with you. I have a great job, a lot of money, and a wonderful wife, and a healthy baby on the way. I almost feel like I don't deserve it." "Well, I could list some traits you have to affirm that feeling, but I'll save it. Instead, I'll tell you to enjoy the fact you have those things. I can't speak as a father yet, but I know you're the kind of man who will put those bad traits to the side for the sake of your child. You and Jan will get there one day, Hank." "Then yeah, you're right. Kid's not even here yet, and there's nothing I wouldn't do for him." The two men shake hands and go their separate ways. Tony watches his dad get into a car with Jarvis and is driven away. Tony is trying not to cry. I wanted to keep the dialogue with Howard and Tony, but since it couldn't be with Tony, I subbed in Hank Pym. In the MCU, these two are constantly at each other's throats whenever they come up. So, it is good to see a rare moment of the two not being rivals. Tony and Steve reunite and tug the anchor as well, returning to the compound.

On Asgard, Thor and Rocket have made their way to Jane's room. Since the Aether is a fluid object and has infected Jane, Rocket believes he should just be able to scan Jane and get the energy readings they need. Just then, Frigga knocks on Jane's door and is invited in. Frigga asks how Jane is feeling, and the two begin to speak while Thor watches Rocket try to get close to Jane. As Rocket does, Frigga talks to Jane, but starts looking in Rocket's direction. She may not have the all-sight that Heimdall does, but she can still see with more than just eyes. The scene will play out with Rocket trying to get close to Jane and Thor doing small things to keep Frigga from looking at Rocket. Frigga and Jane will eventually drift onto the subject of Thor. For brevity, I will not do a dialogue exchange here. They will talk about Thor's conflict with choosing either his duty to be king or his desire to be a protector. Frigga will tell Jane that Thor let his emotions guide him for a long time, but thanks to Earth and to her, he learned how to balance himself. Thor looks down at his hands, realizing that even now he let his desire for revenge against Thanos consume him. Frigga then says the measure of a person is how well they succeed at who they are rather than being who they're supposed to be. Like Tony, Thor wants to say something to the parent in front of him, but he knows he can't. Rocket finishes the scan and he tugs his anchor and leaves. Frigga picks up on that almost as if she can feel a living thing has just left the room. Thor notices this and knows he can't say anything and that he has to leave. He mouths an "I love you" to her and then tugs his own anchor and returns to the compound.

In New York, Captain Marvel and Scott get to Stark Tower and part ways. Scott shrinks down and gets the scan of the Mind Stone right before Natasha grabs it and carries it up to the SHIELD generator. Since Natasha and Dr. Selvig are right there. Captain Marvel hides nearby, hoping they'll leave soon. She watches as Iron Man carries the nuke overhead and through the portal. Then the aftermath, where Hulk catches him, and they all go to apprehend Loki. With the generator now unattended, she gets her Tesseract scan, which should provide enough data to isolate another stone. At the current moment, four are down. Only two to go.

At the Sanctum, the Ancient One looks at Hulk and Banner. She agrees that she can let them scan the Time Stone, but she has a premonition that the two of them cannot remain in conflict if the Avengers want to win the coming battle. "The Avengers lose." "Banner hate Hulk." "No, I never told you before. I don't hate you." "Banner think Hulk disease." "When did I say that?" "Cigar." "Banner looks at him confused." "Banner brain asleep when Hulk in control. Hulk in control on cigar. Banner brain talk in sleep. Banner brains a Hulk bad. Banner only want Hulk for fighting." "So what? You like fighting?" Hulk just snorts. "Look, Hulk, I know you and I have been at odds for years now. Maybe I've been looking at you the wrong way this whole time. We'll have to talk more when we get back, but we got to work this out." "For that?" "Banner is slightly taken aback." "No." "Yeah, you're right. Fernat." Hulk smiles and holds out his hand for a fist bump, which Banner reciprocates. The Ancient One smiles. It wasn't a full solution, but it was a start. She tells Banner and Hulk she will return to defending the Sanctum, but she will leave the Eye of Agamotto open for a few moments. "Should be enough time for Banner to sneak up and get what he needs." She brings everyone's astral form back to their respective bodies, and time resumes. Banner gets his scan and returns to the compound. After he leaves, the Ancient One quietly wishes him good luck.

Back on Vormir, Natasha and Barton climb up the mountain and get to the altar. They see Red Skull standing at the edge. Looking over, he greets Natasha and Barton by name. He states that he cannot see them, but he can sense them. They state they are not seeking to claim the stone. "Then you are of no consequence. I will await one who is bold enough." They hide off to the side just as Red Skull snaps his head around and floats off to the entrance of the mountain. They hear Red Skull greet Thanos and Gamora by name. Natasha and Barton proceed to watch the entire Vormir sequence from Infinity War. After Thanos throws Gamora off the cliff, there's a flash and Thanos disappears. Barton asks Red Skull where he went. "Gamora's soul has returned to where she was last safe." Natasha and Barton leave the altar and see Thanos lying passed out in the water below. They rush down the mountain and get to Thanos while he is still asleep. Barton takes out the scanner. They notice the faint glow in Thanos's right hand. Barton tries the scanner and gets a partial scan. He then waits until Thanos wakes up and looks at the stone in his hand. Thanos sits there mourning his daughter while Barton and Natasha are mere inches from him trying to finish their scan. Thanos then begins to move the stone to slot it into the gauntlet. Natasha inhales sharply as she sees their opportunity slipping away. Thanos stops and looks up. "Gamora." Natasha and Barton stay absolutely still to not make any more noise. Thanos looks back down after a few moments of listening, slots the Soul Stone into the gauntlet, then uses the Space Stone to teleport away. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Did you get it?" "65%. We missed it." The two sit in silence for a few moments. Then Natasha has an idea. Barton follows her back to the altar. "Hey, you. What happens if someone makes a sacrifice after the stone has already been claimed?" "You seek to claim the stone from Thanos. You will not accomplish that here. In order to take the stone, you must be bold enough to be the first to honor the demand for a sacrifice. You may slay Thanos, son of Alars, and take it from him. But this altar has served its purpose." "So what if we didn't know he took it and made a sacrifice thinking we were the first?" "Nat, what are you getting at?" "Your sacrifice would be accepted, but you would not receive what you seek. For you were not the first to meet the demands of the stone." Natasha leads Barton away to speak to him. "If one of us makes a sacrifice, our anchor device may be able to trace our soul as it moves with the stone. If what Wong said is true, if these things really bind to our souls, maybe the anchor can track the stone as it moves." "But really, you're just going to believe a word of this guy?" "Yes. Why?" "Cuz he knows your dad's name." "I didn't." Natasha and Barton continue talking for several hours. Eventually, they decide it's the best chance they have to get everything they need to contribute their part to the team. But then the question turns to who will be the one to do it. Suddenly, the altar begins to shimmer with orange light. "Uh, buddy, what's going on?" "The stones have served the purpose that Thanos, son of Ellis, needed them to do. This means we won't affect the snap itself. Can't endanger the present now that the stones have been used." "Then it's obvious who it has to be." "Yeah. Um, starting to think we mean different people in that." Natasha talks about how she has spent the last 5 years trying to get to a point where they can bring everyone back. She's lost every family she's ever been a part of, but now

She can do something to bring some of those found families back. Burton says he can't let her save his life. All that he's done since and even before the snap took his family was killed. He says he's become something his family shouldn't have to live with. At least this way he can do one last thing to make sure they see tomorrow.

"I don't judge people for their worst mistakes, Clint."

"Maybe you should."

"You didn't."

The two hug. Barton smiles and then trips Natasha. She falls to the ground.

"Tell my family I love them."

Natasha flips him around and stuns him with an electricity blast.

"You can tell him yourself."

The two have the same back and forth as the original film, both trying to be the one to die so the other can live. Barton throws himself off the cliff, but Natasha grabs him, hooks a cable on him, and the two dangle from the cliff with Barton holding Natasha up. Burton looks and sees she doesn't have her anchor device on. She left it on the cliff for him.

"Let me go."

"No, please, Natasha."

"No, it's okay."

Barton holds back tears as he tries to climb his way up the cliff with her, but it is to no avail.

"Please."

Natasha pushes off the side of the cliff. Barton loses his grip and Natasha goes into freefall. Barton watches as she falls to her death, his eyes filled with tears. There is no swell of energy, no flash of light, no soul stone, just the howl of the wind.

Barton slowly climbs back up the cliff and gets to the top. He sees Natasha's anchor device lying there. He grabs it and cradles it as Red Skull floats up to him. Red Skull speaks as if this is a programmed dialogue. He has to say, "A sacrifice has been made. A sacrifice has been accepted. But what you seek has already been claimed."

Barton ignores him. He doesn't want to be here anymore, but he heads down the mountain and quickly digs a grave nearby. He checks his anchor device and sees he is not in any danger of losing his anchor. Nor is he in danger when he moves Natasha's body and buries her. He looks over and sees another grave which has a gravestone with Gamora scrippled on it. It seems he and Thanos had the same idea before leaving this place. Barton apologizes to Natasha's grave and then tugs his anchor and it's transported back to the compound.

Everyone reappears inside the compound at the exact same moment. All except Natasha. Everyone is silent for a moment before Rodie speaks.

"Are you telling me this might have actually worked?"

Everyone watches as Barton slumps to the ground.

"Clint, where's that?"

Barton simply walks over, hands his scanner and Natasha's anchor device to Tony, and then walks outside to a small dock near the lake. Banner looks heartbroken when he suddenly starts convulsing. Hulk emerges and screams in rage. Hulk starts smashing things and it takes Thor and Captain Marvel to hold him at bay until Rocket is able to hit him with a Xandarian tranquilizer dart. Hulk reverts back into Banner a few minutes later and wakes up.

Tony, Steve, Thor, and a now reverted Banner go to join Barton outside. The remaining original five Avengers sit outside. We will have the same scene from the original film where the five Avengers represent the five different stages of grief. Thor represents denial, Banner and Hulk represent anger, Steve represents bargaining, Tony depression, and Barton acceptance. The only change I would make is that Thor's denial comes from a place of we can go find the stones and fix the problem rather than we have the stones, don't worry about it.

The five Avengers return to the compound. Tony and Banner get to work on analyzing everyone's scans to triangulate the location of the stones. In this time, we can have a scene of Steve and Barton talking about Natasha. Tony also provides comfort to Banner as they analyze the data. After several hours, Tony and Banner call everyone together. With Natasha's anchor device and everyone else's scans, they have been able to trace the signature of each stone to one specific planet. They display the planet and Nebula leans closer.

"We found your garden, father."

"Nuts won't be for nothing."

"Let's go get this son of a..."

Everyone suits up and begins moving towards the guardian's ship.

"So, how are you going to fight him?"

"Oh, yes. Right."

Thor walks over to a clearing and holds out his hand. After a few moments, the Bifrost appears and Stormbreaker flies into Thor's hand, similar to the scene from the original film where he sees he can still summon Mjolnir.

"Yes, I'm still with everyone."

Travels to the garden world in the Guardians ship. Captain Marvel scouts out and reports there are no defenses, no army. It's just Thanos. And that's enough. Thanos sits in his hut cooking something. Even though he did not use the stones again in this rewrite, his face will still be messed up. Clearly, continued proximity to all six stones is slowly draining his strength. He puts the pot down and then Captain Marvel bursts into the hut and grabs him. As Thanos attempts to close his fist, Banner operates the Hulkbuster armor and grabs the gauntlet. Tony flies in and attaches a device to prevent the gauntlet from moving. Everyone else helps subdue Thanos. Then Thor flies in and cuts Thanos's arm off, causing the Mad Titan to cry out in pain. Rocket flips the arms over and sees all six stones.

"It worked. We got him."

"What happened to your face, Thanos?"

"The stones are a powerful force. I committed my trust to safeguarding them until they drained my strength, and I passed on."

"You murdered trillions. You think you can just rest?"

"I corrected the universe. You should be grateful."

"You corrected the universe the way you thought it needed to be corrected. The universe has gone on for much longer than you and will continue long after all of us. It doesn't need your meddling."

"The universe is still finite. Every day that passes provides a new uncertainty, Stark. We have no way of knowing when it will catch up to the universe. It may be today."

"You can't just bring everyone back. The universe is stabilized. I can feel it. You undo that and you will only cause more pain."

"My work is destined. I am inevitable."

"You can't actually be serious."

"The Stones may have told you that, but I feel like you're only listening to what you want to hear."

"No, my father is many things. A liar is not one of them. Oh, thank you, daughter. Perhaps I treated you too harshly."

Thor points Stormbreaker at Thanos.

"What do we do with him?"

"He has no more power. Could just leave him here to live knowing I have failed. I would rather perish just like your friend. I notice one of you is missing."

Barton draws an arrow and aims it at Thanos.

"Natasha."

Thor brings Stormbreer around and beheads Thanos. The momentary triumph subsides.

"Why did you do that?"

"I took his advice. I finally went for the head."

Everyone returns to the compound with the stones in tow. Tony reverse engineers the tech from the original gauntlet and gets to work on making his own. Thor is standing outside when Barton storms up to him.

"Why did you kill him?"

"I saw your eyes, my friend. He mentioned Natasha and you were filled with rage. You've killed enough to get here. But he would have been the only kill that mattered. I know what your feeling could. Would your family have felt the same? They couldn't love the man I've become. A man who protects his friends, who loves his family, both genetic and found. Man who helps save the world. But all the mistakes I've made. My mother once told me not to let your worst moments define who you are. We've all made mistakes. The only reason you made yours was because I made one of my own. I should have gone for the head the first time, but we have a chance to make things right. Thanks to you and to everyone else. Focus on that, Button."

Burton thanks Thor and walks away. Thor looks out into the moonlight.

"Thanks, Mom."

He walks inside, too. Tony and Banner have finished assembling a new gauntlet and placing the stones in. We can keep Rocket's boom joke because I think it is pretty funny and doesn't come immediately after Natasha's death like the original film. Wong returns from the sanctum at Banner's request and joins the team. Tony puts the gauntlet on the table and everyone stands around.

"Does it have to calibrate or something?"

"Let's go for it."

"Not yet. We have to do this right. I spent the last 5 years thinking over this exact problem and I think I have a solution."

He leads everyone to a board and draws out the problem. He will explain how they can't simply bring everyone back. That runs into issues like what if someone was in a car or plane? Do they appear in the plane or in the air where the plane once was, thereby falling to their death? People have moved into the houses of people who were snapped away. Who gets ownership of the house? There were also people who took their own lives in response to losing everything and everyone in the snap. They can't be brought back with everyone else. Benner outlines all these problems and many others to everyone. The same would happen on every other planet as well.

"So, what do you propose we do?"

"We turn back the clock here."

Banner quickly cooks a bit of spaghetti and places one of the noodles on the table. He straightens it out and explains how this noodle represents the timeline. The noodle is constantly growing with the very end being the present and the space beyond the end where it can grow is the future. Banner takes a small object and places it at the end of the spaghetti noodle, stating this represents all of them. Banner proceeds to propose his new idea for using the stones. He moves the object down the noodle so that it is no longer at the present and then chops off the overhang and eats it, putting the object back at the end of the noodle. He then outlines the purpose of each stone and how they can use the six stones to reverse time and give them another chance to stop Thanos from ever snapping in the first place. The time stone is quite obvious. It physically reverses the clock and brings them back 5 years. The space stone will transport everyone to Infinity War Captain America's position right between Vision and where Thanos will appear. This will help get people like Tony, Nebula, Thor, and Captain Marvel in place when Thanos arrives. The reality stone will help to digest the 5 years, but will also ensure that these Avengers overlap with their past selves and override them, preventing an accidental "there's two Iron Man's running around" situation. The soul and mind stone serve similar functions. Since the Avengers are 5 years older than the point they will be traveling to, the soul stone will ensure their souls survive the transport and are safely merged with their past selves. And the mind stone will ensure their minds aren't eviscerated in the process. And finally, since the power stone can amplify the power of the other stones, it is used to supply the required energy for the entire process to take place.

Banner finishes explaining the idea to the rest of the team. Everyone takes a few moments to think it through.

"So, we'd be going back to before Thanos killed Vision. Back to when Thanos first emerged before us. But this time, we'd have all of us."

"Wong, can you think of any issues?"

"What you're trying to do is extremely unprecedented. I think it could work, but I am just as in the dark as you are."

"We can't do it."

Everyone turns to look at Tony. He is trembling. When Rodie asks what is wrong, Tony quietly says, "Morgan." And then quickly leaves the room.

"We can't do this without him."

Steve takes a breath and then goes after him. Steve finds Tony standing outside a ways away from the entrance. It is almost where he and Tony spoke at the end of Age of Ultron. Tony sits in the grass thinking. Steve walks up to him.

"I suppose this is how it was meant to go, huh? The only way to bring back everything I lost is to give up everything I found. Figures. I never felt like I deserve to be happy after what happened with Thanos. Guess this is the universe playing a cruel joke on me."

"You deserve to be happy, Tony. You're not the only one who lost against him. And why did that happen? Because we were divided. And it wasn't because of some stupid accords. When the going got tough, those were disregarded. No, it was because there was no trust in the team. Ultron would have made our jobs obsolete. When I didn't tell you, you called me out on it. Yet the whole time you knew how my parents died, and you said nothing."

"You're right."

Tony does a double take.

"I should have told you, but I didn't. And I'm sorry. I know I have no right to ask this of you, but can you trust that I want you to be happy, but for me to be happy, trillions have to stay dead? We get no doover against Thanos, and Natasha died for nothing."

"Turning back the clock doesn't mean you can't get all of that back. It does. I know how it works, Steve. I don't deserve it."

"Then earn it, Tony. Rectify your mistake. My mistake. All our mistakes. Stop Thanos. Be the hero Morgan already knows you are."

"I... I need to think."

Tony activates his suit and flies away, leaving Steve alone.

Banner walks back down into his gamma chamber in the lab and enters it.

"All right, Hulk. Listen, buddy. I think we may be able to sort this out. Not dead. No point anymore. Hulk. Nat wouldn't have wanted us to be always fighting. I'm sorry, Hulk. For years, I've been treating you as some kind of disease. Maybe it's time I started looking at you as the cure. Hulk, save Banner. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Let's go with that. Banner, help Hulk. And Hulk, save Banner. You with me? Hulk with Banner. Let's do this, buddy."

Banner's skin then begins to turn green. We see Banner's face, but Hulk's eyes. Then, before he fully transforms, Banner passes out.

An hour later, Tony lands at his house, takes the suit off, and walks inside. He sees Pepper is asleep. He walks into Morgan's room, and she immediately wakes up. After a bit of shushing to not wake Pepper up, Morgan starts telling Tony how she beat mom at Candyland earlier.

"You are one smart cookie. Hey, sweetie. So, let's say um Daddy needs to go do something, but it's very scary and it might mean I never see you again. Mommy says she never stopped you from doing anything. Oh, she did. I just tried again later and didn't tell her. Daddy isn't scared of anything. I'm scared of not seeing you or mommy, though. I love you 3,000, Daddy."

"That means you'll always see us again."

Tony smiles and kisses her on the forehead. He tells her to go back to sleep.

Back at the Avengers compound, everyone is finishing final preparations.

"So, what about Stark? Where did Banner go? If they're not here, there's nothing we can do to change their minds. Though I wish there was."

Suddenly, the compound's lockdown protocols activate, and the entire base goes into sentry mode. Everyone looks around to see Tony standing at the doorway holding large backpack.

"I can't believe you were about to use those things without proper precautions. What would you all do without me?"

Rodie and Tony hug. Rodie asks if he is okay and Tony says he is ready to go. He walks over to Steve.

"Thanks for the pep talk."

He takes the backpack off his back and sets it on the table.

"I grabbed this for you."

Tony opens it to reveal Cap's shield.

"Tony, I don't know why."

"He made it for you. Besides, I got to get it out of the garage before Morgan takes it sledding."

Steve puts the shield back on. He sees everyone watching and smiling.

"Welcome back, Captain."

Steve smiles and everyone turns their attention back to the gauntlet.

"All right, now we just got to figure out who's going to snap their fingers."

Both Thor and Captain Marvel begin to step forward.

"My power is sourced from one of the stones. It may prevent me from suffering harm like Thanos did."

"You may have cosmic powers, den, but you were once an ordinary human. I'm the strongest Avenger and the only god here. I may not survive, but I stand the best chance."

Steve and Tony try to stop him.

"Let me do this. Please, let me give us all the chance to write the mistake I made 5 years ago."

They all stop as they hear heavy footsteps from the lab. Hulk walks out, but he is different. He has a shirt on. Banner and Hulk have successfully merged into Smart Hulk.

"Banner. It's me, guys. It's both of us. We put the brains in the brun together. I'll snap my fingers. Hulk may be strong, but he's not a god. Neither was Thanos. We need you at full power, Thor. You saw what the stones did to Thanos. They almost killed him. We know that won't happen to you."

"We don't. But the radiation from the stones is mostly gamma."

"It's like uh... I was made for this."

Thor relents and Banner picks up the gauntlet. He slips it on his hand and the energy floods through him. He screams in pain, but slowly brute forces his way into enduring it. He reaches his hand up and snaps his fingers. With a flash, Hulk slumps forward. Tony runs up and treats his now scarred arm as the wind and dust begins to kick up around them. All of the Avengers see the world around them has fallen away. They are now surrounded by a whirlwind of dust as they hear the ticking of a clock. The stones and the gauntlet vanish as the timeline shuffles backwards and the 5 years is severed. After a few moments, the world returns to them and they feel the sun shining on their face.

"Mr. Stark, what are you doing here?"

The Avengers turn to see Wanda and Vision. They look around and hear the sounds of battle further away in the fields of Wakanda.

"It worked. They are back at the Infinity War finale."

All of them look around. They are excited. It worked. Banner looks depressed though.

"Benner, what's wrong?"

"When I had the stones, I... I tried to bring her back, but that's part of the soul stone now. Well, isn't past her over there?"

"Not when the timeline has to remain stable. The stone told me when I snapped."

Suddenly, the trees begin rustling. A portal opens and Thanos steps through. Barton pulls out Natasha's anchor device. Her anchor points directly at Thanos, not where she would have been at this time. Banner was right. Natasha became part of the soul stone when she made the sacrifice on Vormir. When Banner snapped to create the time rewind, the timeline merged her present soul with her past self, which was the one in Wakanda. But a sacrifice is not so easily taken away from the soul stone. So Natasha remains there.

Thanos prepares to move forward, but then notices Tony and Nebula are with the group.

"Stark, daughter, did I not just see you on Titan?"

Thanos closes his fist and activates the soul stone, scanning Tony and Nebula.

"Fascinating. You're 5 years older than you were a few moments ago. Gap."

"He's figuring it out."

Steve readies his shield.

"Then we keep him from the Mindstone. Eyes up. Stay sharp."

Everyone charges Thanos once again. Despite having extra help in the form of Tony, Nebula, Thor, Captain Marvel, Wong, Scott, and Barton, Thanos manages to overpower everyone. Steve looks up to see Wanda destroy Vision. Then Thanos reverses time and reforms Vision. Just as Vision reforms, Wong opens a sling ring portal beneath him, and the Android falls away from Thanos's reach.

"He'll find Vision soon enough. Then we move quickly."

Wanda charges up a shot of chaos magic, but Thanos activates the power and soul stones and puts her into a deep sleep, similar to what he did to some of the guardians on Titan. Wong opens another portal back to the Avengers compound. Everyone steps through except two. Thor and Captain Marvel stand between the other Avengers and Thanos.

"Thor, Denver, can you buy some time?"

"Gladly. I've waited years for this."

Thanos raises his gauntlet to fire a blast, but stops as he sees the time stone begin to shift. Suddenly, Scott Lang breaks the time stone free, grows back to normal size, grabs the stone, and runs through the portal. Wong closes the portal, leaving Thor and Captain Marvel to battle Thanos alone.

Inside the compound, everyone begins assembling defenses, and Tony activates the lockdown protocol. Vision tries protesting, but Banner tries to quickly explain what is going on. Vision is able to follow the logic of why they all just randomly appeared in front of him and Wanda. Wong suddenly looks up, then opens a slingering portal and steps back into the sanctum.

"Wong, what are you doing?"

"I just received a message from Steven. He's instructed me to make preparations."

"Wait. 1 in 4,605. Did he say if we were in the one?"

"He did not say. All he said was keep the stone away from Thanos. Then you take it."

Scott hands Wong the time stone he stole from Thanos. Wong closes the portal. Banner starts trying to find a way to get the stone out of Vision's head. Barton is drawn away by the sound of his phone going off. He sees Laura is calling and he answers. She asks where he is, saying he just vanished in the middle of an archery lesson. Barton is too stunned to reply immediately. Meanwhile, Scott walks away, thinking he heard something outside. Suddenly, a portal opens and Thanos reaches out, grabs Vision, and pulls him through. Before anyone can react, another portal opens above the compound, and Thanos's ship emerges. The ship fires a barrage that destroys the compound, much like the original film. From here, the film will play out the same. Everyone is buried under the rubble. Tony finds Steve and they head outside. Just as they do, they see Thanos sitting in the rubble, waiting. The Bifrost opens next to them and Thor emerges.

"Thor, what happened? Where's Dan?"

"Danos got an opening to flee. Opened a portal and sent Danfus to some far off point in space. Maximoff is still incapacitated. Time stone is secure for the moment."

"Then we keep him from finding it. If we go to him, it might be a trap."

"Yeah, I don't much care."

"Good. So long as we're all in agreement."

He charges up Stormbreaker and lightning begins courarssing through him.

"Let's kill him properly this time."

As they approach, they see Thanos now has the mind stone embedded in the gauntlet and Vision's dead body lies next to Thanos. Thanos chuckles as they approach and activates the mind stone. Tony, Steve, and Thor all feel him searching their memories.

"So, I did fulfill my destiny, and you all went through such great lengths to undo that. You could not live with your own failure. Where did that bring you? Back to me."

"No matter. If it is my destiny, I will succeed now, too."

"I know there's at least one instance where that isn't true. I never would think you, the man, to trust the blind word of a sorcerer. We have always reset the loop. It matters not if you succeed now. We will always return to this moment."

Thanos chuckles again.

"Indeed, we will."

"Thanos, it will never work. You saw our memories. Search mine again. See the fallout of your snap. People can't just move on from losing their loved ones, no matter how hard they try."

Thanos looks again at Steve's memories. His face drops as he sees the fallout of the snap is what he expected.

"But why? Why is the universe not grateful?"

"You're choosing the fate of everyone. That's why. What do you think gives you the authority to do this?"

"I gave myself the authority because I am the only one who saw the universe needed correction and I'm the only one who possesses the will to act upon it. The hardest choices require the strongest wills."

"That's what you said to Strange on Titan."

"Yes. And now I must make another hard choice because there will always be those who remain. There will always be those unable to accept a new reality, unable to be grateful. So, [snorts] I must comfort them. You say comfort, I think you mean something else. I will use the stones to eliminate half of all life. I will bring balance to the universe as I first set up to do. Those people would simply cease to exist, a merciful death. But now the stones will ensure their existence is forgotten by those who remain too. Is there not comfort in that? A balanced universe where those who remain have no one to remember, no one to mourn. The universe cannot grieve what it does not remember. I brought balance once and they called it tragedy. Now I will bring peace."

Tony, Steve, and Thor all look at each other. They realize they cannot allow Thanos to find the time stone. They need to stop him here and now. All three nod and charge Thanos.

Inside the compound, everyone else gets free of the rubble they are buried under. Barton and Nebula run into each other and navigate through the tunnels. Even though there is no gauntlet for Barton to defend, the duo will still run into the Outrider soldiers. Thanos seemingly deployed them in order to comb the runes for the time stone, not knowing it was gone.

Back outside, the fight with Thanos remains largely the same. The only change is that Thanos is using the five stones he collected instead of his double-bladed sword that 2014 Thanos used in the original movie. After Thanos knocks Tony unconscious, he overpowers Thor, knocks Stormbreaker away, and pins Thor. Stormbreer rises and hits Thanos with the blunt end to free Thor. It flies over and is caught by Steve. Granted, this is not as impactful of a fan service moment as Steve wielding Mjolnir, but it still shows he is worthy because of the charm Thor put on Stormbreaker earlier. Thor looks at Steve with joy.

"I knew it."

Thanos kicks Thor and goes to face Steve. The scene of Captain America using his shield and the power of Thor against Thanos will remain the same. Eventually, Thanos gets close enough, charges the power stone, and throws a punch. Steve drops Stormbreaker and uses both hands to brace his shield. The blast from the power stone splits the vibranium shield in half and sends Cap flying. As Steve struggles to get up, drop ships descend from Thanos's ship, deploying a force of Chitauri and Outriders.

"Captain Rogers, you have fought valiantly. For the sake of your friends, many of whom are still buried beneath the rubble. Surrender now and relinquish the time stone. Why continue the fight?"

Steve stands up and stands before Thanos and his army.

"I can do this all day."

Thanos's army begins advancing. Then Steve hears a voice on his comink.

"Steve, it's Sam on your left."

The sequence of all the portals opening and everyone from across the MCU emerging will remain the same. As Doctor Strange and Wong reunite, they shake hands.

"You have something for me?"

Wong hands him a new eye of Akamoto. Strange puts it around his neck. Wanda has finally broken out of the soul sleep Thanos put her under, and she emerges with the rest of the Avengers who were still in Wakanda. She sees Vision's body and collapses. As the Guardians and Spider-Man enter from Titan, Star-Lord looks around. He undoes his mask and looks out at the horizon.

"Mom, I'm home."

The Avengers assemble moment and everyone charging will stay in. Most of the final battle will remain in the same. The only addition I will make is a scene where Tony is about to get ambushed by an outrider when a gunshot takes care of the asalent. Tony turns to see Bucky standing there. Bucky runs over and holds out his hand. Tony hesitates, then takes it, and Bucky helps him up.

"Tony, I never apologized for your parents."

Tony looks at him for a few moments.

"I may not be able to acknowledge it wasn't actually you in control, but I will accept you're trying to be better. I suppose that's the best I can up for."

The two run off to continue the fight. The scene with Steve and Thor joking about who gets to use Stormbreaker can remain in. Then Tony reunites with Peter Parker. The dialogue will be slightly different to account for the change in the reverse snap.

"Hey, so you know how we lost on Titan? Well, we were all standing there. Then suddenly you and the blue girl were gone. We all started to wonder what happened, but Doctor Strange told us to get ready and we were going to fight. I... I don't know what happened, but what are you doing?"

Tony hugs him.

"Oh, this is nice."

Meanwhile, Doctor Strange uses his sorcery to take out a group of Chitauri. When Tony flies up and lands next to him, he sees Doctor Strange brought the eye of Agamoto.

"Why in the hell did you bring the time stone back to Thanos?"

"If I tell you what happens, it won't happen."

"Well, I hope you're right."

"So am I."

Thanos then activates the gauntlet and locates the time stone. As he charges towards Doctor Strange, he tries to pull Strange towards him, but Wanda lands between both of them. As that happens, Ant-Man and the Wasp both shrink down.

"You took everything from me. This extracts every toll, my child. Why not extract a little more?"

Wanda unleashes the full extent of her magic. She traps Thanos and holds him in place. Ant-Man and the Wasp, but both grows to normal size, grab the gauntlet and begin to try and pull it off Thanos's hand. Captain America, Hawkeye, Drex, and Spider-Man are the four closest, and they all jump in to help. While they are doing this, Tony deploys nanobots onto the gauntlet to try and pry the individual stones free. Thanos feels the gauntlet start coming loose.

"Rain fire, but our troops, just do it."

Thanos's ship begins firing on the battlefield. The sorcerers create magical shields, but the battlefield is disrupted enough to blast everyone away from Thanos. As the orbital barrage starts to overwhelm the heroes, the barrage stops and changes trajectory.

"Friday, what are they firing at?"

"Something just entered the upper atmosphere."

Captain Marvel flies in at near light speed and crashes through the ship, destroying it. She flies down and lands next to Thor.

"How was your trip?"

"Vlantis 2 is quite lovely this time of year."

Thanos, now regretting not sending Captain Marvel even further away, gets up and throws some rubble off himself. He then realizes the gauntlet is off his hand.

"What?"

"Sir, over there."

Thanos looks over and sees Barton running with the gauntlet.

"Hey guy, what do you want me to do with this damn thing?"

"Keep it away from Thanos. Everyone else, make sure the gauntlet stays out of enemy hands."

Banner runs over and keeps Thanos at bay. He knows he can't stop Thanos, but Hulk held his own at the beginning of Infinity War, so he figures he can buy everyone some time. Burton runs across the battlefield until Black Panther defeats the group in front of him.

"Great."

"Give it to me."

The relay handoff from the original film will remain mostly the same. After Steve throws Stormbreaker and Spider-Man swings across the sky attached to it, but Thanos tackles him and grabs the gauntlet. He fits the gauntlet back onto his hand. Doctor Strange tries to back away, but Thanos teleports to him, grabs the eye of Akamoto, and slots the time stone back into the gauntlet. As Thanos begins to reach up to snap his fingers, Captain Marvel attacks him. Thanos tries to knock her away, but she remains steady. Thor runs past Doctor Strange, Stormbreaker in hand, aiming directly for Thanos's head. Doctor Strange hesitates and then conjures a whip to trip Thor. Thor falls and gets the wind knocked out of him. Only Tony sees this. As he looks at Doctor Strange, Strange slowly raises one finger.

"One future, one chance."

Doctor Strange then faints. The sequence of Thanos needing to take the power stone out to blast Captain Marvel away will remain the same. Thanos slots the power stone back into the gauntlet. Tony rushes over and grabs Thanos's hand. The sound of nanobots flies around as Thanos throws Tony away.

"I am inevitable."

After he snaps, Thanos sees no energy emerge from the gauntlet. He looks and sees the stones are gone. He looks over and sees Tony holding all six stones in his own hand. Tony had enough foresight to build a gauntlet into his own suit.

"And I am Iron Man."

Tony snaps. The sequence will play out the same with all of Thanos's army dusting and Thanos simply sits and acknowledges that he has failed. He then crumbles the dust as well.

Tony crawls over to a pile of rubble and props up against it.

"I'm sorry, Morgan. Daddy had a wire to lay on."

Rodie and Peter both say their goodbyes.

"We won, Mr. Stark."

Doctor Strange then opens the portal.

"I'm sorry for the delay."

Pepper rushes through the portal and sees Tony. She hugs him and he smiles at her.

"Is there something that can be done?"

By this point, Banner has grabbed the stones and slotted them back into the original gauntlet. He puts it on and tries to activate the time stone to reverse Tony's injuries. When nothing happens, it confirms his worst fears.

"I'm sorry, Pepper."

Pepper turns back to Tony.

"We're going to be okay. You told me in the park."

Pepper puts her hand on her stomach.

"Do you wanted her to be named Morgan? She'll be okay. You can rest now."

Tony smiles and mouths "I love you." Tony's suit then deactivates. Iron Man is gone.

There's a deleted scene from the original movie of everyone kneeling in respect to Tony. I think it is a good scene to include, so it will go here to pay respect to the hero that started it all and in the context of the story, the man who saved half the universe.

A few days later, we will have the same funeral procession as the original film. Afterwards, Burton and Wanda have their same conversation by the lake. Pepper is given Tony's helmet, which has a message in it.

"Hey, Pepper, if you're watching this, don't show Morgan until she's five. Okay, I'm recording this right before we try our whole little time rewind thing. Oh, I guess you don't know about that. Well, I better attach a separate message for you to make sense of that. Point is, I knew Morgan for a while, and for 5 years, she was the most amazing part of my life. For a while, I didn't feel like I deserve to have you and her. So hopefully when we go back to face Thanos, I'll be able to earn that future, but also figured in the event of an untimely demise, I may want to make this. It'll be fine. Everything will work out exactly the way it's supposed to. Morgan, if you're watching this, I love you 3000."

Tony smiles and the message ends. Most of the heroes return to their normal lives. Barton goes back to his family. He shares all that he did to his wife, but Laura accepts him anyways, dispelling his fears. Scott and Hope reunite with Hank and Jennet Pim and enjoy a relaxing night with Cassie. Tchala returns to Wakanda and the country celebrates a successful battle. Captain Marvel and Nick Fury speak. In this conversation, Nick Fury will express his thoughts on everything that's happened. After their conversation ends, Captain Marvel bids everyone farewell and returns to space.

Sometime later, Thor and Banner stand overlooking a cliff.

"What will you do now?"

"A king protects his own. I made the mistake of hunting Thanos instead of being there for my people. Valkyrie took off the Vgard and said, 'It's time for me to go find them.'"

"What about you?"

"I'm not sure. Hulk and I worked things out, but with Nat gone, I don't know what's next. We never even got the chance to talk about us."

"I'm sorry, Bennett. Just please do me a favor and don't lose yourself in your work."

"I won't. Don't worry."

The two shake hands.

"So, you can travel instantly via the Bifrost. Why are you going with them?"

"Down the hill."

Rocket and the other guardians are waiting by their ship.

"Over to lose it, Thor. We're taking the gauntlet in Leia to melt it down and destroy it. Besides, they have the only interstellar transponder around here. May help with finding my people."

Thor joins the guardians on the ship. The scene of him and Quill messing with the star chart will remain the same. The Guardians and Thor depart for Nitto of Leier to destroy the gauntlet.

Doctor Strange and Steve stand in the ruins of the Avengers compound. Bucky and Sam are walking away from the two, seemingly just finishing up a conversation. Doctor Strange has the six infinity stones contained. The gauntlet is now offworld and Doctor Strange has taken the stones into his care.

"You sure you want to handle those alone?"

"I won't be alone. These will be protected by the full might of the sanctum."

"Before you do that, I have to know. Back in the past, I saw Peggy's desk. It had this on it."

He shows Strange the compass with her photo.

"Time is a closed circle, Captain. At least it's meant to be."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that there are loops that still need to be closed. Ink that still needs to be dry. How did Peggy get this compass? Where was Peggy's husband when she went into the nursing home? How did Zemo find the exact files required to locate the Winter Soldier book in only one year?"

"So, I'd be going back just to live a life with Peggy."

"No, Steve. You'd be completing the mission. I saw 14,65 possible futures. This was the only one where you survived. Your job now is to go back and close those loops. Give Peggy the compass. Work in the shadows. Ensure Bucky, Shield, and Hydra are where they need to be when they need to be. And you have the added perk of finally getting that dance."

"I don't know. Years ago, I stood right here with Tony and told him the guy who wanted all that went in the I7 years ago and someone else came out. Does that mean you never want peace or that you just won't have it until the fight is over?"

Steve thinks for a moment.

"So, you saw me do this when you saw all those futures? I didn't look much further than the fight with Thanos. But who better to complete this mission?"

"All right, I'll do it. Just let me grab something first."

Doctor Strange takes out the time and space stones and opens a portal through time. Steve takes a breath. He pulls out the face disguised tech Natasha gave him before they all traveled through time. He looks up and strange nods.

"It will prove a useful tool for his mission."

"Thanks, Nat."

Steve steps through the portal. He finds himself standing in front of a suburban house. The newspaper on the front porch reads that the war in Europe is over. Steve is back in the time immediately following World War II. He takes a breath and rings the doorbell. After a few seconds, the door slowly opens and Steve and Peggy see each other.

Bucky leads Sam from the compound wreckage. As they enter a small forest to the side, Sam is becoming more confused.

"All right, where are you taking me?"

"Steve and I had a conversation a few hours ago. He asked me to bring you here. He has something for you."

Sam walks forward and sees a bag propped up against a tree. Sam takes the shield out of the bag and lifts it up. Confused as to why it is here.

"Tala was kind enough to get it repaired for me."

Sam turns to find a much older Steve Rogers sitting on a log nearby.

"Steve?"

"What? Am I still dead?"

"Well, after you and Bucky left, I spoke to Doctor Strange and then I... Well, I finished the mission, went back in the past, and closed up some loops."

Sam tries to hand Steve the shield.

"No, try it on, Sam."

Sam puts it on his arm.

"How does it feel like it's someone else's?"

"It isn't me, but what about Bucky?"

Calls from a ways away, Sam? Sam looks over and Bucky nods.

"I'll do my best."

Sam and Steve shake hands. Sam notices the wedding band on Steve's finger.

"Do you want to tell me about her?"

"No. No, I don't think I will."

We then see Steve's timeline in reverse. There was a fan theory that old man Steve was at Peggy's funeral in Civil War. So, we will see him looking as past Steve helps carry Peggy's coffin down the aisle. Steve silently influences the order in which the shield files are discovered by Zemo, leading him to the files on the Winter Soldier sooner. There are then multiple quick flashes of Steve performing undercover work and fighting from the shadows throughout the years. Each flash, he gets closer to the age he was when he spoke with Strange. During these missions, Steve does everything from protecting important shield agents to stopping undercover hydra operatives to creating windows for justice to prevail when there may not have been otherwise. Throughout these flashes, there are also flashes of him adorning the face disguise tech whenever he and Peggy had to appear at public events. Steve and Peggy raise children, and there is always two versions of every family photo. One with Steve in it and one without to keep continuity with the photo seen in the Winter Soldier movie. Several weeks after Steve goes to the past, he sits Peggy down and has a conversation with her. He gives her the compass. While there is no dialogue, just music, it is implied that Steve told Peggy what happened, and they came to an understanding that Peggy must not tell anyone. The decades of Steve's identity staying hidden all stem from this conversation, and the compass on Peggy's desk is a reminder of her promise to Steve. The final shot is much like the scene from the original movie. Steve and Peggy dance in the living room, finally making good on the promise they made back in the first Captain America movie. From there, Avengers Endgame comes to a close. And that concludes my rewrite for Avengers Endgame. I hope you all enjoyed, and if you did, don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe. Once again, support on this video will show me that you guys are eager to see more Marvel rewrites. But regardless, you taking the time to watch this or any other video is quite enough for me. For now, be good. Be good to each other, and I'll talk to you all soon. Take care.