The write-up by Reddit user LoL-Guru has been upvoted to a score of 8.3k, having been upvoted by 91% of users.
It draws on the fact that Thanos says to Doctor Strange, “you never once used your greatest weapon” – sparking the question of why Strange didn’t use the Time Stone when battling.
The Marvel fan reasons that the Power Stone would have allowed Thanos to ignore the effects of the Time Stone, and Strange saw the futility of that idea when he was looking at all the different outcomes.
The theorist writes: “When Dr Strange pulls the time stone seemingly out of nowhere (like Loki did with the Tesseract) and floats it over to Thanos to save Tony we can see two unique elements to this transaction. The first is that the stone is glowing brilliantly. Normally, when any of the stones glow like this it is because their power is being used.
“The second is that Thanos is unable to grasp the stone physically but is instead grabbing on to what appears to be its aura. He even shoots Dr. Strange a glance over this peculiar phenomenon.
“This kicked my Fan Theory senses into overdrive and I have been trying to piece it together ever since.”
Using the fundamental abilities of the other Stones as evidence, LoL-Guru went on: “I would postulate that the time stone can be sent through time all by itself, going forward or backward. How would you play keep away with the time stone? Easy. Send it forward in time to where Thanos can’t get it! The problem is (as comic fans already know) Thanos is immortal, so he can wait it out. Let’s swing back to the exchange.
“Dr. Strange conjuring forth the stone the same way as Loki did the tesseract is a gigantic misdirect! Loki is able to conceal the tesseract with his godlike powers of illusion and while Dr. Strange could certainly be capable of mimicking this easy trick, I don’t think that’s what’s happening. The stone is glowing brilliantly because it’s actually travelling back in time from the future!
“When Dr. Strange hid the time stone it wasn’t through some trick of light or illusion like Loki but by sending it forward in time to be used later. Only to be sent back when the Avengers had finished using it.
“The time Stone can travel forward or backward in time, but not space. It will appear on Titan soon after the snap presenting itself to Tony.
“This is also why Tony needs to survive. If the snap is inevitable then he is the only one smart enough to a) figure out what is going on when the time stone presents itself on Titan and b) study the stone in order to unlock the quantum realm (the same way the mind stone in the sceptre allowed him to create Ultron).
“This is why the Gauntlet breaks from the snap! It’s using a time stone from a reality where the Avengers have already won and sent it back in time. The paradox of using a stone from a mutually exclusive reality breaks the gauntlet and helps advance Dr. Strange’s plan even further because it cripples Thanos’ ability to fight back when the Avengers start mounting their counter offensive.”
It is further reasoned that footage from some Infinity War trailers that did not appear in the finished movie could be from this storyline playing out.
It’s all very well thought through and seems completely plausible – read the theory in its entirety here.
Avengers 4 is out on April 26, 2019.