Was the Secret to Beating Thanos Revealed in Avengers: Infinity War's Opening Line?

With Avengers: Endgame, the final movie in the Avengers series, set to premiere in just a few months, Marvel fans are having a field day coming up with theories for how it will all shake out. Much of this speculation revolves around how the Avengers will end up beating Thanos (Josh Brolin) after he wiped out half the Marvel Cinematic Universe during with The Decimation in Infinity War. And a somewhat divisive new theory suggests that Thanos actually revealed the key to defeating himself during the opening line of Avengers: Infinity War.

The theory, posted to Reddit by user chihdo, posits that each character’s outcome is determined by whether the hero chooses to live with or run from their destiny.

Thanos’s opening line in Infinity War is:

“I know what it’s like to lose. To feel so desperately that you’re right, yet to fail nonetheless. As lightning turns the legs to jelly. I ask you to what end? Dread it, run from it, destiny arrives all the same. And now, it’s here. Or should I say, I am.”

The user points out that Thanos presents himself as destiny, which means “to remain fixed, to accept stagnation.” The theory suggests that those who didn’t run from their destiny during Infinity War will be the ones to defeat Thanos—meaning those who survived The Decimation either fulfilled their respective destinies or are in the process of doing so.

The post goes on to explain that those who disappeared during The Decimation, including T’Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), either dreaded or ran from their destinies. In addition, those who died, including Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Gamora (Zoe Saldana), attempted to cheat their destiny.

While it's undoubtedly interesting, the Redditor makes no mention of Captain Marvel, who we know from Infinity War's post-credits scene could have a significant role in taking down the Mad Titan in Avengers: Endgame.

Fans will be able to see for themselves if Thanos really did foretell his own demise when Avengers: Endgame premieres on April 26, 2019.