Avengers: Endgame was a movie full of massive surprises but some of those were spoiled in advance thanks to various toys and pieces of merchandise which started popping up online in months before the epic superhero ensemble reached theaters.
With a release as anticipated as this one, fans can't get enough of any piece of information which pops up online beforehand and while many of the
Avengers: Endgame toys were accurate, there were a lot which definitely fooled us. However, while you may think that was simple misdirection, it was also because companies were working with early or outdated pieces of concept art.
Now, we're taking a look at various pieces of merchandise which were revealed or leaked before the movie landed on April 26th to find out whether they were correct...or complete and utter bullsh*t.
We think you'll find this a fun read as it's quite surprising just how many of these revealed massive details about the movie months before Marvel expected or were hilariously off base. So, to check out the full list, all you guys have to do is click on the "View List" button down below.
Inaccurate: Thanos' Infinity Gauntlet
If you're a collector who enjoys buying movie-accurate merchandise, then I hope you kept the receipt for a lot of the
Avengers: Endgame toys that started arriving on shelves in March/April.
Every single Thanos action figure and statue has depicted the Mad Titan wearing his Infinity Gauntlet from the first movie and that simply never happens. As a result, a lot of very pricey toys are completely wrong and don't represent what we ended up seeing on the big screen.
Inaccurate: All Four LEGO Sets
LEGO released four sets for
Avengers: Endgame but Marvel Studios clearly didn't trust the company not to drop spoilers for the movie in advance. Literally none of them are accurate as Captain America never rides a giant motorbike (duh!), there is no Ultimate Quinjet, and War Machine sadly never gets to don the "War Machine Buster" armour.
The closest one to what we saw in the movie was, of course, Thanos' attack on the Avengers Compound but even that was mostly inaccurate and clearly designed to just be a playset. Iron Man's Hall of Armour also didn't factor into
Avengers: Endgame at all.
Accurate: Valkyrie Returns
There was always a good chance that Tessa Thompson would return as Valkyrie but it wasn't confirmed until a TV spot which surfaced days before the movie hit theaters.
However, had you visited any toy store before then, you would have seen an action figure for the movie featuring the character which made it clear that she would be part of the superhero ensemble. As spoilers go, this wasn't massive but it spilled the beans on a pretty major cameo early.
Accurate: The Stark Gauntlet
This was a big one.
Just a week or so before
Avengers: Endgame was released, one eagle-eyed fan spotted a very different Infinity Gauntlet being sold in a local store. The key difference here was that it looked nothing like the one used by Thanos; instead, it had clearly been created by Iron Man.
This confirmed a long-standing rumour about the creation of a "Stark Gauntlet" and ruined a pretty major surprise in the movie.
Accurate: Pepper Potts Suits Up As Rescue
Quite some time ago, a number of prototypes popped up online of various
Avengers: Endgame action figures, one of which showed a women wearing purple Iron Man armour. It didn't take fans at all long to figure out that it was Rescue and in fairness to Marvel, toys featuring her likeness didn't wind up arriving in stores until after the movie arrived in theaters (they didn't stop that leak, though).
Accurate: Smart Hulk
There had been rumblings about us getting to see a more intelligent version of The Hulk in
Avengers: Endgame but action figures confirmed that when the Jade Giant was depicted in various suits.
Common sense said that the hero wouldn't be wearing a superhero costume if he was still an unintelligent beast. Of course, the simple fact that there were Hulk action figures at all could be considered a spoiler because at the end of
Avengers: Infinity War, Bruce Banner was still unable to transform.
Inaccurate: Everything Thor Related
So, yeah, if you bought anything Thor related before seeing
Avengers: Endgame, I'm guessing you're now feeling pretty disappointed, right? Every single action figure and Funko Pop released in advance of its premiere showed the God of Thunder rocking his
Avengers: Infinity War appearance while decked out in one of those Team Suits.
You can't fault Marvel for keeping the God of Thunder's transformation under wraps but none of the figures released were even remotely close to the finished product.
Accurate: Black Widow's New Look
Leading up to the release of
Avengers: Endgame, there was a lot of speculation about a possible time-jump and promo art depicting Black Widow's new hairstyle only helped further that.
Well, that ponytail obviously did factor into the movie and was a result of the unexpected five-year leap into the future. A minor spoiler but one which was obviously spot on in the end.
Accurate: Thanos Build-A-Bear
Well, this one was mostly accurate. A Thanos Build-A-Bear that was released in stores shortly before
Avengers: Endgame arrived with phrases like, "I had all the power in my grasp," "How are you doing this?" and, "You do not have the power to wield the Infinity Stones." None of those were in the movie itself but they ended up being spot on in a way.
After all, Earth's Mightiest Heroes did indeed wield the power of the Infinity Stones against Thanos and it's easy to imagine these being lines that were cut when the final battle was being pieced together.
Inaccurate: The Team Suits
We've seen a lot of the Team Suits in recent months in both promo art and for the most part, they've been accurate from a visual standpoint (including those time-travel devices on their hands). However, Hasbro dropped the ball in a big way as they went with a silver and black colour scheme which was a far cry from the red, white, and black we saw in the movie.
Unfortunately, that's probably because they were basing their designs on early concept art which is evident from the fact the Captain America action figure has the wrong helmet on!
What about Avengers: Endgame rumours? Which were true and
which were false? Continue reading below to find out!
TRUE: The Stark Gauntlet
One recurring theme in plot leaks for
Avengers: Endgame was the creation of what became known as the "Stark Gauntlet." This leaker claimed that The Hulk would be the one to wield it against the Mad Titan and that he would lose an arm in the process.
While some minor details were incorrect (the Jade Giant didn't exactly battle Thanos while wielding it), the fact that Earth's Mightiest Heroes travel into the past to collect the Infinity Stones was spot on, and it's hard to imagine that this was simple guesswork.
FALSE: Shuri Becomes The New Black Panther
Once T'Challa was dusted, fans immediately started speculating about the possibility of Shuri suiting up as the new Black Panther.
It was a nice theory (especially as we didn't find out Shuri's fate until the teaser trailer was released) but obviously incorrect, and if Marvel Studios does decide to take things in this direction, it probably won't be for a number of years as T'Challa's story is far from over.
TRUE: Pepper Potts Suits Up As Rescue
When Gwyneth Paltrow shared a behind the scenes photo from
Avengers: Endgame showing her legs in mo-cap tights, it didn't take fans any time at all to jump to the conclusion that she would be suiting up as Rescue.
Throw in some more leaked photos (and even action figures) and rumours started swirling that Rescue would make her MCU debut in this movie. Well, as we now know, that proved to be correct...even if her appearance was rather brief.
FALSE: Annhilation
With a synopsis teasing a greater threat than Thanos and that mysterious behind-the-scenes image shared by the Russo Brothers, it's no wonder that one site incorrectly claimed that
Avengers: Annihilation was a title being considered by Marvel Studios for the movie.
This inevitably led to speculation that Annihilus would be making an appearance (Ego was another Fox-owned character they were able to use so it wasn't too much of a stretch), but none of this proved to be correct and the filmmakers recently confirmed that the only other title they considered for this epic finale was
Avengers: Infinity Gauntlet.
TRUE: Katherine Langford's Mysterious Character
After seeing
Avengers: Endgame, it would have been easy to dismiss this one as being false because Katherine Langford was nowhere to be seen in the superhero ensemble.
Well, a couple of days ago, the Russo Brothers revealed that her scenes were cut and she was indeed set to play an older version of Morgan Stark (which is what the rumour claimed). She would have appeared before Tony after the Snap - just like the young Gamora in
Avengers: Infinity War - but test audiences found it too confusing and that led to it being scrapped.
TRUE: Some Major Plot Details
Last December, a seemingly random Twitter account shared a number of huge Avengers: Endgame details and we all figured they were completely made up! Among his claims were Thor putting a permanent end to Thanos, Stan Lee appearing in the 1970s, the God of Thunder's new look, and Captain America saying "Hail HYDRA!"
Needless to say, this was all dismissed as nonsense because it sounded too far-fetched to be true, but it ended up being 99% accurate and was clearly based on legitimate leaks.
FALSE: A Cameo From The Eternals
Avengers: Endgame obviously didn't feature a post-credits scene, but one usually reliable source claimed that The Eternals would more than likely make some sort of cameo appearance right at the end of the movie. Well, while it was a nice theory and all, that movie hasn't even started shooting yet and so it was simply never going to happen, especially when the project is still in the casting stages.
FALSE: No More Guardians Of The Galaxy
The same leaker who provided that accurate information about the Stark Gauntlet also claimed that Earth's Mightiest Heroes' decision to change the past would indeed change the present, with the Guardians no longer forming as a result.
While what the characters did in 2014 would have meant that the team never came together, that's not a plot thread which is going to be explored in the MCU-proper - but perhaps the creation of that alternate timeline will come into play in the Multiverse!
FALSE: An Army From Hel
In
Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor had a very weird vision which seemingly resulted in him visiting Hel and coming face to face with dead Asgardians, including Heimdall (and Loki in a deleted scene).
This resulted in rumours that the defeated Thor would have looked to take the fight to Thanos by recruiting an army from Hela's realm which would have evened the odds against the Mad Titan. Based on set photos and other pieces of information we saw, it's easy to see where this rumour came from but hard to believe that it was something Marvel Studios ever actually considered.
TRUE: Nebula Vs. Nebula
Rumours of cameo appearances from the likes of Justin Hammer and Quicksilver may have been nonsense, but what initially sounded like an equally hard to believe rumour - that Nebula would battle her past self - ended up being correct.
This didn't quite confirm time-travel but it did lead to a lot of speculation about what we should expect from the movie, and was a very cool moment.
FALSE: Tony Stark Is Kang The Conqueror
This was a weird one and, well, downright ridiculous. It was said that Tony Stark's trip through time would have led to his future self becoming a villain and that he would have taken on the Kang the Conqueror persona. There have been plenty of stories in the comics that are similar to this (see: Iron Lad), and it would have been interesting to see.
However, it would not have been the right way to end the character's story in the MCU, as it was far more fitting for him to go out a hero.