The tragic Infinity War deaths will be undone. I’m sure of that by now, given all the evidence I’ve seen that says most of the dead heroes will miraculously return to life in Avengers 4. We also have proof that the Avengers who are still alive will use time travel to restore order in the universe and undo Thanos’ horrific snap. What we don’t yet know — thankfully, so that there are still some surprises in store — is how it’ll all go down. But there will probably be plenty of heartbreak in Avengers 4, and there’s a new spoiler to support that idea.
John Slattery of Mad Men fame, who already appeared in three Marvel films including Iron Man 2, Ant-Man, and Captain America: Civil War as Tony Stark’s father, has shot scenes with Robert Downey Jr. for Avengers 4. The news comes from That Hashtag Show, which learned it from a trusted source. The report also notes that Avengers 4 was described as a “time travel heist” film a few months ago.
The last time we saw Howard Stark on screen was during Civil War when Tony demoed his B.A.R.F. technology to a crowd of cheering MIT students. That’s the tech that allowed him to relive his most painful memory, his final moments with his parents. In the same movie, we learned that it was Bucky Barnes who killed Tony’s parents and that Steve Rogers knew it but chose not to share that detail with Tony. That’s what caused the rift between Iron Man and Captain America, although we obviously expect the two to patch things up in Avengers 4 considering the events at the close of Infinity War.
Slattery’s involvement in the new Avengers film seems to reinforce the idea that we’re going to see time travel in the movie. Tony may want to visit Howard and learn precisely what got him killed. It’s always possible, of course, that Tony would build an upgraded B.A.R.F. tool to relive parts of his past, but that’s just speculation at this point. Check the scene from Civil War below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFsB56DYIiE
Time travel is the only thing that would allow him to talk to his father, especially now that he’s about to become a dad himself. Gwyneth Paltrow already confirmed that Pepper Potts and Tony will have a kid. Going to see Howard makes even more sense when you take that detail into account, especially if Tony is about to do something that might end up causing him to sacrifice himself to undo the snap. We also know that everything is possible in the Marvel universe, but at great cost. And some theories say Iron Man may die for the greater good in Avengers 4.
With all that in mind, Slattery’s role isn’t yet confirmed and the actor isn’t credited in Avengers 4 for the time being.
