Thanos’ snap in Avengers: Infinity War wiped out half the population of the universe, and while the odds of being blipped were 50/50, the Mad Titan might have spared three MCU heroes. After a decade of interconnected films leading up to Thanos collecting the Infinity Stones and bringing ultimate chaos to the universe, the MCU reached its highest point (on so many levels) with Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
Most of the MCU’s superhero roster did their best to stop Thanos from collecting the Infinity Stones and with them finally fulfilling his promise of bringing “balance” to the universe, but they couldn’t avoid the inevitable, and by the end of Avengers: Infinity War, half the population on Earth and its surroundings were gone. However, there were some hints throughout the film showing Thanos could have spared three characters from the snap.
This MCU theory is based on Thanos’ sense of honor, because even though he is a mass murderer, he is a man of his word. According to it, the first Avenger to be spared was Thor. At the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos gave Loki two options: the Tesseract or his brother’s head. After seeing his brother being tortured, Loki gave the Tesseract (and with it, the Space Stone) to Thanos, thus saving Thor’s life. A deal is a deal, and even if Loki tried to kill him seconds later, the Mad Titan kept his word as he already had what he wanted: the Space Stone.
Next was Nebula. Thanos didn’t spare her because she was his daughter – he did it because his other daughter, Gamora, knew the location of the Soul Stone. Just like he did with Thor, he tortured Nebula in exchange for the Soul Stone. Sadly, this also meant Gamora’s death, as she was Thanos’ sacrifice in Vormir to acquire the stone. Finally, the third character was Iron Man. During the battle on Titan, Thanos attacked Tony, and before he died of these wounds, Doctor Strange – having seen all possible outcomes and knowing Tony was key in defeating Thanos in the future – gave Thanos the Time Stone in Avengers: Infinity War under the promise to let Tony live.
The characters that made the deals to save Thor, Nebula, and Iron Man all had different fates, some sadder than others. Loki died, but thanks to the time-traveling events in Avengers: Endgame, there’s a Loki in an alternate universe that continued with his life of mischief – which fans will get to see in his upcoming series. Gamora also died but, again thanks to time-traveling, the Gamora of the past was brought to the present day. Doctor Strange was blipped, but came back when Hulk undid the snap and helped the rest of the heroes in the final battle.
Thanos was never a man of emotions, and the only way a life could have been spared in this situation was through a deal in which he would get what he wanted, no matter who he had to hurt or sacrifice. In Thor and Nebula’s cases, it could have also been mere luck, depending on each person’s interpretation of the scenes, but with Tony, Strange was very clear in what he wanted, as he knew Iron Man would be delivering the final snap in Avengers: Endgame to restore the MCU.
