Doctor Strange 2 Explains How Iron Man Quickly Solved Time Travel In Endgame
Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) quickly solving time travel in Avengers: Endgame remains an MCU mystery, but the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness trailer may have finally answered this query. Tony Stark was a well-established genius and innovator in the universe. Even before he became Iron Man, he had been using his intellect to push the boundaries of science and technology through Stark Industries. Despite this, it's still improbable that he was able to crack the concept of time travel in one sitting the way he did in Avengers: Endgame.
By handing Earth's Mightiest Heroes first real defeat at the hands of Thanos (Josh Brolin), Avengers: Infinity War set up Joe and Anthony Russo's 2019 blockbuster. Despite the Avengers and their allies' gallant effort to stop the decimation, the Mad Titan ultimately won. It wasn't until five years later that they banded back together when the idea of the time heist came up thanks to Ant-Man (Paul Rudd). However, they wouldn't have been able to do it without Tony's involvement, since he was the one who figured out how to execute their plan via time travel.
Considering how packed Avengers: Endgame was, it's understandable that Marvel Studios didn't dwell on the specifics of how Iron Man quickly found a way to make the complicated concept possible. Yet, it's one of the lingering mysteries left by the film that fans still like to talk about. Luckily, thanks to its interconnected nature, the MCU can utilize other projects to provide an answer which may very well be the case this time. In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' first trailer, Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) asks Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) what she knows about the multiverse. Surprisingly, she reveals that Vision (Paul Bettany) thought that it was a dangerous place. Considering the franchise's timeline, this conversation could've only happened before the events of Avengers: Infinity War. If Vision was somehow pondering about the idea, chances are that he was discussing it with other Avengers. Since he had a previous working relationship with Iron Man, then they might have been exploring the idea of multiple realities and traveling to them long before they became imperative for the time heist.
Assuming that this is the case, then it means that Tony had long been tinkering on the idea of time traveling. This isn't exactly farfetched. Dubbed a "futurist," the genius, billionaire was always driven to innovate and invent. Combine his desire for growth and improvement with Stark Industries’ resources, and he was easily able to explore even the most obscure ideas. He wasn't keen on running the business side of Stark Industries, hence why Obadiah Stane (Jeffrey Bridges) and eventually, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) took care of that aspect. Instead, he spent most of his time in his workshop with his robots and J.A.R.V.I.S. — the AI version of Vision before he was born in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Given this, Tony had potentially eliminated a lot of other implausible factors to make time travel possible in Avengers: Endgame. If anything, when Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Ant-Man showed up, even if Iron Man was hesitant towards the idea, it did sound as if he's well-versed about its risks.
It's easy to forget that Iron Man and Vision's relationship goes way back. J.A.R.V.I.S. was arguably Tony's most trusted ally, even before he really started opening up to both Pepper and Rhodey (War Machine). It's heartbreaking that they never got to see each other before Tony's death in Avengers: Endgame. Based on Wanda's comments in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' trailer, it did seem like the pair spent a considerable amount of time with each other on the heels of Ultron's defeat.