This Avengers 4 theory about Tony Stark is as heartbreaking as Infinity War's deaths

Avengers 4 is few months short from its official release. But it is not stopping fans from coming up with some heart-wrenching theories about their favorite superheroes. The climax and end-credit scenes of Avengers: Infinity War showed that the upcoming movie will be darker than before and the latest theory about Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is surely going to make you gasp.

As per a recent theory, in Avengers 4, time traveling will reportedly play a crucial part in shaping the characters' arc. In the upcoming movie, Earth's mightiest heroes will go back in time to retrieve all the Infinity Stones before Thanos gets his hands on them. Multiple theories suggest that Soul Stone is reportedly the key to everything and it would be Tony Stark who will be traveling to Vormir to get the Soul Stone from the Red Skull.

In order to possess the Soul Stone, one has to sacrifice someone he truly loves. In Infinity War, Thanos sacrificed his adoptive daughter Gamora in order to earn the stone. Fans, however, are reportedly convinced that Tony will be sacrificing not one but two people he truly loves.

Over the years, it is shown that Tony Stark has a very sentimental relationship with Steve Rogers aka Captain America (Chris Evans). At the same time, Tony's relationship with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) has shown him a way to be a better person. However, Tony won't be sacrificing Steve Rogers and Pepper Potts in order to receive the Soul Stone.

According to a theory by Redditor sfmarch07, "In order to retrieve the soul stone though, Tony is going to have to sacrifice something, the same way Thanos had to sacrifice Gamora. But instead of sacrificing Pepper Potts, what if Tony instead has to go back in time to 1991 and infiltrate Hydra or seek out the Winter Soldier, and order the hit on his parents himself?"

The theory further points out that it may be Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), who will tell Tony in 1991 that he has to sacrifice his parents for the greater good.

"It would be the hardest decision that any character has had to make in the entire MCU, and a decision that only Tony Stark himself could make, a burden that only he could bear, truly exemplifying him as Iron Man," the theory concludes.

It is worth noting that the upcoming Captain Marvel takes place in 1990 and Tony Stark's parents were killed by Winter Soldier in 1991. At the same time, there were few leaks in the past that reportedly suggested that the actor who portrayed Howard Stark in Captain America: Civil War, has already been reported to be returning to reprise his role in Avengers 4.

If in any scenario, these events take place, then it will create a form of time loop for Tony Stark. It, however, does not alter the events of the past, but it will simply mean that Tony will always have the knowledge of what he did to save the human race.

Meanwhile, fans of MCU are in for a treat as Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige revealed that the first official trailer of Avengers 4 will arrive "before the end of the year." As earlier reported, details of a fan-made Avengers 4 trailer did surface and now fans are eagerly waiting to see some real action.

It is safe to assume that the studio will announce the official title of the movie alongside the upcoming trailer. As of now, the narrative details for Avengers 4 are still under wraps. Given the fact where Avengers: Infinity War ended, there are several ways Marvel could be deciding to bring to an end to this phase of their superhero movies.

Avengers 4 is scheduled to release on May 3, 2019. However, before the final battle between the Avengers and Thanos will take place, fans will get to watch Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, and it will reportedly confirm some of those theories that indicated how Captain Marvel will help the Avengers in defeating Thanos.