Avengers: Age of Ultron features the MCU’s most confusing Thanos scene, but there may be an explanation to it after all. Plenty of scenes in the MCU timeline are up to audience interpretation, and a specific Thanos moment has remained this way even years after its occurrence. In the mid-credits scene of Age of Ultron, Thanos is seen putting on the empty Infinity Gauntlet while proclaiming, “Fine, I’ll do it myself.” With the context of what Thanos goes on to do in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, Thanos definitely does stick to his word.

Though Thanos’ message in the mid-credits scene is brief, it has left some interpretations up in the air, which future MCU releases don’t look set to shed more light on. Reddit user KnockKnock_WhosThere brought up their confusion regarding Thanos’ statement, mentioning some valid points about the Mad Titan’s actions and ulterior motives with the Mind Stone. Alongside their questions, the user offers a theory that may explain the Thanos scene more thoroughly.

Age Of Ultron’s Thanos Confusion Explained

In the original Reddit post, the user’s confusion stems from Thanos’ one-liner. The moment comes in the mid-credits of Avengers: Age of Ultron, so it’s natural for viewers to assume that Thanos’ was directly referencing the events of the film. With that perspective, the scene would insinuate that Thanos had something to do with Ultron’s arrival and that his exasperated declaration is him expressing his dissatisfaction with what the AI achieved. The Reddit user points this out in their post, stating that Thanos sending Ultron wouldn’t have matched up with the timeline.

However, Thanos’ mid-credit Age of Ultron scene can ultimately be taken much more simply. After recruiting both Ronan and Loki to help him in gathering the Infinity Stones to no avail, Thanos’ comment was just a reflection of his disappointment with his minions. Rather than sending others to do his bidding for him, Thanos realized that he could only trust himself to get his mission done. Perhaps the scene’s placement at the end of Age of Ultron would be confusing if he wasn’t referring to Ultron directly, but this is where the MCU theory comes into play.

Theory: Thanos DID Have Influence Over Ultron

Thanos was the first known individual to have possession of the Mind Stone in the MCU. In the Reddit theory, one of the questions raised is why Thanos entrusted the Mind Stone to Loki in the first place. The theory states that Thanos might’ve foreseen Loki’s failure to obtain the Tesseract, but sent the Mind Stone with him regardless as a vessel to plant it on Earth. Thanos might’ve planted some malicious intelligence into the stone, so even if it were to fall into the hands of a third party, it would still be to his benefit.

Considering this theory, that would mean that Thanos did in fact have something to do with Ultron’s creation. Even if he wasn’t directly responsible for Ultron’s arrival, Ultron having the Mind Stone containing Thanos’ malicious intelligence would still give the Mad Titan some control over the AI. Seeing who the stone had fallen into the hands of, Thanos might’ve hoped that Ultron would succeed in his goal of wiping out humanity. Thus, Thanos would then arrive on Earth with half his job already done and Ultron’s motives matching his.

Thanos being more directly responsible for Ultron would also tie his and Iron Man’s stories closer together, making Tony Stark sacrificing himself to defeat the villain at the end of the Infinity Saga all the more poignant.

Marvel Confirmed The Mind Stone Could Influence Others

Since The Avengers original premiere, Marvel has confirmed that the Mind Stone can in fact influence others. A line on Loki’s character page on the Marvel site states that Loki was able to influence others with the Mind Stone-laced Scepter, while also unknowingly being influenced himself. Knowing that the Mind Stone has this sort of control over others would explain why Thanos felt confident enough to entrust Loki with it on Earth, as he knew the Mind Stone’s effect would eventually corrupt the God of Mischief.

Considering that whatever Thanos was referring to in the Avengers: Age of Ultron mid-credit scene was never confirmed, this fan theory seems to be the best explanation of Thanos’ confusing MCU moment, factoring several different plot lines into the comment. In many ways, this highlights a key strength of the franchise, as even moments that happened years prior can still offer fascinating conversations which put stories in new lights well after they first took place.