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Avengers Endgame: How does the quantum realm work?

By Shea Corrigan

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - APRIL 15: Robert Downey Jr. attends the 'Avengers: Endgame' Asia Press Conference on April 15, 2019 in Seoul, South Korea. The film will open on April 24, in South Korea. (Photo by Han Myung-Gu/WireImage)
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - APRIL 15: Robert Downey Jr. attends the 'Avengers: Endgame' Asia Press Conference on April 15, 2019 in Seoul, South Korea. The film will open on April 24, in South Korea. (Photo by Han Myung-Gu/WireImage) /
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The Quantum Realm is key to understanding time travel in Avengers: Endgame. So how does it work?

This post contains spoilers for Avengers: Endgame. We won’t mention things like who dies and all that jazz, but there will be some plot details given away if we’re to talk about this in any coherent manner.

Ready? We get into it after the ad break jump.

Okay, let’s talk quantum realm. The quantum realm is a dimension in which space and time are believed to be irrelevant. It’s only accessible through magical energy, mystical transportation or “tremendous subatomic shrinking.” This last route is how Ant-Man got there at the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp and where’s he was during the snap and the five years since. (Only a few hours passed in the realm.) Ant-Man’s whole deal — specifically the Pym particles — is what allows Tony Stark to figure out how to use the quantum realm to create a time travel machine for the Avengers to use on their infinity stone scavenger hunt.

But the quantum realm, and related quantum theory, is also the foundation for the rules of time travel in the MCU. Here’s Thrillist on how it works:

"Basically, the general principles of quantum theory allow for every possibility to occur at any given time, which does away with any kind of paradox arising from time travel. The many-worlds interpretation of parallel universes rests entirely on quantum theory: every possible thing that could ever happen creates its own little bubble universe branching off from the main one. You can’t change “the past,” because whatever you do creates a new reality.This is why everything Thanos did in Infinity War still affects the future, even if he didn’t do it: by following the Avengers through time himself, he entered the parallel universe they created, which requires The Snap to exist. This is also why Captain America can trade blows with himself when he hops back to the Battle of New York without both of them ceasing to exist on contact."

Next. A pre-Endgame ranking of every MCU movie. dark

Make sense of it yourself in theaters. Avengers: Endgame is out now.