War Machine may have not been able to go through with his Avengers: Endgame suggestion, if some newly released Baby Thanos fan art is anything to go by. Directed by the Russo Brothers, Avengers: Endgame served as the culmination of 11 years and 22 films worth of Marvel storytelling. Garnering positive reviews, the film was a smash hit from the moment it opened and ultimately became the highest-grossing film of all time. The majority of the entire Infinity Saga recently made its way onto Disney+ and Blu-ray, complete with a whole range of deleted Avengers: Endgame scenes.

Having experienced their first true loss in Avengers: Infinity War, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes were forced to engage in a “Time Heist”. Using Pym Particles, the remaining Avengers revisited crucial points in Marvel Cinematic history in order to gather the Infinity Stones and bring back everyone they had lost. Ultimately, that duty fell to Smart Hulk - originally intended to be the last hero standing. Having attracted the attention of an earlier version of Thanos, however, a final battle ensued, culminating in a last-ditch gambit from Iron Man - one which saw Tony Stark harness the power of the stones to wipe out Thanos’ forces at the expense of his own life. Earlier in the film, though, when the group was still testing out time travel, James Rhodes had another idea - one he believed could successfully avoid the potential for everything that eventually transpired.

Since time travel was a viable option now, War Machine wondered aloud why they didn’t just use it to go and find Thanos as a baby. While he didn’t outright say that they should kill the infant, his “choking with a rope” hand gesture made it absolutely clear that he meant they should kill the infant. Fortunately, Smart Hulk deemed it horrible and explained that it would be impossible, anyway, as per the actual rules of time travel. Had it been possible, however, and had Rhodes pursued the idea, it might have been more difficult than he anticipated. At least, based on Ian Joyner’s artwork, that is. Though retaining the distinctive chin and purple skin, the artwork reduces Thanos to a happy, bright-eyed baby content to merely look up at an infinity stone-inspired mobile. Check it out below:

Baby versions of iconic characters are all the rage at the moment - a trend that no doubt started with Baby Groot. And though he is only part of the same species rather than actually the same character, The Mandalorian’s Baby Yoda has taken social media by storm in recent weeks and produced (sometimes disturbing) fan art of its own. Even images for a baby version of Jabba the Hutt has emerged. And more baby variant reimaginings will no doubt follow in the coming weeks.

In terms of Thanos, though, it’s easy to see why War Machine thought of it - and not just because the words war and machine are literally in his name. Taking out a villain before they can ever emerge as such is a staple of every time travel movie or TV show ever made. It was was the central plot explored in 12 Monkeys. It has been an element of Doctor Who. Even Lost did it, when Sayid encountered the younger version of Benjamin Linus. As such, it makes as a potential concept. Actually going through with it, however, is an entirely different matter. Even Deadpool had trouble in Deadpool 2. Thankfully Avengers: Endgame fans never had to worry about things ever going down such a dark route - be baby Thanos be as cute as that image or otherwise.

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Source: Ian Joyner/Twitter

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