Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man got to coin the phrase “America’s Ass” in Avengers: Endgame, but he never got to go up Thanos’ ass to save the world per that ridiculous “Thanus” theory. The theory that Ant-Man could shrink down, crawl up Thanos’ butt, and then grow to large size to blow up the villain — yeah, it was always bonkers. But that’s why it went viral as a nutso talking point just before the release of Avengers 4.
Now that several months have passed since Avengers: Endgame took the world by storm as the highest-grossing movie of all time, Rudd shared his disappointment that the Thanus theory didn’t pan out.
Paul Rudd was recently on First We Feast’s Hot Ones promoting his new Netflix series Living With Yourself. At one point he was asked what he made of the Ant-Man kills Thanos by crawling up his butt meme. Rudd paused to deep sigh with mock solemnity, then gave this response:
He then smiled and gave a little chuckle, to show he was proooobably kidding, although the way Thanos was really taken out in Avengers: Endgame was also kind of a bonkers surprise. Who expected Thanos to be killed off twice — decapitated by Thor, and then snapped away by Iron Man?
I don’t think anyone really expected the Thanus theory to happen, it was just something fun for Josh Brolin to joke about while in the bathroom. But Paul Rudd did at least pretend to give the theory serious consideration before Avengers: Endgame came out, wondering why Ant-Man would have to go up Thanos’ butt for it to work. Couldn’t he fly into Thanos’ ear or go up his nose? Obviously that wouldn’t be as funny, but sure.
So Thanus will have to join the pile of Avengers: Endgame theories that did not pan out, although there are plenty of theories that did turn out to be true. And it’s not like the movie didn’t have some crazy twists, so something equally strange could’ve happened. I mean, a rat was responsible for Ant-Man even being in the movie. Plus, the Endgame team is still trying to explain Captain America’s timeline after Steve went back to live with Peggy, so even things that did happen aren’t exactly making sense to everyone.
Watch Paul Rudd answer the Thanos butt question around the 8:10 mark of the video, which is a great watch from start to finish: