Warning: this entry contains spoilers for 2019 superhero film Avengers: Endgame.

About

Reverse Snap refers to a key plot event in 2019 superhero film Avengers: Endgame during which all creatures killed by Thanos's first snap in 2018 superhero film Avengers: Infinity War were returned back to life. Given the lack of proper explanation of how exactly the process occurred, the event was humorously reinterpreted online, with memes imagining people being returned to the exact positions in space which they originally disappeared from.

Origin

On April 26th, 2019, Marvel superhero film Avengers: Endgame premiered in the United States.^[1] In one scene of the film, character Hulk (Bruce Banner), portrayed by Mark Ruffalo, uses the Infinity Gauntlet to return all creatures killed by Thanos in 2018 superhero film Avengers: Infinity War back to life. The plot event is commonly referred to as "reverse snap".

Spread

Online, the lack of proper explanation of how exactly creatures return back to life after five years of absence prompted fan discussions of the event, with questions such as whether their age is adjusted appropriately and whether they retain their previous position in space raised by the viewers.

On May 6th, 2019, Redditor thomasflow98 posted a meme which illustrated what allegedly happened to women engaged in oral sex during the event of the first snap (shown below, top left).^[2] In the comment section, several Redditors speculated on how the effect would be reversed during the reverse snap (shown below, top right), with some participants of the discussion assuming that people would be returned to the exact positions in space, absolute or relative, as they disappeared from.^[3] On May 10th, 2019, Redditor Punisher2003 posted a meme which illustrated what allegedly happened to pregnant women during the event of the first snap,^[4] with a similar discussion appearing in the comment section (shown below, bottom left and right).^[5]

On May 12th, 2019, Redditor anshulans posted an Unsettled Tom meme based on the fan theory, with the post gaining over 27,200 upvotes in 11 days (shown below).^[6]

In the following days, more memes illustrating alleged consequences of the reverse snap were posted on Reddit and other online platforms, including notable posts in /r/thanosdidnothingwrong^[7] and /r/dankmemes.^[8]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References