2012’s The Avengers remains one of the finest superhero movies ever. In the film, the threat posed by Loki and the invading extraterrestrial Chitauri army resulted in the formation of the eponymous team. Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye came together to defeat their formidable opponents in the Battle of New York.
When Loki arrived on Earth, which was later revealed to be at the behest of the Mad Titan Thanos, his first task was to acquire the Tesseract, AKA the Space Stone, which was in the possession of S.H.I.E.L.D. He did so and assembled a team to use its power to open a portal through which the Chitauri arrived from deep space.
It’s now known that there’s a Universal Neural Teleportation Network in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which characters like the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Kree have used to “jump” through space.
As an intelligent, resourceful, and powerful character, Thanos must surely have known about it. Therefore, why did he need Loki to use the Tesseract to get the Chitauri to Earth? Couldn’t Thanos – played by Damion Poitier in The Avengers mid-credits scene – have sent them through a jump point? Some theories posited by fans potentially explain why he didn’t and why it’s not a plot hole of The Avengers.
What Are The Theories?
The most convincing idea regarding why Thanos didn’t use a jump point to transfer his Chitauri force to Loki is that the Tesseract was his fee for providing Loki with the army. Having Loki use it to create the portal was Thanos’ way of ensuring he had acquired the payment before sending the Chitauri to him.
Essentially, the Mad Titan wanted to ensure his army’s commander was worthy of his position and honored his word that he’d acquire the Tesseract. After all, the “God of Mischief” isn’t a title typically associated with virtue.
Another logical reason is that there could be a limit regarding the size of objects that can pass through a jump point. The Chitauri have a giant mothership and countless Leviathans, which may have been too big for jump point access. Or perhaps getting more oversized items through the jump points requires more energy, which Thanos didn’t have at his disposal then.
Other potential reasons for using a portal instead of the Universal Neural Teleportation Network include convenience, the Chitauri being too far away in deep space to utilize it to get to Earth in the required timeframe, Loki choosing to use the Tesseract for theatrical impact rather than have the Chitauri suddenly arrive unannounced, using a portal for covert reasons because the likes of the Nova Corps would have been notified had they used the jump points, and that the Network has some registration requirements that Thanos and his associates are banned from.
There are several reasonable explanations for why the Tesseract portal was utilized rather than jump points, and it’s certainly not a plot hole. There’s no reason to look too deeply into it.
A Reason These Theories Might Fail
There’s only one reason to doubt any of these theories seriously, and it’s a real-world reason rather than an in-universe MCU one.
When The Avengers was written, it’s doubtful that Marvel Studios had thought far enough into the future to consider using jump points in the movie.
2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy was the first time jump points were used in the MCU, and that movie was only announced as being in active development in July of 2012 – three months after The Avengers had been released.
Whether audiences ever find out if Thanos had a reason for not using jump points remains to be seen – though it’s doubtful they will. Regardless, at least these theories give realistic options for fans to ponder.
