Well, folks, we have it: After months of waiting, speculation, rumors, and demands, we\u2019ve finally gotten our first look at Avengers 4, now known as Avengers: Endgame. As ever with these cryptic teasers, it\u2019s a look that shows off a bunch of things… and yet, not a lot at the same time. Let\u2019s go through and break it down.<\/b>
\nWell, folks, we have it: After months of waiting, speculation, rumors, and demands, we\u2019ve finally gotten our first look at Avengers 4, now known as Avengers: Endgame. As ever with these cryptic teasers, it\u2019s a look that shows off a bunch of things… and yet, not a lot at the same time. Let\u2019s go through and break it down.
The trailer opens with a distraught Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.)\u2014gazing upon his battered Iron Man helmet as he sits on the deck of the Benatar, the ship of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Well, okay, former ship of the Guardians of the Galaxy, who are now basically down to Rocket (Bradley Cooper), who\u2019s stuck on Earth, and Nebula (Karen Gillan), who…is actually seemingly on the Benatar with Tony at some point, we\u2019ll get to that.
Tony is fiddling with the helmet for a grim purpose: he\u2019s recording a final log, because his situation is pretty dire. He\u2019s had no food or water for four days, and his oxygen is about to run out. The Benatar is drifting in space, and he\u2019s seemingly all on his own. \u201cWhen I drift off, I will dream about you. It\u2019s always you,\u201d he concludes, with the \u201cyou\u201d presumably being Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). Like I said, grim!
Marvel\u2019s probably not gonna let the Russo Brothers kill Tony Stark off early on in this movie by having him asphyxiate alone out in the depths of space, so we can bet on him being rescued. The question is, by who?
The obvious choice would be Marvel\u2019s new cosmic defender, the mighty Captain Marvel (Brie Larson)\u2014who\u2019d make sense to appear in the depths of space out of nowhere looking to help someone in need, and we know she\u2019s on her way back to Earth thanks to Nick Fury\u2019s (Samuel L. Jackson) beeper alert. But don\u2019t forget that there\u2019s actually still some Asgardians out there in space\u2014we know Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) and a few survivors from Thanos\u2019 (Josh Brolin) attack on the refugee ship at the opening of Infinity War escaped (although there\u2019s probably a few less of them now, thanks to the Snap). Suffice to say, hopeless at it seems, Tony\u2019s got options.
After Thanos snaps away even the Marvel Studios banner\u2014that rascal\u2014we cut to the Mad Titan enjoying his \u201cwell-deserved\u201d rest. While the planet he\u2019s on hasn\u2019t been officially named yet, the Russos have referred to it as \u201cTitan 2,\u201d a recreation of his ravaged homeworld. His armor being hung up as a scarecrow and Thanos suddenly becoming a dab hand at planting crops is actually a reference to an iconic shot from the comics, specifically the original 1991 miniseries by Jim Starlin and George Perez, Infinity Gauntlet:
At the climax of the series, after the power of the gauntlet had been ripped out of Thanos\u2019 hands (Adam Warlock eventually becomes the wielder, to safeguard the cosmos), the Mad Titan had retired to an unknown world, humbled by his loss of power, to tend the soil and seemingly live out his days as a farmer. Just like that didn\u2019t really stick in the comics, odds are that the MCU Thanos\u2014who is still wearing the battered, burned-out Infinity Gauntlet\u2014won\u2019t be spending Endgame getting his Stardew Valley on.
Meanwhile, back on Earth, the surviving Avengers have relocated from Wakanda to Avengers HQ. Oh no, sad Steve Rogers (Chris Evans)! \u201cThanos did exactly what he said he was gonna do,\u201d Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) adds over the shot of a weepy Cap. \u201cHe wiped out…50 percent of all living creatures.\u201d
As she says that, we see Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) looking over a holographic list of the Avengers\u2019 absent allies. We only see Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), Shuri (Letitia Wright), and Peter Parker (Tom Holland), and they\u2019re all labeled as \u201cmissing\u201d rather than \u201cdead.\u201d We know Peter is dead, because we watched him crumble to bits in Tony\u2019 arms in Infinity War. And we also know that, thanks to the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scott avoided the snap by being in the quantum realm at the time. So don\u2019t get too anxious about Shuri being on that list\u2014she might be gone, she might be off the grid. After all, with T\u2019Challa dead, Wakanda needs a protector.
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) mopes alone elsewhere in Avengers HQ\u2014he\u2019s presumably taking it a lot harder than everyone else, because it was his not-so-fatal-blow that left Thanos the chance to enact his will in Infinity War \u2019s climax. Nice to see that he\u2019s found some suitably schlubby clothes to change into for his moping, at least. And hey, he still got a replacement eye out of it all, so don\u2019t be that sad, God of Thunder!
As Steve solemnly notes \u201cWe lost, all of us, we lost friends, we lost family,\u201d we get one of the most intriguing shots of the trailer: Nebula, walking in on what certainly looks like the unconscious body of Tony on the Benatar. Earlier on, Tony seemed to imply that he was alone\u2014so does Nebula leave, thinking he\u2019s dead, only for him to wake up and record his message? Or does this happen after all that?
\u201cWe lost a part of ourselves,\u201d Steve continues, as we get to the trailer\u2019s arguably biggest reveal: Natasha, off in Asia as she reunites with a very, very different-looking Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). The sword and costume Renner has donned were actually leaked a while ago in set pictures, but it\u2019s also another big callback to the comics, because this isn\u2019t really Clint Barton, Hawkeye. It\u2019s Clint Barton, Ronin.
In the aftermath of the infamous comic event Civil War (and his resurrection after House of M, which retconned Clint dying in a truly ridiculous way), Clint put aside the Hawkeye name and adopted the mantle of Ronin, becoming the second person to use the title after Maya Lopez. Clint operated in secret at first, with few people knowing he was still alive, but would eventually openly operate as Ronin and before returning to the Hawkeye mantle in 2010\u2014by then, Kate Bishop had started using the name in his memory, and has continued to do so alongside him ever since.
So what\u2019s he doing adopting it now, and swanning around in places that are distinctly not his farmhouse? It stands to reason that not all of Clint\u2019s family made it out of the snap intact\u2014in fact, he could\u2019ve lost his wife and his kids. That sort of grief would probably be enough for him to start traveling and beating up thugs, giving up his old SHIELD agent identity in the process. But it also hints that there\u2019s at least been a decent passage of time between what we\u2019re seeing here and the end of Infinity War \u2014maybe it\u2019s later on in the movie than everything else in the trailer, which clearly takes place close to the aftermath of Thanos\u2019 success.
Cutting back to Steve and Natasha, this time we see them suited up\u2014and, interesting to note, Steve isn\u2019t in his torn up Age of Ultron costume any more: He\u2019s gone back to his SHIELD-issued stealth suit from Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I guess he had been wearing that Ultron suit for a while at this point! When this takes place his hard to say, but Cap and Widow are clearly preparing for something big, as Steve takes a glance at one of his oldest and most treasured possessions: a compass, holding a picture of Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). Sniffle.
Widow tries to assure Cap that it\u2019s all going to work out for them, but even Captain America, beacon of hope, isn\u2019t too sure: \u201cI know it is. Because I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m gonna do if it doesn\u2019t.\u201d Really, that\u2019s how you know it\u2019s dire.
And here it is, your big title reveal: Avengers: Endgame. It is, of course, a nod to Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch)\u2019s final line in Infinity War to Tony Stark before he too falls to Thanos\u2019 snap: \u201cWe\u2019re in the endgame now.\u201d But, it\u2019s not really the first time the phrase has actually been uttered in an Avengers film: Tony warns Steve back in Age of Ultron that they\u2019re approaching an endgame, asking how the Avengers could ever face such a cataclysmic threat. Steve\u2019s response back then, of course, was \u201ctogether.\u201d It\u2019s also just a logical word to use when coming to the end of such a massive storyline.
The final moments of the trailer throw up even more questions\u2014while Steve and Natasha are talking at what appears to be Avengers HQ, they\u2019re interrupted by Scott Lang knocking on the door, to their absolute shock. There\u2019s a lot here to note: first, Scott\u2019s brought his van, which, as we know from the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp, contains the miniaturized quantum tunnel he was testing that let him survive Thanos\u2019 snap\u2014and it seems like that technology could at least offer some clues for what the Avengers will do next.
Beyond all that, it\u2019s the dialogue that offers some scintillating hints here. Scott refers to the events of Civil War \u2014\u201cThe airport! In Germany!\u201d\u2014as being a few years ago ( Civil War took place in 2016, and Infinity War takes place in 2018). But on top of that, a shocked looking Steve asks Natasha if it\u2019s an \u201cold message,\u201d so there\u2019s an implication that there\u2019s at least been a decent passage of time since even Infinity War. After all, that shot of Bruce looking at the missing persons list prominently featured Scott. Are Steve and Natasha just surprised that Scott is alive, or are they surprised that it\u2019s been so long since he\u2019s been reported missing?
There\u2019s long been rumors of time travel playing a major role in Avengers: Endgame, but this is unlikely anything to do with that. But it does indicate that at least some of what we see in this trailer doesn\u2019t take place so close to the end of Infinity War as you might think it does
This trailer is a bigger look at Avengers: Endgame than anyone could\u2019ve expected out of a first tease of this climactic chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But while there is a density of footage, it\u2019s all pretty light on details\u2014we don\u2019t really know much more now than we did while clamoring for this trailer, and it\u2019s seemingly from very early on in the movie, where our heroes are still reeling from the devastation of Thanos\u2019 actions. Plus, Marvel has a track record of making footage just for these teasers (remember Infinity War \u2019s epic charge-that-never-was ?), so even if we did think we learned something, we won\u2019t really know until we\u2019re taking our seats to watch the movie.
But at least we now have the Avengers\u2019 mission statement: Thanos may have won the battle, but he won\u2019t win the war, not while Earth\u2019s Mightiest are still standing. We\u2019ll see how that all plays out for them when Avengers: Endgame hits theaters April 26,2019.
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