We’re just six weeks away from “Avengers: Endgame.” Just one month and change left. This is it. This is the climax of the first 11 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And Marvel Studios has blessed us with a new trailer — likely the final trailer we’re going to get for this thing — and our hype levels are at maximum. While of course this trailer is still very light on important details — they’re going to keep this thing as under wraps as possible until it actually hits theaters on April 26 — there are some things we can glean from it. So let’s do that right now.
1. Reflecting on the past
The first large chunk of this trailer is spent reflecting on how the good guys ended up here, with flashbacks to “Iron Man,” “Thor” and “Captain America: The First Avenger” from Phase 1 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We also get some narration from Peggy Carter that is actually something she said to Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) back in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” as well as a shot of Steve carrying Peggy’s casket at her funeral in “Civil War.” And, of course, a few flashes of old heroes who died when Thanos snapped his fingers at the end of “Avengers: Infinity War.”
It follows that “Endgame” will be heavy on that sort of sentiment since it represents the end of the story of the Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far, and we’re all kind of expecting at least one or two of the main heroes to die before the movie is over. So here’s hoping “Endgame” itself is sentimental in this way as well, instead of this just being a trailer thing.
2. No Thanos
We don’t see Thanos. Nobody mentions Thanos. The Avengers are obviously fighting to undo the thing that Thanos did, but are they going to actually be fighting against Thanos to do it? There’s long been a theory that Thanos will not be the main villain of “Endgame,” though who knows who or what else could be the big bad here. But the fact that Thanos does not get even an indirect shoutout in this trailer will no doubt fuel that theory.
3. This face Rocket makes
There’s not a lot of happiness in this trailer, as mostly we just see folks making sad faces or determined faces or angry faces. But not Rocket (Bradley Cooper). No, in this shot where he’s perched up there on War Machine’s shoulder he looks like he’s excited to ruin somebody’s life. He is HYPED. It’s so nice.
4. Ant-Man is searching for someone?
There’s this one random shot of Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) looking at a light pole that’s been plastered with missing persons posters. Could this be a a glimpse of Ant-Man’s early arc, where he tries to find his family after returning from the Quantum Realm? We do know that Hope Van Dyne, Janet Van Dyne and Hank Pym were all victims of the snap at the end of “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” which was how he himself got stuck down there. Or maybe this scene is just right after he returns to Earth and is learning about what happened for the first time.
5. Hawkeye/Ronin on an exploding space ship?
Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) is no longer just Hawkeye — he’s apparently taken up the mantle of the character Ronin at some point before the main events of “Endgame” get going. And we get some shots of him, alone, in what looks like a big action sequence where he’s running down a hallway away from an explosion. And then, later, in that same hallway wielding his bow.
The tunnel looks very much like something we’d see in a spaceship, but that’s just a guess since we have no context. But since he’s the only one we see in that environment in this trailer I find this bit very interesting. Perhaps moreso than it actually deserves.
6. Those snazzy white suits
Last year some toy designs leaked that showed some members of the Avengers wearing white uniform suits, and indeed that leak turned out to be legit as we see a bunch of the surviving folks wearing those suits in this trailer. Are these just uniforms, or is there some more practical reason that they’re wearing them? Could they be time travel suits? Suits to allow them to traverse the Quantum Realm? We have more thoughts on this topic here.
7. Steve and Tony are together again!!!!
It’s a small thing because we knew they would reunite in “Endgame,” but after we got through all of “Infinity War” with no scenes of Iron Man and Cap together we’ve been pretty eager to see them get back together. And we finally get to see them share a scene in this trailer, with that part where they’re wearing the white suits.
8. They might slipping in shots from the end of the movie again
We finally got to see some glimpses of what appears to be a big “Endgame” action sequence, and the location is curious. It’s a totally ravaged landscape, and we see Captain America, Nebula and Rocket and War Machine there. And maybe Ant-Man too, since that bit where’s tiny and pushing a lever looks very aesthetically similar.
I can’t help but wonder, given the precedent set by the “Infinity War” marketing (they literally put Tony Stark mourning Peter Parker in a trailer), if this sequence is from the end of the movie. They’re obviously fighting somebody but we can’t see who it is, and Steve has the angriest look on his face we’ve ever seen. So is Marvel Studios teasing us by sneaking the climactic battle from “Endgame” in this trailer?
9. Captain Marvel shows up real early in the movie
There’s one bit with Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) in this trailer, way at the end. And what I find very interesting about this bit is that we briefly see the back of Black Widow’s (Scarlett Johansson) head, and she’s sporting the same hairstyle she had in “Infinity War.” Whereas in the rest of the trailer she’s back to being a redhead, which means all that other stuff happens later on. This backs up our read that the scene from “Endgame” that Marvel put in “Captain Marvel” as the mid-credits stinger does take place pretty soon after the fight with Thanos.
10. Kate Bishop?
So, uh, a lot of folks seem to think that this trailer is introducing a new hero, one Kate Bishop. This thought is inspired by this shot of Hawkeye seemingly teaching this young girl archery — Kate Bishop in the comics takes on the Hawkeye mantle after Clint dies. So there is reason to believe that’s what’s happening here. But if they’re just casually bringing her in like this, uh, wow, that wild. But, hey, I guess they did just do something similar in “Captain Marvel.”