“Don’t feel bad about this. Part of the journey is the end.”
And with those words, the trailer for “Avengers: Endgame” (more on that title in a bit) begins. Tony Stark speaking those words to Pepper Potts sets the tone for what is going to be a pretty somber two-minute affair. No jokes (well, minus the Ant-Man bit at the end, but without that moment of levity, the trailer might have been too bleak, tbh), no silly sight gags. This trailer was about one thing, and one thing only – what does a post-Snap world look like?
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Apparently, it looks pretty shitty. Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, is floating aimlessly through space, hoping to find someone to help him (surely, Captain Marvel, on her way back to Earth after the pager incident, will find him, right?). His message to Pepper takes up the bulk of the trailer, as he gives her a bit of a goodbye, and saying that when he dies, he’ll be dreaming of her. I’m not crying, you’re crying.
Cut to Avengers headquarters, and while we’re not given a macro view of society after 50% of all living things disappears, we see that our favorite heroes, including Captain America (Thanos snapped the damn beard off his face!) and a still-blonde Black Widow, are dealing with the aftermath. Cap is obviously very hurt, emotionally, as he admits that the superhero powerhouse team was defeated (quite easily) by Thanos.
That’s when the trailer cuts to the various heroes still alive (including Thor in a hoodie and Nebula on a ship, which is almost definitely the same one Tony Stark is on). And with this quick montage of scenes, we finally get the answer to one of the biggest questions coming out of ‘Infinity War’ – where the hell is Hawkeye?
Hawkeye – or shall we say Ronin – is now a sword-wielding badass somewhere in Asia murdering people in the streets. What would cause our lovable hero to turn rogue after Thanos’ Snap? It’s fairly obvious that the Snap probably took his family away, turning him into this whole new version of Clint Barton. It’s sad, but also gives the Snap even more weight when we find that it’s not just our favorite superheroes were turned to dust.
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The trailer ends with Black Widow telling Captain America that whatever mysterious plan they have for defeating Thanos and saving the universe will work. He says, “I know it is…cuz I don’t know what I’m going to do if it doesn’t.”
And that brings us to the title, “Avengers: Endgame.” When ‘Infinity War’ hit theaters, ‘Endgame’ became the go-to title guess for the upcoming fourth ‘Avengers’ film. The main driving force behind fans assuming this was going to be the title is a Doctor Strange quote from the film, saying to Iron Man that after giving the Time Stone to Thanos that they’re “entering the endgame.”
This led to an UPROXX interview where Joe Russo was asked point blank if the title for “Avengers 4” was ever said in dialogue in ‘Infinity War.’ The co-director said, matter of factly, “No.” And that led to the recent assumption that the title was going to be “Avengers: Annihilation,” thanks to that one little lie.
Obviously, it was worth it, as the title works very, very well for the film, which not only serves as an ending for the ‘Infinity War’ storyline, but also the end of this era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Ultimately, this trailer was impressive, to say the least. At two-minutes, it has the length of a standard trailer but does little more than tease. And what it teases is a more serious, somber effort that will hopefully build off the very good ‘Infinity War’ and deliver a satisfying conclusion. Honestly, if this was the only marketing Disney/Marvel Studios had for the film, we’d be happy.
“Avengers: Endgame” is set to hit theaters on (new date) April 26, 2019.