Avengers: Endgame Trailer Breakdown and Analysis

If you’re looking for the newest Avengers: Endgame trailer, click here. We also did some analysis on it HERE and HERE.

Finally. It’s finally here and (insert Steve Rogers crying gif) it’s beautiful. Avengers 4 is now known as Avengers: Endgame, and unlike the bombastic alien invasion craziness of the Avengers: Infinity War trailers, this one is appropriately introspective. How could it not be, right?

This is the very definition of a teaser. After the nearly three hour spectacle of Avengers: Infinity War, a movie that had more easter eggs in its trailers than most have in their entire runtime, the Avengers: Endgame trailer is looking to keep things under wraps. And it does it admirably. Marvel has been incredibly secretive about what Avengers 4 will actually contain, and there’s not a single thing in these two minutes that could be considered an MCU spoiler.

Here’s the Avengers: Endgame trailer in case you haven’t seen it yet…

There ain’t a hell of a lot of story revealed here (which is good). It’s also worth pointing out that, with one notable exception (and no, it isn’t Captain Marvel), the only Avengers prominently featured in the Avengers: Endgame trailer are those who were around for the first movie. But there’s still plenty we can pull from here. So what does the Avengers: Endgame trailer mean for each member of the team?

IRON MAN

Tony Stark is adrift in space (on the Guardians’ second ship, the appropriately named Benatar) for an indeterminate period of time. We don’t know how long the time jump is from Avengers: Infinity War to Avengers: Endgame, but I think a conservative estimate is that a year will have passed, as Marvel movies (mostly) take place in “real time.”

Tony is sending messages (well, keeping a diary, really) for Pepper Potts. It has never been made clear whether Pepper survived Thanos’ culling or not. We didn’t see her evaporate at the end of Avengers: Infinity War. There are a handful of possibilities here…

The most obvious is that Pepper survived, and Tony is keeping this diary for her. OR…Pepper was culled, and Tony is doing this as a way to maintain his sanity, perhaps in the hope that he can undo what Thanos has done, possibly at the cost of his own life.

further reading – Which Avengers: Infinity War Deaths Are Permanent?

But most likely, Tony legitimately doesn’t know if Pepper is alive or dead. He might not even know the full extent of what went down (although he can probably guess).

In any case, Iron Man isn’t necessarily behaving like the kind of guy who expects to get out of this alive. But he’s not going to die because the oxygen ran out on this ship, so someone has to rescue him. The question is…WHO? The rescue of Tony Stark from deep space will certainly have to come from some kind of major character, someone who probably isn’t seen in the trailer (unless it’s Nebula), and yet survived the culling. A few folks have pointed out that Captain Marvel is a logical choice, but I would be surprised if they introduce her this early in the movie.

Any ideas? Because I seriously have no clue.

But in any case, I think the jury is still out on whether Tony Stark actually survives Avengers: Endgame. Also, I’m not sure if Tony is alone or not…

NEBULA

Is Nebula on the ship with Tony? Is that whose shoulder she touches? But she did also have a ship of her own, so…I dunno. 

There is zero chance Nebula makes it out of this movie alive, though. Say your goodbyes.

THANOS

Well, we know who WON’T be rescuing Tony. Thanos is going all in on his “swords into ploughshares” or…ummm…gauntlets-into-weed-farming or whatever the hell it is he’s done. The Thanos-armor-as-scarecrow is a pretty powerful visual, though. It really makes Thanos’ victory in Infinity War all the more chilling, considering that he committed the most insane mass murder ever and then just retires.

It’s going to make his inevitable defeat in this movie the feel-good ass-kicking of the year. We wrote more about all the ways the Avengers could defeat Thanos in Avengers: Endgame right here.

CAPTAIN AMERICA

In the leadup to Infinity War, everyone speculated that Tony Stark, essentially the founder of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, would be the one to bite the big one. They even faked us out when he got stabbed by Thanos (who else’s theater let out a collective gasp when that happened?). But as we get closer to Avengers: Endgame, the continued speculation is that it isn’t Iron Man who will take the ol’ dirt nap, but Steve Rogers.

Why? Well, for one thing, Chris Evans keeps on making comments about being done with the role, something that the Russo Bros. keep trying to walk back. Whether it’s a contract issue or Evans wanting to move on from the endless scrutiny that comes with these blockbusters is unknown. But anyway…everyone (possibly including me) expects Captain America to die.  This trailer kinda drives that home.

Why? Well…

AGENT CARTER

The fact that Cap is still pining after Peggy Carter, nearly seven years after he was unfrozen, tells us that no matter how many fun quips the writers put in his mouth, the whole “man out of time” element is still weighing heavily on him. Keep in mind, Steve Rogers is a guy who was perfectly willing to die for his country in 1941, when he was far less physically able to fight. You don’t think he would lay down his life for half the living creatures in the universe? Please.

There have also been continued rumblings of a time travel component to this movie, and if that’s the case, maybe Cap can get some kind of happy ending after all, where he goes back and lives out his days with Peggy. I…um…if he dies of old age before he’s unfrozen in our era that wouldn’t cause a paradox, right? RIGHT?!?

In any case, Cap deserves a happy ending, one way or the other. You’d damn well better give it to him, Marvel!

THOR

Well, the God of Thunder is not taking this well. He lost his brother, and it’s safe to assume that Jane Foster probably didn’t make it out of the culling alive, considering that Natalie Portman pretty much is done with the MCU, right?

Anyway, don’t feel too down, Thor. Your brother will be back for his own TV series soon enough. Maybe if you survive this you’ll get to go along for the ride.

HULK

While I’m sure everyone is blaming themselves to some extent, I have to figure this is particularly hard on Bruce Banner. Is he wondering if he had been able to control Hulk better if he could have done a better job fighting off Thanos’ attack?

further reading: Hulk Movies Marvel Should Make

Also, while Scott Lang shows up later in the trailer (we’ll get to that in a minute) he’s listed as “missing” on this monitor. As a criminal, he’s adept at going underground. The other monitor just confirms what we already know, that Peter Parker was a victim of the cull. Was Shuri, or is she in hiding, planning her next move? We have some more details on Shuri’s fate right here.

But it’s interesting that they’re also listed as “missing” rather than “dead.” With Peter’s death coming off-world (and it’s possible Tony can’t communicate with them), his status makes sense. But certainly, they must at least know that Shuri vanished, right? If so, maybe this means they’re holding out hope that this whole fiasco can be undone?

BLACK WIDOW

Natasha not only survived Avengers: Infinity War, but it’s a safe bet that she will survive Avengers: Endgame, too. Why? Because she has a solo movie of her own in development! 

HAWKEYE/RONIN

Well, now we know where Hawkeye has been all this time. He’s been dressed up as Ronin!

Ronin was created by Brian Michael Bendis and Joe Quesada back during the New Avengers era. It’s really cool to see such a great Joe Quesada costume design come to life so perfectly in live action. The original Ronin was Maya Lopez, a Daredevil supporting character (but…let’s not talk about Daredevil right now…it hurts too much). But like in the comics, Clint Barton here took on the Ronin name and costume in the aftermath of Civil War.

Anyway, if you need to know more about Hawkeye and his weird history with the Ronin identity, we’ve got you covered!

ANT-MAN

Wait…why is Scott Lang here? Ant-Man wasn’t in the first movie, and hell, he didn’t even have a Phase One flick of his own! Well, there’s two reasons for this. In the comics, Ant-Man was a founding member of the Avengers. Yes, he was there even before Captain America. Having him here completes that original comics Avengers roster (more or less).

further reading – Ant-Man and the Wasp: Complete Marvel Easter Egg Guide

The other thing to remember is that had things gone differently, Ant-Man not only would have been in that first Avengers movie, he would have had a solo movie much earlier in the whole Marvel timeline.

Avengers: Endgame will arrive on April 26. The full schedule of upcoming Marvel movies can be found here.

Mike Cecchini is the Editor in Chief of Den of Geek. You can read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @wayoutstuff