Marvel has Wisely Kept Avengers: Endgame Details Limited
Quick, what do you know for sure about Avengers: Endgame from the trailers? We broke down the last (and apparently “final”) trailer here. There was some great stuff in there! The new suits, the new haircuts, the new team member (Captain Marvel, obviously)—but not much by way of actual narrative. We speculated on what those new suits might mean. We followed the rest of the internet’s lead in wondering whether Hawkeye’s daughter is, in fact, Kate Bishop. We then thought about whether the grown-up Kate Bishop is being played by Katherine Langford. It’s been more or less all speculation. The final trailer, much like the first trailer, gave us only the bare bones of a plot. The Avengers are broken and furious. The world is mourning the disappearance of half of every living person. The folks who sat out Infinity War—looking at you, Ant-Man and Hawkeye—are back. That’s about it. We’re happy about it.
In the Endgame Super Bowl spot we got a glimpse at how shattered our remaining heroes are but nothing by way of actual plot points. Even the synopsis could have been guessed after the moment Infinity War ended:
“After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the universe is in ruins due to the efforts of the Mad Titan, Thanos. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers must assemble once more in order to undo Thanos’ actions and restore order to the universe once and for all, no matter what consequences may be in store.”
Much of what we’ve seen in the trailers has been largely about reflection on the past and stage setting for the Thanos showdown. These are things we knew were coming before the first trailer dropped. Iron Man and Captain America, specifically, have been reckoning with everything that’s come before. If the trailers have done one thing consistently, it’s teasing the fact that these two stalwarts might be nearing the end of their Avengers service. In fact, you could argue everything that Marvel has revealed up to now could have been guessed out without the footage.
Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is essentially lost in space after his battle with Thanos on Titan. We knew he survived the Snap at the end of Infinity War, so this isn’t that surprising. We knew that Captain Marvel would be joining the team ever since Nick Fury sent a desperate message to her—via pager—in the Infinity War post-credits scene.
The trailers have given us just enough information and eye-candy moments without actually telling us much. Whatever their plan might be won’t be revealed until the film bows on April 26. Not only is the Avengers plan being kept secret, but the full Avengers team itself is unknown. Maybe Katherine Langford plays Kate Bishop, maybe she doesn’t. Maybe the gang will use the Quantum Realm in some capacity, maybe they won’t. Maybe Captain America or Iron Man (or both) will sacrifice themselves for the greater good. Or, maybe some other, heretofore unknown superhero or villain will swoop in and change the calculus of the entire MCU.
The Russo Brothers and the Marvel folks have been working on the Infinity War/Endgame two-parter for a long, long time. They’ve earned the right to tell us as little as possible about what to expect when Endgame finally premieres. This is a good thing. Knowing very little about how Endgame might play out is precisely how you want to enter the theater on April 26. Here’s to not seeing any more footage until then—with the caveat being if Marvel releases more footage, we’ll watch it immediately.
