'Avengers: Infinity War' Trailer Confirms 'Thor: Ragnarok' Theory

Marvel Studios today released the Avengers: Infinity War trailer and the footage answered one of the major lingering questions from the most recently released Marvel Cinematic Universe film, Thor: Ragnarok.

In Thor: Ragnarok, Thor sends his brother Loki into Odin's hall of treasures to seek out the skull of Surtur and place it on the eternal flame in order to set Ragnarok, the prophesied end of Asgard, into motion, thus stopping the plans of Thor's sister, Hela, the goddess of death.

While walking through Odin's hall, Loki stops and takes a long look at another one of Allfather's treasures, the Tesseract, which fans also know is the Space Stone, one of the Infinity Stones sought after by Thanos, the Mad Titan who is the villain of Infinity War. The Tesseract first appeared in Captain America: The First Avenger, used by the Red Skull to power his Hydra technology. Loki acquired the Tesseract when he arrived on Earth in Marvel's The Avengers and used it to open a portal, allowing the Chitauri horde to invade New York City.

Loki's plan was stopped by the Avengers and New York, and the planet, were saved, but fans were left wonder if Loki left the Tesseract where it was or if he took it from Odin's hall. This question was amplified by the arrival of a massive ship later identified as Sanctuary II, Thanos's personal spacecraft, in one of the post-credits scene of Thor: Ragnarok.

The Avengers: Infinity War trailer answers that question with a single shot of Loki outstretching his arm with the Tesseract sitting in his palm. It seems likely that Loki is turning the Infinity Stone over to Thanos, probably in exchange for the lives of the Asgardian refugees, since Thanos has the Space Stone inserted into the Infinity Gauntlet in a different shot from the trailer.

The question now becomes, knowing how cunning Loki is, did he truly come to find the Tesseract by happenstance, or has he always been loyal to Thanos? Loki seemed to turn over a new leaf in Thor: Ragnarok, but he is a talented liar. Why did he take the Tesseract in the first place? Preparing for a later bid for personal power? Did he owe Thanos for his failure? As usual, Loki's true motivations remain obscure.

Avengers: Infinity War opens in theaters on May 4, 2018.

Thor: Ragnarok is now playing in theaters. Other upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include; Black Panther on February 16, 2018, Ant-Man and the Wasp on July 6, 2018, Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3in 2020.