A new Avengers: Endgame trailer is out, and it is the most ominous one by far. The new footage basically reminds us how far the Avengers have come since the beginning of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – while also teasing a furious battle facing them in this latest chapter.
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Marvel fans have been feeling the dread about seeing their favorite Avengers in what looks to be a last stand battle against an unseen threat. However, a closer examination of the trailer reveals that this tease of a “last stand” battle may actually be an attack on Avengers HQ itself – and it seems to take place much earlier in the film than many fans think!
As you can see above, this scene of Scott Lang / Ant-Man looking around ominously is set inside the halls of Avengers HQ, where we see many other character interactions taking place in the trailer (like that Thor and Captain Marvel ‘Ship happening right before our eyes!).
If you look closely in the background of the Ant-Man shot (see: circled areas) you’ll notice a massive explosive fireball slowly filling the windows of Avengers HQ at around 1:34. A later scene of the trailer sees a miniaturized Ant-Man trying to escape a firey explosion while surrounded by all kinds of office supplies, which is almost certainly the followup scene to Lang seeing the explosion coming, as depicted above.
This is clearly an ambush of some kind – and thanks to some earlier leaks from Avengers: Endgame LEGO sets, we can pretty much confirm that this sequence will see Thanos launching a surprise attack on The Avengers.
The toy set came with Hulk, Ant-Man, Nebula, Iron Man, and Captain Marvel – all character we know to be present at Avengers HQ in this new footage, as well as Thanos and an Outrider, suggesting the Mad Titan and his army are once again making a surprise strike at Earth.
Taking into consideration that this “Attack on Avengers HQ” sequence is what’s featured in much of the new trailer footage, we now have context for all these other shots of characters like Hawkeye looking like they’re in peril:
After these various explosion shots, we see the Avengers doing battle on a ruined landscape that many Marvel fans who assumed was some faraway location – possibly on entirely different world. However, in connecting all these new dots, it seems pretty clear that the rubble we see Captain America, Nebula, and the War Machine / Rocket team all fighting on is the team’s former HQ.
This reveal now raises a lot of interesting points about the earlier Avengers: Endgame footage we’ve seen – specifically the Super Bowl Spot. That footage featured the Avengers (with a few members digitally removed from the shot) walking outside their HQ to see something ominous approaching from the sky – and a later shot showed the team in HQ suiting up for a fight. It seems we now know why.
The Avengers: Endgame team has been teasing that the film would only be marketing the first fifteen minutes of footage – but later comments from Kevin Feige stretched out that range a bit, by suggesting the trailers wouldn’t be limited to just the first fifteen minutes:
“I’d call it somewhat accurate. As was the case with a lot of our films, this one, in particular, being able to generate a lot of excitement without giving away one of the many, many, many secrets. I think the Disney marketing team is the best in the world and we’ll be able to pull it off.”
It stands to reason that this sequence could then be somewhere in the first act of Avengers: Endgame, even if it’s further into the film (say, around the 30 – 40 minute mark). We’re now also seeing how this “Attack on Avengers HQ” sequence would then connect to the reported Endgame footage from a recent Disney shareholders meeting:
“…The footage took place in Avengers HQ with the heroes who survived the end of Avengers: Infinity War, as well as Captain Marvel. The newest member of the team wants to set out to kill Thanos, with Nebula revealing she knows where he is. Rocket chimes in to say that the use of the Infinity Gauntlet caused a massive energy spike, the largest ever seen on Earth, though another planet experienced a similarly tremendous energy spike, seemingly where we saw Thanos at the end of Infinity War.
Given how their last conflict ended with Thanos, War Machine, Bruce Banner, Black Widow, Captain America, and Captain Marvel all discuss the likelihood of taking down Thanos, with Banner wondering why another conflict could turn out differently. Captain Marvel points out that she’s here this time, hinting at just how powerful she is.
Rhodes asks the question which many other audience members have been wondering, which is why Captain Marvel has been missing for the last two decades, with her pointing out that other planets in the universe need help and aren’t lucky enough to have the Avengers. After sitting quietly the whole time, Thor steps up from his chair and walks over to Captain Marvel, summoning his Stormbreaker ax, which whizzes right past Captain Marvel as she refuses to flinch, resulting in Thor saying, ‘I like this one.’”
Maybe Thanos decides to get the jump on the Avengers, before they come for him? What’s now most interesting is how that Disney shareholders footage ends:
“The footage then cuts to the remaining Avengers in the Benatar, with Rocket piloting and Captain Marvel in the ship’s co-pilot seat. Rocket asks if any of them haven’t been to space before, with Captain America, Black Widow, and War Machine raising their hands, with Rocket warning them not to puke on his ship. The camera then zoomed in on Captain America’s face as the footage came to a close.”
It’s noted that Ant-Man isn’t on the ship, which suggests that part of the team could be lifting off in the Guardians ship (Cap, Widow, War Machine, Rocket, Captain Marvel, Nebula), while the science bros (Iron Man, Banner, Ant-Man) are inside HQ, presumably working on some Quantum Realm solution. That would make the first trailer’s scene of Cap and Widow discussing whether the plan will work a major fakeout as their ship gets shot down before even getting off the ground. Ouch. It would also explain how Hulk makes his comeback, in order to save Banner from the explosion.
Does this connect-the-dots theory sound on point to you? Let us know in the comments!
Avengers: Infinity War is now available on home video, and Captain Marvel is now in theaters. Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Avengers: Endgame on April 26th, and Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5th.
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