Finally, the new trailer for Avengers 4 is here! After all the hype and false alarms, we now not only have the trailer, but also the title: Avengers: Endgame. Disclaimer: I have not read the comics, but I have been closely following social media conversations involving theories and comic references for this universe. This trailer made me geek out and I needed an outlet, so this is why I’m glad I have a blog now. So I can do stuff like that.

I promise, I have not peeked at any other trailer reviews as of yet, though as soon as I post this I’m going to, so all this is 100% my inferences from this trailer based on what I know. I can’t source anyone because a lot of my knowledge is from scrolling through Tumblr and Pinterest, so credit to anyone to whom credit is due.

The trailer starts with Tony, leaving a message for Pepper via his damaged helmet. Tony looks like he’s alone on the ship, which is obviously Peter Quill’s ship, the Milano.  But Nebula was left on Titan, too. Where is she? And with that question, the scene cuts to the Marvel logo, which disintegrates as a visual reminder of the events of Infinity War.

Even though it starts with an image of Tony’s helmet, the trailer looks to be more about Steve’s story. The Russos said that characters not given much screentime in IW (like Steve) will be given more in Endgame. If IW was about Tony (engagement to Pepper, dream about a baby, responsibility and burden of guilt, Peter’s death, Thanos recognizing him, Strange sacrificing the stone for him) then Endgame will be about Steve because they are equal characters and equally reaching the end of their character arcs.

There’s a quick shot of Thanos’ armor set up on a pole,almost like a scarecrow…not sure where or why. Is it a warning, a trophy, a memento?

Then we see someone walking through a field of prickly plants. It’s impossible to tell who this person is, or even if they’re male or female, but they’re limping. The left leg is noticeably stiffer than the right. The sun is shining on the camera so it’s hard to see…but my first impression was that it almost looks like Gamora. I have no proof of this. It could just as easily be Nebula, Natasha, or Bucky, as all of them wear gloves like that on occasion. But I’m leaning towards female, and it just feels like Gamora. No explanation, just a gut instinct. But if I’m right, how is this possible? Is it inside the Soul Stone? Does she get resurrected somehow? The plants could also signify that the world is flourishing with half its population pruned, just like Thanos predicted, which is supported by Natasha’s voiceover about Thanos wiping out 50% of the world’s population. Just like a forest is always more healthy after a wildfire. The prickles, however, might also signify that it’s not flourishing in a good way.

Quick shots of a once-again clean-shaven, weeping Steve, then Nat, who is still blond but her hair is longer, long enough to pull back as we see later in the trailer. Steve crying is an instant tearjerker and hits us right in the feels, especially when we remember that the last time we saw him crying was at Peggy’s funeral. (Remember that detail, I’ll come back to that). Then we get Bruce looking at photos of Peter, Scott, and Shuri. The remaining Avengers don’t know the status of any of these three individuals, though we know that Peter disintegrated in the Snap and Scott is stuck in the Quantum Realm. Scott’s name clearly has the word MISSING next to it, and it looks like Peter’s does too. And it looks like neither we nor the characters know where Shuri is at the moment.

We see a wide shot of that large room in the Avengers training facility, then Thor in a hoodie, sitting in front of a white, interestingly paneled wall. Kinda gives off a prison cell vibe, what with the black bar passing in front of the camera’s foreground, but don’t quote me on that. He could just as easily be taking some alone time somewhere in Wakanda or the training facility.

Next, a shot of Nebula obviously on the Milano. So Tony isn’t alone, though he sure seemed like it at the beginning. Maybe she hates him and won’t talk to him. She probably hates him, given that 1) she hates everyone and 2) Thanos succeeded with the snap, Gamora is gone, and yet she and Tony survived– for her character, this could easily equal survivor’s guilt taken out on him.

Then blue fingers – assuming this is still Nebula, since she’s the only blue character confirmed to be in this movie – brushing some fabric that looks like the sleeve of someone sitting in a chair, with a strap that looks like a seatbelt. Whose sleeve? Tony’s? But Steve’s voiceover (“We lost friends,”) seems to say maybe it’s someone different, maybe at a later time in the movie.

Then – Hawkeye! But, actually, I don’t think it’s him. Not really. This seems to confirm the longstanding fan theory about Ronin. Like I said, I am unfortunately not a comic reader, but Ronin is said to be Hawkeye’s darkest alter ego from the comics. While the Russos and the MCU in general cannot be said to have ever imitated the comics exactly, I have been hearing for over a year now in all the hype for IW and now End Game (so many sources I can’t even cite something) that Hawkeye will don the Ronin alter ego, who is a kind of lone samurai act, because he lost his entire family in the Snap. Which is super sad, because Clint is my favorite character, and I love his family, but it makes sense as a character motivation and would be a great next step in his character arc, which has kind of been dragging compared to other Marvel characters. This is further strengthened by Steve’s voiceover again saying, “We lost family,” just as Clint appears on the screen.

There are so many interesting things about this scene alone that I want to highlight: what’s that cool sword/butcher knife thing he’s holding? And the even cooler armguard? I wanna know more about his costume and why he chose it. Who’s that on the ground at his feet? And why does it look like they’re outside the Sanctum in Hong Kong from Doctor Strange? Doesn’t it look like the same street that the final battle happens in? If so, why are they there? And we just saw Nat at the Avengers training facility in New Jersey so how and why does she end up there?

And look – Steve is holding his compass with Peggy’s picture in it. Now that’s interesting – now Peggy has been connected with this movie twice in this trailer, even though she died in Captain America: Civil War. I haven’t seen that compass for a while. It’s nice to know he still carries it. Why does he have it out now and why was it placed in this trailer? The music and the closing of the compass lid happen in such synchronicity I wonder if there’s some symbolic meaning to it. A firmness of purpose? Is he giving up? Is it foreshadowing his death? Or is there something else going on here?

Aaaaand, the Avengers logo and title reveal! Notice, however,that the A in the background is assembling (pun intended) out of the ashes.This looks like a symbolic reference to the reversal of Thanos’ destruction,hopefully. Kind of the opposite of the “ashes to ashes and dust to dust” line from the Bible used in funerals a lot. If Thanos caused so many characters to become ashes, then surely in a comic book universe that can be reversed. And this would be the time to talk about the time travel theory, but that’s way too much for an already long post, so I’ll save it for a future one. Suffice it to say that the prevailing theory for End Game is that they find a way to travel back in time to prevent Thanos from obtaining the Infinity Stones in the first place, likely by attempting to change Loki’s timeline during or after the Battle of New York.

Also, we have to talk about the symbolism of the title “Endgame”. This phrase is used twice in the movies, once by Tony in Avengers: Age of Ultron – “We can bust arms dealers all the livelong day but that up there, that’s the end game,” and by Steven himself in IW, right after viewing all 5 million possible futures: “We’re in the end game now,”. It was my top pick out of all the circulating title possibilities and I have to say I’m gratified that I was right.

Then, at the very end, we get one more treat – because every Marvel trailer has to have a post-credits scene, just like the movies. This time it’s Ant-Man! Wait, how did he get out of the Quantum Realm? Let me guess…..bum ba dah dum! Captain Marvel! She wasn’t shown in this trailer, did you notice? They probably want to show us her skills in her own movie first. My guess is she won’t be in any of the trailers, and she will be their biggest surprise. Especially since they said that she will be the most powerful character introduced in the MCU so far. Given what Wanda did in IW, that’s saying something.

That’s a lot! Do you think I got everything? Please comment below if you noticed something I didn’t or have some insider information I’ve missed, from the comics or otherwise. I hope you enjoyed this post and keep a lookout for more soon! I’ll be sending out the other half of my cosplay story next week, unless something else comes up.