Now That Bush Is Finally Buried We Get Our Damn Avengers: Endgame Trailer 

The Discourse

It’s here. It’s really here.

The first trailer for the fourth Avengers movie, titled Avengers: Endgame, dropped on Friday morning. As laid out in a blog that far too many of you read [Ed. note: no, it’s good—keep reading], this trailer was the most highly anticipated preview of the year (maybe ever) and now, after President George H.W. Bush gave it a two-day bump, it has arrived. If you’re not all the way caught up, then go do your homework then head back. And if you hate criticism of superhero movies and spoilers, then hang around like two more minutes and click the “X” at the top of your screen.

So, despite what my fine colleague Rafi Schwartz would argue, there’s actually not a lot to break down here.

Tony Stark, his new Iron Man nanopart system depleted from his fight with Thanos, is stranded on the Benatar (the ship formerly owned by the Guardians of the Galaxy, all of which, aside from Rocket and Nebula, are dead) recording what he presumes will be his final message to his wife, Pepper Potts. Later in the trailer, Nebula is seen standing in the doorway watching him and even providing a comforting shoulder pat.

The Titan of the hour himself is then shown taking in the flowers on Titan II, as his armor hangs outside his little hut. The Infinity Gauntlet that started this whole mess is still very clearly torn to shit by the Snap. It’s unclear if that will affect its powers when what’s left of the Avengers come for him.

Back at the Avengers facility in upstate New York, Black Widow and Captain America are lamenting over the loss of, well, half the damn universe, while Bruce Banner stares at a list of dead superheroes (Shuri is dead, or at least “missing,” per the hologram display) and Thor, well, Thor and his new eye look basically like this:

Then fans are treated to the rare Clint Barton appearance (he wasn’t in Infinity War at all). Having ditched his Hawkeye persona in favor of his sword-wielding Ronin outfit, he’s pictured standing over the body of a presumed Yakuza in an alleyway in Japan that looks suspiciously similar to the one where Dr. Strange used the Time Stone and successfully bested Kaecilius. Note that his appearance comes right as a Captain America speech played over the visual says “We lost family,” meaning life on the Barton farm is presumably no more. The trailer finally cuts to Captain America and Black Widow on what appears to be a Quinjet, with Natasha reassuring Steve, “This is gonna work”—“this” presumably being The Big Plan To Kick Thanos’s Ass.

And then, until the title reveal—with the words physically coming together in as a reversal of the dusting process—that’s basically it!

Oh wait, there’s also that little post-title part where Ant-Man shows up at the front door of the Avengers facility with the van that may or may not allow access to the Quantum Realm that contains Time Vortexes, basically sucking all the suspense out of the insanely effective post-credits scene from this summer’s Ant-Man and the Wasp. A bit too tidy, I say, but still, of the entire trailer, that’s maybe the most important moment.

Compared to last November’s Infinity War trailer, this trailer contains no action whatsoever, but that was part one of what was always meant to be a two-part film and Infinity War left viewers with the bleakest ending yet in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Behind Ant-Man’s unexplained escape, the biggest reveals are the title (a line spoken by Doctor Strange in Infinity War—“We’re in the endgame now”—and Iron Man in Avengers: Age of Ultron—“That up there, that’s the endgame”) and the fact that the movie’s release has been bumped up to April 26, instead of its original May 3 date.

There are still plenty of questions to be asked: Where’s Rocket? Where’s War Machine? How did Ant-Man escape the Quantum Realm? Is Nakia alive? Who’s ruling Wakanda? Did Captain Marvel answer her pager? Is the Ant-Man appearance simply misdirection? Who will save Tony Stark and Nebula? What exactly does Black Widow mean by “this”?

This trailer provides very few answers. It’s probably better to think of this trailer more as a reminder than a reveal—at long last, the end to the 11-year journey has arrived. Whatever that entails, it’s not something to fear; it’s just part of the story.

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