After months of having nothing to call the final installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 4 – and fourth Avengers film – but simply Avengers 4, we now know the movie’s subtitle with the recent release of the first trailer for Avengers: Endgame. It certainly sells the ending vibe of this first decade of the MCU.
While it’s a no-brainer that the plot of this direct sequel to the tragic events of Avengers: Infinity War earlier this year, would be the heroes that survived the Decimation (aka cosmic finger-snap) of Thanos assembling to take him down once and for all, were’ still short on specifics regarding how the survivors are doing before Endgame begins. We’ll enumerate the statues of characters seen in the trailer so far:
- Tony Stark/Iron Man is adrift in space after using the Guardians of the Galaxy’s ship to escape Thanos’ home world. Losing power and air supply, he records a poignant message to Pepper Potts on his armor, not knowing if he’ll make it to Earth alive. Nebula, daughter of Thanos and “sister” of the fallen Guardian Gamora, is apparently accompanying him.
- Thanos, triumphant in his quest to use the Infinity Stones to reduce all life in the universe by half, is in retirement at a rural world, his armor set up as a scarecrow in an alien field (a direct reference to the original Infinity Gauntlet storyline in the comic books).
- Surviving Avengers on Earth – Steve Rogers/Captain America, Natasha Romanov/Black Widow, Bruce Banner/Hulk, and Thor – take stock of the Decimation in their HQ, including making records of prominent heroes and associates listed as missing: Scott Lang/Ant-Man and Princess Shuri of Wakanda.
- Clint Barton/Hawkeye, unseen since Captain America: Civil War, resurfaces under a new masked identity, known in the comics as Ronin.
- Speaking of Scott/Ant-Man, he shows up unexpectedly despite being stuck in the Quantum Realm at the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp, with Cap and Black Widow wondering just how.
Avengers: Endgame is due to premiere on April 26, 2019.
