Jack Towne, Staff Reporter
When Thanos came to Earth in this year’s Avengers: Infinity War, things looked grim for the Avengers tasked with protecting their home. After a race around the galaxy to collect the Infinity Stones, always seeming to leave the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy one step behind, Thanos collected the final stone in Wakanda, and at the culmination of a lengthy battle sequence, he snapped his fingers. With that snap, half of all life in the universe was removed from existence, leaving those who remained trying to, literally, pick up the pieces.
Now, in a trailer for 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, we get a glimpse into the aftermath of all this devastation. As the trailer opens, Tony Stark is stranded in a spaceship floating somewhere in the depths of space. He leaves a recorded message for his wife Pepper Potts, revealing he has run out of food and water, and will soon have no oxygen. He has absolutely no hope of rescue. Back on Earth, Captain America, Black Widow, and Bruce Banner, upon coming to terms with the majority of their superpowered friends being dead or missing, are developing a last ditch plan to bring their friends back and defeat Thanos once and for all.
When marketing for Infinity War was first ramping up, about a year ago, the centerpiece of all of Marvel’s trailers and promotional materials was the big bad himself, Thanos. In this new trailer, he appears for a second and is otherwise nowhere to be seen. It is very clear that the focus of this next movie will not be the villain, but rather the heroes, as they engage in the fight of their lives.
One might think he is watching a DC movie with how grim this trailer really is. Most of the Marvel Universe, either dead or dying, and no real hope for any plans to reverse this to come to fruition. The heroes are obviously emotionally drained, as they mourn their families and friends and try to regroup and fight back. After all of this heaviness, you might expect a little bit of a light-hearted moment…
And in walks Ant-Man! Apparently not as deeply affected by the fallout of Thanos’ arrival on Earth as his superpowered allies, Scott Lang drives up to the gate of the Avengers facility, appearing to be in a rather chipper mood, and asks to be buzzed in. Ant-Man has always been among the less serious, more light-hearted characters in the Marvel Universe, and half of all life on Earth being wiped out doesn’t seem to change that.
This trailer does an excellent job of explaining where the heroes are at emotionally, shows us that even in probably the most grim Marvel movie ever there will still be some classic Marvel comedy, and more than anything gets the fans more excited for this movie than they already were. Anticipation will surely remain at a fever pitch throughout the months leading up to the release. A job well done from Marvel, as usual.
