Obviously, like so many others, I immediately stopped everything I was doing to watch the Avengers: Endgame trailer when it was released today. As I proceeded to rewatch it (a bunch of times) I was struck by a unique idea. What if I wrote about the trailer?!? It just came out. I have random thoughts and feelings. What if I used the internet to share those immediate thoughts and feelings?!? I know it’s unheard of for someone to use the internet as a medium to publish their immediate, undeveloped reactions to something as soon as it happens. But I felt this idea was just crazy enough to work! Plus, I’ve been pretty open about my disappointment with Avengers: Infinity War so I wanted to talk about the surprise punch to the feels this first trailer brought.
If you haven’t seen the trailer yet or (more likely) if you want to watch it for the zillionth time, here it is:
Leading up to Avengers: Infinity War, I was worried they were trying to do too much in one film. It felt crowded and rushed to me. There were some glaring plot holes. But perhaps the most frustrating part was the sense of emotional manipulation at the end. I’m a movie crier by nature. I’ve no shame in weeping openly in my seat at the theatre (and I often do). But I didn’t shed a single tear in Avengers: Infinity War because I knew none of those deaths would be permanent. My knowledge of contracts, sequels, and box office grosses all assure me Black Panther and Spider-Man are going to be fine.
I know there will be real deaths in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a result of the battle with Thanos but we won’t know who really leaves us until Avengers: Endgame. (By the way I LOVE the name!!) This trailer did an excellent job of shining its spotlight on the reality that that moment is almost upon us. There were no spoilers and no big fight scenes, which I appreciated. It was just the characters. And it underscored two important truths of this film:
After Thanos destroyed half the life in creation, we’re left with our original six Avengers, together again, for a final stand. And we know they all won’t make it out alive.
Who will fall in the end? Ugh…this will be hard. / Photo Credit – Avengers: Endgame
As much as I originally resented all the newer characters being dusted at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, I now see its importance. Okay, so their deaths won’t last. But it cleared the way for something more important. As the first generation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe comes to a close it’s up to Iron Man, Black Widow, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, and Hawkeye to stand together to save the day one final time. Yes, we’ll have Captain Marvel and Ant-Man and Okoye and Rocket and War Machine there too and I’m sure the others will come back as well. But this will predominately be the first Avengers final fight.
The idea of seeing that play out leaves a lump in my throat…
I’ve been contemplating it all day. And about an hour ago a thought struck me. What if they all die? Now, to remind everyone reading this, I don’t read any spoilers before a film. I hate spoilers. I tell my students in any class I teach with films I fail them for spoiling things. I go out of my way to avoid all spoilers. I like to go into a film blind, only watching a handful of the trailers. So my comments here are based on NOTHING but my own musings.
I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Nebula. She’s one of my favorite characters and I bet she plays a major role in taking down Thanos. / Photo Credit – Avengers: Endgame
I’ve been fairly certain for some time that Avengers: Endgame will see Captain America and Iron Man die protecting the universe. As much as I want Tony and Pepper to ride off into the sunset to start their family, I don’t think I’m going to be that lucky. (I really hope I’m wrong here…) Tony could fund the Avengers from a distance as Robert Downey Jr. retires but in universe he and Pepper could live on. If only…
I don’t think Tony will die alone in space. (Maybe Captain Marvel will rescue him?!?) But that opening scene of the trailer just underscores what it will feel like to lose him. You get a sense of sadness, but also of peace and acceptance. It’s like a brilliant allegory for the evolution of the MCU. Still, my heart aches each time I hear Tony tell Pepper, “When I drift off I will dream about you. It’s always you…” It’s so beautiful. He’s not raging against his death. He’s not lamenting the things they never did. He’s just making his final message an honest expression of his love. How far Tony’s come since he was describing his hook-ups with Maxim cover models and mocking Rhodey’s “hum-drum-vee” in Iron Man ten years ago. The feelings that scene brought up were complex and plentiful.
Seeing Steve crying was another emotional gut punch. He’s Captain freaking America. He always has a plan! He always saves the day! There’s nothing he can’t handle. He didn’t even cry when he woke up in 2012 and realized he lost his entire life with Peggy. But now he’s been brought to his breaking point?? I’m sure I’ll be crying right along with him when I’m watching this movie.
You and me both Steve, you and me both… / Photo Credit – Avengers: Endgame
I found Hawkeye’s arrival in the trailer to be surprisingly powerful too. I know he’s never been a major player in the MCU and he’s been in the least number of Marvel films (Thor, The Avengers, Avengers: Age Of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War) of any of the original Avengers. But he’s still an original Avenger! I want to see what role he plays in the battle against Thanos. Will he live? Will he die? I think we can lose him here. A dramatic, emotional end could be the perfect swan song for Clint. All those feelings shot through me with that first shot of Ronin’s back.
What has brought you to this point, Clint? / Photo Credit – Marvel Comics
I’ve thought the Hulk will fall for a while too. Mark Ruffalo is brilliant as Bruce Banner but the Hulk only really works in the MCU in ensemble pieces. Granted, this is clearly where they’re heading but I still think the death of “the strongest one there is” underscores the strength of Thanos as well as illustrating how much they have to give to stop him. Admittedly, Thor was the first Avenger I predicted would die as a result of the battle against Thanos. However, then Thor: Ragnarök happened and Chris Hemsworth fell in love with the character again (and made Marvel/Disney a $#!T TON of money). Given both Chris Hemsworth and Taika Waititi have said they’d like to make Thor: Ragnarök 2, that may keep Thor alive for us. And I’m more than okay with that. The god being the lone survivor has a haunting ring to it too; always moving forward through time as the mortals you love leave you too soon.
But if Black Widow dies… She will be the one death that would just wreck me.
I’ve written in detail before about how I think Natasha is the soul of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There since 2010, she was the third Avenger we met and she’s been as central a presence on the team and in their leadership as Captain America’s been. Yet, given how horrible Marvel is with supporting, promoting, and trusting in the draw of their female characters, she’s never had her own solo movie. Marvel will finally rectifie this with Cate Shortland’s yet-untitled Black Widow solo film. Yay!!!! However, the film is said to be set before the events of the first Avengers movie. Oh no!!! If Natasha’s solo film isn’t in the future…there’s a good chance she’ll die here too.
It looks like her hair’s pulled back but I hope we get a for-real short hair Black Widow as that was the look she had when I first met her in the comics :). / Photo Credit – Avengers: Endgame
Shit. I am NOT ready to lose the Black Widow! Part of it is how much I love her character and the other part of it has been how sure I was she’d stay. I’ve done nothing over the last year and a half to really prep myself to lose her. Heck, I haven’t even really considered it an option. The rumors of her solo movie had been growing so I just naturally saw Natasha surviving to lead for a few films until she fully hands off the new Avengers to Black Panther and Captain Marvel. I thought she was, for sure, the one member of the old guard we could count on to live.
But maybe that will prove to just be wishful thinking…
In fact, the more I think about it, the more I see her dying alongside Steve and Tony. Natasha’s been as central to the Avengers as they have so it only makes sense she’d be there with them to the end. I just…the more I watch that trailer and the more I think about it…it feels like she’s going to die. I can see her and Steve going out, side by side, to save creation. I can’t not see it now.
More than Tony in any way, shape, or form, Natasha and Cap have always been the leaders of the Avengers. / Photo Credit – Avengers: Endgame
The trailer clearly shows the two of them together, as they have been since The Avengers, trying to figure out what to do and how to save the world. I love the haunting power of their conversation in the trailer:
Steve – “We lost. All of us. We lost friends. We lost family. We lost a part of ourselves. This is the fight of our lives.”
Natasha – “This is gonna work Steve.”
Steve – “I know it is. ‘Cause I don’t know what I’m gonna do if it doesn’t.”
This is every bit as quiet and intimate in feeling as their conversation in the car they stole in Captain America: Winter Soldier but it carries the far greater weight of everything in it. As I watch them share this moment, I can’t see a version of this film where they both don’t end up sacrificing themselves together to save the day. I hope I’m wrong. I mean I REALLY, REALLY hope I’m wrong. But watching this trailer, I think I can see Tony surviving more than I can see Natasha making it through this alive. I am NOT ready for that…NOT AT ALL.
Photo Credit – Avengers: Endgame
No matter what happens with Avengers: Endgame, no matter what my feelings are when I see the first generation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe conclude, in this moment my excitement is steadily rising and my emotions are on overdrive. Seeing all these characters I’ve loved come to life over the last ten years has meant so much to me and I’m ready to see how it all ends…and to see how the new era begins. And even though it will take me an (almost) another full month to do it, I’m sure I’ll be marathoning the ENTIRE MCU one more time, before I go to see Avengers: Endgame on opening night. The Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the heroes who fill it, deserve one more Mega Marvel Movie Marathon from me.
My Comic Relief 
As Tony said, Part of the Journey is the End. Watching the trailer numerous times, I’ve quickly come to realise that’s not a prospect I’m ready for or even remotely comfortable with.
5 years ago, when I watched my first Marvel Movie properly, I would have been okay seeing some characters depart. However, having now spent a substantial amount of time with our beloved heroes, I’m not prepared to lose anyone. I’m in full support of tears at the cinema and I guarantee they’ll be warranted on a number of occasions (The presence of Ronin already has me worried about the Barton Family…)
The stakes are high and the uncertainty of the who will make it to the end is already tearing me apart. We are in the endgame now…
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I’m glad you can share m angst! These characters really have become a part of our lives over the last ten years. And, unlike comics, when they’re gone we kind of know they’re gone for good. I mean, let’s say Cap and Iron Man die, right? If, in ten years, Marvel Studios wants to bring them back it’s not going to be Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. playing them. So the comic resurrection trope can’t really be a thing here. I think that makes any potential deaths that much harder to consider.
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I will get seriously annoyed if they kill Black Widow. I can grudgingly accept any of the others and wouldn’t really mind losing Iron Man. But I have yet to see Infinity War so I’m not sure I get a vote…
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You absolutely get a vote!!! Just because you haven’t seen ‘Infinity War’ doesn’t mean you don’t have connections to the characters! Plus you share my angst over potentially losing Black Widow so that’s cool too :).
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I feel that Black Widow and Hawkeye are the ones that haven’t yet reached their full potential so it would be frustrating to see any of them go. I like them both but Black Widow is the most interesting of them and thus would be the greater loss. Plus if they kill her I will assume that the discussion went “we have a new female super hero coming out and as there can only ever be one of those at each time we have to kill the single one we had before”.
Thor, Captain America and the Hulk I would miss but they have all had a full story-arcs so it would be sad but not frustrating in the same way. I have a special weakness for Thor but of course he ought to have died in Ragnarök and I anyway don’t trust this short-haired imposter.
I suspect that I have an allergy to the type of arrogance displayed by Iron Man so while I do sometimes enjoy his lines I really could bear the loss if they killed him.
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OH MY GOSH I never thought of the Black Widow/Captain Marvel trade-off like that! But you are absolutely right! There’s no way Marvel can make that move without it coming off, at least in part, that way. Plus the idea of seeing Natasha and Carol lead the next generation of Avengers is as exciting as it would be important. You’re so right! Now I have a brand new reason to worry they’ll kill her :/…
If they do, I’d love you to write a guest post for me about this, if you’re interested. (You don’t have to decide now, obvs. We have time.) But that’s a brilliant observation I’d love to feature/a discussion I’d love to have here and I totally don’t want to steal your idea :).
I’m with you on Thor, Cap, and Hulk having had their arcs (and I’m with you missing our long-haired Thor!). If/when Thor was to die, I’m still hoping they follow the comics where, when the Odinson couldn’t lift Mjolnir, Jane became Thor. It would give us another strong woman in the Avengers and how amazing would it be to see Natalie Portman and Kat Dennings road tripping across the universe fighting evil?
As to Iron Man, I (perhaps not so) secretly worry I could be more like Tony Stark (in the ego way, not the “genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist” way) than I’m comfortable with. So I appreciate his snark but I also appreciate him as a sort of warning of why we (or I) need to always keep ego in check. I pray and meditate more to be sure my “inner Tony Stark” is controlled in a healthy way. He can frustrate the hell out of me, but I value the warning he represents.
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I probably won’t see the next movie before it comes to Netflix (and if they kill Black Widow I certainly won’t pay to see in in the cinema) so I don’t think I could write the guest post (although I’m flattered). But you are very welcome to use the idea if it turns out to be needed.
I will be bothered if they make Jane into Thor as I can’t get around the fact that Thor is a name not a title (and still used as such in Scandinavia although usually spelled Tor). It’s like turning Miles Morales into Peter Parker instead of Spiderman. Jane, God of Thunder sounds awesome though.
But does Tony Stark really work like a warning? Isn’t his arrogance basically rewarded? Sure, he’s been humbled once or twice but he always comes out of it still arrogant and even more powerful.
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Well, should I use it I’ll be sure to quote you :). I don’t want to commit any sort of intellectual plagiarism! But here’s hoping Black Widow lives to lead the next generation of Avengers and we don’t have to discuss it at all.
The Miles Morales/Peter Parker comparison is brilliant! I hadn’t thought of it in that light before. In the comics, they go out of their way to make it clear a) Jane doesn’t want to carry the name “Thor” – it makes her uncomfortable and b) the Odinson insists she takes it. It becomes a whole journey of worthiness – to reclaim his name and identity – for Thor Odinson. For me it wasn’t that odd because it wasn’t the first time I’d read a comic where someone else became “Thor” while the OG Thunder God was otherwise occupied. But I totally get where you’re coming from. Like I said, that was the perfect analogy!
As to Tony, I think he does work that way. Outwardly, his character remains fairly static. He’s wealthy. He’s got cool armor. Everyone wants to be him. He’s arrogant and a huge ass. But inwardly he’s been crumbling since ‘The Avengers.’ In ‘Iron Man 3’ he’s got some serious PTSD happening after the wormhole. Come ‘Age Of Ultron,’ his fear at being unable to protect the Earth leads him to irrationally create a disastrous threat The actions his Ultron wrought brings us to ‘Civil War’ where the man who openly mocked Congress in ‘Iron Man 2,’ folds to whatever the U.N. asks immediately. He also drives a wedge in the Avengers. It almost costs him his relationship with Pepper too. I think he goes from being a cocky ass to being an emotional wreck of an ass who pretends he has the answers he used to think he always had.
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I agree that Tony is a somewhat tragic figure but I’m still not convinced that he acts as a warning to those who best could use it, he’s still too cool. But if you are right and he spares me having to deal with some annoying people in real life I guess I can accept him being annoying 🙂
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I agree that Tony is a somewhat tragic figure but I’m still not convinced that he acts as a warning to those who best could use it, he’s still too cool. But if you are right and he spares me having to deal with some annoying people in real life I guess I can accept him being annoying 🙂
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You’re point about him being “too cool” is really solid. I’d never thought of it like that. While I may reflect on his inner emotional journey, by and large he’s still the snarky superhero with the perfect life. The story itself doesn’t really give us a “fall” for Tony. So his arc can really be read either way – a warning of the dangers of arrogance or saying you can be a dick but still basically keep your rad life. BUT hopefully I’m not the only one who sees him as a warning for hubris and hopefully his annoying nature can temper other people’s annoying natures in real life! If I’m wrong and I’ve mislead you, mea culpa :).
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I already feel happier about him now that he has compensated for being annoying in movies by proving really fun to discuss 🙂
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I was surprised by how affected I was by this trailer, after feeling disappointed by the gaping plot holes and fake deaths in Infinity War. But I love your observation that we’re back to the original Avengers. (And I’ve been wanting to see Hawkeye again for some time!) I will be devastated, though, if Captain America and Black Widow go.
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If they do, you can rest assured that I’ll be weeping right along with you. I really hope, after the let down that was ‘Infinity War,’ this will be the film we were hoping for. And I hope it will have the gravitas closing out the first generation of the MCU deserves.
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Agreed!
And…are you planning to write on the Captain Marvel trailer at all? I’m not sure how I feel about it! Other than a little confused.
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I’ve been working on a piece about it but I’ve held off posting because I wanted to see the ‘Endgame’ trailer first. I had this idea/curiosity about the ‘Captain Marvel’ trailer and I thought it would be easier to write about after I’d seen this one. I hope to have the finished post up this weekend or early next week. And confusion will certainly factor into the piece.
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Awesome! I’ll look forward to it!
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This is an exciting trailer because you realise this is about to end some characters, and begin a new journey for others…..so excited to see this movie…..
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The beginning of a journey is something I really haven’t been thinking of. But it IS so exciting! I’ve been obsessing over who will die but the question of the shape of the Avengers team heading out into the world (universe??) at the end of the film is a far more uplifting one. This is the sort of speculation that doesn’t make me sad :).
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I loved this post! I still a have to see Captain Marvel. I don’t want anyone to die 😦 I just posted on my theories for this one and it sounds like a few of our points align! I don’t want any deaths to be permanent but thankfully my favourite character (Vision) is a background one so he won’t be dying! Bruce cannot die, or I will jump up out of my seat at the theater, run like heck until I reach Disney studios, barge inside and slap the director across the face! Ima crazy marvel fan 😉
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I haven’t seen ‘Captain Marvel’ yet either – it doesn’t open here for another few days. But I can’t wait! And I’m obviously with you on the anxiety over characters dying here :). Thank you for the comment too. It’s always nice to meet another Marvel fan. Woo!
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