Disney held its annual shareholders meeting earlier today and a select few were privy to some of the first footage from Avengers: Endgame, as well as the first Star Wars: Episode IX footage. I’m using the term “first footage” because the footage shown here was an assembly of scenes rather than a fully cut-out trailer. It goes without saying that potential spoilers could follow below the cut so tread carefully if you’re looking to avoid reading anything about Endgame.
The scene in question has Captain Marvel at the Avengers headquarters already. Also present are Steve Rogers / Captain America, Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, Bruce Banner, Rocket Raccoon, James “Rhodey” Rhodes and surprisingly, Nebula. Rocket states that the energy surge seen on earth after Thanos’ snap was the biggest ever, but it was also seen on another planet. Nebula claims to know where Thanos is and together they figure out it’s the garden-like planet shown in the first Avengers: Endgame trailer (where Thanos has retired to). Captain Marvel offers to join the Avengers in killing Thanos and getting their revenge.
The Avengers have her doubts about Carol Danvers. Banner questions the decision, stating that they already tried stopping Thanos once; what makes her think they’ll succeed this time. She confidently replies that this time will be different because they have her. Rhodey then asks her the question that everyone has been asking Marvel Studios: if she’s so strong as she claims, where has she been all this while? Danvers answers that there are many other planets that require her assistance and not every planet has a team like The Avengers to defend them. Finally, Thor summons his Stormbreaker which whizzes past Captain Marvel into Thor’s hand. Danvers however, doesn’t flinch, making Thor call her out with respect, “I like this one”.
They all hop aboard the Milano in what is presumably a scene that follows a while later (or a second scene). Rocket inquires as to who hasn’t been to space before, to which Rogers, Natasha and Rhodey raise their hands. Rocket warns them against puking in his ship and off they go into warp mode. The stars are reflected in Captain America’s eyes as the camera zooms in on him, followed by them warping out into the cosmos.
As much as the footage offers some answers, it raises some tantalizing questions of its own. First, Ant-Man and Iron Man are absent from the footage. This implies that a lot of the first act could take place before Ant-Man even gets out of the Quantum Realm; either that or he’s just in ant-sized form, invisible to the naked eye. What’s most perplexing thought is Tony Stark’s absence. Clearly Stark isn’t going to die in space in the movie’s first act, but Nebula being back on the Avengers facility without Stark doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. This either implies Nebula betrayed Stark and got back to the Avengers (which doesn’t fit given that she left her evil ways behind) or someone came to rescue Stark but could only save one. Stark, having already been saved by Yinsen once, lets Nebula go and remains back on the ship to figure a way out?
Even more interestingly, this footage coupled with Feige’s claims sort of gives us some structure that Endgame could follow. It looks as if the Avengers will try to defeat Thanos one more time and will probably fail, which could then kick off the second and third acts involving them fighting with wits over brawls. This includes building the gauntlet, kicking off time-travel and alternate dimension theories and all sorts of crazyness. And if that’s the case, then as the Russo brothers said, there is indeed a lot of story to tell.
I’m sure this footage description is going to lead to theories of its own. What do you make of this? Sound off with your thoughts in the comments below.
Avengers: Endgame hits theaters worldwide on April 26, 2019. Check out all the news, right here on Appocalypse.
