Entertainment

Avengers: Infinity War Theatrical Trailer Breakdown And Recap: Everything We Learned

In case you went underground or were asleep frozen in ice, the new trailer for Avengers: Infinity War dropped yesterday and gave fans plenty to munch on. As if salivating at the prospect of Iron Man and Star Lord meeting for the first time wasn’t enough, the trailer shows a lot more of the climactic Battle of Wakanda, hints at some memorable moments between Doctor Strange and Peter Parker / Spider-Man and ends on a high-intensity scene as Captain America tries to take on The Mad Titan Thanos’ all by himself.

These are however but some of the easier to spot things in the trailer. The official trailer for Infinity War is filled with easter eggs, secrets and more importantly, lots of new plot info that could even help us piece the movie’s story as it would unfold on screen. The result is a potential for an epic sprawling over 2 hours 30 minutes that should leave audiences stunned at the sheer scale of what’s possible with a superhero adventure cum comic book adaptation. Instead of breaking down the trailer by revelations, let’s recap the events in 30 second intervals and see what we learned. This post may contain mild spoilers and lots of speculation for the plot of Avengers: Infinity War so read cautiously.

Trailer Time: 00:00 to 00:30

Gamora explains Thanos’ motivation, Stark demands information

The trailer opens with an upside down shot of New York City, meant to evoke visuals from Doctor Strange. We then see Bruce Banner, Black Widow and War Machine overlooking what appears to be an emerging threat, reflected in the Sorcerer Supreme’s Sanctum Sanctorum. A voice-over from Gamora explains that all Thanos has ever wanted is to destroy half the universe, which he intends to do by donning the Infinity Gauntlet filled with all the six Infinity Stones. That much power would allow him to accomplish his goal with a snap of his fingers. A visibly irked Tony Stark asks for his name, upon which Gamora introduces him as Thanos.

This is the build-up phase of the trailer, and is relatively light on plot elements. We’re not sure if the scenes with Gamora and Tony are taking place in the same frame or are edited smartly to make audiences feel as such. We do know however that Stark will eventually be meeting at least some members from the Guardians of the Galaxy. Stark’s costume suggests it takes place in the Sanctum Sanctorum under the presence of others like Doctor Strange and Bruce Banner.

Banner is the only one who is seen with both Stark and Cap. The movie’s plot will most likely have him and a few others travel to Wakanda to join Cap and his team in the final battle. What’s unclear is if Iron Man and Doctor Strange will be there as well. If we’re solely to go by the trailer, chances are they won’t. And for a change, it’s good to see Rhodey donning his War Machine suit given a lot more prominence in the trailer compared to Age of Ultron.

Trailer Timing: 00:31 – 1:05

Parker swings by New York City, the Portal arrives, T’Challa greets Cap, Shuri examines Vision

The next half a minute of the trailer sets some of the more intense scenes in motion. Most likely using the Space Stone, Thanos has created a Portal on Earth hovering over New York City that has everyone’s attention. It kicks off Peter Parker’s Spider-sense (as seen in the first trailer) and leads him to leap out of the bus, don a crude Spider-Man mask and swing by the shores of the Manhattan Bridge. Iron Man flies straight to the Portal as Doctor Strange gets ready to face some foes who’ve presumably come for his time-altering device.

We’re also treated to some close-up shots of the Time Stone or the Eye of Agamotto strung around Strange and the Mind Stone over Vision’s forehead. This is followed by Cap and his team arriving at T’Challa’s kingdom where they’re greeted by the King of Wakanda himself. In all likelihood, Vision is with them as Shuri is seen examining a holographic image of Vision’s face. Finally, in one of the most crowd-pleasing moments in the trailer, Peter Quill / Star Lord debunks Tony Stark’s plan offering instead to concoct his own strategy, which receives a snark from Stark.

One of the first things to stand out is Stark’s Bleeding Edge armor, which now has boosters to propel him at super fast speeds. Stark has always been the tinkerer, making enhancements to his armor and his new one seems to have quite many tricks up its sleeve. The entire bit with Wakanda is significant, since it together with Stark’s voice-over primarily explains the movie’s driving force. Since Thanos is coming after the Infinity Stones, Stark and Cap both see that as an advantage – they both have members with them in possession of a stone. Stark lures Thanos with the Time Stone that rests with Doctor Strange. Joining him in the fight are Star Lord, Drax, Spider-Man and possibly Gamora.

On the other hand, Captain America and the rest have Vision who they take to safe haven in Wakanda. It’s possible at this time Vision has already been in battle with members of The Black Order who have tried to peer out the stone from his forehead but whose attempts were thwarted by Rogers, Natasha and Wanda. The skirmish leaves him hurt which also compels them to bring him to Wakanda for treatment. There, Shuri examines Vision, possibly looking at a cure for his ailing condition as the rest take shelter and plot a defensive against the impending army of Thanos and his Black Order. The filmmakers were right when they revealed Vision as a MacGuffin; Thanos is coming after him for the stone and the Avengers (or what’s left of them) are going to use this as an opportunity to lure Thanos and his army into battle.

Trailer Timing: 1:06 – 1:31

Thanos adopts Gamora, Wakanda gets ready for Battle, Thor forges his new weapon

All Avengers and other heroes present at Wakanda prepare for Battle against Thanos’ army of Outriders. Two sequences here stand out though. One of these is Thor forging his new weapon with Rocket Raccoon and Groot by his side for company. As has been hinted at in prior marketing, Thor will supposedly get a new weapon named Stormbreaker after Mjolnir was destroyed in Thor: Ragnarok (not a spoiler, it was in the trailers). The other more intriguing sequence sees Thanos in some sort of ceremony with a little green skinned child. This seems to depict Thanos adopting Gamora which interestingly means we’re going to get quite a bit of Thanos and his past in the movie, possibly through flashbacks.

Yet another intriguing set of scenes sees Thor being tortured at the hands of Thanos as Loki watches amidst The Black Order. Whether Loki is held captive by them, has willingly joined their side, or is feigning siding with them after Thanos’ ship invaded Thor’s at the end of Ragnarok is unclear. Knowing Loki’s deceiving nature and twisted allegiances, we may be unsure until the last minute. As for Thanos, he’s most likely there for the Tesseract which he gets handed over by Loki. He squeezes it to extract the Infinity Stone and snaps it in its place on the gauntlet.

Trailer Timing: 1:32 – 2:02

Wakanda Battles the Outriders, Ebony Maw tortures Strange, Cap blocks Thanos’ punch

The final 30 seconds of the trailer are some of the best and most intense Marvel moments put in trailers. Wakanda charges for battle against the Outriders as Wakanda’s shield is infiltrated. The Hulk, donning the Hulkbuster, is overridden by the 8-legged creatures as chaos ensues. At the other end, we see Doctor Strange helping Star Lord fight Thanos aboard what looks like an alien planet in the same sequence that was glimpsed at in the D23 Footage / San Diego Comic Con trailer. The Avengers suffer from all ends as Strange is tortured by Ebony Maw, Iron Man’s armor is broken to shreds and Thanos leaps to pack a powerful punch.

And finally, we get to the heroic shot of Captain America blocking Thanos’ punch with his full might and exertion. The intensity displayed by Chis Evans is admirable and fans are speculating this may very well be the end of Captain America. Something tells us that may just not yet be the case with another Avengers movie on the horizon. Even so, don’t expect our team to walk away unbruised, unharmed and unaffected from the toll this battle takes on them.

These sequences are notable for giving us the first clear look at The Black Order. We see Ebony Maw, one of the members trying to pry out the Time Stone from Doctor Strange through painfully threatening means. Maw is every bit as menacing as one would expect and will be accompanied by Corvius Glave and Proxima Midnight as the other members of the Order. In the Infinity War and Secret Wars comics from which the movie is drawing inspiration, The Black Order are the generals of Thanos who carry out his bidding and go to extreme lengths to fulfill their superior’s orders.

Captain America taking on Thanos alone is testament to how far the character has come in terms of strength and bravery. Beginning his life fighting ordinary soldiers in war, he quickly moved to battling Hydra’s forces and later on his own super-powered friends in Captain America: Civil War. And here he is, facing The Mad Titan himself in a scene that is being touted as his last stand. There’s also speculation over what exactly is he trying to do, with some claiming that Captain America a.k.a. Nomad is trying to remove the Infinity Gauntlet from the hands of Thanos. Could Cap end up donning the Gauntlet himself? Too much of a stretch to imagine at this point but not out of the realm of possibility.

Post-Title Stinger & Other Astute Observations

In customary fashion, a short stinger after the title teases an interaction between Stephen Strange and Peter Parker introducing each other through their alter-ego names. Feige had previously said the joy of Infinity War was in its odd pairings and this is certainly one of the many we’ll see. Spider-Man is then shown partaking in a battle sequence which, again is most likely the one on the alien planet with Iron Man and others. For a high-school kid, Spidey sure is brave as hell and even lands a smack from Thanos himself.

Based on what we saw and what we’ve seen so far, we can piece together the plot for Avengers: Infinity War as thus. Skip reading the quoted section if you do not wish to be spoiled.

Hailing from the planet Titan, Thanos goes through intense self-guilt for being unable to save his planet from destruction. The only way he could have done that is by taking the genocidal decision of bringing balance to the universe by destroying the other half of it, clearly something he wasn’t allowed to do. Unwilling to let any more die, he resolves to gather the only thing powerful enough to accomplish this feat i.e. the Infinity Gauntlet filled with the Six Infinity Stones. After his lieutenants and pawns have been unsuccessful in retrieving them for him, he decides to take matters into his own hands and sets off to claim the all-powerful stones himself with help from his Black Order.

There are two possible scenes the film could open with. One potential opener is Thanos acquiring the Orb in Guardians of the Galaxy from Xandar, laying waste to most of the planet in the process. The other one could be the end of Thor: Ragnarok that saw Thanos’s ship, the Sanctuary 2 looming over the Asgardian ship. After slaughtering all or most of the Asgardians on the ship, Thanos and his Black Order subdue Banner and torture Thor for the Tesseract. Loki hands it over to Thanos (motives unclear) who then extracts the Space Stone from within it and snaps it on his Gauntlet. Using the power of the Space Stone, he sends the Hulk crashing to Earth and hurtles Thor into space.

Thor lands aboard the Milano’s windshield. He’s taken in and woken up by Mantis. Initially surprised at seeing the Guardians, they soon understand the threat that awaits them. It’s here that Gamora could possibly explain the background behind Thanos (as seen in the trailers) but to Thor, not Stark. The Guardians split up – Star Lord, Gamora and Drax head to the Collector to secure the Aether while Thor takes Rocket and Groot with him to forge his Mjolnir replacement Stormbreaker. The Guardians arrive a bit too late and see the Collector tortured at the hands of Thanos to claim the Reality Stone.

Meanwhile the Hulk ends up crashing on the Sanctum Sanctorum where Strange takes him in. He summons Tony Stark and explains the threat to them as they try making sense of the situation. In possession of three stones now – Purple, Red and Blue – Thanos creates a Portal to earth to get the remaining two. The Portal catches the attention of everyone leading to a big action sequence set in the middle of both the movie and the city. An excited Spider-Man swings towards Stark while Stark himself dons the Bleeding Edge Iron Man armor and fights some alien creatures with Doctor Strange’s help, reminiscent of The Avengers.

The chaos culminates in Star Lord, Drax, Gamora, Doctor Strange and Spider-Man assembling on an unknown piece of land (could be a ravaged part of earth or an alien planet). After some squabbling amongst themselves, they give fight to Thanos but fail. Spider-Man gets beaten up, Stark’s armor is heavily damaged and Strange is taken in by the Black Order and tortured by Ebony Maw for the Time Stone. They’re successful in retrieving it. They then go after Vision to obtain the Mind Stone but are unsuccessful as Cap and co manage to kill one of theirs.

Realizing what they’re after, Cap, Widow, Wanda and Falcon take Vision to Wakanda for treatment and safe haven. They’re greeted by T’Challa and his kingdom with open arms. As Shuri looks for a cure, the rest prepare for battle. Thor, Rocket and Groot also arrive at Wakanda after Thor manages to get a new weapon. Eventually all the forces coalesce on to Wakanda for a final battle that sees Hulk fight from within the Hulkbuster and everyone else team up to protect Thanos from getting the Mind Stone.

Of course this may or may not be the official plot. There are a few things left unexplained such as how Rhodey joins Cap and where exactly Vision is at the beginning of the movie. That said, this is pretty much how the general flow of events should be give or take a few things. And do expect lots of dialogue from Thanos explaining his history and giving insight into his backstory – he’s one of the major pieces of Infinity War for the movie to work.

Enough with my rambling though. What was the most interesting part of the trailer for you? And do you think we missed something? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Avengers: Infinity War releases in theaters on April 27, 2018. Tickets are now on sale in the United States.