X

Avengers 4: Endgame trailer -- 5 things we learned and 4 things we didn't

The highly anticipated trailer gives us a glimpse of the post-Snap world, but there's still a lot we don't know.

Roger Cheng Former Executive Editor / Head of News
Roger Cheng (he/him/his) was the executive editor in charge of CNET News, managing everything from daily breaking news to in-depth investigative packages. Prior to this, he was on the telecommunications beat and wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal for nearly a decade and got his start writing and laying out pages at a local paper in Southern California. He's a devoted Trojan alum and thinks sleep is the perfect -- if unattainable -- hobby for a parent.
Expertise Mobile, 5G, Big Tech, Social Media Credentials
  • SABEW Best in Business 2011 Award for Breaking News Coverage, Eddie Award in 2020 for 5G coverage, runner-up National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award for culture analysis.
Roger Cheng
4 min read
avengers-endgame-part-of-the-journey

Tony Stark is all alone in space.

Marvel Studios

The trailer for the next Avengers film, Endgame, has finally dropped, and it offered just a few tantalizing clues about what the post-Thanos Snap world will look like in the 22nd film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe when it opens in April.

Not surprisingly, it's kind of depressing.

With Avengers: Infinity War ending on such a massive cliffhanger, Marvel fans have been waiting for months for any clue to how the World's Mightiest Heroes would reverse the vaporizing of half the population of the universe. While the trailer gave us an assortment of key characters, it also did a good job of keeping out any real revelations about Endgame.

Watch this: Avengers: Endgame trailer revealed

Still, there's a lot to unpack in the two-and-a-half-minute clip. Here's what we learned:

Tony Stark is in a bad situation

"For the record, being adrift in space with zero promise of rescue is more fun than it sounds," Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark says with resigned detachment, part of a final recorded message for Pepper Potts. Stark is stuck on a spaceship with no food or water, and oxygen quickly running out.

When we last saw him, he had witnessed most of the Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange and Spider-Man disappearing. Presumably, this ship was supposed to be his way home.

Comicbook.com suggests this sets up a scenario in which Potts armors up as the hero Rescue and goes after her fiance.

Hawkeye is back -- as Ronin?

Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye, who was conspicuously missing in Infinity War, is back in a new costume. Comic fans will recognize the new look for Clint Barton as the hero Ronin.

Presumably the post-Snap devastation was enough to get Barton back into action.

avengers-endgame-shuri

Actually, Scott Lang is still around. Just stick around to the end of the trailer.

Marvel Studios

Ant-Man is going to play a huge role

There was a bit of misdirection in the trailer when a photo of Paul Rudd's Scott Lang appeared alongside Peter Parker, suggesting he was a victim of the Snap. But there was Lang at the end, in the beat-up van seen at the end of Ant-Man and The Wasp trying to get into the Avengers Compound.

We already knew Ant-Man survived the Snap after getting stuck in the Quantum Realm. Somehow, he managed to get out. There's been a lot of speculation that will be the key to reversing the vaporization.

Thanos retired?

One of the key questions is how big a role Thanos plays in this film. We don't actually see much of him in the trailer, with only his armor hung up and the Infinity Glove grazing some plant life. At the end of Infinity War, he looked like he was ready to take a break after succeeding in his mission -- perhaps this is confirmation that he isn't the primary antagonist in the follow-up?

avengers-endgame-thanos-armor

Has Thanos hung up his armor for good?

Marvel Studios

Captain America has a new (old) look

Apparently, the decimation was emotional enough that it caused Steve Rogers to shave his beard, which was a relatively new look for Captain America.

In Avengers: Endgame, he's back to his clean-cut All-American look.

No, that has nothing to do with the plot, but plenty of people seemed to be moved by Chris Evans' facial hair.

It's a new-look Steve Rogers!

Marvel Studios

Here's what we don't know:

Why is Tony Stark alone?

The last time we saw him, he was left on Titan with Nebula, the only other survivor of the Snap there. Why did they part ways? The trailer showed her on the Guardians' ship. Why not have Stark hitch a ride?

What's going on with the rest of the world?

Two minutes isn't a lot of time, but it would have been great to see how the world reacted to losing half the population. What's Wakanda like without its king? How are people moving on?

Marvel Studios

Where's Captain Marvel?

This was probably too much to ask for, given that the Captain Marvel team just released its second trailer earlier this week, but how does she enter the scene?

Marvel will likely play coy for a while as it builds up hype for the Captain Marvel film, which hits theaters in March, about two months before Avengers: Endgame.

A lot

Let's face it, Marvel and directors Anthony and Joe Russo cut a masterful trailer full of interesting teases and dramatic moments, but light on any real revelation. There's still a lot left up in the air, and that can only build up anticipation for the film, which serves as a finale of sorts to the last decade of Marvel films.

Now the wait begins for the second trailer for Avengers: Endgame.

Ranking the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies

See all photos

The story originally published at 6:51 a.m. PT.

Update, 7:53 a.m PT: To include extra context.

Everything we think we know about Avengers: Endgame: Think Avengers: Infinity War was intense? Stay tuned for part two.

How to watch every MCU property in the perfect order: From Marvel films to the shows on Netflix, here's the best order to experience the MCU.