We get it: The Avengers: Endgame trailer has been here for over 24 hours, we still haven’t stopped talking about it. Though we’re still mesmerized by the upsetting scenes in the first official trailer, not everything in the Avengers: Endgame sneak peek is what it seems.
Somehow, we continue to trust the Russo brothers and Marvel in general, even though they’ve repeatedly told us that Endgame isn’t the title for Avengers 4 and that Loki is dead even though the shapeshifter is getting his own series on Disney+. With our Marvel-induced trust issues, you can see why we’re healthily skeptical of the scenes in the Avengers: Endgame trailer.
We can’t blame Marvel’s marketing team from using Tom Holland, the Russo brothers, and their trailers to keep us from decoding their impending films before they’re released. After all, that would ruin the surprise. Movie trailers generally include deleted scenes in their trailers to sway viewers from piecing together the entire plot. Comic book films utilize heavily armed advertising strategies to keep fans anticipated and bewildered.
Marvel especially uses fake clips or conveniently timed footage in their move-specific trailers, but we already know that from its past promo with Avengers: Infinity War. In the first official Infinity War trailer, we thought the famous clip of the Avengers running alongside thousands of Wakandan warriors would fight Thanos. After watching the film, we know that the scene at 2:00 of the trailer never made it into the movie and that the Hulk wasn’t present after his initial tango with Thanos, unlike the same clip suggests.
We were naïve and that misdirection in the Infinity War trailer gave us a false sense of confidence in the fact that the Avengers would actually defeat Thanos. That leads us to now. Thanos won. Half the Avengers are dust, some are still at risk of dying, and the Avengers: Endgame trailer doesn’t give us much hope for the fate of the remaining heroes.
We expect Disney to distract us with misdirection, fake scenes, and conspicuously syncopated scenes and audio so that our wandering fan theories don’t decode the trailer for Endgame. However, we have some suspicions about which scenes in the teaser might be fake or slightly misleading.
Avengers: Endgame first official trailer. Screenshot via Marvel Entertainment/YouTube.
Certain cameos
Ant-Man’s cameo at the end of the trailer gave us some overdue reprieve from our post-Infinity War sadness. However, that might not be Ant-Man at the front door.
We don’t actually see Steve and Nat look at the screen that displays Scott’s live or archived message at the front door. The camera pans back and forth between Nat and Steve and back to the screen; however, the screen and the two Avengers who are watching it aren’t actually in the same frame, which could mean Ant-Man isn’t at the front door of the Avengers complex ready to save the day with the Quantum Realm — or not at that designated moment of the film.
Scott’s voice is in the background of the frames that include Nat and Steve looking at something; however, the sound could very well be edited into the scene. They could be listening to a different message from a different Avenger at the door, or even a different message entirely — like a distress call from a certain other Avenger. After all, like Scott, the remaining Avengers likely think Tony is dead and any contact from him would seem preposterous, explaining Steve’s inquiries about where the message is old or not.
Avengers: Endgame trailer. Photo Credit: Marvel Studios.
Missing people
Like how Ant-Man might be deviously planted in the trailer (and how dare Marvel if it uses our favorite grandma against us), one of the “missing” Avengers on the display could be fake. It makes sense that Scott and Peter would be labeled as missing. Scott is likely trapped in the Quantum Realm at least at the start of Avengers: Endgame, and Peter is preoccupied in Soul World.
However, we’re still not convinced that the Avengers lost Shuri after the events in Infinity War. Instead, another Avenger or Revenger picture could be on the screen while Bruce Banner looks on. Seeing as Bruce appears devastated while he looks at the missing people, we can assume that he knows whoever actually takes Shuri’s place on the projected screen.
We already know from the scenes in Infinity War, where Bruce reunites with Tony, that Bruce doesn’t even know that Ant-Man or a Spider-Man even exist due to his two-year absence on Sakaar. Thus, it wouldn’t make sense for him to lament people he never knew (granted, he is a sympathetic person, just like Hulk, so it is still a possibility).
However, it’s more likely that the person who is actually in Shuri’s place is someone he knows who the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. have also kept tabs on, someone like the Schrodinger’s cat of the MCU: Loki.
Specific quotes
Reexamining one of the trailers for Infinity War, the opening of the preview gives us the impression that Gamora is talking to Tony Stark about Thanos. Obviously, Tony and Gamora’s settings differ, but CCTVs and various other means of communication exist in the MCU, so our pre-Infinity War minds accepted it as a real possibility. These conveniently timed clips ultimately convinced us of this, and the Endgame trailer could be employing the same technique.
After Steve allegedly asks Natasha “is this a new message” in regard to the maybe Scott, maybe a Skrull, or maybe an entirely different person at the door, Nat responds with, “it’s the front door.” However, we don’t know if she actually says this in response to Steve’s question.
She says her line out of frame, so there’s no definitive context on whether she’s even referencing Ant-Man, Steve’s question, both, or neither at all. Marvel might have included the quote to fortify our fake hope that Scott is out of the Quantum realm and ready to help save the universe. However, someone or something else could be at the door entirely — especially given the sincere tone in Natasha’s voice at this vague moment in time.
Captain America looking mournful in Avengers: Endgame. Screenshot via Marvel Entertainment/YouTube.
Steve’s plan
Just like Natasha’s quote and whatever message her and Steve watch aren’t definitive, we aren’t certain their plan (referenced at 1:45) legitimately revolves around saving the universe or defeating Thanos.
Whatever they’re plotting could involve saving a specific stranded Avenger and his new Guardian pal. Conversely, they could have found out from any remaining Ant-Man affiliated characters, such as Ava Starr and Casey Lang, that Scott is stuck in the Quantum Realm and they’re all trying to save him.
Granted, some darker theories could come into play instead. We don’t want to potentially give away any spoilers, but Steve’s plan could involve Vormir, Red Skull, and a self-sacrifice adjacent sub-plot, which we all know isn’t off the table for the altruistic Steve Rogers.
The title itself
Avengers: Endgame might be a fake title entirely. While fans have jokingly speculated that Marvel would wait until the premiere date to unveil the Avengers 4 title, this might be the case.
On Marvel Entertainment’s YouTube page, the official Avengers 4 trailer is titled, “Marvel Studios’ Avengers – Official Trailer.” If we backtrack to Marvel’s YouTube title for an Avengers: Infinity War trailer, the YouTube title includes the full title of the film itself in the YouTube title counterpart.
Endgame could be the legitimate title of Avengers 4; however, it is unlike Marvel Entertainment to suddenly choose against adding the title of a film in the title of a promotional post, when the title of the film is included in the trailer. If this is indeed Marvel’s subtle marketing to conceal the real title until the premiere, this might be because the authentic title contains a spoiler itself. Maybe it reveals a new enemy or a comic-related reference.
Regardless, the potential coverup title is on our radar for strange things in the Avengers: Endgame trailer.
Although some fans have theorized that Tony’s initial message to Pepper at the beginning of the trailer might happen directly after the snap in Infinity War, it’s unlikely that his grime lost-in-space monologue happens at a time that doesn’t immediately follow Infinity War. Judging by the cut on the right side of Tony’s jawline, the cut on his left cheekbone, and the cut on the bridge of his nose, all these minor wounds match up with the ones he has at the end of Infinity War. His growing bread just tells us that he and Nebula have been adrift for at least a week or two. Though unlikely, we hope this scene is a misdirection, because we don’t want to see Tony or Nebula in potential peril yet again.
We’ve been relying on what we see in the Avengers: Endgame trailer to fuel our fan theories, but what we see could deceive us. Our hypotheses regarding these potentially fake scenes could be completely wrong. However, we’re still suspicious of the aforementioned frames and audio clips because of the ambiguous ways they’re fit into the trailer.