Part of the Journey is the End — Breaking Down the “Avengers: Endgame” Trailer

In case you just woke up or you’ve been living under a rock for at least the last few hours, Marvel released the first trailer for what is quite possibly the most anticipated movie of all-time, Avengers: Endgame.

Of course, as is the case with any Marvel trailer, fans will closely examine every shot and detail to try to extract every bit of information they possibly can from this trailer. So let’s do exactly that! First though, let’s take another look at the trailer.

Ok, everyone sufficiently devastated? Great, let’s get started.

The trailer opens up with a look at Tony Stark’s damaged Iron Man helmet from his battle with Thanos on Titan.

He then begins to leave a message for Pepper, explaining that he’s drifting through space with no promise of rescue. Frowny face with single tear emoji.

During the message, he utters probably the most memorable line in the trailer and teases the title. “If you find this recording, don’t feel bad about this. Part of the journey is the end.”

We also then get one of the most symbolic visuals of the trailer. As Tony is explaining his increasingly bleak situation, he points to the Iron Man helmet and says “When I drift off, I will dream about you. It’s always you.”

Those who have followed the Iron Man arc may see a bit of double meaning here. Obviously, Tony is speaking to Pepper here but previous movies have built a story in which Pepper competes with the Iron Man armor for Tony’s attention. Tony saying “It’s always you” as he points to the armor could be seen as a final goodbye to Pepper or Iron Man.

He then ends the message and the trailer begins to ramp up the intensity. The Marvel Studios logo appears briefly, only to vanish as so many of our favorite characters after the snap in Avengers: Infinity War.

We then get a visual that might appear strange to those who are not familiar with the comics. Thanos has assembled a scarecrow of sorts out of his own armor. This shot is taken from the end of the Infinity Gauntlet comic arc. Still, we’re not sure that the purpose of this scarecrow is. He just eliminated half of all life in the universe and he’s still threatened by birds?

Next, we get a brief look at the Infinity Gauntlet, still on the left hand of Thanos as he walks through a field. We don’t get a good look, so it’s difficult to tell just how damaged the gauntlet is. This shot is accompanied by the beginning of a voiceover by Black Widow, in which she explains that “Thanos did exactly what he said he was going to do.”

She continues to explain, “He wiped out 50% of all living creatures,” as we get our next few shots. The first one is a look at the Avengers facility. It appears to be a bit unkempt, as if some time has passed without any maintenance being done. This is the first clue in the trailer that some time has passed.

We then get a shot that prompts some further mourning. After all we’ve lost, we now must also mourn Captain America’s beard. A single tear rolls down Cap’s now-bare face.

Next, we get one of the biggest bombshells of the entire trailer. We see Bruce Banner looking at images of those believed to be lost as a result of the snap. Scott Lang’s image appears because, while he wasn’t actually snapped out of existence and was instead lost in the Quantum Realm, the Avengers don’t know that. That’s not the big one though. The big news is the face that appears next to his: Shuri, the sister of the Black Panther.

We never saw Shuri fall victim to the snap so it was assumed she survived. Unfortunately, it no longer appears that is the case.

It’s worth noting that the Russos are currently using art featuring the survivors of the snap, with Shuri included, as the banner image for their Twitter account. The image is fan-art from artist BossLogic so it is not an official Marvel image, but the Russos have certainly given it their endorsement.

By the way, this scene is also similar to a visual from the comics. The Infinity Gauntlet storyline actually more-or-less begins with the snap, and half of life ceases to exist. The heroes can be seen looking at a database of some of those who did not survive.

Next, we get our first look at Thor, who dons normal Earth-people clothes and appears to be distraught as he sits at what we assume to be the afore-mentioned Avengers facility. He does have both eyes by the way (though hopefully he washed the one he got from Rocket by now).

Cap also begins a voiceover at this point, saying “We lost. All of us.”

Next, we see Nebula who, you may remember, was the only one left alive on Titan with Tony. She appears to be on a ship, though it is unclear if it is the same on Tony is on. She does appear to be familiar with her setting as she runs her hand over something we can assume reminds her of Gamora as Cap continues, “We lost friends. We lost family.”

Immediately after Cap finishes the word “family,” we get a look at a mysterious figure in a black costume. The ninja-like warrior cleans a sword with his arm.

We then see Widow with a concerned look on her face before getting another look at the mysterious figure.

The figure then reveals himself to be Clint Barton, who has apparently ditched the Hawkeye persona to embrace that of Ronin, a storyline comic fans will be familiar with. Given the timing of Cap’s line with this visual, it can be assumed that Barton’s family was lost due to the snap, causing him to… well… snap and become Ronin.

The look on Widow’s face is likely a result of her seeing Ronin butcher the man that we see laying at his feet. This would make sense as Barton was a long-time friend and this kind of behavior is not typical for him. This is another hint that some time has passed because Barton has no issue carrying out this violent act.

We’re not sure at this time exactly what he is doing, but he clearly has violent intentions. That fits very well with the next line of Cap’s voiceover.

“We lost a part of ourselves.”

We then see Cap and Widow, with Cap now wearing the costume we originally saw in Winter Soldier. Whether or not this will have any significance is yet to be seen, but if nothing else, it’s a cool nod to another Marvel movie directed by the Russos.

Cap then looks at his compass with Peggy’s picture in it as he utters the final line of his voiceover.

“This is the fight of our lives.”

Oh boy. This is a tough one. The picture of Peggy is significant because it represents the biggest loss in Cap’s life, you know, aside from half of all life in the universe. It’s also the last thing he saw before he crashed landed in the ice at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger. We know Chris Evans won’t be playing Captain America beyond this film, as he foreshadowed with his heartfelt thank you to the fans when production wrapped in October. This may be teasing his death and his reuniting with Peggy. If so, I am not emotionally ready.

We then see an almost stoic Widow talking to Cap, saying “This is going to work, Steve.”

Cap simply replies, “I know it is,” before turning to Widow and continuing, “’cause I don’t know what I’m going to do if it doesn’t.”

We then get the reassembly of the Avengers logo, a visual that is sure to be symbolic by the end of this movie. We also finally get the reveal of the title, which has been kept secret since the “Infinity Was Part 2” title was scrapped a long time ago. We now know that we can all look forward to Avengers: Endgame.

The title may be familiar because Marvel fans have heard it before. Most recently, in Avengers: Infinity War, Doctor Strange is heard saying “We’re in the endgame now.”

“Endgame” was also spoken by Tony long before that however. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, during an argument with the rest of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Tony refers to the Chitauri and any other potentially-threatening alien races as “the endgame.”

That would be enough to pique the interest of any potential movie-goer and have them marking their calendar. But wait, there’s more!

The voice of Scott Lang is heard calling out over some kind of intercom. We then see video of him outside a door calling to be let in. “We met a few years ago, at the airport, in Germany, I got really big,” Scott calls out to Cap, referring to the events of Captain America: Civil War.

Cap asks Widow is they’re watching an old message and she explains that they’re seeing the front door. Lang ends the trailer asking, “can you buzz me in?”

This is important because Lang’s return, to Cap and Widow, means those who were lost can still come back. Of course, we know that Lang was in the Quantum Realm and not a victim of the snap. Still, him managing to come back is important.

As I’ve said, some time has passed, yet Lang refers to the events at the airport as “a few years ago.” Cap and Widow may be so shocked because, to them, it has been significantly longer since they’ve seen Lang and, again, they thought he was snapped.

Hank Pym described the Quantum Realm as a place that exists outside of space and time. So, to Lang, none of this time has passed and presumably he thinks he has returned right after the events of Ant-Man and the Wasp. While we don’t know exactly how Lang returned, this would present the possibility of time travel to Cap and Widow who, at this time, are likely desperate for any solution they can find.

Finally, “April” appears on the screen, telling us that the release date has been moved up from the original date of May 3 to April 26.

Be sure to keep an eye out for more coverage of Avengers: Endgame, as there is sure to be plenty between now and April 26. And keep in mind, not everything from the trailer is as it seems. We’ve certainly been “lied” to before. Just take a look back at the Avengers: Infinity War trailer for example.

Mike Mack
Mack is the Editorial Director for Marvel and ESPN content and he has covered comic cons, theme park events, video game showcases and other fun events. He is a fan of theme parks, sports, movies, Marvel Comics and is a self-proclaimed "nerd."