WE'RE IN THE ENDGAME NOW BOYS AND GIRLS

Well whaddaya know....they finally did it! Early this morning, Marvel Studios released the first trailer for Avengers...wait for it...ENDGAME. That's right guys and gals. As Doctor Strange said in the last one..."We're in the endgame now". So without further ado, let's start breaking this puppy down!

Okay so this trailer didn't really reveal much that we didn't already know. Perhaps the most surprising bit of the trailer is the very first scene, where Tony seems to be just hours away from death while floating through space. I did NOT expect this. The fact that Tony seems like he will be spending a large portion of the film alone on board a spaceship while slowly dying of starvation is a shocker indeed. Now Marvel loves to throw some misdirection around in their trailers...as do most studios, but the reality that Stark may not be directly involved in the plan to save the other Avengers from death is a real possibility now. The scene is emotional, tense, and actually shot very well. The Russo brothers sure do know how to compose a film. The gut punch comes in the waning seconds of the scene when Tony says in his recorded message to Pepper: "When I finally drift off, I'll dream about you...it's always been you.".

Is someone cutting onions in here?

A great, but heart-wrenching touch to the traditional "Marvel Studios" logo is how it dissolves away like our heroes did in Infinity War. Low blow Marvel. Low blow.

As the music begins to pick up, we see a shot of the iconic armor-scarecrow that Thanos sets up on his new farm, succeeded by a brief shot of the big purple man himself walking through a field...running his now-damaged gauntlet hand through the brush. Although I would have loved to at least see a behind-the-back shot of him at the very least, somehow these two quick scene satisfy my itch just enough to last until the next trailer (if we even get one). The rest of the trailer displays emotional shots of all our original heroes...the ones that started it all...and how each of them are personally dealing with their failures and losses. We see Steve, now cleanly shaven, shedding tears over what I can only imagine is the loss of all these people and his failure to complete the mission.

The gut shots don't end there either. No sir. In the very next clip, we see Bruce Banner lamenting the loss of his fellow heroes, and just before it cuts...WE SEE SHURI'S PICTURE AMONG THE DEAD. Wow, who else did we lose I wonder? We then see Thor in what looks like a deep depression. Who can blame him? No doubt he feels personally responsible for the deaths of half the universe, due to his failure to exact revenge on Thanos for killing his brother and his people. Although Thor isn't nearly as powerful as he should be in these films, I can't help but love the way Marvel has developed his character. Even after the joke-show that was "Ragnarok", his story continues to develop in multi-layered and emotional ways. He has lost everything, and I am extremely curious to see how he responds in this film. Hemsworth has absolutely owned the role, and like many of the other actors in this franchise, he has completely lost himself in it and has literally become the God of thunder.

We see a quick few shots of Nebula lamenting the loss of the only person who ever loved her...Gamora. No doubt she will be playing a much larger role in this film that anyone not well-versed in comic lore realizes. The only question I have is how the Russo brothers will decide to go about it. The actress herself said she was surprised with the amount of involvement her character had in the film, and I absolutely love what they have been doing with her thus far, so this definitely tingles my jingles.

The moments following the shots of nebula are my favorite of the entire trailer. We finally see Clint...aka Hawkeye...for the first time since civil war, but this time, he's decked out in his full "Ronin" gear. This sent chills down my spine and gave me the goosies. In the scene, it looks like he's cleaning the blood of his enemies off his blade, and as the shot cuts away to reveal his surroundings that notion is all but confirmed. In addition, Steve's monologue is playing over the now-thundering music as he says "We have lost friends...family...a part of ourselves..." and Clint tears off his mask to look back at Natasha and reveal the face of what appears to be a completely broken man. It would appear that the snap (or the "Decimation", as Marvel is now officially calling it) has affected Clint in the worst way possible, causing the deaths of his family. He seems to have left him disillusioned...transforming into a cold-blooded killer in the process. This is the climax of the trailer, as we the audience now have a clear idea of how emotional and dark this film is going to be.

In the final shots of the trailer, we see Steve looking at the infamous picture of Peggy Carter that he keeps with him at all times. This revisits the theme established at the beginning of the trailer with Tony's message to Pepper. I love how the Russo's always take time to remind us that many of these heroes are human too, and that win or lose, they will always have something to fight for. This is what makes the Russo brothers so great, and it's why Marvel has trusted them with the future of their entire film franchise. They understand these characters, as well as the audience that loves them so dearly and they use it to help us connect to them on exceedingly deeper levels with each film. Another nice touch is finally seeing Captain America looking like his old self again...striped suit and all.

The main portion of the trailer end here with Steve saying that "he knows" that their plan to save the universe will work because he "doesn't know what he's gonna do if it doesn't".

Damn.

The scene cuts to black and the camera pans out to slowly revealed a fractured Avengers "A" symbol as the word "Avengers" fades into visibility. As the music builds to thunderous conclusion, the tension builds to it's breaking point as some of the broken pieces start to form words under "Avengers". This is it. The moment we as fans have been waiting for since the shocking conclusion to Infinity War. Time itself seemed to slow down as thoughts of what it could be...as well as the fan-fiction theories that have been coursing through my brain for the past year...were firing across my neurons at speeds that even quicksilver would be proud of (could we see his return in this film as well??). The letters finally come together to form the word "Endgame", and many people have had mixed reactions to this reveal. Some have said they think it sounds too "fan-fiction-y", and others have said it just sounds downright cheesy. However, the bulk of the Youtube reactors, as well as the fans I have talked to in person have largely been okay with the title. I personally am okay with it, although something like "Annihilation" rolls off the tongue better. If it were up to me, I would have just called it "Endgame" with the large Avengers "A" looming behind it, but hey this is okay too.

At the end of the day, I really couldn't care less what title of the movie is. It's what's on the inside that counts, and something tells me this is really going to be the finale the fans have been waiting for since Stark's first conversation with Nick Fury. This is it guys. I can't wait. I almost cried twice while watching this trailer...and we haven't even seen anything yet. I'm so ready for this thing, but at the same time, I'm not. I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

...oh and hey! Scott Lang is back! We all know what this means...quantum realm time. Look out for my theories on where they could go with that in an upcoming column. From here on out, I will be trying my absolute best to cover any news regarding Avengers Endgame, including interviews, theories, and anything in-between. I can't wait to get this ball rolling! Until then...

• SAF