After months of waiting, Marvel has finally dropped the first trailer for Avengers: Infinity War. This film is the culmination of 10 years’ worth of interconnected filmmaking and the gravity of that is felt right from the opening frame, as we hear Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury recite his speech from 2012’s The Avengers. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is known for not taking itself overly serious but this is easily the darkest trailer Marvel Studios has ever produced, as we see Earth’s mightiest heroes come together to fight an unprecedented threat: Thanos.
The main focus here is on Thanos’ arrival on Earth but even though there is quite a bit of footage here, the trailer does a good job of not giving away too much. We see Thanos briefly fight a few of the Avengers and the return of some faces we haven’t seen for awhile, but not much in the way of spoilers (thankfully). Still, if you’re anything like us, you’ll want to watch this thing over and over again to catch every last detail. We’ve dug through the footage, highlighting the most noteworthy things, so read on for our trailer breakdown and reactions.
Tony In Mourning?
“There was an idea…” The trailer opens with Nick Fury’s memorable pep talk from the first Avengers movie that helped bring the team together in the first place. Unfortunately, it looks like Earth’s mightiest heroes are going to need more than another rousing speech delivered by Sam Jackson (who may or may not appear in the final film) to get through this next challenge, as we see Earth in flames in the background as a beat-up looking Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) strikes a mournful pose. It’s hard to tell whether this is actually happening or just another one of Tony’s visions but with Thanos officially making his arrival on Earth, things really aren’t looking good for the Avengers either way.
Hulk’s Crash Landing
Tony takes over the next line in the speech, “to bring together a group of remarkable people,” as we transition to a shot of Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) laying in a pile of rubble. And who should discover the brilliant scientist but Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Wong (Benedict Wong). Presumably, this is Hulk’s return to Earth, as Banner has clearly fallen from the sky judging by the giant hole in the ceiling. Last we saw him, Banner was aboard with Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and the remaining citizens of Asgard, so it’s unclear how or why his return to Earth is this messy, but it’s a nice callback to Hulk’s infamous plummet from the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier in the first Avengers movie.
“Something More”
Paul Bettany’s Vision takes over the next line: “to see if we could become something more,” which is fitting since he’s looking a whole lot different than the last time we saw him. It appears that Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch is still pursuing a romantic relationship with her Avengers teammate, which is no doubt rendered a bit easier now that Vision has found a way to take on a human appearance. It’s unclear if this is just a projection of the glowing Mind Gem on his forehead or if Vision received some sort of advanced skin graft. Whatever the case, it’s hard not to feel a pang of sadness for these two lovers considering what we see happen to Vision later in the trailer …
Thor Returns
The next line — “So when they needed us, we could fight the battles …” — is given to Thor, who appears to be aboard Star-Lord’s ship the Milano. We’re guessing this scene is from a bit later in the movie, as it looks like the God of Thunder is looking out at an Earth under siege from the ship’s windows. With Thanos laying waste to the planet, the timely arrival of Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy probably couldn’t come at a better time, but will they be enough to help turn the tide against the Mad Titan?
Black Widow and Hulk Reunion!
“That they never could.” Natasha Romanov (Scarlett Johansson) finishes off Fury’s speech and even though the trailer is setting quite the somber tone in its early moments, we see Black Widow sporting a smile here. And with good reason, as it looks like she’s finally reunited with her flame Bruce Banner, who of course has been MIA for the last few years. There are a couple of notable details in this scene. Firstly, we see Bruce standing beside a broken off arm piece from Iron Man’s Hulkbuster armor. Later in the trailer, we see the Hulkbuster in action, which means that this scene most likely comes after.
We can only imagine what happened to the armor but it looks like the fight didn’t go so well if there are pieces of it scattered around Wakanda. Speaking of Wakanda, this is the first of many times we see Black Panther’s homeland in the trailer, which indicates that the location will figure heavily into the film (fitting given that Black Panther will be the final Marvel movie released prior to Infinity War). Finally, Black Widow has changed her hair color from red to blonde, most likely because she’s had to go into hiding following the events of Captain America: Civil War.
177A Bleeker Street
Tony Stark meets up with Bruce Banner, Wong, and Doctor Strange at the Sorcerer Supreme’s residence of 177A Bleeker Street. The massive hole in the staircase behind them indicates that the Hulk crashlanded directly into Strange’s pad, which is either incredibly lucky or deliberate on someone’s part. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the group will get much time to catch-up before Thanos’ arrival, which judging by the screaming masses running through the streets outside (as well as Josh Brolin’s voiceover), is happening at the same time.
Peter Parker Spots Thanos’ Sky Portal
New York really can’t catch a break, can it? The city seems to be the first stop on Thanos’ world domination tour, as Peter Parker (Tom Holland) spots the Mad Titan’s sky portal (assuming that’s what it is) hovering over the city skyline. Something tells us Peter isn’t going to be staying on that school bus very long …
Is That You Ned?
The next shot offers a direct look at Peter looking up at Thanos’ portal device and though it’s hard to know for sure, it looks like his best buddy Ned (Jacob Batalon) is sitting right behind him. Hopefully, this means we’ll get a few choice Ned lines before Peter leaves him behind to go help save the world!
This is Looking Bad, Guys…
Peter Parker isn’t the only Avenger looking at Thanos’ portal in awe, as we get a continuation of the previous scene involving Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Doctor Strange, and Wong. The foursome look distressed to say the least, with Strange and Wong already in battle poses and Bruce kind of just being his usual neurotic self. Tony certainly looks the most disturbed of the group, going so far as to remove his sunglasses in astonishment. Interestingly, the city streets are already strewn with rubble and it’s unclear if this is because Thanos has already started his attack or if it can just be attributed to the mass panic that is no doubt gripping the populace.
Loki And The Tesseract
The implications of the next scene are pretty big, to say the least. We see a figure stepping carefully over a floor littered with dead bodies, only to find out it’s none other than Loki, who is holding out the Tesseract with a look of fear in his eyes. Our best guess is that this scene is from early on in the film, as we know that Thor and Loki encounter Thanos in the post-credits scene from Thor: Ragnarok.
Presumably, this encounter ends with Thor being beaten and left for dead in space (which is how he ends up meeting the Guardians of the Galaxy) while Loki, ever the survivor, realizes he’s no match for Thanos and hands over the Tesseract, which of course is actually one of the Space Infinity Stone. As we know, Loki and Thanos have history together, as the God of Mischief was tasked with taking over Earth for the Mad Titan but failed. It’s hard to see Thanos forgiving that kind of failure so easily, meaning that Loki’s act of appeasement may not be enough to save him from the Mad Titan’s wrath.
Thanos In The Flesh
Here’s our first good look at what Josh Brolin’s Thanos will look like in Infinity War. Notably, he’s lost the gold crown we saw him wearing back in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie and is wearing a sleeveless battle vest. It looks like this scene takes place some time into Thanos’ siege, as he teleports himself to what appears to be Wakanda judging by the color scheme of the environment in the background.
Spidey In Action
The trailer’s first action sequence belongs to Spider-Man, who is sporting a much different suit than the last time we saw him. This looks to be Stark Industries’ “Iron Spider” prototype with quite a bit of tech onboard, including armor plating and glowing eyes that look quite reminiscent of the ones on Iron Man’s suits. This looks to be a continuation of the previous scene with Peter Parker, as he’s suited up and is now trying to take down Thanos’ portal before anything can get through.
Thor Having A Bad Day, Continued
Apparently, there are going to be a number of scenes involving Avengers trying to destroy massive circular devices, as we see Thor trying to dismantle some other threatening-looking structure. No clue where this scene fits into the movie’s timeline but we’re wishing the God of Thunder the best of luck in accomplishing whatever heroic thing he’s trying to do here!
The Black Order
A group of ruthless aliens working for Thanos, the Black Order is sure to figure heavily into the plot of Infinity War, but we don’t actually see that much of them in the trailer. That being said, there is this quick shot of a female (?) member of the order tossing some sort of trident at someone. We’re not quite sure who that someone is but it looks like it could be Black Panther or Captain America. Speaking of Cap …
Cap’s Back!
Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) lists a number of recommendations in voiceover but ends off with “and get this man a shield,” setting the stage for Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) to step out of the shadows. Captain America looks quite a bit different from the last time we saw him, having grown a beard in his time away. We’re not quite sure how important reuniting Cap with his shield is in the grand scheme of everything else that’s happening in this movie, but it probably won’t hurt to have him tossing it around again.
Hulkbuster
Here’s the Hulkbuster shot we were referring to earlier, with Tony taking his massive set of armor for a spin in and around Wakanda. We’re going to go ahead and assume that this time out, he’s not using it to fight the Hulk but rather Thanos and the Black Order. Judging by that aforementioned missing arm, we’re guessing it probably doesn’t go very well.
Obelisks
Wakanda just keeps on getting hit, as we see a quick cut of a strange obelisk falling from the sky and plunging into the ground. Clearly, these structures are an important part of Thanos’ plan but what they actually do remains to be seen. Perhaps he will use them to terraform the Earth? We’ll just have to wait to find out.
Eww, Who Are These Jerks?
No invasion of Earth would be complete without an army of alien henchmen, and it looks like the Avengers will have their hands full with a whole mess of them. Notably, we see Black Panther engaged in battle with an especially ugly adversary, a four-armed alien creature that looks like it means business. We’re not quite sure specifically what this creature is but it looks like it could be part of the Chitauri who attacked New York back in The Avengers. Hopefully, Infinity War does something a little bit more interesting with its disposable enemies, as even though the Battle of New York was pretty thrilling to watch, the Chitauri made for pretty lame enemies overall.
Spidey Getting Crushed
Here’s one of the trailer’s most shocking moments, as we see Thanos slam Spider-Man to the ground. It would appear that the Iron Spider armor is no match for the Mad Titan. It’s safe to assume that Spidey will be alright in the end, but it’s clear that (much like his fellow Avengers) he’ll be taking a beating in this film.
Vision Gets Stomped
As bad as things look for Spider-Man, they’re significantly worse for Vision who, as many expected, has to deal with Thanos trying to take the Mind Stone. We see Vision on the ground while Thanos attempts to pry the Infinity Stone from his head. Given that the stone is the source of Vision’s power and essentially his soul, he’d probably die without it. That being said, we have to assume there’s a bit more going on here than Vision being killed by Thanos, as that’s a pretty big spoiler to put in the film’s very first trailer.
We know that Thanos is hunting down the Infinity Stones but there’s no guarantee that he’ll get all six of them. Then again, it’s clear that the Mad Titan is enjoying himself, quipping that “Fun isn’t something one considers when balancing the universe .. but this does put a smile on my face.” Is Vision doomed? Probably, but we won’t count him out until we see Thanos actually rip that stone off his head.
The Infinity Gauntlet
Finally, a clear shot of Thanos wearing the Infinity Gauntlet! We see him inserting the Space Stone (Tesseract) into the device, followed by a continuation of his previous teleportation scene where the Mad Titan holds up the Gauntlet, displaying the Space and Power Stone (the orb from Guardians of the Galaxy). And we don’t have to wait long to see him in action …
Iron Man Goes Down
Continuing from the previous shot, we see Thanos form the Infinity Gauntlet into a fist and land a mean right hook on Iron Man, who immediately hits the dirt. If Thanos can do that much damage with just a couple of Infinity Stones, we shudder to think what will happen if he manages to acquire all six!
Bucky Joins The Fight
We next see the Winter Soldier himself, Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), fighting alongside a group of Wakandan warriors, assault rifle in hand. With Steve Rogers back in the mix, it makes sense that Bucky would return to the fight as well but we don’t actually know the timeline of events here. We know that Bucky chose to be put back into cryogenic sleep at the end of Civil War but since he’s technically been in Wakanda this whole time, is there a chance that he’s dethawed during the events of Black Panther? Or will we have to wait until Infinity War to see the Winter Soldier return to duty? Either way, it’s good to see him fighting alongside the good guys again.
Falcon Time
Bucky isn’t the only Captain America ally joining the fight in Wakanda, as we also see Anthony Mackie’s Falcon flying overhead, raining down fire on enemies below. We also get a much better sense of the scale of the battle taking place, with hundreds of Wakandan warriors battling the Black Order.
Group Shot
Falcon’s reveal leads into arguably the best shot in the trailer, as we see Captain America leading his team into battle. Joining him are Winter Soldier, Black Widow, Okoye, and Black Panther, as well as War Machine, Hulk, and Falcon in the background. Clearly, a large contingent of Avengers participate in the Battle for Wakanda, but it’s still only a small number of the total heroes present in this film. The likes of Ant-Man, the Wasp, and Hawkeye are nowhere in sight and the Guardians of the Galaxy are noticeably absent, which suggests that the film is going to follow several groups of characters at a time in order to better take advantage of its huge cast.
Also, War Machine’s presence here would seem to indicate that he’s recovered fully from the injuries he sustained during Civil War. Hooray!
“Who The Hell Are You Guys?”
Last but not least, the Guardians of the Galaxy are all present and accounted for in the trailer’s final shot, as Marvel’s cosmic franchises collide with Thor meeting Star-Lord and co. The Infinity War trailer as a whole presents a bleak picture for the Avengers but the return of the original movie’s triumphant score at the end pairs well with the arrival of the Guardians, who we’re guessing will show up on Earth late in the game right when things look the bleakest. Strap in, A-holes. It’s going to be quite a ride!
