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To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

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To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ trailer

And there came a day, a day unlike any other. When Earth’s Mightiest Heroes found themselves united against a common threat. To face the foes no single superhero could withstand. On that day, the Avengers all got bodied by Thanos.

But first! Before Everything Dies. Let’s take a look at that trailer for Avengers: Infinity War. If you haven’t watched it yet, I recommend clicking here and taking a looksie for yourself before proceeding further.

And also, SPOILER WARNING for all seventeen movies in the MCU. There’s also a potential massive spoiler for Black Panther, but I’ll throw spoiler tags up when we get there. I’m also going to be speculating on a lot of smaller details here, so there’s also a chance I could spoil this movie. This is your last warning.

Alright. Let’s jump in!

To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

The trailer opens up on what appears to be an alien world with an orange atmosphere, along with a hurricane-like storm and lightning formations. It could just be a color shift meant to disguise Earth, but I have a feeling that this is another world that we will be visiting during the film. As further evidence, in the bottom right, you can see what appear to be landmasses, and though I’m no expert in world geography, I don’t recognize the outline.

To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

Next we see Tony, broken and nursing a damaged hand. He is wearing a hoodie (something we’ll see again later), and behind him appear to be metal stars of some kind, not unlike the Nova Corp ships we see in Guardians of the Galaxy. The orange tint here matches the sky on the planet we saw before, once again emphasizing the fact that Tony is probably not on Earth. We may be on Xandar, home of the Nova Corps as seen in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). The Nova Corps was last seen in possession of the purple Power Stone, which Thanos has in his possession here, so either way, it doesn’t bode well for them.

To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

The next pair of shots show Bruce Banner, shirtless, having fallen through the Sanctum Sanctorum and being confronted by Dr. Strange and Wong. Hulk was last seen with Thor and the surviving Asgardians at the end of Thor: Ragnarok. How he ended up in NYC remains a mystery.

To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

This is probably the first real surprise of the trailer as we see Scarlet Witch and Vision, the latter in a very human form. My best guess is that Vision is using powers first seen in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), to alter his appearance, perhaps to hide the Mind Stone that gives him life. However, one can clearly see the Mind Stone on his forehead. Perhaps he is unable to hide the Mind Stone as it calls out to be joined with the others being assembled by Thanos?

Either way, for those who are worried that this is going to be nothing but bombast and action, this sequence provides some tender quiet and shows the romantic bond that has grown between these two characters. And can we take a minute to appreciate just how far JARVIS has come?

To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailerTo Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailerNext we see a contemplative Thor in what I think is meant to be the Milano, the ship belonging to the Guardians of the Galaxy. There appears to be some sort of explosion behind him, hinting at a possible fate for the Asgardians after Thor: Ragnarok. After saving his people from the wrath of Hela and Surtur, Thor may have lost his people to Thanos, whose ship was seen in the mid-credits scene of Ragnarok.To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

Next we see Bruce Banner meeting again with Natasha in Wakanda. Banner is notably spotted with the glove of a Hulkbuster type armor. As seen in the SDCC poster, Natasha is sporting short blond hair, giving her more than a passing resemblance to the second Black Widow from the comics, Yelena Belova. I imagine that this is her disguise following the events of Captain America: Civil War and would not be surprised if she took Yelena Belova as an alias.

To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

Trained by the same program that trained Natasha Romanoff, Yelena Belova has come into conflict with her predecessor in the comics.

Avengers fans undoubtedly recognize the speech delivered by the characters here as the speech Nick Fury gave just before the climax of the first film. We hear Fury’s voice to start the trailer off, but there’s no sign of him anywhere else in this trailer. While Fury might be unfit for fighting Thanos, I really hope he plays a role in Avengers: Infinity War and/or the untitled fourth Avengers film, considering his importance to the team.

To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

After the Marvel Studios logo, we get a brief shot of The Building Formerly Known as Avengers Tower. We then pick up (presumably) shortly after Banner has fallen into the Sanctum Sanctorum as Strange, Wong, Banner, and Stark notice people panicking outside. Stark approaches the door and walks out. Note how bulky his hoodie/jacket is on him.

To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

We then cut to Peter Parker FINALLY getting his Spidey-Sense ability as the hairs on his arm stand up and he turns to look back at the red ring of death hovering in the skyline. In the next close up shot of the ring, we can see it spinning with enough force that it’s starting to draw in pieces of the buildings below.To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailerWe then get a shot of Strange, Stark, Banner, and Wong out in the street. There’s already some pretty bad wreckage from the ring, but what interests me is the fact that Stark has an arc reactor on his chest. I’m thinking that the hoodie he is wearing is actually his newest Iron Man suit.To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailerNext we see a pair of legs stepping over some corpses. None of the faces on the ground look immediately familiar to me, but judging by the clothing, I think this might be the Asgardians with some of their Sakaarian allies. I’m guessing that the person walking is Loki based off the lighting of this shot and the next.To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailerWe then see Loki, and in his possession, the Tesseract (aka the Space Stone). Loki appears to be broken here, there are tear streaks under his eyes, enforcing the idea that he may be walking amongst the corpses of his people. He’s almost certainly offering the Tesseract to Thanos (finally fulfilling his promise in The Avengers), but I hope it’s for a cause (like saving the rest of his people). Either way, I fully expect Thanos to take it and kill Loki.

For those who may not follow the MCU as religiously as others, the plot centers around Thanos’ goal to collect the six Infinity Stones, gems imbued with power on a truly cosmic scale. The first Infinity Stone, the Tesseract, was actually revealed all the way back in Thor (2011), but it wasn’t confirmed as an Infinity Stone until that film’s sequel, Thor: The Dark World (2013). For more information on the stones as well as their current locations, read here.

To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

And then we finally see the big man himself. Thanos emerges from a portal not unlike the one the Tesseract created, and from later shots that appear to be from this same sequence, I think it’s a safe bet to say he’s using the Space Stone to travel. Looking at the buildings behind him, I can’t quite tell if it’s Earth or not. Clearly there’s some alien elements in the background, but there’s also some wreckage of what would appear to be human skyscrapers. Thanos is notably not wearing his trademark armor seen in his other appearances in the MCU. I assume that this is because, with both the Space Stone and the Power Stone (which we see he has later), he doesn’t feel that he needs the armor.

To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

We then get our first shot of Spider-Man in his new costume glimpsed at the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming. Most are calling this the “Iron Spider” based off the suit that Tony gave to Peter in the Civil War comic, but frankly, between the glowing eyes and the color scheme, I think it bears a stronger resemblance to the All-New All-Different suit. You can compare them below.

To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

Peter has worn both the Iron Spider suit (left) and the All-New All-Different suit (right) in the comics.

To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

In what has to be an intentional visual callback to a pivotal scene in Captain America: Civil War, Thor is seen trying to hold two halves of a ship together. In Civil War, Cap’s biggest display of strength came when he was trying to save Bucky. I have to imagine that Thor is going through a similar emotional strain.

To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

It’s all about the bicep. (From Captain America: Civil War)

To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment is an incredibly quick shot of Proxima Midnight, one of Thanos’ Black Order. A fairly recent addition to the comics, the Black Order first appeared during the Infinity storyline in the summer of 2013 as a group of Thanos’ generals. This here is Proxima Midnight, throwing her spear at Captain America.

To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

Proxima Midnight’s first appearance as shown in New Avengers vol. 3 #8

In the comics, Proxima Midnight is considered the best warrior in all of Thanos’ army and her spear transforms into traces of black light that never miss and cut at the molecular level. Towards the end of Infinity she actually cuts Hulk and the effects of her spear cause him to instantly change back into Bruce Banner.

Here she doesn’t seem to be quite as powerful, as a shadowed figure catches the spear.To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

“Evacuate the city. Engage all defenses. And get this man a shield.”

To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

Cap has a beard! It’s all but outright confirmed that he’s going under the Nomad moniker after Captain America: Civil War and we can see that his suit here is the same as his Cap suit, but with the stars and stripes removed. This sequence (with Proxima Midnight, Captain America, and Scarlet Witch) all appears to take place in a warehouse or compound. My best guess, combined with shots we see later in the trailer of Black Widow and Vision is that Cap’s team is trying to keep Proxima Midnight from taking the Mind Stone from Vision’s head.

To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

The Hulkbuster has returned! This looks to be outside of Wakanda, but I don’t think that’s Tony in the suit. Because we see Banner next to the Hulkbuster arm at the beginning of the trailer, I’m guessing he’s the one in the Hulkbuster, using it to travel to Wakanda since Hulk probably can’t be trusted to go the right way. Alternatively, it’s running autonomously or via the program Friday, similar to the way the Iron Legion was operated by Jarvis in Iron Man 3.

We get some quick shots of Black Widow in the warehouse and Doctor Strange in New York before we see giant monolithic pods landing in the forests of Wakanda.

To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

This leads to the battle sequence where Cap and Black Panther are seen fighting an army of monsters. These aren’t the Chitauri from the first Avengers, but are undoubtedly Thanos’ footsoldiers here. The design bears a strong resemblance to the Outriders seen in Jonathan Hickman’s Infinity event, which this film seems to be borrowing heavily from.

To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

During Infinity, Wakanda came under attack as the Illuminati were using the Wakandan Necropolis as their base of operations and the holding place for the Infinity Stones. While Avengers: Infinity War won’t be following that plot exactly, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s revealed in Black Panther that Wakanda is the hiding place of the Soul Stone, which has thus far remained unseen in the films.

Next in the trailer, we get some quick shots of Spider-Man getting chokeslammed by Thanos, followed by a shot of Tony that seems to be a continuation of the scene the trailer opened with.

To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

One of the biggest moments in the trailer, though, comes when we see Vision getting the Mind Stone removed from his head. The Mind Stone is what gave Vision life, and so presumably taking it away will kill him. The staff performing the removal here belongs to Corvus Glaive, member of the Black Order and husband to Proxima Midnight (whose spear you can see on the left). In the comics, Glaive possesses super strength and speed and cannot be killed unless his staff is destroyed.

The trailer continues with some awesome shots of Thanos putting the Space Stone into the Infinity Gauntlet, where the Power Stone already rests, before turning his attention to Tony Stark and turning him into a WorldStar highlight video.

The rest of the trailer sees T’Challa leading the Wakandan army into battle against the horde of outriders, with a contingent of the Avengers alongside him.

To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

I love that we can see Cap and Bucky on T’Challa’s left (our right), deferring to his leadership. This is his country, after all. But this image caught my eye due to a potentially serious spoiler for Black Panther. For those who are curious, hover over the spoiler tag below.

To T’Challa’s right (our left), you can spot M’Baku (Winston Duke) among the other Wakandan soldiers. In my breakdown for the second Black Panther trailer , I speculated that M’Baku would serve as a third party to both T’Challa and Killmonger. With M’Baku appearing alongside T’Challa in battle, we may have just learned who he ultimately sides with.  To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailerThen we see the Battle of Wakanda breaking out as Falcon flies overhead. Looking closely, you can see the Hulkbuster armor in action. Because we see Hulk with the Avengers later, I’m guessing that IF Bruce uses the armor, it will just simply be to get it into Wakanda and then it will operate remotely. Once again, I do not think Tony is in that suit.

To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

The big money shot in the trailer though, is this shot of Cap, Black Panther, Bucky, Okoye, Black Widow, Hulk, Falcon, and War Machine all charging into battle with the Wakandan Army behind them. But would it be a Marvel movie without a post-credits scene?

To Infinity and beyond! A breakdown of the 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

The Avengers will have help in the form of the Guardians of the Galaxy. For movie nerds, this may have been an underwhelming reveal, but for general audiences who aren’t following every detail on the production of these films, this is likely going to be a mind-blowing surprise.

 

So there you have it. The first trailer for Avengers: Infinity War. Will Thanos get all six Infinity Stones and use them to kill off half the universe like he did in the Infinity Gauntlet story? What other characters do you think we’ll see? And who, if anyone, do you think will die before we reach the end of the film (my money is on Loki, Vision, Bucky, and Drax).

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