We’re in the endgame

On December 7, the internet once again broke as Marvel dropped the trailer for ‘Avengers 4’. Not only has it been one of the most hotly anticipated trailers but the very fact that people were left in the dark as to the title of the movie itself for nearly eight months is truly impressive in today’s times.

Titled ‘Avengers: Endgame’, this movie is the conclusion to the cinematic arc started by Jon Favreau, Robert Downey Jr and Kevin Feige way back in 2008. About 10 years of building an interconnected cinematic universe will draw to a conclusion on April 26th, 2019.

Breaking down the trailer
The trailer starts off with Robert Downey Jr in space, having lost the battle with Thanos, he is marooned with no hope of rescue and dwindling supplies, he is seen recording a final message to his love interest Pepper Pots played by Gwenyth Paltrow.

The focus is then shifted to the remaining heroes on earth as they struggle to deal with the aftermath of the snap, which Marvel has officially titled as ‘The Decimation’. It is evident that quite some time has passed since the decimation; the heroes are left in a lurch, with only the original founding Avengers being the last men standing.

Curiously, no mention is made of Rocket, the only surviving member of the Guardians besides Nebula. A quick shot is shown of Thanos’s armour in a farm strung up like a scarecrow. A homage to the comic book storyline no doubt wherein Thanos becomes a farmer after the snap.

Steve and Natasha played by Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson are at the Avengers HQ mourning the loss of their fallen comrades, the next scene shows Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) lamenting at the screen displaying the people who went missing. A clever Easter egg for the eagle-eyed fans is shown at this moment. Apparently, Princess Shuri from Wakanda did not survive the Decimation either as her face is shown on screen for a split second before being replaced by Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland).

The trailer ends with an unexpected guest knocking on the front door of the Avengers HQ. Scott Lang aka Ant-Man, who was last seen trapped in the Quantum Realm in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ is now free and seeking the aid of Captain America and Black Widow.

Reaction
Not surprisingly, the trailer broke the YouTube record of being the most watched trailer in the first 24 hours with the numbers reaching nearly 289 million. People all over the world finally caught a glimpse of what’s next and most importantly, finally knew the title of the movie as well!

But curiously, as things go, the release of the trailer created a reaction that neither Marvel, the fans or even NASA or Elon Musk could predict! That’s right, once the trailer was released, several people took to Twitter to ask NASA to bring back Tony Stark from space! Surely a jest, it became quite problematic when the hashtag started trending and NASA was getting bombarded with messages on their official account. Initially, they made a statement on their official Twitter account requesting people to stop messaging them about rescuing Tony Stark. Seeing this, people decided to turn to other big names in space travel and even Elon Musk of Space X and ISRO got tagged in the request.
However, the official Twitter account of NASA published another Tweet, presumably, the folks at NASA watched the trailer and decided to have some fun as well. They tweeted, “Hey @Marvel, we heard about Tony Stark. As we know, the first thing you should do is listen in mission control for “@Avengers, we have a problem. But if he can’t communicate, then we recommend ground teams use all resources to scan the skies for your missing man (sic).”

Stan Lee
The movie is not only important because it comes full circle for Marvel but also features the last cameo ever shot by its creator Stan Lee. A legacy of nearly 70 years in the comic book industry, Stan Lee is perhaps one name that stands tall because of his contributions. We would not have had such an expansive comic book universe nor have so many characters with innate human flaws to relate with if not for Stan Lee. His untimely demise on November 12, 2018, shattered the hearts of fans across the world. Therefore, ‘Endgame’ is considered to be even more revered because it features the last live-action cameo of the man who was always used to say ‘Excelsior!’

Jumping on the bandwagon
No one would have thought that in 2018 comic book movies would gain so much importance that we would have space agencies discussing rescuing fictional characters. But it goes to show that every age has its own fad, the ’80s had their gangster and outlaw movies, the ’90s saw the world get hooked by sci-fi and now the mantle has passed to comic book movies to be the current ‘in thing’. Although ‘Endgame’ signifies the end of the story Marvel began in 2008, it isn’t the end for their characters though. This just concludes part 1 of what is most likely a multi-chapter plan in Marvel’s repertoire. Already, there have been characters introduced who could replace the ones whose stories are coming to an end.

Captain Marvel played by Brie Larson is being released in March 2019 and it is clear that her character is meant to be a replacement for Chris Evan’s Captain America. And as far as the tech side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is concerned, the introduction of Peter Parker as a replacement for Iron Man has been budding since the release of the Civil War. It is clear that though ‘Endgame’ may signify the end of many character’s stories, it is not the end for comic book movies from Marvel. This is just the beginning and plans are in motion already as per reports to soon announce the latest slate of movies being released till 2024.

- Pratap Pranay