Guest Blog by Robert Mills with commentary by Billbuster95
The most anticipated trailer since The Last Jedi trailer dropped on 11/29/17. With less than 6 months to go until the release of Avengers: Infinity War, the public at large has got its’ first HD look at video footage from the upcoming release. Clocking in at 2 minutes and 24 seconds, there is a LOT to digest in this trailer and there’s also a lot of information contained about the upcoming Marvel superhero mashup.
Robert Mills (RM) and Billbuster95 (BB) walk us through the trailer from start to finish exploring some of the most important moments. We speculate on what we might be seeing and what it means for the MCU and our favorite characters.
Strap in!
RM: So, what’s in the trailer? And what does it tell us about what’s about to go down?
The trailer opens above a reddish orange planet. What planet is this? More on that in a moment.
RM: Tony Stark holding his hands to his mouth. There appears to be some kind of floating material and a bright light behind him. The color tone is the same as the lighting from the planet we just saw above.
Does this mean Tony Stark is off Earth on this alien world?
BB: That would be quite the step for Tony Stark and Iron Man as we have yet to see him or any of our earth based Avengers leave the planet, save for Bruce Banner in Ragnarok. Hulk did get off earth but we're not exactly sure how or how he'll get back. We've each already watched this trailer 50 times. HA!
RM: Next, a shot of Banner with no shirt on laying in a pile of rubble. This is a look we are familiar with, nearly identical to the look when he fell from the Helicarrier in The Avengers.
BB: It's like their reading our narrative minds! Tony on another plant, maybe, and then how did the one earth hero that left earth get back...
Notice the contents of this room and the exposed framing...I originally though this might be misdirection, but later it matches up with another shot.
RM: Stephen Strange and Wong. There is a hole in the room behind them. This ties in directly to the previous shot. It looks like Banner/Hulk fell through the ceiling of the Sanctum in New York. How did Banner get back to Earth? Last time we saw him he was with Thor. Hmmm.
RM: There is a man opening curtains. Scarlet Witch appears to be the woman sitting up on the bed.
Yep...definitely Scarlet Witch...and she’s with VISION...and he has Hair? And Skin? And you can see the Mind Stone glowing underneath his skin. What the heck is that all about? They appear to finally be a couple. (Theory: This is some kind of trick of the Reality Stone - The Aether)
BB: This has to be a dream sequence, maybe reality stone although that is absent so far. It's a lot of advancement narratively to see Vision in human form without some form of trickery. But, they are clearly going to do more to tie us to Viz emotionally before his characters "big event". Thanos has to fill up the Infinity Gauntlet. Vision has to lose the mind stone.
Like Avengers, they will need something to rally around. Unlike Avengers, let's hope they learned their lesson...fake deaths retconned later so you have a familiar character on a network TV show was always LAME - even if general audiences swallowed that pill!
RM: Next shot. We have Thor, from behind, and it looks like he’s standing in a spaceship. Is this part of the Asgardian ship from the end of Ragnarok, or is it a different spaceship...like, I dunno...the Milano?
BB: Yeah, this looks to much like Guardians to be ship from Ragnarok. But, you never know. It reminds me of the Collector telling the story of the Infinity Stones really.
RM: Then we get a shot of Banner in full clothing, next to one of the arms of the Hulkbuster armor, and it looks like he is in Wakanda.
BB: Agreed, the round building and green vegetation say earth and not a city we've ever seen before. Later shots give this location away...
RM: Then a shot of Natasha Romonov.
And finally, the Marvel Studios logo. Wow. That’s a lot, we’re 30 seconds in to the trailer now.
That Marvel Studios logo chews up 15 seconds. And they’ve got the Avengers theme playing in the background. Nice.
Now, a shot of NYC skyline. You can see Avengers Tower in the background and it is very cloudy and overcast.
BB: New York seems to be ground zero for some sort of event. Not sure what yet as we seem to be split between to primary locations for Act I of the movie...NYC and Wakanda.
RM: Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Wong, and Strange in the Sanctum. There is a hole in the staircase behind them. So that’s exactly where Banner came down, confirming what we saw earlier. Stark walks outside.
BB: Here is where you can see the room Banner was in previously. If you zoom in on the trailer, the rooms appear to match meaning Banner lands in the New York Sanctum. That's pretty good aim - especially because he was last seen on the Asgardian escape ship.
RM: Peter Parker on the bus and all of the hair on one of his arms stands up on end. We have confirmation of SPIDER-SENSE!!!!! He looks out the window of his bus and there is some sort of circular object in the skies over Manhattan.
BB: This is super cool. There was talk of the spider-sense in Homecoming. Was it there or was it missing? Clearly, they can't have it be super powerful on film or Spidey is OP and the action boring. But, like everything they are doing with Spider-man...he is a kid growing into his powers. This is a really accessible example of that. Really cool stuff!
RM: The next shot is a shot of that circular object, and the insides of it are spinning. Is this some sort of gateway? When we look at the background behind it, we can see that several buildings are damaged and on fire behind/below this spinning object in the sky.
BB: No idea what is going on here. Clearly something comes through this "portal." Maybe it is a portal, I don't know. It looks awfully Stark to me, but clearly there is some destruction to buildings. And there is the next shot...
RM: After that, we have Tony in the foreground in New York. Wong and Strange have their magic shields up behind him and Banner is also standing behind Stark. There is lots of rubble around and Stark is looking up into the sky...probably at that object from before.
BB: There is so much misdirection in these trailers, but I tend to agree. It sure looks like this is NYC and they just walked out of the sanctum. Athough, Doctor Strange still has his sling ring, right?
RM: Then we someone from the knees down and they are stepping over bodies on the ground and there are fires in the background. The gear looks Asgardian. Is this what happened to Thor, Loki, and Hulk right after the ending credits of Ragnarok?
BB: This could be another piece of misdirection. It doesn't seem over relevant to the trailer. The next shot is the money shot.
RM: Now here is a shot of Loki and in his hands...the Tesseract. It looks like he is still on the ship that he and Thor escaped from Asgard on. He holds the Tesseract up, and it looks like he has been crying? What’s that all about?
BB: Definitely some sort of emotion or distress going on for Loki. Maybe he put up a fight. Hopefully, I had the theory awhile back that Loki was Thanos's connection to these stones and earth. I still think he's going to play a big role in getting Thanos a stone...the space stone maybe. He seems to be handing the Tesseract to someone. I really hope it is the Red Skull. That would be cool but no signs of that character yet.
RM: Next, our first look at Thanos, and he looks like he is stepping out of some kind of gateway. He’s also wearing the same clothing that we see him wearing later in the trailer (more on that in a minute). What’s the deal with that gateway he just walked out of (also, more on that in a minute).
BB: This is a great shot of Thanos, best look we've had yet. He looks GREAT! The CGI is incredible. He almost cracks a smirk.
RM: Oh hey, there’s floating debris in the background. That’s kind of like where Tony was earlier. Hmmmmm...Is this the same “red/orange” planet from the beginning of the trailer?
RM: Tesseract is with Loki, Aether was on Nowhere, Mind Stone is in Vision’s head on Earth, Power Stone is on Xandar, Time Stone is on Earth with Doctor Strange. So where is THIS? And what’s Thanos doing here? Is this the planet where the Soul Stone is going to finally be found?
BB: I'm going with soul stone in Wakanda. I think that is the source of the "spirit world" we see in the BP trailer and where he walks with the previous Black Panthers. But, I could be wrong.
I'm also going to say this is Zandar and the invasion there has gone well. He's coming in at the end, no armor on, to collect his stone and wreck the leaders of the Nova core in taking it.
It starts with the Power stone, which we see...which is the stone that give him power enough to wield and control the others. It's a big one.
RM: Next we have Spider-man in the Iron Spider suit from the end of Homecoming. That wasn’t the suit that Stark left him in the paper bag on his bed, so Tony must have given him the upgraded suit.
Also, Spider-man is standing on that circular spinning dynamo-looking object in the sky. So, this must be Manhattan.
BB: I'm not a huge can of this suit. But, Spider-man looks incredible in these shots. I just prefer the more classic look or the black suit.
RM: Now we have….well, whatever this is….and there’s a person in the middle of it, and it’s revealed to be Thor. So this is somewhere out in space somewhere? What is this? WHERE is this? It looks like some kind of a gyroscope.
BB: This is weird. I've read some crazy theories on this one. One said this was forge with which he makes a new weapon, his axe, using the last infinity stone. That would be cool.
It's a lot of movement for Thor on places we haven't seen in the MCU yet. Marvel has been good about not doing things like this that are too complicated narratively and would seem pieced together if not handled right. But, I think they could pull it off if they keep Thor away from earth for this movie. But do they want Thor out of another big team up movie...he missed the Civil War remember.
RM: After that, we have what appears to be one of Thanos’ minions. A member of the Black Order and this is going on in some kind of a warehouse.
BB: Personally I think the Black Order is going to be awesome. I think these are going to be mini-bosses that put up quite the fight with the Avengers across these movies. I'm excited to see more.
RM: We have Black Panther, and he’s talking about getting someone a shield. Who might need a shield? Has anybody recently lost a shield?
BB: Has to be Caps shield. I'm not buying into the energy shield either. I think he gets HIS shield back. But, that's just me. Coulson already debuted the energy shield on Agents of SHIELD.
RM: Oh yeah...That guy. Traitor. (Sorry, Tony Stark was TOTALLY in the right during Civil War). Still, I’m pretty sure that guy’s a war criminal, but whatever.
BB: Haha! You know it was a good conflict if fans are still taking sides. I was with Cap until he stood up for Bucky in the face of Bucky killing Tony's parents. That was brutal, but Stark did want to kill him which is a bit much.
Anyway...it's good to see rebel Rogers coming out of the shadows. I wonder what he's been up to. Cap doesn't do vacations.
RM: Next is a shot of Scarlet Witch and she’s using her powers. Also looks like it might be in that same warehouse from before? Is she fighting off the Black Order in this scene?
BB: Scarlett Witch gets all the bad luck in the MCU, well most of it. First, her brother...now Viz is going to be in some deep trouble.
RM: VERONICA 2.0 BABY!!! WAKANDA STYLE!!!
BB: This is an odd shot. A lot of people are piecing together the shot with Banner and the arm earlier with the way this armor moves like Hulk...but I don't see why Hulk would need armor.
Unless Banner is having some performance issues...1 in 5 as Tony said. HAHA! I don't know but it's interesting stuff for now.
RM: Then Romanov stabs someone with a spear.
Strange has both of his magic shields up.
BB: Deflecting debris as well if you slow it down. This appears to be back in NYC.
RM: Things fall from the sky in Wakanda. Bearded Steve is fighting with Panther’s mother in the background.
BB: Alien invasion we think. these look to be Thanos's minions invading here. We don't know why yet.
RM: Black Panther fights a four armed alien...Another member of the Black Order?
BB: Minions I think. The guy in that shot looks like one of the ones running toward the battlefield.
RM: Spidey gets CHOKE SLAMMED by something huge. Oh purple? Yeah, totally Thanos. Damn he is HUGE! Poor Spidey.
BB: Definitely Thanos, though unclear where they are.
RM: This looks like Tony in the same place he was earlier with his hands over his mouth. Is this a continuation of the same shot?
BB: The trailer here is definitely playing up the father-son, mentor relationship built over the based two earth based MCU films. They don't appear to track for location but clearly there is an emotional connection. Are they setting up Spidey for more perilous conflict? That would be quite the bold move. There was that weirdness with the Sony executive talking about Spidey not staying in the MCU and Feige not initially batting an eye...later they came back out and said he would be getting multiple films. Doubt remains.
RM: Don’t act shocked. You absolutely KNEW that this had to happen. See ya Vision, it’s been real. Also, he has no skin and hair here, which makes me think the earlier was a Vision vision (see what i did there?). I think Thanos is going to use the Reality Stone to subdue Vision….
BB: Yeah, we all saw this one coming. The reality stone is oddly absent from this trailer. It seemed the stone most easily acquired by Thanos, but I think it's the toughest to use cinematically though it could have the coolest results.
Anyway we slice it, Viz is in peril. I think these are black order subduing Vision. This will give these sub bosses power in the story and get the stone for Thanos, maybe without killing Vision. Vision can exist without the stone much like Vision developed his own character apart from Ultron.
RM: Power stone, then Space Stone. We know what order Thanos gets the first two Infinity Stones in. Two down, four to go. And we know that Vision is going to lose that Mind Stone, right? Right?
BB: Awesome visuals here. So well done. The way the stone glows. The way the glove sucks the stone in. The narration is wicked too. Bran from Goonies has come a long way.
RM: Next it’s Iron Man on that red/orange planet from earlier.
BB: Beautiful image, very clean and good looking suit, Mark 423123. HAHA! I have no idea what they are up to but this looks great.
He is either recovering from or about to receive a welcome from Thanos...
RM: Thanos with the glove, and the Power and Space stone. This looks like immediately after he stepped out of that gateway from before. Remember that? Yeah, that’s apparently the Space Stone opening portals at will now for Thanos. He’s got the Space Stone in the Gauntlet. Have Stone, Will Travel.
BB: All of this just looks so good.
RM: Oh Tony, I hope you can take a punch man…
BB: ...and there it is.
RM: The Winter Soldier is back. That’s why Captain America was in Wakanda...Okay, makes sense. His buddy Buck was there.
BB: The Winter Soldier. I'm not a big fan of this character. I like what he did in the Cap trilogy, but I'm tired of seeing him honestly. He has caused so much trouble and hasn't been much of a friend to Cap.
Maybe he'll serve as a true sidekick in this series.
RM: Black Panther and the Wakandans are ready to rumble.
BB: Cap and Buck look weird in this. Wigs? Sometimes they don't get Caps wig right but no Buck looks odd too. And why are they on the second row. Odd shot. BP looks viscious though.
RM: Now Falcon is providing air support in the battle of Wakanda...raging during different scenes showing all kinds of angles. This is probably the big set piece for the first half of the movie.
The Battle of Wakanda looks epic. Don't forget Infinity War is right on the heels of Black Panther's solo debut. Narratively, it's going to be fun because we move from one movie into the next only a few months later.
BB: This looks like the big set piece of the film, possibly culminating the first act. This looks like the new airport scene. Falcon cam is awesome. Note that it is the Hulkbuster being swarmed in one shot.
RM: Team Cap is now War Machine, Bucky, Widow, Rogers, Hulk, Panther and mom, and Falcon? Wasn’t Hulk with Stark earlier? Wait, Tony might have left Earth. Or have they patched things up? I don’t see Tony being the ‘forgive and forget’ type, but in a crisis? Who knows?
BB: This shot has all the earmarks of not making the movie. It looks great but Hulk isn't in any of the other Wakanda battle shots so maybe they took Hulk out after this shot. He doesn't look entirely finished from a CGI standpoint. Just speculation, but we'll see.
RM: The movie logo and return of the theme music.
BB: Black widow again. War Machine makes his debut. He's in the top left, Falcon in the top right. They appear to have made up. Rhodey appears to be back in the action. He's going to have to stay in the suit now.
RM: And she’s got blonde hair now? Oh well, at least ScarJo didn’t need to dye her hair again this time out.
BB: The classic Marvel end credits scene...
RM: ...what a bunch of a-holes.
RM: So, there you have it. The whole 2:24 seconds slowed down to give you a shot by shot glimpse of everything contained in the trailer. There’s a lot to digest, and we’ve only got six months until we get what Marvel has promises to be “the biggest superhero movie of all time.”
BB: Marvel has been building this universe for a decade come 2018. A DECADE. This movie is the crescendo of three phases of Marvel movies each with their own massive team up, The sheer scale of it is unmatched, yet they seem to make it feel smaller with their storytelling. This trailer is hitting unfathomable numbers in a short span leading to some lofty talk. They've taken their time and it looks like they are poised to go for biggest movie of all time. If they get it, they definitely earned it.
I still can't believe a movie like this even exists.