Back To The Beginning
Previous teasers have dropped us into the bleak post-Decimation world, but this trailer opens by going back in time to MCU days past. Specifically, we begin with a monochrome flashback to Tony Stark’s first test flight of the Iron Man armor from all the way back in 2008.
“God, it seems like a thousand years ago,” we hear him say in a voiceover, which is probably part of his message to Pepper that we’ve seen him record in the first trailer. “I fought my way out of that cave, became Iron Man… realized I loved you.”
The same trick is played as we revisit Captain America: The First Avenger and see tiny Steve Rogers dreaming of becoming a soldier. This time, Peggy Carter’s stirring speech from The Winter Soldier is heard over the top. “None of us can go back. All we can do is our best. And sometimes the best we can do is to start over.”
It’s then Thor’s time to reminisce as a scene from his origins movie is played, featuring him with his now deceased father Odin.
What this tells us is that Endgame won’t be afraid to look back over how far the franchise has come over the past 10 years. Given that we’re pretty sure past films will be revisited via time travel, this seems like as far as the trailers will go to confirming this fact.
Hawkeye’s Loss
After being absent entirely in Avengers: Infinity War, Clint Barton is back in Endgame – but he’s a much darker man than we’ve previously seen him. The first trailer unveiled his new haircut and all-black outfit, as part of his new Ronin alter ego, but there was only the vaguest hint as to why he was back in the superhero game. This trailer doesn’t spell it out, but it makes the reason much clearer.
During Peggy’s voiceover, we see a new clip of Clint teaching his daughter how to shoot an arrow on his farm. It looks like she’s a chip off the old block, as we see her land a bullseye and her proud father give her a high five. We then cut to Ronin in Japan. Black Widow is with him and, with an emotional look on her face, she takes his hand in the rain.
We’d all figured it out already, of course, but this makes it clear that Clint’s family were likely taken from him in the Snap. He’s been happily retired for years now, with only the Sokovia Accords conflict getting him back in action, so this is why he’s compelled to help the rest of the Avengers find Thanos and reverse the devastation he’s wrought. “Whatever it takes,” as the heroes say later in the trailer.
