Wow, we’re just six weeks away from the cinematic superhero event of the decade, and the final trailer for “Avengers: Infinity War” has us chomping at the bit to see this thing go down. But this trailer is more than just awesome action — there’s lots of little details that can give us some big hints about what’s going to happen in this superhero team-up to end all superhero team-ups.
We previously dug into the first “Infinity War” trailer to see what information could be gleaned. Below you’ll find our observations from some of the key moments from the final trailer.
More Thanos and Gamora history
We know Thanos (Josh Brolin) has a lot of history with two major players from the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films — Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and her adopted sister Nebula (Karen Gillan). It looks like “Infinity War” will lay out more of Gamora’s childhood and her experiences with Thanos, judging by a brief shot of what looks to be flashback in which Thanos takes a young green girl by the hand.
Also Read:Nebula of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ Should Get Her Own Movie (Commentary)
Gamora and Nebula were taken at a young age and raised by Thanos, and in the first “Guardians” movies, they serve as his agents. Gamora first meets Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) while she’s trying to track down the Orb (which houses the Power Infinity Stone) for Thanos — but she’s really planning to steal it and betray him. She later fights Nebula, who hates her because Gamora was always Thanos’ favorite. The two sisters later reconcile their differences, at least to some degree, in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.”
According to Gamora and Nebula, living under Thanos’ rule was a torturous experience that had them constantly fighting each other. Nebula’s cyborg appearance is a result of those fights: since Gamora would always win, Thanos would replace Nebula’s body with robot parts to make her stronger. Since it seems like Gamora will be the character giving the Avengers the low-down on Thanos’ deal in “Infinity War,” we’ll likely be getting a sense of why he’s so scary from a flashback detailing her personal experience with the villain.
Who’s that new baddie torturing Doctor Strange?
When Thanos comes to Earth hunting the Infinity Stones, he doesn’t come alone — he brings along the Black Order, a group of powerful lieutenants that help him wreck planets and conquer stuff. A new one of those powerful baddies appears to show up in the new “Infinity War” trailer, where he’s seen torturing Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch). It looks to be Ebony Maw, an alien who isn’t much of a fighter, but whose intelligence and abilities more than make up for it.
Also Read:All 18 Marvel Cinematic Universe Movies Ranked, From Worst to Best (Photos)
In the comics, Ebony Maw has the power to manipulate people and bend them to his will using his powers of persuasion, merely by talking to them. The effect is pretty powerful, because he even manages to make Dr. Strange work for him in the comic story, before later erasing Strange’s memory so he has no recollection of helping Maw carry out his plans. The trailer shows Maw apparently torturing Dr. Strange, who we know is in possession of the Amulet of Agamotto, the time-bending artifact that houses the Time Infinity Stone. So Maw might be trying to get the stone from Strange — or he could be working his mind-control abilities on him.
Doctor Strange’s cape seems to be doing its own thing
It’s tough to make out, but a shot in the trailer appears to show Dr. Strange’s red and billowing Cloak of Levitation, but apparently, without Dr. Strange actually in it. This one’s a little hard to understand, exactly, but from the shot in the trailer, it appears as though the cape has a red-clad body of its own (or arms, at least), but pointedly, no head.
We know the Cloak of Levitation is more than just a spiffy piece of clothing. In “Dr. Strange,” the cloak is all but alive, coming to Strange’s aid in his moment of need to save his life. As Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) explains it, the cloak “chooses” Strange to be its master (all “relics,” of which the cloak is one, do this to some degree), and we even see it trying to communicate and acting with a will of its own, pulling Strange in certain directions when it wants him to go somewhere or do something.
Also Read:‘Thor: Ragnarok’: How That Mid-Credits Scene Sets Up ‘Avengers: Infinity War’
So it doesn’t seem too far-fetched that there might be more to the cloak than “Dr. Strange” previously let on. The comics aren’t much help here either, since the cloak is much more of a magical tool there than it is in the movie. But we also know that Thanos’ Infinity Stones have the ability to alter reality, so maybe bringing the cloak fully to life with a body of its own is some unforeseen consequence.
Captain America can hold his own in a fistfight with Thanos
This is kinda wild. We of course knew that Captain America (Chris Evans) was really, really strong, but strong enough to be able to keep the Mad Titan Thanos from punching him in the face? We’re very worried the next part of that scene is Cap getting crushed to death.
Hiding Vision in Wakanda?
There’s a part in the trailer where Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is describing a plan that sounds like they’re going to try to play keepaway with the Infinity Stones so Thanos can’t get hold of them. During this portion of the trailer, we see Captain America and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) visiting Wakanda, and Shuri (Letitia Wright) looking at a hologram of that shows a floating disembodied head, belonging to Vision (Paul Bettany) — which also contains the Mind Stone.
Also Read:‘Black Panther’: Did We See the Soul Stone in Wakanda?
So is the big battle in Wakanda going to happen because they’re hiding one or more of the Stones there? The nation’s technological superiority makes it the best place for such a plan, anyway.
Loki in trouble — or on the wrong team
In the final trailer, we see Loki standing with Thanos’ powerful group of lieutenants, the Black Order, and it’s not clear if he’s a prisoner (it looks like the Black Order member that appears to be Proxima Midnight has her weapon trained on him) or if he’s switched sides.
Both are possible. The trailers for “Infinity War” have all but confirmed what fans suspected at the end of “Thor: Ragnarok”: When Thanos comes calling after the Asgardians escape the destruction of their planet, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) hands over the Tesseract, the powerful artifact from “The Avengers” that houses the Space Infinity Stone. Loki previously worked for Thanos in “The Avengers” — it was Thanos’ army of aliens Loki brought to Earth, and Thanos who provided Loki with his mind-controlling scepter, which later turned out to house the Mind Infinity Stone.
Also Read:‘Thor: Ragnarok’: What’s the Deal With Thor’s Eye?
From the look of the trailer, Loki might be taking up a spot among the Black Order in “Infinity War” — at least temporarily. Loki went through some big character changes in “Thor: Ragnarok,” so it seems just as likely that he’s biding his time and pretending to work for the bad guys.
Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy have an adventure before they get to Earth
So we know that Thor manages to escape from Thanos before teaming up with the Guardians of the Galaxy. And we can presume that happens before the Guardians get to Earth, which would mean that in the intervening period they have some kind of adventure of their own involving, as we see in this trailer, a visit to what looks like an old abandoned ship of some sort.
Notably, we have not seen Thor on Earth in either of the “Infinity War” trailers, so this must be some kind of substantial side trip. Maybe Thor will die there? We think, by the way, that the shot from the trailer of Thanos squeezing Thor’s head is from before Thor escapes from the ship that he, Valkyrie and Loki fled Asgard on at the end of “Thor: Ragnarok.” But who knows?
Is that Hulk in the Hulkbuster suit?
Though we did see Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) near the beginning of this trailer, we still have not seen the big green guy in either of these trailers. Or did we? The Iron Man Hulkbuster suit is kind of a weird anomaly in the battle in Wakanda, because there’s seemingly nothing there that would seem to warrant it over any other Iron Man suit. Also, that shot of Banner we mentioned earlier also had Black Widow and War Machine in it — coincidentally, those two are also in Wakanda in “Infinity War.”
Also Read:‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’: Is Baby Groot the Same Person as Big Groot?
So our thought, at this point, is that the Hulk is actually wearing that Hulkbuster suit himself. Which is awesome.
Iron Man has a weird new muscle suit
Iron Man, meanwhile, has a weird looking new suit of his own that looks kind of like a muscle suit. And he’s got some kind of rocket platform attached to it at one point. It’s probably just a curiosity but it’s worth noting. Since Tony previously had some trouble taking his suit into space, maybe this new design is meant to deal with that problem better than his sub-orbital suit, briefly shown in “Iron Man 3.”
Who’s missing?
It would be a tough task to fit every single major character in “Infinity War” into a trailer, but this thing nearly pulls it off. There are a few key names absent here, and while the previous trailer picked up some of the slack, there are still seven important characters we have not seen at all in either of them. They are: Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), Nebula (Karen Gillen), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Heimdall (Idris Elba) and the Collector (Benicio Del Toro). Nebula, at least, made an appearance on the new poster, and Idris Elba and Benicio Del Toro are listed among the cast on that poster, even though they’re not seen in the artwork.
That leaves Ant-Man, Hawkeye, Valkyrie and Nick Fury as major question marks at this point. They do get mentions on the iMDB page for “Infinity War,” though, so it seems we should expect them all to pop up at some point.
Tracking the Infinity Stones of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Through ‘Black Panther’
As every Marvel movie fan knows, the thread that connects the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe from Earth to Xandar are the six Infinity Stones that will all come together when the Marvel heroes take on Thanos in “Avengers: Infinity War.” Starting with “Captain America: The First Avenger,” the Stones have been revealed one by one since 2011. If you need a brush-up on where each stone currently is and what it can do, we’re here to help you out. (WARNING: Spoilers for “Black Panther” ahead)
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The Infinity Stones were created at the dawn of the universe by cosmic entities who bent all of existence to their will. Each of the stones gives the user control over some element of the cosmos…provided that the user’s body is powerful enough to withstand the stones’ energy without getting vaporized. The six stones control one of the following: Space, Reality, Power, Mind, Time, and Soul. Each stone has a special nickname in the MCU.
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The Space Stone, a.k.a. The Tesseract, was left on Earth by Thor’s father, Odin. It was first introduced in “Captain America: The First Avenger,” as Red Skull used it as a power source for his evil plans. After Cap stopped him, the Tesseract was taken by SHIELD with the hopes that they could harness its power to protect Earth.
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Instead, the Tesseract became the impetus for Loki’s invasion of New York in “The Avengers.” After Loki was defeated Thor and his superhero pals, the Tesseract returned to Thor’s home world of Asgard, where it is currently being used as a means to teleport between different planets.
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In “Thor: Ragnarok,” we see the Tesseract again in Odin’s vault on Asgard. Toward the end of the movie, Thor sends Loki to the vault to execute a plan that can defeat Hela. While he’s there, Loki has a pointed moment walking past the Tesseract. Judging by the trailer for “Avengers: Infinity War,” in which we see Loki holding the Tesseract, he clearly didn’t leave it there to get destroyed along with the rest of Asgard. Which means…
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…The Tesseract, and thus the Space Stone, are probably currently or about to be in the possession of Thanos. In the mid-credits scene at the end of “Thor: Ragnarok,” Thor, Loki and the rest of the Asgardians are aboard a spaceship bound for Earth. They’re intercepted by Thanos’ ship, the Sanctuary II. And in the “Avengers: Infinity War” trailer, there’s a shot of Loki handing the Tesseract over to someone. And that someone is probably Thanos, since later in the trailer Thanos is shown wearing the gauntlet armed with two of the stones, one of which is the Space Stone
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The Reality Stone, a.k.a. The Aether, was introduced in “Thor: The Dark World” as the object that spawned a war between the Asgardians and an evil race of Dark Elves led by a tyrant named Malekith. Unlike other stones, the Aether had taken a liquid form that could suck the life force out of humans and other mortals. But those who could control it could use its power to turn anything in the universe into dark matter.
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With the help of Loki, with whom he made an uneasy truce, Thor was able to stop Malekith’s plans to use the Aether to turn the universe into a dark matter realm ruled by his people. Since Asgard already had the Tesseract, it was decided that it was too dangerous for Infinity Stones to be close together for a long time, and the Aether was given to a man called The Collector for safekeeping. What Thor didn’t know was that The Collector had plans to gather all the Stones for himself, and so they were accidentally helping him out in that quest.
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Unfortunately for The Collector, his plans were derailed after a visit from the Guardians of the Galaxy, who had arrived with a mysterious Orb they had planned to sell for a massive payday. They learned that the Orb contained the Power Stone, an Infinity Stone used by its creators to cast judgment upon worlds and destroy them with a single blow. Direct contact with the Power Stone will result in the holder being vaporized.
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And vaporization is exactly what happened to The Collector’s assistant, who touched the Orb and caused a massive explosion. While The Collector held on to The Aether, most of his collection was lost while the Orb fell into the hands of Ronan, who planned to use its power to conquer and destroy any world he wished. The Guardians were able to defeat Ronan and placed the Orb under the care of their galaxy’s top defense force, the Nova Corps.
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The other Stone that the “Infinity War” trailer shows Thanos having on his Infinity Gauntlet is the Power Stone, so it can be presumed that he will have handled the Nova Corps by the time he reached Earth.
The Mind Stone was introduced in “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and was revealed to have been contained in Loki’s scepter. It grants the user immense knowledge, the ability to control the minds of others, and can even bring about new life. After the Avengers retrieved the Scepter from HYDRA, Tony Stark planned to use its power to develop an A.I. strong enough to defend Earth from another otherworldly invasion. Instead, he created Ultron, who hatched an invasion of his own.
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To counter this, the Avengers used the Mind Stone again on Stark’s computer companion, JARVIS. With the help of Thor’s power, their experiment created Vision, a sentient android with the Mind Stone embedded in his head. Vision gave the Avengers the edge they needed, putting an end to Ultron’s plans.
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The Time Stone was introduced in “Doctor Strange” and played a key role in the titular hero’s development of his magical power. As you may guess, the Time Stone allows those with magical abilities to manipulate time like a Blu-Ray remote. The stone is held within a pendant called The Eye of Agamotto, which Doctor Strange uses despite warnings from Baron Mordo that the Eye is a form of magic that is far too dangerous to be wielded.
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Using the Eye to undo the destruction brought about by the dark deity Dormammu, Strange then trapped his nemesis in a time loop in which Dormammu would kill Strange again and again but would never conquer Earth. Strange only stopped the loop after Dormammu agreed to leave Earth. Afterwards, Strange placed the Eye back in storage, at which point his companion, Wong, revealed to him that he had been wearing an Infinity Stone around his neck.
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The final stone, the Soul Stone, has yet to be revealed. Though fans thought it could be tied to Hela, the villain of “Thor: Ragnarok,” it didn’t turn up in that movie. We hoped, then, that it would show up in “Black Panther,” somewhere in the super-advanced Earth nation of Wakanda. However, that didn’t appear to be the case.
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Then again, in the comics, Hela wields control over all the souls who reside in her domain and has made Faustian bargains with the living in exchange for their souls. We saw Hela raise the dead in “Thor: Ragnarok,” but got no explanation of how that power works. There’s also some speculation that, while Hela gets blasted by Surtur’s sword at the end of the movie, she might not have died — leaving the door open for her to resurface, potentially with the Soul Stone.
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It’s also possible “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” has hinted at the reveal of the final Infinity Stone. The movie includes a post-credits scene in which Ayesha, High Priestess of the Sovereign, talks about using her race’s technology to create a powerful being she dubs “Adam.” This is a reference to the extremely powerful Adam Warlock, a character who derives much of his incredible abilities from the Soul Stone in the Marvel Comics.
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There’s speculation that this Adam Warlock may or may not have the Soul Stone. Marvel boss Kevin Feige and “Guardians” director James Gunn have said that Adam won’t be in “Infinity War,” even though he’s key to the conflict in the comics. And Feige says we won’t see Adam until “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” which takes place after “Infinity War.” But all of this could also be misdirection — we’ve seen that from Marvel Studios before.
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Which, of course, brings us back to the possibility that the Soul Stone was present in “Black Panther,” just out of sight. It’s conceivable that the Soul Stone, which has the key trait of trapping souls within itself, is what spawned the “ancestral plane” that T’Challa visits to speak with his deceased father after eating the Heart-Shaped Herb. That Thanos will assault Wakanda in “Infinity War” would lend some credence to this idea, but we’ll have to wait until May to find out for sure.
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Does the last remaining unseen Infinity Stone finally surface in “Black Panther”?
As every Marvel movie fan knows, the thread that connects the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe from Earth to Xandar are the six Infinity Stones that will all come together when the Marvel heroes take on Thanos in “Avengers: Infinity War.” Starting with “Captain America: The First Avenger,” the Stones have been revealed one by one since 2011. If you need a brush-up on where each stone currently is and what it can do, we’re here to help you out. (WARNING: Spoilers for “Black Panther” ahead)
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