Well, well, well... We finally have that long awaited
Avengers: Infinity War trailer, so I figured it might be fun to do a breakdown of the trailer with my own thoughts as to what's going down. I'm currently home sick with Strep Throat after taking my final exam of the semester earlier today, so I figured I may as well take a crack at it. I currently haven't decided if I'm going to make this a regular thing on my blog or simply reserve it for bigger blockbusters yet, but the latter is most likely. Anyways, this will be very similar to my
'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' Trailer Analysis where I will go through the trailer frame by frame, detailing my commentary along the way.
**Keep in mind that these are just my theories and interpretation of the scenery. I could be way off mark in regards to speculation, but provided I'm correct, potential spoilers lie ahead.**
'Avengers: Infinity War' Official Trailer Analysis
The trailer opens with a shot of a planet... Now, before I go any further, I want to take a stab at guessing what the planet may be. I'm presuming it's not Earth based on the orange hue, but the state of Earth's appearance is completely in the air after Thanos and his armies have come through...
What I believe to be the more probable outcome is that it's Xandar, the capital of the Nova Empire and the location of the Nova Core's Headquarters. Xandar is the planet seen in the first
Guardians of the Galaxy, and as you can see above, the light reflects off Xandar with a brighter, orangish hue similar to the mysterious planet. Another reason that I believe the planet is Xandar is because it makes a lot of sense that Thanos would be headed to Xandar to retrieve the Power Stone that was left under the protection of the Nova Core at the end of
Guardians of the Galaxy, and we know he gets his hands on that stone based on later evidence.
Next, we have a very distraught-looking Tony Stark as there's voice-over from Nick Fury reciting the beginning of his Avengers Initiative speech from
The Avengers, saying "There was an idea..." before a slow piano rendition of Alan Silvestri's Avengers Theme creeps in. On that note, I LOVED the use of Silvestri's theme in this trailer because it gave my chills due to its combination of eeriness and epicness. Tony seems to be holding onto someone's hand, so presumably he's very torn up over someone's death or severe injury. My best guess would be that that's Spider-Man in his new Iron Spider suit due to the glove. Another possibility is that he's simply overwhelmed by the fact his premonitions are becoming a reality, as we've seen his PTSD in
Iron Man 3 and
Avengers: Age Of Ultron.
The speech is then carried on by different members of the team quoting lines from the speech. Stark chips in first, saying "to bring together a group of remarkable people" as an un-Hulked Bruce Banner lies in what appears to be the ruins of the Sanctum Sanctorum while Doctor Strange and Wong gaze upon him.
One interesting thing to note is how this called to mind a similar moment from The Avengers where Bruce was chatting with a security guard played by Harry Dean Stanton after falling from a Helicarrier.
The moment also appears to be homaging a story-beat from the
Infinity Gauntlet comic where Silver Surfer falls into the Sanctum to warn Strange about Thanos and his intentions to assemble the Infinity Gauntlet. I suspect Banner will be serving a similar purpose considering we last saw him onboard a ship with Asgardians at the end of
Thor: Ragnarok as Thanos' ship loomed overhead in one of the post credit scenes.
The baton is then passed to Vision, who says "to see if we could become something more..." as we see him and Wanda in some room together. The most interesting thing to take away from this, aside from seeing a progression of their burgeoning romance, is that Vision appears very humanlike. My best guess is that he is projecting this appearance to go incognito or perhaps to appeal to Wanda (Scarlet Witch) or she is using her powers to project the appearance. Another possibility is that this is what happens to him once the Mind Gem is removed from his forehead (as the trailer later prominently displays) because there's a glow coming from that spot on his head.
Then we see Thor, who recites a portion of the next phrase "so when they needed us, we could fight the battles..." He's clearly inside some spaceship, and my best guess is that it's the Guardians of the Galaxy's Milano based on the trailers conclusion. It's also possible that this is that ship that all the Asgardians escaped on, but I find that far less likely, because I presume we're going to see that one blown to smithereens in the opening.
Natasha (Black Widow) then concludes the statement with "that they never could" as we see what I'm presuming is her and Banner's first reunion since
Age of Ultron. Banner curiously seems to be toying with the arm of the Hulkbuster suit, and we get a glimpse of the updated armor later on. Oh, and Natasha has blonde hair now. I'm guessing this is because she went incognito along with all of Team Cap at the end of
Captain America: Civil War, but there seems to be this odd occurrence with her hair changing between like every Marvel movie she appears in.
**The Silvestri score booms as we're treated to the more recent Marvel Studios opening logo**
The trailer transitions to an establishing shot of New York, followed by a shot inside the Sanctum Santorum. Wong and Strange appear to have phoned over Stark to come dress and pick up his science bro before they gaze up at something occurring in the New York skyline. Most curiously, you can see something glowing in Tony's hand... and it ain't an arc reactor.
Fans may remember that at the end of Captain America: Civil War, Tony Stark received a package from none other than Steve Rogers containing a flip-phone along with a message that ended by saying "If you need me, I'll be there," so I suspect Steve's gonna be getting a call very soon... We're also treated to a voice-over from the Mad Titan saying this, "In time, you will know what it's like to lose..."
We are then introduced to an exciting titillation for Spider-Man's skillset as we see the hairs on his arms prick up, confirming that this iteration of Peter Parker has definitely got Spidey-sense. Peter then looks out of the school bus to see a giant craft flying overhead that presumably belongs to Thanos. Thanks' voice-over continues with the following, "To feel so desperately that you're right, yet to fail all the same."
We see the four out on the street gazing at the craft above as Thanos says "Dread it..."
Which is followed by "Run from it..."Destiny still arrives." as we see someone walking over what appears to be a group of dead bodies and Loki offering the Tesseract to Thanos. I think a lot can be extrapolated from these frames as I'd guess those are the Asgardians and Loki is offering the Tesseract in exchange for his life. This confirms that he did indeed snatch the cube up at the end of Thor: Ragnarok before the destruction of Asgard as many Marvel fans suspected. You've also got to remember that he was originally tasked with retrieving the object for Thanos in The Avengers, so I'm certain Thanos isn't too pleased with the God of Mischief for his failure.
Thanos enters, and boy does he look tough walking through that portal. He probably conjured the gateway now that he securely has the Space Stone in his possession.
We then can hear T'Challa ordering Wakandans to "evacuate the city" while we watch Thor struggle.
Next we see Proxima Midnight, one of Thanos' Black Order (I'll touch on them in a moment), hurling a spear at a silhouetted man. All the while, we hear more of T'Challa's ordering Wakandans to "engage all defenses..."
So The Black Order are Thanos' children who are warriors that serve as his generals. I'm sure they will be instrumental in collecting the Infinity Stones for Thanos. They're made up of Corvus Glave, Proxima Midnight, Ebony Maw, and Black Dwarf (left-to-right on either side of Thanos).
Then came one of my favorite moments in the trailer when T'Challa says "And get this man a shield..."
Steve Rogers steps out of the shadows! AHHHH!!! Meanwhile, Wanda looks very uneasy about something, probably related to what's about to happen to Vision.
We see the upgraded Hulkbuster entering the Battle for Wakanda, which looks AMAZING!!
Natasha stabbing out at one of the Black Order... Doctor Strange with some enchantments at the ready... some crazy things falling from the sky... and then we have Steve and T'Challa putting the hurt on Thanos' minions.
Spidey gets slammed by Thanos and Tony longingly looks at something... Thanos speaks, saying "Fun isn't something one considers when balancing the universe..."
And Vision writhes on the ground in pain as his Mind Gem is pried out of his forehead.
Thanos adds the Space Stone to his Gauntlet...
He flexes his fist w/ a partially assembled gauntlet before punching the living daylight out of Iron Man with his bare fist. He completes his monologue with "But this, *laughs* does put a smile on my face."
We see Bucky prepping his machine gun alongside Wakandan warriors.
Black Panther stands at the helm of his army with Cap and Bucky behind them.
THEY CHARGE FOR A FULL OUT BATTLE!!!
ANNNNDDDD WE GET THIS THING OF UTTER BEAUTY!!! Interesting things to note are that Bucky has an arm again... I'm guessing this one might be made from Vibranium considering he's been in Wakanda. Cap has these gauntlet things that I think could have a holographic shield of some sort like he has wielded in the comics or it's simply gauntlets to protect his forearms.
Pure unadulterated epicness as the title card forms.
Oh... and Thor, meet the Guardians. Guardians, meet Thor. Thor wakes up and asks "Who the hell are you guys?"
Final Thoughts:
-I suspect the film will open with Thor and the Asgardian's ship being attacked by Thanos.
-Thor & Hulk are both ejected into space. The Guardians come across Thor and Hulk reverts back to Banner before winding up in the Sanctum Sanctorum.
-I think the heroes will operate in different teams before finally uniting in the end.
-I think Wakanda is housing the Soul Stone, the last Infinity Stone the we've yet to see in the films. I think there's plenty of reasons for this, but the most poignant being that Thanos is attacking Wakanda. Why else would he waste his time, if not to finish assembling the gauntlet?
In summary, I LOVED this trailer. It was an OUTSTANDING start to my day, and I can't wait till May 4, 2018.
Inferiority- Check
Agressive Behavior- Check
Well, I believe Rey says it best when she uses the force to peek into Kylo Ren's mind during her interrogation to say that he's afraid he'll never be strong as Darth Vader, and that is precisely what makes Kylo Ren such a fascinating character and a compelling antagonist.
Lucasfilm and J.J. Abrams knew there was no way they could create a villain comparable to one of the greatest cinematic villains of all time. So what better angle to take than positioning the antagonist of this new trilogy as Darth Vader's grandson who idolizes his grandfather for all the wrong reasons and his deepest insecurity is that he'll never be nearly as powerful as Darth Vader? To me, the thought that went into the character of Kylo Ren is utterly brilliant.
See, I believe Kylo Ren gets a bad rap because people are still upset that he killed Han Solo. No one really gives him a chance because they hate him for killing a beloved character without thinking of why he possibly would have done so?
Well, I've been versing myself in Star Wars canon and believe I've come up with an explanation. It's simple. Han and Leia are great people, but they weren't very good parents. I believe most of the evidence lies in the book Bloodline.
The book takes place only a decade before the events of The Force Awakens, and I'd highly recommend reading it if you want to know about the political state of the galaxy in the thirty year gap between Return Of The Jedi and The Force Awakens. Anyways, it's confirmed in Bloodline that Ben Solo (Kylo Ren) was sent to train with Luke in the Jedi Academy we saw in Rey's vision. This is suggested in The Force Awakens, but never explicitly said.
So, the book focuses on Leia's relation to Vader (hence the title Bloodline). It's revealed that Han and Leia never told Ben the truth about his grandfather, but in the book Leia's heritage is discovered and revealed to the galaxy through means I won't discuss to avoid spoiling the novel. Ben and Luke were rarely ever able to be contacted because they were off training who knows where, so Leia writes Ben a letter to explain the situation to him.
However, based on what we know happened to Luke's academy, it can be assumed Ben Solo found out through other means and was then tempted to the Dark Side by Supreme Leader Snoke. That's the area that's a little less clear because there hasn't yet been any additional canon information on Snoke or Ben's turn to the Dark Side. I assume this is because Lucasfilm wants fans to learn more of those details in The Last Jedi and Episode IX.
Therefore, I believe this was the source of Kylo Ren's anger. Snoke took advantage of the Ben's resentment and shaped him into the powerful Dark Side user he needed at his side for The First Order to rise. I say this because The First Order had yet to publicly emerge during Bloodline. As of that time, they were out in the far reaches of the galaxy known as Wild Space (which can be pieced together with the Aftermath trilogy and Thrawn novel).
