JULY 15, 2017 12:32pm PT by Aaron Couch 'Avengers: Infinity War' — Blockbuster First Trailer Brings D23 to Its Feet
Kevin Feige assembled a panel that included Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Mark Ruffalo and more. The Avengers assembled for the most anticipated footage of D23, closing Disney's live-action panel on Saturday in the biggest way possible.
Marvel's Kevin Feige brought out a giant stable of talent to introduce the trailer: Robert Downey Jr., Josh Brolin, Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chadwick Boseman, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Pom Klementieff, Karen Gillan, Dave Bautista, Don Cheadle, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie and co-director Joe Russo.
The trailer — screened exclusively for attendees and not released online — begins with the Guardians of the Galaxy on their ship, floating through a creepy section of space. Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) tells his crew to put on their "mean faces" because things could get dangerous. Suddenly, a body hits their spaceship. It's an unconscious Thor (Hemsworth), wearing his gladiator garb from Thor: Ragnarok (smart money is on the end of November's Ragnarok leading directly into 2018's Infinity War). They bring him inside the ship, and Mantis (Klementieff) wakes him up.
Thor looks around, sees Star-Lord and asks the natural question: "Who the hell are you guys?"
Next, we're on Earth, where our heroes are dealing with death and destruction. Loki (Tom Hiddleston) has the Tesseract (the Infinity Stone he played around with in The Avengers), and he's up to no good. In New York, Peter Parker (Holland) is on a school bus and sees his arm hair is rising (Spider-Sense?).
It's hard to break down how wild this trailer is, but here's just a few other small observations:
— Spider-Man has a new suit that looks quite advanced, a la the one at the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming or the costume from the Spider-Man 2099 comics.
— Captain America has a beard and looks like he's been through a lot. It's clear he's been off doing something away from Iron Man's Avengers and that this is their first time seeing him again.
— Thanos wears the Infinity Gauntlet and pulls down part of a moon to battle the Avengers on an alien planet.
— Doctor Strange battles alongside the Guardians of the Galaxy and Iron Man on this planet.
Brolin, whose villain, Thanos, has been teased since 2012's The Avengers, was the first star Feige brought out to introduce the trailer, and it's clear he was getting into the role.
When Feige suggested that Bautista's Drax might be able to take Thanos down, Brolin responded: "Drax ain't shit."
From left: Chadwick Boseman, Chris Hemsworth, Josh Brolin, Kevin Feige, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo and Tom Holland
More and more Avengers kept stepping out onto the panel, and Feige kept asking if Brolin was nervous. The answer was always no.
Co-director Joe Russo was in Anaheim for D23, while his brother, Anthony, remained in Atlanta to continue shooting the Avengers saga. Infinity War wrapped on Friday, and they are starting work on an untitled Avengers 4.
After the panel, Marvel had one more surprise. It shared a photo of Brolin next to four statues of Thanos' team of bad guys, the Black Order. It seems Thanos won't be alone in facing the Avengers.
Infinity War opens 10 years after the Marvel Cinematic Universe launched with Iron Man. It's being billed as the capstone of a decade's worth of storytelling. It will pit most of the MCU against Thanos, a sinister alien who hopes to possess all of the universe's Infinity Stones in order to become all-powerful.
How ‘Avengers 4’ Will Change the Marvel Cinematic Universe for Good
Michelle Regalado Twitter MORE ARTICLES July 17, 2017
Marvel is getting ready to start a new chapter of its superhero universe, with Avengers: Infinity War and the still-untitled Avengers 4 serving as the culmination of a decade’s worth of battles and adventures. The two sequels will bring some major changes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it, introducing new characters and alliances and bringing an end to the current phase of films.
So what differences can audiences expect to see in Marvel’s post-Avengers 4 future? Here’s how the movie will alter the MCU for good:
1. It will officially close out Marvel’s 22-movie arc
Team Iron Man in Captain America: Civil War | Marvel Studios
Over the last decade, Marvel has released its films in a series of phases. Phase 1 brought the current heroes together and culminated in The Avengers, while Phase 2 and Phase 3 fleshed out each character’s storylines and also brought the universe to the cosmos and other new places.
But Avengers 4 will mark the end of that three-phase arc (consisting of almost two dozen movies), as Marvel head Kevin Feige recently confirmed. After the film, Marvel will enter another era, shifting its focus to a new slate of films and characters.
As Feige told Collider, “Certainly as we get to Infinity War there is a sense of a climax, if not a conclusion to, by the time we’re at untitled Avengers 4, the 22 movies that will have encompassed the first three phases of the MCU. And what happens after that will be very different.”
2. Spider-Man will kick-start a new future for the MCU
Tom Holland in Spider-Man Homecoming | Sony
Spider-Man: Homecoming became a critical and commercial hit in its 2017 debut, with Tom Holland’s new, younger version of the webslinger earning praise from critics and fans alike. So it’s no surprise that Marvel is relying on Holland to help bridge the gap between the current phase of MCU and its future.
According to Feige, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming will serve as the introductory movie to the new, post-Infinity War MCU. “The original 22-movie arc ends with the untitled Avengers in May of 2019, and then two months later it will be Peter Parker and Spider-Man that usher us into the aftermath and how things proceed from there,” he said, per the Toronto Sun.
3. A changing of the old guard
Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. in Captain America: Civil War | Marvel Studios
Iron Man, Captain America, and other Avengers have acted as the core of the MCU for the last several years, but it’ll soon be time to pass the torch to new leaders.
As many know by now, the contracts for Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Evans (Captain America), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), and Chris Hemsworth (Thor) are coming to an end and several of the actors — including Downey, Evans, and Hemsworth — have publicly suggested that they’re ready to move on.
With that in mind, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4 will likely mark the continued phasing out of these old favorites and a new shift toward freshman heroes. Audiences already saw a glimpse of this in Homecoming with Downey’s Tony Stark serving as a mentor to Holland’s Spidey and prepping him to become a full-time Avenger.
Which leads us to …
4. A focus on new characters
Black Panther in Captain America: Civil War | Marvel
With Iron Man taking Peter Parker under his wing in Homecoming and the latter set to have a key role in Infinity War, it’s clear why Marvel is using the forthcoming Spider-Man sequel to introduce a new period for the cinematic universe.
As previously stated, the Homecoming follow-up will mark Marvel’s first movie after Avengers 4 and will shift the studio’s focus to new characters. In addition to Holland’s Spider-Man, audiences can expect to see more of Doctor Strange and the Guardians of the Galaxy, who are getting second and third sequels, respectively. Meanwhile, Captain Marvel and Black Panther are also set to star in their own solo adventures.
5. More potential crossovers
Avengers: Age of Ultron | Marvel
Infinity War will bring over 60 different Marvel characters together, which means there will be plenty of opportunity for new friendships and alliances to form. Heroes who have never crossed paths before will get a chance to meet and battle alongside each other, likely sparking both new partnerships and new rivalries.
All of this will also spill over into Avengers 4, which could be the perfect set up for future crossovers — or so we hope! Considering the numerous combinations of characters that could result from Infinity War, it seems like an obvious move for Marvel to focus some of its subsequent movies around these new team-ups.
6. The end of Marvel’s ‘phases?’
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 | Marvel
With Phase 3 soon coming to an end, many presumed Marvel would simply move into Phase 4. But that may not necessarily be the case. Feige recently hinted that the studio could be doing away with its current film release structure after Avengers 4.
“Truthfully, other than knowing that we’re going to work with Sony on another Spider-Man film for that year and that James [Gunn] is committed to continuing with the Guardians at some point, it’s all about Phase 3,” he told CinemaBlend. “I don’t even know if it will be called Phase 4. Things will be very different after 2019. After May of 2019.”
Don’t worry, there’s still time!
Thor in Thor: Ragnarok | Marvel
With Avengers 4 signifying the end of over 10 years of heroic battles and adventures (both individual and team based), it’s no surprise that the film will have a huge and lasting impact on the MCU. Fans are clearly in for a lot of significant changes in the coming years, but there’s luckily still plenty of time to prepare.
Avengers 4 isn’t set to hit theaters until May 3, 2019. In the meantime, Marvel is due to release four more films: Thor: Ragnarok on Nov. 3, 2017; Black Panther on Feb. 16, 2018; Avengers: Infinity War on May 4, 2018; and Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019.