[YT] Infinity War Trailer (my reaction)

I first need to begin with the caveat that my interaction with fandom has always been rather peculiar – in the sense that I have always been more interested in the side characters of a story than the actual main characters.

Take Lord of the Rings, for example. My favorite characters were Legolas and Faramir. Star Wars – the X-Wing pilots (Wedge Antilles, for example). Harry Potter – Severus Snape and Luna Lovegood. Chronicles of Narnia – Reepicheep and Puddleglum.

For the Marvel franchise, I have always been part of Loki’s Army. In fact, it was Loki that drew me into the franchise, and it was Loki that got me interested in Tom Hiddleston. If you have dipped far enough back in this blog, you will notice how most of my MCU-related blogs are usually slanted toward the topic of Loki. Of course, I have also found other characters to enjoy – Rocket Raccoon, Nebula, and Dr. Strange, but Loki was my main interest.

Since Infinity War, however, things have become more complicated as Loki has died, and Dr. Strange was also “killed” (we’ll see how permanent that is in Infinity War Endgame). So this trailer, coming out today, immediately caught my attention.

I don’t wanna do one of those kinda fake reaction videos because to be honest I hate fake emoting things and making things more than they are. That being said, I do wanna touch on a few things that I found interesting/exciting/heartwarming in this trailer.

Interesting Stuff

In Elysium…

Infinity War is commonly argued to be what we could call a “hero’s arc” or a “reverse hero’s arc” for Thanos. Viewed as the antagonist, Thanos’s journey feels obscured, but as Obi-Wan Kenobi suggested in The Empire Strikes Back, “from a certain point of view”, we can clearly see an arc of a sorts. As a result, this image does strike a chord with me, only because it recalls to me the beginning and ending of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator. [Oh Lord, looking up and checking these videos made me tear up so bad. #thefeelsarereal]

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So, I find this very… interesting. In a sense, Thanos has achieved the elysium he has always wanted. The question remains whether protagonists can either reverse or partially undo what Thanos has achieved.

Things aren’t looking too good though…

Tony Stark alone?

Tony Stark is alone. I wonder why he is alone… Did he and Nebula just end up separating ways? I could see that, considering how mercurial and uncooperative Nebula tends to be. Still, it makes me wonder from a plot perspective whether this is a later event in the story or an earlier one.

These empty scenes definitely set the tone for the trailer, starting with Tony Stark – Ironman – who introduced the Marvel Cinematic Universe a decade or so ago. He began the film franchise, so it feels fitting that he is the one to talk about ending a journey.

It’s all about you, Pepper Potts… Pepper… Pepper… Are you there?

Of course, it’s not the literal end, but I fancy that we will be seeing farewell to some characters (at least for now in the film format). Ironman may be one such character (although, if they are smart, they’ll keep Ironman alive for cameos). Captain America may be another.

Even more interesting is what the trailer DOESN’T show – Captain Marvel (that will probably happen after the Captain Marvel film comes out), Rocket Raccoon, and the Quantum Realm. Considering that time travel is more than likely going to take place in this film, it is very telling that almost nothing about the mechanics of time travel are revealed in this teaser. We shall have to see what other folks find out about the “hidden gems” of this video.

Exciting Stuff

There is some stuff that is hinted at that really excites me.

Nebula

First off, I’m super pumped to see what Nebula does this time around. Karen Gillian’s performance of Nebula has been great, and getting to see this character expand and take on a, hopefully, more important role is something I have been hoping for. I really liked how Nebula fails on so many levels, but underneath she is this incredibly broken person who responds to failure with violence. I can’t wait to see what Nebula gets up to in this film.

He’s left the farm… again…

Finally getting to see Hawkeye in action will be great. I am kinda interested in seeing how the Snap affected his family (did half of them get killed?), and how his character potentially unfolds from that could be very cool. Of course, even cooler would be a chance for this side character to really shine. Was anyone else super excited by his intro in the trailer with the sword and the hood and all?

Anyone? I sure was.

Homeless Thor?

Another thing to be excited about is getting to see Thor truly at the end of his rope. At the end of the film, we have a Thor who has been stripped of everything important to him – his family, his nation, his people, and his throne. Losing Loki (for real this time, the Russo brothers would have us believe) has finally made a real impression on him, particularly since they had just mended broken bridges in Thor: Ragnarok. Where Thor goes from here will be very interesting because Thanos has just taught Thor that you need more than brute strength, a special hammer/axe, superpowers, AND pals to help you defeat him. What will the newly matured Thor do now?

Heartwarming

This made me laugh, made me chuckle, and made me feel warm inside.

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Unlike some folk, I actually REALLY enjoyed Ant-man. I haven’t yet seen the sequel, but I loved Ant-man, the Wasp, and Pym, as well as Ant-man’s friends and family. I can’t wait to see how Ant-man contributes to the solution of overcoming Thanos. I can’t wait.

I can’t wait.

I don’t care about Captain Marvel; I don’t care about amped-up wahman who is going to save the day (you know she will). I don’t really care about these guys either…

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I care about how the disparate side characters step up to the plate alongside the bigger names. That and maybe being able to see Loki for one last time.