The number of characters shown in the Avengers: Endgame trailer is limited. We spend varying amounts of time with all six founding Avengers (including Jeremy Renner's Clint Barton as Ronin), as well as Nebula and Ant-Man.

Scott Lang actually makes an appearance earlier in the footage, within the New Avengers Facility, as Bruce Banner surveys monitors displaying the presumed victims of Thanos' "Decimation" finger-snap. Lang, whom viewers know is actually in the Quantum Realm, is depicted alongside Peter Parker and ... Shuri.

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Having Letitia Wright's fan-favorite character listed among the presumed dead flies in the face of earlier comments made by Black Panther star Angela Bassett, who insisted Ramonda and Shuri survived the events of Avengers: Infinity War.

However, the Avengers clearly believe Shuri is dead. One would think Earth's Mightiest Heroes have firsthand knowledge of who lived and died in Wakanda, as the African nation was the site of the climactic battle with Thanos and his invading forces. Shuri's brother, T'Challa the Black Panther, turned to dust, but Okoye and M'Baku were shown alive. It's not difficult to imagine that, after the shock of seeing their friends and loved ones disappear wore off, the remaining heroes would return to the Wakandan palace to regroup and take stock of the survivors.

Wright herself has alluded to Shuri living through Infinity War to potentially lead Wakanda in her brother's absence. It would be kind of hard to rule a nation from the afterlife. So were Bassett and Wright giving fans false information, similar to the Russo brothers' insistence that Avengers 4 wouldn't be subtitled Endgame? Possibly, but maybe not.

It's conceivable the Avengers truly believe Shuri died -- but only because that's what the Wakandans want them to believe. The nation is fabled for its secrecy, and although those times may be in the past, thanks to T'Challa's address to the United Nations, his dusting could have sent Wakanda back to its old ways. Shuri could be Wakanda's new leader, but she's operating under a cloak of secrecy.

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It very well may be a case of the actors telling fans one thing and the final product being the exact opposite. Shuri might have joined her brother and half of all life as a casualty of Thanos' universe-balancing plan. But we know Scott Lang is actually alive. Can the same be said for Shuri?


Avengers: Endgame will release on April 26, 2019. Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Marvel’s Avengers 4 stars Robert Downey Jr., Josh Brolin, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Olsen, Sebastian Stan, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Bettany, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Benedict Wong, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, Vin Diesel, Dave Bautista, Pom Klementieff, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Holland and Anthony Mackie.