The latest trailer for Avengers: Endgame, released months after set photos leaked online, seemingly confirmed that Earth's Mightiest Heroes return to the Battle of New York from 2012's The Avengers. Of course, that was the climactic fight, in which Nick Fury assembled the team to stop Loki and the Chitauri invasion of Earth. Of course, audiences learned in a post-credits scene that those antagonists were merely Thanos' lackeys.
This new insight for the Marvel Studios sequel may provide deeper insight into why the surviving Avengers travel back in time to that moment. And it could change everything about the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
That battle was Thanos' first indirect interaction with Earth's heroes. As the Other told him, to challenge Earth's warriors would be to court death itself, which is why the Mad Titan took note of Tony Stark, who led the charge against his alien army. But by traveling through time, presumably by way of the the Quantum Realm, the Avengers may be heading there not to fire a warning shot at Thanos, but instead to claim two Infinity Stones.
We know Loki possessed scepter, given to him by Thanos, containing the Mind Stone, and he used the Tesseract (Space Stone) to open the portal for the Chitauri. But the Avengers in the present know that, eventually, Thanos will claim those cosmic artifacts by force, ultimately allowing him to carry out his plan to restore balance to the universe by wiping out half of all life. So, they seek to secure those Infinity Stones for themselves.
Leaked LEGO sets already teased Endgame will pit the heroes against the Chitauri once more, so it stands to reason this scene is where they lock horns. It's worth noting Marvel recently, and controversially, clarified that Loki was corrupted by the scepter, so it stands to reason Thor could free his brother from mind control by revealing Thanos kills the trickster in the future, and maybe even gain another ally in the process. But New York's importance isn't just about upgrading the roster, it's about serving as a pitstop before going up against the Mad Titan in the past.
The portal Loki opens, and the knowledge he possesses, would be valuable assets for the Avengers as they head into the final showdown. We initially assumed the heroes would collect the Infinity Stones in the past and then return to the present to find Thanos, last seen retiring as farmer with a potentially damaged Infinity Gauntlet. But why risk that when they could simply go after Thanos circa 2012, at a time when he possesses none of the Infinity Stones?
Speculation has centered on Jeremy Renner's Ronin grabbing the Reality Stone; other Avengers may be elsewhere, obtaining other relics, too. Once they've assembled the stones, the New York portal the Chitauri pour through could become the means by which the Avengers launch their surprise attack against Thanos.
That's where the final scene of the latest trailer ties in. Many assumed the Avengers met Thanos in the present, on Titan, amid the wreckage of the Q-Ship from Avengers: Infinity War. But this could really be Captain America, Iron Man and Thor confronting him in the past, on Sanctuary I, the asteroid belt inhabited by the Chitauri. and the former base of Thanos.
That's probably why we see Thanos using the same teleporting technology the Black Order employed in Infinity War, and why he has a double-edged blade. The Mad Titan may well be in his war attire of old, unaware the fight is going to be brought to him.
It's a smart plan, because Thanos would be vulnerable. But such a confrontation would also bring Iron Man's vision from Avengers: Age of Ultron full circle.
There, Wanda Maximoff, who was powered up by the Mind Stone, manipulated Stark's mind, offering him a glimpse of a nightmarish future in which his teammates have fallen in battle on what appears to be Sanctuary I. It may set the stage for this moment, and for Iron Man to alter the fates of his friends
That's mere speculation, but what we do know for sure is importance of the Battle of New York in the MCU has increased tenfold. How fitting would it be if this city, and the portal Thanos intended to use for his conquest of Earth, ends up being the gateway to his downfall?
Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, Avengers: Endgame stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Danai Gurira, Benedict Wong, Jon Favreau and Bradley Cooper, with Gwyneth Paltrow and Josh Brolin. The film arrives April 26.