Avengers: Infinity War finally has its first proper trailer. After footage was shown at D23 and San Diego Comic-Con and then NOT released to the wider world (driving fans mad) we were expecting something big. And we weren't disappointed.
The new footage looks positively epic, throwing in Marvel superheroes left, right and centre. Here are 12 things we learned from the trailer.
1. Nick Fury looms large
Nick Fury might not be in the movie but his voiceover at the start of the trailer reminds us of where this all began. "There was an idea," he begins in a monologue shared between all the main Avengers, "to bring together a group of remarkable people, to see if we could become something more. So when they needed us, we could fight the battles that they never could."
It's suitably portentous and it's a great introduction to what feels like the beginning of the end.
2. Banner's back
In Thor: Ragnarok, Bruce Banner was worried that if he went Hulk again he might not be able to turn back. This shot of him having crash-landed in front of Doctor Strange and Wong shows us that he's back to his old self, at least for some of the time.
3. Vision of loveliness
Wanda, aka Scarlet Witch, and Vision are hooking up (as was revealed by some spoilerish set photos back in April). He's evolved so he looks human and all attractive-like.
4. Thanos has arrived
Previously we've seen him as a not-entirely-convincing purple dude in a chair, but this trailer gives him some proper airtime.
"In time, you will know what it's like to lose. To feel so desperately that you're right, but to fail all the same," he begins. We think he looks more lilac than bright purple in this footage, and he's not wearing his full get-up, which we're on board with.
5. Spidey sense
Peter Parker's Spidey sense is positively tingling in our first glimpse of him on a bus in New York, the hairs on his arm standing on end as he spots something which looks like a giant gateway in the sky. Intergalactic beings incoming!
6. Loki's up to his old tricks
Looks like Loki definitely did steal the Tesseract, as implied in Thor: Ragnarok, then. Clearly a dick move one way or the other – is he presenting the stone to Thanos or trying to use it against him? Either way, later in the trailer it looks like Thanos has 'the space stone' (which was the Tesseract) in his Infinity Gauntlet.
7. Spidey's got a new suit
We glimpsed the funky new togs at the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming but now we see the webslinger decked out in his cool new 'Iron Spider' costume – an intergalactic disaster definitely justifies a new outfit.
8. Cap's back – and beardy
Though the end of Captain America: Civil War seemingly saw Steve Rogers abandoning the Captain America mantle, it looks like he's back on board. We see a shadowy figure (which might be him) intercepting a weapon thrown by one of Thanos's men, while T'Challa, aka Black Panther, gives the instruction to "evacuate the city, engage all defences and… get this man a shield!" as Cap steps into the light.
He's got a beard now and he means business. Talking of which, Black Widow is now blonde and Thanos is bald.
9. The Infinity Stones
We see Thanos wielding two of the Infinity Stones in his gauntlet – the purple Power Stone (the Macguffin of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1, which the Nova Corp are supposed to be guarding) and the blue Space Stone, aka the Tesseract, last (officially) wielded by Odin. There's also a glimpse of someone – presumably Thanos – removing the yellow Mind Stone from Vision's forehead. Ouch!
10. Bustin' makes him feel good
We see Iron Man decked out in his 'Hulk buster' costume, though not, presumably to fight the Hulk this time (Banner's actually standing next to the suit at one point). The guys are in Wakanda, and the trailer suggests a fair chunk of the action will take place there and feature the Wakandan army (Black Panther comes out before Infinity War, remember, so we'll have better context of the country by the time this movie comes around). Either way, we see an army of Avengers, led by Black Panther and trailed by some very Wakandan-looking men and women, take on a herd of alien beasts on the Wakandan plains.
11. Here be monsters
We also see Black Panther battling one of these multi-armed creatures – not sure who this guy is but he looks pretty spry. Bucky Barnes, aka The Winter Soldier, also features, fighting alongside the Wakandans. Looks like he's healed and battle-ready.
12. Thor meets The Guardians
The final coda sees Thor bumping into the Guardians of the Galaxy for the first time, with a comedy 'Who the hell are you guys?'. It certainly lends plausibility to the theory that the Guardians pick up Thor in space following pretty directly on from the end of Ragnarok (we're concerned for the wellbeing of the entire surviving Asgardians). Groot's a gangly teenager and Starlord has grown himself a dodgy moustache...
Avengers: Infinity War will hit cinemas on May 4, 2018, with the untitled sequel following in 2019.
