It's finally here: the title of the next Avengers film, originally known to fans as Infinity War — Part 2. Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe can finally start calling the highly-anticipated follow up to Avengers: Infinity War. It's a brand new world for fans, and the Avengers 4 title is officially here: Avengers: Endgame. The news was announced on Friday, Dec. 7 along with the release of the first trailer, and naturally, the fandom has a lot to say about the title and what it might mean for the future of the Avengers.
Back in April, Infinity War co-director Anthony Russo told Bustle that he and his co-director brother Joe had come up with the name for Avengers 4 pretty early on. "It speaks to the heart of the story," he said at the time. And, boy, he wasn't kidding. Endgame is a particularly ominous title, and might confirm something fans have long since suspected: this will be the end of the Avengers as we know them. And it's not just the title that gives that impression, it's the entire first trailer, which is a perfect reflection of the despair fans will feel watching it, knowing that this is, perhaps, the end.
The first trailer for Avengers: Endgame is just as melancholy as one might expect, given the ending to Infinity War. As fans all know — spoilers for Infinity War ahead — the Earth's mightiest heroes were left pretty much defeated at the end of Infinity War. After managing to get his hands on all six Infinity Stones, Thanos killed half the population of Earth (and potentially the universe) with a snap of his fingers. Many new Avengers, including Peter Quill, Mantis, Drax, Groot, Bucky, Falcon, the Scarlet Witch, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, and Spider-Man vanished into thin air. Even Nick Fury, the man responsible for bringing the Avengers together in the first place, did not survive Thanos' fatal snap. The ending left fans in a tizzy, left waiting for any news about Avengers 4 to give them clues as to who might survive the final showdown with Thanos, and who might be brought back to life.
Unfortunately, the trailer and title don't give much away as to what "dead" (or evaporated) heroes we might see come back to life. It does, however, give some clues as to what the surviving heroes have in store in this next installment. Hint: it doesn't look good. While Endgame could mean many different things, and, in fact, is often used positively (i.e. Peggy and Captain America are totally #EndGame), here it has a sad sense of finality to it. Like, this could be the end of the road (or line) for a few of our favorite heroes. With Iron Man floating in space and Cap gearing up for the fight of his life, it certainly seems like their journeys as superheroes might be coming to an end. Let's just hope they're able to save the world from Thanos before it does.
