Based on how Marvel Studios marketed Avengers: Infinity War, we can expect a new trailer and an Entertainment Weekly cover story for Avengers: Endgame next month. That means new story details and official images but last night, we were treated to our first live-action shot of the original six.
There has to be a reason why the Russo Brothers chose to keep them alive for this sequel and as April 26th approaches, we don't have long to wait before finding out what that is.
While you might not think there's much to be learned from a single image (which you can check out by clicking here), it actually tells us a fair bit not only about Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and The Hulk, but also the movie itself!
So, to take a look at what we think are the most noteworthy reveals, hit the "View List" button below for our full breakdown.
The Hulk Really Looks Like Bruce Banner
I think it's fair to say that this freaked us all out, right? Despite looking like his normal self in promo art, the first live-action shot of the Jade Giant bears more of a resemblance to Bruce Banner than ever before...he basically looks like a green Mark Ruffalo!
However, I think there's a good reason for this. With The Hulk unwilling to come out and fight after being easily bested by Thanos, Banner could have finally found a way to control the "other guy," all while retaining his intelligence. There's precedent in the comic books for this and if The Hulk basically is Banner now, that might explain why their appearances have merged somewhat.
It's definitely a weird direction to take things in but one that will hopefully end up making sense from a story perspective.
Does A Costume = Professor Hulk?
Regardless of how intelligent The Hulk does or doesn't end up being, the fact he's wearing a costume now definitely leads me to believe that we're going to see "Professor Hulk" in Avengers: Endgame.
The closest the Green Goliath has ever got to an official Avengers uniform are the pants he wore in Avengers: Age of Ultron and seeing as this stylish get up doesn't appear to really have a practical purpose, something tells me that Banner might have come up with it in order to have some dignity while he's walking around as the towering behemoth.
Bear in mind that the hero will also be donning one of those white Quantum Realm suits in the film.
Hawkeye Is 100% Ronin
While it's certainly possible that we'll see Clint Barton return to his Hawkeye persona at some point here, I really don't think it's likely. Instead, he'll probably just ditch Ronin's mask before heading into battle in the same costume but with his trusty bow and arrow in hand.
There's nothing wrong with that as Clint embracing a new identity makes sense, especially if those theories about his family having been killed during Thanos' Devastation are correct.
Personally, I think things will go one of two ways for the character in this movie. He'll either be reunited with his family, retire and get a happy ending or he's going out in a similar way to his comic book counterpart in Brian Michael Bendis' "Avengers Disassembled" storyline.
Black Widow's Hair
Up until now, we've seen a mixture of images either featuring Black Widow with her blonde hair from Avengers: Infinity War or her classic red locks. Thankfully, this team image finally clears things up because we see that Natasha is growing her hair out and that all but her ponytail (i.e. the ends of her hair) have returned to their natural colour.
What does this tell us about the movie? More than you might expect!
We can more than likely take this as confirmation that a significant amount of time will pass during Avengers: Endgame and that the story could play out at least over a number of months. The Super Bowl TV spot pointed to that being the case and stopping Thanos clearly won't be a quick fix.
A Wasp-Like Costume
This is either a sign that Marvel Studios' concept artists are getting lazy or something which we should definitely be paying attention to. As you may have already noticed, Black Widow's suit is patterned almost identically to that of The Wasp's.
We know that Ant-Man will come knocking at the New Avengers Compound so could it be that Natasha is forced to repurpose one of Janet's prototype suits when Earth's Mightiest Heroes finally decide that the time has come to take the fight to the Mad Titan?
Honestly, this could be a coincidence but I wouldn't be surprised if Tony Stark ends up utilising a lot of Hank Pym's tech when creating new costumes for his teammates. Speaking of which...
What's The Deal With Her Hand?
This may be our first live-action look at the original six Avengers but it's also a poorly Photoshopped together group shot being used by a popcorn company so it's no wonder that there's a certain lack of consistency. After all, Black Widow is the only one with one of those weird devices on her hand!
Up until now, the prevailing theory has been that these will be used to help the team travel through time but what if they're actually the housing units for the team's Quantum Realm suits, similar to Iron Man's nanotech?
This would explain why set photos featuring Chris Evans in his Captain America uniform from The Avengers saw him covered in dots; it's because these suits are being added after the fact via special effects! It's hard to say for sure but these things keep popping up and are clearly very important here.
Captain America's New Suit
We've seen a few different shots of Captain America's new suit but at least we now know that the Russo Brothers are finally bringing Steve Rogers' chainmail to the big screen! This costume definitely takes elements from a number of his past outfits to create perhaps the best one yet, while it's definitely important to note that the star-spangled superhero is once again proudly wearing the "A" logo.
...But Where's His Shield?
However, something which is definitely notable by its absence is Captain America's shield! While it's widely believed that he'll get that back from Tony Stark in this movie (or just take it), it's strange that it's not included here. Honestly, this could be because the heroes are all crammed in side by side and it would have blocked out too much of Black Widow so it may mean a lot or very little.
Iron Man's Upgrade
Iron Man getting new armour was inevitable; after all, don't you realise that Disney has action figures to sell?!
That aside, though, and it's clear that the Russo Brothers have turned to the comic books for inspiration here because the Armoured Avenger is wearing a suit with mostly golden arms and legs. It pays homage to many of his earlier looks and is arguably something the vast majority of fans will appreciate seeing brought to the big screen.
Once again, it looks like nanotechnology (look at the arc reactor) and it will be interesting seeing just how many other upgrades Tony Stark has come up with to help him best Thanos, especially after the way the last battle between them both ended.
Thor...Looks Like Thor
Unfortunately, there's not really a lot we can say about everyone's favourite God of Thunder!
He's wearing the same suit from Avengers: Infinity War and no major (or even minor) changes seem to have been made. This does make sense for Thor because he only just got this costume and while there have been rumblings about Mjolnir returning, Stormbreaker is obviously by his side at this point in the movie.
He looks awesome anyway and it will actually be good to see the hero keep this costume for now.
An Interesting Comparison
How times change, eh?
What do you guys think about everything we learned from the first live-action shot of the original six members of Earth's Mightiest Heroes in Avengers: Endgame? Share your thoughts below.
ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.