New York, Halved
The TV spot kicks off with a tear-jerking sequence showing all the dead heroes before the Marvel Studios 10-year logo turns to dust. As sad as it is that these Avengers and Guardians have perished, the promo then reminds us that the problem’s a lot bigger than that.
Something that fans felt was lacking from the first trailer for Endgame was the sense of how much the world’s been changed by the loss of half of the planet’s population. Thankfully, this TV spot does a better job at world-building, with a chilling opening scene that shows New York looking abandoned. We see ships littered around the Statue of Liberty and a football stadium totally empty (fitting for a promo that aired during the Super Bowl).
The post-credits scene of Infinity War teased something similar to this, too, with helicopters crashing into buildings and cars crashing in the middle of the street as folks vanished. Once the initial chaos was over, it seems things got awful quiet in Manhattan with so many people suddenly missing. As this is the city we’ve seen the Avengers defend so often by now, it’s particularly eerie and depressing to see it so lifeless and desolate.
“Where Do We Go, Now That They’re Gone?”
That opening shot isn’t all we get for exploring a post-Decimation world though. The glimpse of the abandoned New York gives us a sense of just how many are missing, but we also get a feel for how those left behind are coping with the loss of family, friends and loved ones.
The trailer introduces us to some kind of support group, with a poster on the wall reading: “Where do we go, now that they’re gone?” Understandably, there must be a widespread sense of depression and loss of purpose after what Thanos did to the world and we can infer that these community support groups are common practice. In this particular one, none other than Steve Rogers is a member.
“Some people move on,” we hear Cap say, suggesting that folks are generally just trying to cope with what happened and accept it. However, Steve’s having none of it. “But not us,” he says, setting up his and his friends’ quest to put things right.