Avengers: Endgame’s extended promotion and the art of ‘fake’ footage

Future moviegoers might think the Avengers: Endgame promo footage is real, but the directors teased, again, that is might be fake.

Avengers: Endgame promotion has run rampant throughout April, since pre-sale tickets arrived and broke the internet. With the first showings on Thursday, the hype will only increase and potentially break the World Wide Web, again.

Given the conversation around Marvel Studios’ biggest film ever, Endgame arguably does not need any televised promotion. No trailers or television spots, both of which may show too much and not only tease this blockbuster’s anticipated events.

The Avengers: Infinity War media left an interesting trail, however. While some of its clips indeed included scenes from the 2018 hit, that epic closing shot of multiple Avengers running in sync in Wakanda never appeared in the film. It became just a fantastic piece of marketing that excited fans for the inevitable battle with Thanos.

So is Disney and Marvel Studios pulling a similar move for Endgame? Directors Anthony and Joe Russo teased such in an interview with Rotten Tomatoes:

"“Maybe it’s all fake. Maybe there’s not a real frame in that whole trailer.”"

Who knows? Maybe this is the truth, which would amplify what they did with Infinity War to an infinite degree, although it’s abnormal for a film’s promotional material to not include real clips.

Something has to be a set-up, right? Marvel Studios would not give away crucial moments in advertisements, right?

Two Avengers: Endgame pieces of media that stick out as potential “fake” clips both include Iron Man, and they are curious aspects of the film for Marvel to “spoil.”

Was Tony Stark rescued within the trailers?

The first Endgame teaser trailer had Tony Stark on a ship, seemingly stranded and without a way back. By the full-length trailer, however, he was in a suit, side by side with his fellow Avengers. If that was true footage, it cleared the air on Stark’s eventual rescue, or if he found a way back, but it was also reminiscent of Infinity War‘s final trailer shot, which was, as noted, fake, with a group of heroes together for an epic shot to capture the hype.

At the same time, it seems inevitable that Iron Man will meet up with the other Avengers for one last go-around, but not saving that reveal for the film is head-scratching.

Iron Man reunites with Captain America

Captain America: Civil War brought Iron Man and Captain America’s tensions to a level that split the Avengers. Their fight changed the game and created the sparseness of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to open Infinity War.

However, Steve Rogers left Tony with a cell phone — a flip phone, even in 2016 — for communication if necessary. It was almost used in Infinity War, but that never transpired.

Well, that one “Special Look” had Steve and Tony next to each other, and it was a thrilling moment to watch on a console, laptop or mobile device, but it means more in the actual, 182-minute showing in theaters or when it releases on Disney Plus down the line. It’s a gripping moment that fans have waited three years for, and to happen amid a myriad of television spots portrays a bubble which burst too early.

Then it slides back to the concept of “fake footage.”

Maybe Captain America and Iron Man reunite in Endgame, but not in that “Special Look” scene. That phone is a resource, and with the universe in chaos, how can it not be used early in the film, pending Tony finds a signal after the rescue?

Maybe Steve and Tony never meet again — a potentially devastating aspect of the film if their fates are bleak for saving the universe.

Maybe that footage is real though, just not their first meet-up.

For the movie-viewing sake, Avengers: Endgame‘s spots featuring fake footage is for the best to keep the element of intrigue and surprise alive. Of course, none of these clips spoil the film and the destiny of each character, but there is a ride to reach the ultimate payoff, and if these clips’ biggest moments are real, then we can cross off checkpoints before the April 26 release date.