In recent weeks, we've been treated to possible
Avengers: Endgame spoilers in everything from promo art to action figures, but has Build-A-Bear just dropped some major plot points for the movie?
Well, it certainly seems that way. The cuddly version of Thanos has five sayings and while three of them seem pretty innocent on the surface, it's hard to imagine why the other two would have been included if they weren't somehow tied to the events of the highly anticipated release.
The first few appear to be from past appearances as the Mad Titan says things like,
"I don't care for your petty politics," and
"If you cannot retrieve the orb don't bother coming back." However, here's where things get seriously spoilery!
"I had all the power in my grasp," he says, along with "How are you doing this? You do not have the will to wield the power of the Infinity Stones!" It certainly sounds like the villain is going to lose the Infinity Gauntlet at some point and will face off with someone else - Nebula, perhaps? - who manages to use their power against him. That certainly matches up with fan theories.
We'll have to wait and see, of course, but be sure to stay tuned for more as we have it.
Hit the "View List" button below for a recap of the
spoilers the Avengers: Endgame toys have revealed!
Thanos Attacks The Avengers Compound
There's already a LEGO set depicting Thanos battling Earth's Mightiest Heroes at The Avengers Compound, but further confirming that it's a fight that
will happen are
some Diamond Select statues showing the Mad Titan standing atop the team's shattered logo.
What leads to the villain coming to Earth and attacking The Avengers at their home is hard to say, but footage in the latest trailer quite clearly showed Ant-Man running through rubble that was once part of the team's base. Whether this is
Avengers: Endgame's "final" battle remains to be seen, but it would certainly be poetic for Thanos to be defeated on Earth after winning there in
Infinity War.
Thanos Gets A New Weapon...
Pretty much every single Thanos action figure has shown him carrying that (perfectly balanced?) new sword, but
the Avengers: Endgame Funko Pops included a Mad Titan wielding some sort of staff. Metallic on the one side and clear on the other, we have no idea what this could be, but Chris Evans was spotted on set holding something that looked oddly similar.
It could be that the villain uses that to follow Earth's Mightiest Heroes through time or into the Quantum Realm, but its inclusion has to mean something; unfortunately, we're unlikely to find out what that is until the movie arrives in theaters.
...And A New Infinity Gauntlet?
This could just be because Marvel Studios trying to avoid spoilers while sharing designs with companies like Funko and Hasbro, but each of the Thanos figures comes with a brand new Infinity Gauntlet rather than the scorched version we saw at the end of
Infinity War.
It's important to remember that the Russos have confirmed that the Snap was originally going to take place in the first act of
Avengers: Endgame, so there's a good chance toymakers simply weren't clued into the existence of a damaged Gauntlet. On the other hand, it's perfectly feasible that the Mad Titan could end up creating a new one at some point in this adventure.
The Hulk Gets A Third Superhero Suit
We've known for a long time now that The Hulk will be suiting up in
Avengers: Endgame both in a superhero suit of his own and one of those Quantum Realm costumes. However, one of the aforementioned Funko Pop figures has shown the Jade Giant in another new uniform, but what significance, if any, does that actually have?
Well, it looks a little more causal so it's possible that Bruce Banner - who it's widely believed will retain his intelligence while transforming into the Green Goliath in this movie - just wears this while hanging out in The Avengers Compound. Bear in mind that Bruce has previously said that he's not sure he'll be able to return to his human form if he transforms again...
A New Look For Captain America
If you've ever bought an action figure, then you'll know that there's often versions of fan-favourite characters that look nothing like what we see in the movies themsleves. Well, every single
Avengers: Endgame toy we've seen is movie accurate apart from one: Captain America.
Hasbro has revealed a toy showing Steve Rogers in what appears to be a combination of his regular suit and the one he'll be wearing into the Quantum Realm. Does that mean the hero is getting some upgraded armour which will leave him capable of taking on Thanos?
War Machine's Multiple Armours
One recurring them in the merchandise we've seen is that War Machine will be wearing multiple versions of his armour. For starters, there's a very similar design to the one from
Infinity War,
while the next makes him look a lot more like a tank and that's probably because Tony Stark provides him with upgrades that should help make Rhodey a more significant threat to Thanos.
Like every other hero, he'll also have a Quantum Realm costume, but that appears to be a modified version of the tank-like suit we mentioned above. Either way, the hero looks a lot more badass!
Iron Man's Upgrades
Tony Stark will don the Mark LXXXV armour in
Avengers: Endgame, and while we've known for a long time now that it will be comic accurate,
it was a Hot Toys figure that finally gave us an idea of some of the many capabilities it will end up having.
For starters, the hero is going to sport some incredible looking new blasters which come out of his back that look even more impressive than those seen in
Infinity War, while
it seems as if his upgraded replulsor will also be making its return.
Captain Marvel's Costume
Another recurring theme with the action figures we've seen is that Captain Marvel is going to remain in her own costume rather than donning one of the white Quantum Realm suits, which leads to us wonder whether they are actually specially designed for Earth's Mightiest Heroes to simply head into space, rather than through time or into that mysterious dimension.
After all, we know that Carol Danvers is capable of space travel already so she wouldn't need one, whereas the rest of Earth's Mightiest Heroes do (including Thor, it seems). Despite that, there's going to be more to these outfits than meets the eye, but we'll have to wait and see.
Ronin Becomes Hawkeye Again
Something that's become clear after seeing the
Avengers: Endgame action figures is the fact that while Clint Barton will initially be known as Ronin, it won't take long until he ditches that persona and returns to being Hawkeye.
All the action figures showing him in that Quantum Realm suit list him as "Hawkeye," and his sword has been traded in for his classic bow and arrow by that point as well. As a result, expect Ronin's role to be a relatively minor one.
The "New Avengers"
Marvel Studios made a point of keeping the original six Avengers alive at the end of Infinity War, but
some hi-res promo art has confirmed that we're getting a brand new team that assembles to try and take down Thanos and set things right in the universe.
That will be Captain America (Chris Evans), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Ronin (Jeremy Renner), War Machine (Don Cheadle), Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), and Nebula (Karen Gillan). Captain Marvel wasn't pictured, but that was likely in a bid to avoid spoilers.
Either way, this is a formidable group more than capable of fighting the Mad Titan.
Continue reading below for a recap of what
the new character posters have revealed about the movie!
Valkyrie Is Alive And In The Movie
We've suspected that this might be the case for a while now but the posters confirm that not only is Valkyrie alive, but she's also going to factor into
Avengers: Endgame somehow.
After Tessa Thompson's scene stealing performance in
Thor: Raganrok, fans were disappointed to see that she didn't make it into
Avengers: Infinity War, so it's going to be a lot of fun to watch her join the fight against Thanos (with any luck, Korg will also return).
The extent of her role remains to be seen, but here's hoping it ends up being somewhat significant.
Shuri Is Among The Dead
The last time we saw Shuri, she had been taken down by Corvus Glaive as he attempted to retrieve the Mind Stone from The Vision's forehead. While that member of The Black Order clearly didn't kill T'Challa's sister, her fate has very much been up in the air since, and it's now clear that she was dusted alongside the King of Wakanda.
This works on a number of levels; for starters, M'Baku is more than likely the new King and with Shuri no longer around, it will be up to original Avengers Tony Stark and Bruce Banner to come up with a solution to bring an end to the Mad Titan once and for all.
Pepper Potts And Happy Hogan Will Return
When Iron Man finds his way back to Earth, he will have plenty of allies because both Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan are alive and well. Honestly, that's not a huge surprise because it's been obvious that Rescue will factor into proceedings for ages now, but Happy's role is a little harder to figure out.
Chances are, he'll just have a relatively minor role, but we might also get to see his reaction to what happened, After all, he grew fond of Peter Parker in
Spider-Man: Homecoming and that loss will likely have hit him hard.
Is Wong The New Sorcerer Supreme?
At the end of
Avengers: Infinity War, Doctor Strange was obviously among those who perished after Thanos snapped his fingers and wiped out half the universe. Thanos is in possession of the Time Stone, but the Sanctum Sanctorum still needs someone to protect it and it seems as if that's a role that will now fall to Wong.
Benedict Wong's name was front and centre on the recently released poster so his return isn't a shock, and seeing as we know Benedict Cumberbatch had to use a stand-in for many of his scenes due to his busy schedule, it makes sense that Marvel would put the focus on a new Sorcerer Supreme for at least some of this adventure.
Loki Is Definitely Dead
Unless Marvel Studios is trying to misdirect us (and we really don't think they are), then Loki didn't find a way to escape his murder at the hands of Thanos and will not factor into this movie...well, not in the present day, anyway!
Set photos have shown flashbacks to the events of
The Avengers with the God of Mischief in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, and whether that comes down to time-travel or something else, we're definitely going to see more of Loki - even if it isn't in the present day version of the villain we've grown accustomed to in recent years.
Will All Of The "Fallen" Return?
Marvel Studios released sixteen coloured posters and sixteen in black and white with, as we noted above, the key difference being that the first half are alive and the others are dead.
There are some notable omissions (Hank Pym, Maria Hill, and more have all failed to make the cut) but should we take the inclusion of characters like Gamora and even Loki as an indication that they will also return if Earth's Mightiest Heroes succeed in stopping Thanos?
Their deaths were definitive and unrelated to the snap, so it's currently pretty tricky to come up with an explanation for how undoing that moment would also lead to their resurrections.
There's No Sign Of Thanos
Considering the fact that
Avengers: Infinity War ended with a smiling Thanos watching the sun rise over a "grateful" universe, it's surprising just how little we've seen of the villain in marketing materials for
Avengers: Endgame.
With that in mind, he's nowhere to be seen in these character posters as Marvel clearly decided to instead keep the spotlight on the heroes and the fact they finally get do some Avenging on behalf of those that were taken from them when the Mad Titan snapped his fingers.
Still No Sign Of The Hulk
While we've seen The Hulk in action figure form and on various pieces of promotional material, there's still no sign of the Jade Giant in officially released content like this.
Instead, Bruce Banner is being put front and centre and that points to Marvel choosing to handle the Green Goliath's return in a somewhat surprising manner (which makes sense when he's seemingly taken on the Professor Hulk persona). Even so, you'd think he would have been shown here in some form, but then none of the heroes have their masks on for some reason!
"Avenge The Fallen"
This tagline is interesting for a number of reasons, and it may at least shed some light on what that mysterious mission the heroes are embarking on will entail.
While we all think that they're going to travel back in time to try to resurrect everyone, what if it's as simple as making Thanos pay for what he did before an alternative solution becomes clear?
Honestly, that may not be a question we get an answer to until April 26th rolls around...
What do you guys think about the new Avengers: Endgame character posters? Did you spot any reveals we missed? As always, share your thoughts in the comments section down below.