There's a new leak going around that Avengers: Endgame, as lengthy as the highly-anticipated film's runtime is, will start dropping major bombshells in the first act.
According to a leakster from Weibo (via blujayd on Reddit) who claims to be a member of the end-production crew for the upcoming film as well as Infinity War, the first act of Avengers: Endgame will subvert expectations. The source also said that the trailers released for the film have been edited in a way to misdirect fans without deception.
How true could this be? Well, this leakster has apparently provided accurate information about key plot points in Infinity War including Gamora's death as well as the appearance of Red Skull. Even though this person turns out to be the real deal, there are a million different ways his claim could go.
However, fans wouldn't put it past the Russo brothers to do a bit of manipulation to make sure no spoilers leak out. After all, this was what they did with some of the Infinity War trailers.
The directors are also being very careful to the point that they plan to do as little marketing as possible. They are treating Avengers: Endgame like Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back, making sure not to let the cat out of the bag about their version of Darth Vader being the father of Luke Skywalker.
Speaking of which, "subverting expectations" can't help but remind us of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Remember how that film turned out to be so divisive because of exactly that?
Of course, it will still come down to execution. So, while it does sound like Joe and Anthony Russo are taking a page from Rian Johnson's book for Avengers: Endgame, the hope is that it will be done in a way to strengthen the fanbase instead of breaking it apart. They already did it in Infinity War anyway (some would say, better than Star Wars did), by killing off half of the major characters of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
How do you think the film will surprise us? Could Thanos bite the dust early? Is a major character dying in the first hour? Is a new character popping up to help?
The synopsis for Avengers: Endgame reads:
After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the universe is in ruins due to the efforts of the Mad Titan, Thanos. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers must assemble once more in order to undo Thanos' actions and restore order to the universe once and for all, no matter what consequences may be in store.
Avengers: Endgame hits the cinemas April 26.