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Marvel

Avengers: Infinity War broke all sorts of records with its opening weekend, and it’s remarkable how Marvel continues to top itself without generating an iota of audience fatigue, which presents a welcome opportunity to dissect (and debate) the film’s contents after release.

By its very nature, a post like this is guaranteed to contain rampant spoilers of the newest Marvel movie. Yet now that the dust has sort-of settled after that shocking ending (albeit one that still didn’t inhibit laughter due to fitting dialogue in the post-credits scene), it’s time to pick apart the differences between the film’s first trailer (and its followup) and the actual movie. The results are rather exhaustive, but here are several of the bigger moments.

Let’s start with the most prominent instance …

The Battle Charge Of The Heroes

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This particular moment of the trailer ended up becoming a screencapture that dominated the lead-up to the film’s release. And with good reason — the sight of all these heroes, led by Captain America, promised the ultimate climactic battle in Wakanda. Yet there are some differences in how this scene played out onscreen. Not only were these characters shown charging at their adversaries in different terrain (the middle of a field, not while leaving a forest), but the Hulk never fully materialized in this film, despite Bruce Banner trying his hardest to bring out the green guy.

Thor’s Introduction To The Guardians

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The first trailer sees the still-eyepatched Thor meeting the Guardians of the Galaxy (and Mantis) while asking, “Who the hell are you guys?” In the film, however, the shot doesn’t show the Guardians in a friendly manner with Mantis waving. Instead, they’re taking defensive stances with Star-Lord pointing a gun at the God of Thunder.

Bruce Banner’s Hulkbuster Armor Debut

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While the Hulkbuster armor appeared seemingly out of nowhere in Wakanda, a trailer moment teases its existence as Bruce Banner’s prepping it for battle. In the film, it would have been an unnecessary moment and, in fact, likely would have lessened the effect of the Hulkbuster’s arrival during combat. Also, trailers make this look like a moment where Black Widow makes googly eyes at Banner, as if this is the instant when they reunite after years apart.

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The two do, in fact, have a “googly-eyed reunion” in the film. However, this occurs while surrounded by other characters, who uncomfortably note the “awkward” nature of the situation. (Note: The film also takes time to make comment on both Cap’s beard and Thor’s haircut but completely ignores Black Widow’s new blonde mane, although we can guess that she abandoned her red locks while going undercover after the Civil War ending.)

Star-Lord Irritating The Heck Out Of Iron Man

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In this trailer moment, Peter Quill — who is arguably the “hero” who made it possible for Thanos to kill half the universe — did his thing on Titan by telling Tony Stark, “Let’s talk about this plan of yours. I think it’s good, except, it sucks.” A modified version of this scene does end up in the film, but it diverts to Peter Parker breaking the news to Quill that Footloose isn’t exactly an epic masterpiece. This difference doesn’t arrive with much consequence, other than to illustrate how Quill can annoy an audience in a variety of ways.

Thanos’ Infinity Gauntlet Looks Different

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In the trailer, Thanos is seen wearing the Infinity Gauntlet when it only contains two stones. This particular shot never appears in the film, but it does show Thanos on Titan, which occurs far along enough in the film for him to have already collected four stones. Obviously, the switch-up was done to prevent a massive spoiler from appearing in trailer form.

Thor Gets His Stormbreaker

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Thor never received a new hammer during Ragnarok after his half-sister, Hela, destroyed it. In Infinity War, he gains a new weapon, the Stormbreaker, thanks to Peter Dinklage’s character, Eitri. Thor does not, however, give his Stormbreaker a cinematic initial whirl as shown in the trailer moment above. Instead, he busts out the weapon during the Wakanda battle.

The Handshake In Wakanda

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Cap and Black Widow did shake hands with King T’Challa in the movie, but this moment where Cap reaches out doesn’t occur quite like this. Instead, there’s an adorable and somewhat cringeworthy moment in which Bruce Banner bows to T’Challa, only to be informed that this isn’t the custom in Wakanda.

T’Challa And Cap’s Fantastic Voyage

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This moment never appeared in the film, although the omission is barely worth mentioning … other than it added a little anticipation during the film’s promotion.

Loki’s Tesseract Maneuver Motivations

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RIP, Loki. Moments before his untimely death, he presents the Tesseract (containing the Space Stone) to Thanos, who’s about to kill Thor. The trailer, however, makes this presentation look like a completely voluntary one on behalf of Loki, as if he wished to aid Thanos’ cause. This, of course, would have been in character for the Loki of past films, but given that Loki just watched Thanos kill half of the Asgardians, it would be quite a stretch for Infinity War.