The ‘Avengers: Endgame’ Press Conference Left Half The Chairs Empty Out Of Respect For The ‘Fallen’

Look, we all know the already-a-blockbuster Avengers: Endgame isn’t going to end badly. Some will die for real, but many, presumably, will be un-“snapped” — unless Marvel actually doesn’t want to make cash money with a Black Panther 2. Surely Marvel knows we know, and we know that they know, and so forth and so on. Still, everyone involved is pretending like everything in the MCU is still bad. Case in point: At this weekend’s Endgame junket press conference, the stage was only half-filled, with empty chairs representing “fallen” superheroes.

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You can see who’s there: Danai Gurira (Okoye), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), fresh fiftysomething Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), Chris Evans (Captain America), Brie Larson (Captain Marvel), et al. You can also see who’s not there, among them Chadwick Boseman, who’s been leaning extra enthusiastically into the idea that T’Challa is “dead.”

The presser itself opened bittersweetly, with Jon Favreau — director of 2008’s original Iron Man, the film that kickstarted the MCU and all that’s come with it — waxing nostalgic on his contribution to film culture before reminding us that, currently, half of the Avengers are MIA. He also called Endgame the “culmination” of over a decade of Marvel movies, implying that this is indeed some kind of ending, or a new beginning, or somehow both.

There was also some mishegoss over Evans nearly spoiling Endgame, almost like that time Mark Ruffalo nearly spoilered Infinity War back in the day. But at this point, everyone’s a pro at saving face by quickly changing the subject.

In the meantime, let’s remember the fallen Avengers, a list that sadly includes Black Panther scene-stealer Shuri, played by the great Letitia Wright. Yet we have a feeling we’ll be hearing from her again, and we don’t mean a postcard.