No Translations Needed At globalFEST 2019
Clockwise from upper left: Orquesta Akokán, Dakh Daughters, Combo Chimbita, Debashish Bhattacharya, Gato Preto
Bob Boilen/for NPR Music
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Bob Boilen/for NPR Music
Amidst the constant drumbeat of 2019’s political talk, of raising walls and shutting out opposition — this year’s globalFEST artists and organizers articulated a very clear vision, one that makes room for bracingly new voices. The one-night festival of global music, held each January in Manhattan, featured a remarkable lineup of musicians from around the world, including India, Cuba, Ukraine, Mozambique, and even New York City itself. Now in its sixteenth year, globalFEST was founded in a post-Sept. 11 era when foreign musicians often struggled to tour the U.S., due to what organizers perceived as a time of increasing xenophobia. But securing visas in difficult times is one of the things that makes globalFEST a special event — the overtly political, Jordanian Palestinian band 47Soul, who performed at this year’s festival, was a shining example of that. They, along with the other artists who performed at Sunday night’s event seemed to find meaning and inspiration in connections to the past while clearly — and very pointedly — pushing ahead.
Three strikingly different acts invited to this year’s globalFEST, which was held this year at the Copacabana nightclub in Midtown, celebrated their respective “futurist” visions. Combo Chimbita, a quartet of first-generation New Yorkers who layer the sounds of Colombia amidst a haze of glittering costumes and roaring vocals, call their style “tropical futurism.” Jeremy Dutcher, the Polaris Prize-winning singer, composer and musicologist from Canada, who draws upon his First Nation heritage, talks about infusing his music with the philosophy of “indigenous futurism.” And Gato Preto, a sleek German-based duo who mix a panoply of African styles — from Mozambique, Angola, Ghana, Senegal and beyond atop four-on-the-floor beats — call their music “Afrofuturist global bass.” Clearly, the future is now.
One element of the 2019 edition of globalFEST went awry: The evening’s planned closer, the venerable calypso king Mighty Sparrow had to cancel, due to illness.
On this episode of All Songs Considered, host Bob Boilen is joined by NPR Music’s Anastasia Tsioulcas, WFMU‘s Rob Weisberg, host of the show “Transpacific Sound Paradise,” and Beat Latino‘s Catalina Maria Johnson to talk about the most memorable moments and sounds from this year’s globalFEST.
Artists Featured On This Episode
47Soul
- Song: Intro to Shamstep
This quartet of guys who are members of the Palestinian diaspora (two from Jordan, one raised in Washington, D.C. and one in Israel) layer the dabke beat — which has powered the dance moves of the Eastern Mediterranean for at least hundreds of years — with synths, raps, drum machines and ebullient choruses sung in both Arabic and English. With lyrics that are at once intensely political and sweetly universal, this is one “smart party band,” as contributor Rob Weisberg says.
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Orquesta Akokán
- Song: Mambo Rapidito
This powerhouse big band, comprised of a blend of Cuban musicians and self-styled “Latin music freaks” from New York, revels in the lush, plush sounds that made Cuban artists like Machito and Mario Bauza famous at New York nightclubs and with American music fans in the 1940s and 1950s. When globalFEST decided to host this year’s edition at New York’s Copacabana nightclub — a venue with a history that stretches back nearly 80 years and boasts a long association with Latin music — the festival’s organizers decided that Akokán had to be the first group they invited this time around.
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Jeremy Dutcher
- Song: Mehcinut
The kind of work that the Polaris Prize-winning Dutcher makes is perfect for a certain and very current artistic moment: dreamy and intensely ambient music that will appeal to fans of artists like Max Richter and Ólafur Arnalds. But there’s a whole lot more going on beneath the surface: Dutcher matches his classical vocal training with the language and songs of his First Nation people, the Wolastoq of eastern Canada — and performs achingly beautiful, time-crossing dialogues with his ancestors by sampling 110-year old wax cylinder recordings of other Wolastoqiyik singers in his own work. The ease of Dutcher’s sonic textures belie the urgency of his mission: it’s believed that there are only about 100 speakers of the Wolastoqey language in the world today.
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Cha Wa
- Song: Li’l Liza Jane
This New Orleans band meshes Mardi Gras Indian krewe traditions with another revered lineage from their native city: funky horns. Cha Wa’s party sounds, and brilliantly colored, elaborately feathered dress could barely be contained by the small space of the Copa’s basement studio. (Literally: their headdresses were brushing the venue’s low-set ceiling.)
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Amythyst Kiah
- Song: Darlin Corey
“Southern Gothic, alt-country blues” is what this Tennessee-based singer-songwriter calls her work, which is a fluid combination of her own, wry material and reverent (but bracingly fresh) covers of the music she’s inherited, from the folk song “Darlin Corey” to the work of blues masters like the Reverend Gary Davis to Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.” But what will really stop you dead in your tracks is her voice, which manages at once to be butterscotch-rich and still cut like a knife.
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Magos Herrera & Brooklyn Rider
- Song: Niña
An inspired partnership between the Mexican jazz singer and the classical-and-beyond string quartet led to one of our favorite albums of 2018, the ineffably lovely and very timely Dreamers, a collection of texts from great Latin American poets and songwriters. Heard live (and joined by percussionist Mathias Kunzli, who also appears on the album), their performances were just as deeply felt, but they’re much better suited to a cozy room than to a barely insulated “rooftop” space at the Copacabana that they were afforded at globalFEST. Even so, the musicians transcended the limitations of the space, and soared far above even the Manhattan skyline.
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Dakh Daughters
- Song: Lyudyna
If you’re already acquainted with the Ukrainian group DakhaBrakha (that fierceness! those hats!), you might have an idea of what the female troupe Dakh Daughters — born out of the same arts center in Kiev — might have in store, with a similarly heavily stage-crafted presentation, this time with each performer’s face painted not unlike a porcelain doll. (Don’t let that mask of fragility fool you, though.) But this punk cabaret act is a more purely performative experience, melding theatrical monologues with intricately harmonized Ukrainian folk music.
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Debashish Bhattacharya
This Calcutta-based slide guitarist is a perennial NPR Music favorite and Tiny Desk alumnus. He’s meshed his youthful fascination with Hawaiian steel guitar and love of the blues with the architecture and vocabulary of Hindustani (North Indian) classical music. The result is intoxicating — and, as you can hear in his 2013 Tiny Desk Concert below, brilliant.
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B.C.U.C.
- Song: Yinde
This group from Soweto, South Africa (and more formally named Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness) mixes the rich musical legacy of Soweto — from ritual music to songs from churches and shebeens alike — with raps, funk and Afrobeat flow.
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Gato Preto
- Song: Moçambique
Afrofuturism is now, in the hands of this Dusseldorf, Germany-based duo. They draw upon the sounds of Mozambique, Ghana, Senegal, Angola and Portugal to make pulsating, four-on-the-floor club beats.
Combo Chimbita
- Song: Ampárame
This New York-based band delivered a high-octane dose of a style they’ve dubbed “tropical futurism” to close out the night. They blend Afro-Caribbean sounds with cumbia, psychedelia and even a hint of prog rock, all metabolized by frontwoman Carolina Oliveros’ muscular voice and her frenetic playing of the guacharaca, a scraped percussion instrument.
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Next 3 Surprising Comedies: 'The Upside,' 'What Men Want,' 'Tyler Perry's A Madea Family Funeral'
Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly star in Holmes & Watson as the legendary detectives in a funny and surprising take on the team’s pairing. Really, though, it’s more about the chemistry between the actors, who previously starred together in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and Step Brothers, as it is about any sort of mystery. (By the way, Reilly also appeared in a cameo role in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, which featured Ferrell in the starring role.)
Two upcoming comedies offer new different, surprising takes on material that has been previously told. The third is a sequel that may be the final installment in a long-running series and may offer a big surprise in its resolution. Here’s what we know about three movies that we hope will amuse us all.
The Upside
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Bryan Cranston stars as a disabled man who is wealthy, yet unhappy. Kevin Hart stars as a poor man on parole who desperately needs a job, yet displays a great sense of humor. The two wind up together and soon embrace the idea that they each have something to offer the other.
Nicole Kidman also stars. Look for The Upside in theaters on January 11, 2019.
What Men Want
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Note: the red-band trailer above is not safe for work.
Taraji P. Henson stars as a talented executive whose rise to the top is stymied by the men around her. Then, after a wild night, she wakes up with the ability to read minds — but only the inner thoughts of men. Will the unexpected gift be a blessing or a curse?
The raucous comedy also stars Aldis Hodge, Richard Roundtree, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Tracy Morgan. What Men Want will open in wide release on February 8, 2019.
Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral
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A family gathering in rural Georgia edges from comedy into drama when an expected death means that a funeral must be planned. Filmmaker Tyler Perry, who created the character of Madea in 1999 and has played her ever since in stage plays, on television, and on the big screen, says that this will be her final appearance.
Still, we expect that Perry will freely mix both comic and dramatic elements throughout his film, similar to what’s he’s done in the past. Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral will open in theaters everywhere on March 1, 2019.
Today in Movie Culture: 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' VFX Breakdown, 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' Lego Set and More
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Here are a bunch of little bites to satisfy your hunger for movie culture:
FX Breakdown of the Day:
Effects artists at Industrial Light & Magic break down their digital creation of the Millennium Falcon for Solo: A Star Wars Story:
FX Easter eggs of the day:
Speaking of digital effects, here’s Vulture with a look at some secret CGI work in movies such as Justice League and Brokeback Mountain:
Cosplay of the Day:
Speaking of DC movies, Aquaman may be ruling the box office lately but this Wonder Woman fan is ruling cosplay:
After a lot of hard work and dedication here is my cosplay of Wonder Woman. I hope you @GalGadot and @PattyJenks notice, as they are a true inspiration to me & to many women/men. Photographer…
Read More
Watch First, Totally Unnerving 'Us' Trailer; Here's Everything We Know
Trinidad And Tobago Remixes Caribbean Christmas Traditions
During the months leading up to Christmas, parang music can be heard just about everywhere in Trinidad.
John Otis/NPR
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John Otis/NPR
The twin-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago is famous for calypso and soca, infectious music that takes center stage during the island’s annual Carnival. But during the Christmas season another type of music dominates.
At a sound check for a band that plays old-time instruments, musicians play cuatro, a small, four-stringed acoustic guitar. There are also mandolins, maracas and a box bass, Trinidad’s version of the washtub bass. These are some of the instruments that are used to make the religious folk music called parang.
During the months leading up to Christmas, parang can be heard just about everywhere in Trinidad. Most of the songs are about the birth of Christ. However, not everyone understands the lyrics. Parang was brought to Trinidad by migrant farm workers from nearby Venezuela. The songs are sung in Spanish even though the mother tongue on the island is English.
Some parang groups like Los Alumnos de San Juan pantomime to help audiences grasp the Spanish lyrics to songs. Alicia Jaggasar is the leader of Los Alumnos de San Juan and also heads the National Parang Association.
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“Parang music is our way at Christmastime to tell the story but in a different language and in a different musical style,” Jaggasar says. “So you wouldn’t hear it as the normal ‘Hark the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn king.’ You will hear: ‘Cantando gloria, gloria, gloria en el cielo. En un establo nació el Dios verdadero,‘” which translates to “Singing glory, glory, glory in heaven. The true God was born in a stable.”
Jaggasar’s group is booked until Christmas Eve. On that night, parang bands go house to house until the wee hours in an exuberant form of Christmas caroling. But they must adhere to some elaborate musical etiquette to gain entry.
Alicia Jaggasar is the leader of Los Alumnos de San Juan and also heads the National Parang Association.
John Otis/NPR
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“You have to do a serenado from outside,” Jaggasar says. “And in that song, you have to actually say who you are, and what you’ve come to do. And it’s only when the host hears who you are, then the door is open. They don’t just open it just like that.”
But once inside, the party revs up.
“Christmas morning, I would hear the cuatros, the mandolins, as the groups went from house to house, ” Michele Reis, a Trinidad academic, says. “There is lots of rum flowing, there is food that comes. … And it’s just a really festive time, you know?”
To keep this tradition alive, high schools and colleges in Trinidad hold parang contests. Still, musicians are always tinkering with parang in an effort to reach a wider audience. One result is soca-parang, which is sung in English so more people will understand, and fused with the frenetic rhythms of soca.
Purists complain that the lyrics often glorify girls rather than the gospel. But Jaggasar endorses the hybrid. “Because we are land of calypso, soca and steel band, we like to mix things, that is just our culture,” Jaggasar says.
First 'Hellboy' Trailer Arrives Just in Time; Here's Everything We Know
There’s a new Hellboy on the block. Summit Entertainment’s reboot of the comic book movie franchise promises to be different style-wise than Guillermo del Toro’s 2004 take, but we can still anticipate a similar mix of brawn and banter from the titular demon-spawn character.
Darker is the supposed direction of this Hellboy, though that doesn’t show so much in the first trailer. David Harbour’s version of the big, red, not-a-monster antihero is humorous, and the creature-filled action seems more fun than edgy. Billy Idol’s cover of “Mony Mony” keeps the tone light, too.
Watch that new trailer down below after reading everything we know about the movie so far:
Who is the new Hellboy?
David Harbour, best known now as Sheriff Hopper on Stranger Things, has taken over the role from Ron Perlman, who portrayed Hellboy in Guillermo del Toro’s movies.
How does he look in the role? Well, he certainly doesn’t look like Sheriff Hopper. Here’s the first look we got of Harbour as Hellboy in all his devilish glory back in the fall of 2017:
He actually kinda looks like Perlman’s version. There are little but notable differences, however, such as the longer hair and more robotic-looking “Right Hand of Doom.” The way he’s photographed gives him a darker tone as well, which is fitting since the reboot promises more of an edge.
Who else stars in the movie with Harbour?
Milla Jovovich is the villain this time around, playing Nimue the Blood Queen. Ian McShane is Hellboy’s adoptive father, Professor Bruttenholm (previously played by John Hurt). Lost and Hawaii 5-0‘s Daniel Dae Kim is Major Ben Daimio, a fellow member of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense who can turn into a jaguar. And American Honey breakout Sasha Lane is Alice Monaghan, another fellow B.P.R.D. member who was raised by fairies.
Who is taking over the property as director from del Toro?
Neil Marshall, who you may know from the horror movie The Descent and episodes of Game of Thrones, is directing the reboot, which is aiming for an R-rating, from a script by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola along with Andrew Cosby, Christopher Golden and Aron Coleite.
What is the plot of this Hellboy?
The official synopsis is simply this: “Based on the acclaimed graphic novels by Mike Mignola, Hellboy, caught in a clash between the worlds of the supernatural and human, battles an ancient sorceress bent on revenge.” Nimue is that sorceress, hailing from medieval times when she was Merlin’s consort. She’s resurrected in the modern day and her revenge is on those who did her in the first time around.
What do we know of that darker tone?
Early on, we heard from Marshall on his plans: “We’ve been granted permission to do it R-rated, which for me is just like taking the cuffs off… When you go back to the original material, it is kind of bloody, so I’m going to embrace that.” Even earlier, Cosby revealed: “This is a darker, more gruesome version… [Marshall] said from the very beginning that he wanted to walk a razor’s edge between horror and comic book movie, which was music to my ears.”
When does it come out?
The new Hellboy arrives in theaters on April 12, 2019.
Watch the first trailer:
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Kitka Brings 'Powerful Women's Voices, Joined Together' From East To West
For four decades the Oakland ensemble Kitka has sung intricate harmonies from Eastern Europe. Members Shira Cion and Kelly Atkins talk about the group’s new album, “Harmonies of Heaven and Earth.”
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LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:
The daylight is dwindling away. The solstice arrives on Friday. So let’s listen to some warming songs from Eastern Europe that celebrate the season upon us.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “MOMCI KOLEDARCI”)
KITKA WOMEN’S VOCAL ENSEMBLE: (Singing in Bulgarian).
GARCIA-NAVARRO: The album “Evening Star” features harmonies unique to Balkan, Slavic and Caucasian lands. But here’s the twist – they’re served up by Kitka, a vocal ensemble of many years standing based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Shira Cion is the group’s artistic director. She joins us from the studios of KQED. Welcome.
SHIRA CION: So great to be here, Lulu. Thank you.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Also with us is Kelly Atkins. She’s another Kitkat – I think that’s what you call yourselves, right?
KELLY ATKINS: It is, yes. Hi.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Hi. Shira, I’m going to start with you. You’re quoted in the press notes saying this music springs from a, quote, “instinct to come together and sing in the deep, dark heart of wintertime.” I love that, by the way. Does this music help bring up the body temperature?
CION: They actually think it probably does. And it’s been interesting. You know, so many studies are now coming out about sort of the physical and cognitive and social benefits of harmony singing and choral singing. And I think all the science is just proving something that Eastern European villagers have known for centuries, which is that when times are tough, when weather conditions are cold, where merely surviving through a difficult season really calls upon communities to come together, it’s a time to sing. And I think singing does lift spirits. It does sort of synchronize our organisms together. I really do believe it helps us survive through trying times.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Kelly, that image of the deep, dark heart of wintertime is also a metaphor, I guess, of the kind of music that this is. Tell me what – how you see it.
ATKINS: Well, we also use the metaphor of the cycles of life. Some of the songs, as you probably noticed, from the album are literally about winter. And some of them are about the winter of life. So we kind of see a lot of the songs that we sing not only about the holidays themselves but about the cycles that we go through in our own lives.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Let’s listen to a bit of the title track. It’s a Bulgarian song – “Evening Star.”
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ZVEZDA VECERNICA”)
KITKA WOMEN’S VOCAL ENSEMBLE: (Singing in Bulgarian).
GARCIA-NAVARRO: I got to tell you, it feels like something deeply thrumming and ancient. You know, it comes – it really comes from this sort of essential place. It really does. It’s amazing. Kelly, I understand you have a background as an indie rocker. What got you interested in Eastern European vocal music?
ATKINS: Well, the first time I saw the Bulgarian Women’s Choir, I was at Grace Cathedral. And I sat in the pews and just wept. And I couldn’t figure out what was happening to me. And it just rocked me on a very, very deep level. So I think that was my gateway drug, as we call it in the group. Most of us have our gateway drug of Bulgarian choir music.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: (Laughter) Shira, people also may be surprised to learn that there’s actually many vocal groups here in the states specializing in Eastern European music. There’s Kitka. There’s Planina based in Denver. There’s the Yale Slavic Chorus, which has been around almost 50 years. What do you think makes…
CION: Yes.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: …The music so irresistible to female vocalists?
CION: Well, I think for those of us who I would say identify as liberal American feminists, there’s something about the quality of powerful women’s voices joined together in this very physical, very close harmony, sometimes dissonant harmony configurations that really appeals to a contemporary American female sensibility.
(SOUNDBITE OF UNIDENTIFIED KITKA SONG)
KITKA WOMEN’S VOCAL ENSEMBLE: (Singing in foreign language).
CION: And these are cultures where labor was traditionally divided by gender. And women were accustomed to creating in community and creating music together in community. We were actually just talking about this in the greenroom earlier today – how all of us who sing in Kitka are much more oriented towards kind of collective and harmony singing than individualistic, soloistic singing. And I think it sort of counters the sort of strongly individualistic trend that America values so much. It’s, like…
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Exactly.
CION: …Everyone to…
GARCIA-NAVARRO: The solo artist.
CION: …Themself (ph).
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yeah.
CION: The solo artist. And this is really a communal form that can really only take flight when there’s a community of people participating in it.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Let’s listen now to a Ukrainian carol from your album.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “V HOSPODARON’KA”)
KITKA WOMEN’S VOCAL ENSEMBLE: (Singing in Ukrainian).
GARCIA-NAVARRO: So this is actually a Ukrainian carol for New Year’s. And you actually traveled there a while back and met up with a Ukrainian group. What about your other travels to perform in Eastern Europe? What’s been the reaction from audiences?
ATKINS: We were in Serbia about – was it five years ago?
CION: Yeah, 2013.
ATKINS: And it was my first time with Kitka traveling abroad and singing Serbian music to Serbians. And I honestly was nervous going. I was thinking, who am I as an American to go and sing these songs in front of these people where, you know, they have these deep roots with these songs? But in fact, we were received very warmly. And it was really a cathartic experience for both the audience and for us.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: So, Kelly and Shira, this is to both of you. What’s your favorite song on the album?
CION: Oh, that’s a tough one.
ATKINS: It is.
CION: What do you think about maybe “Blazentsv”?
ATKINS: Maybe “Blazentsv.”
CION: Yeah. This isn’t technically a winter song. But it’s a song that we feel articulates qualities that we all try to summon in ourselves during the holiday season. It’s a musical setting of “The Beatitudes” by the Russian composer Vladimir Martynov. And, you know, these are calling the listener to embody qualities of generosity and compassion and kindness, living simply so that others might simply live and seeing that true contentment really comes from kind of going against the grain of greed and egoism and materialism and violence and living gently, living kindly so that others can feel the kingdom of heaven here on Earth.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: That is a good holiday message. Shira Cion and Kelly Atkins from the Kitka Woman’s Vocal Ensemble. Their new album is called “Evening Star.” Thank you both very much.
CION: Thank you so much for having us.
ATKINS: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ZAPOVEDI BLAZENSTV/ THE BEATITUDES”)
KITKA WOMEN’S VOCAL ENSEMBLE: (Singing in Russian).
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First 'Avengers: Endgame' Trailer Arrives as Release Date Moves Up; Here's Everything We Know
Ever since the devastating ending of Avengers: Infinity War, moviegoers have been dying to see what happens next and find out just what’s become of not only half of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, but the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe. The fourth crossover tentpole of the franchise, Avengers: Endgame, will see theatrical release just under a year later, hopefully with all our questions answered.
The first trailer for Endgame has now arrived to give fans hope that the surviving members of The Avengers will defeat Thanos and fix the galactic genocide he caused with his attainment of all the Infinity Stones and a snap of his fingers. Some familiar faces not seen in Infinity War now join the remaining original MCU heroes as the movie also just revealed a release date that’s a little sooner than expected.
Watch the trailer below after learning everything we know so far about the highly anticipated sequel.
Obviously there are SPOILERS for Infinity War from here on.
Who is left from Infinity War to star in Avengers: Endgame?
The survivors of the snap, as we’re reminded with the first trailer, include Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), who is drifting alone in space, and Captain America (Chris Evans) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), who are working together to figure out how to deal with Thanos’ wiping out of 50% of all living creatures.
As we learned after the release of Infinity War, much of the follow-up movie will revolve around Captain America and Natasha (Black Widow). According to screenwriter Stephen McFeely (per BuzzFeed):
We had so many characters in movie 1, and we knew it was a two-movie conversation. Some characters were better served in movie 2 after this event. We were making some choices based on some characters we knew were going to leave us at the end of the first movie, so they got highlighted in the first movie. And some who were going to be in the second movie more maybe got less attention or less screentime [in Infinity War] — I’m thinking of Cap and Natasha, specifically. It’s about the story we wanted to tell in movie 2, mostly.
Briefly appearing in the trailer, Thor, Hulk, and Nebula are also still around. Not shown, War Machine, Rocket, Okoye and M’Baku were all last seen alive in Wakanda (see the full list of who lived and who died here), so presumably, they’ll all be back for Endgame in some capacity, as well.
Will Hawkeye and Ant-Man finally join in the fight?
Joining this round after sitting Infinity War out will indeed be Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), whose return is confirmed in reveals in the first Endgame trailer. The character has a new look, a new weapon of choice, and a new identity — as “Ronin.” And he seems to be out for blood — did he lose his family in the snap?
There’s also Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), who shows up at the Avengers’ front door with a hint that he knows how to help. And he’s got the van we saw at the very end of Ant-Man and the Wasp, when he seemed to be trapped in the Quantum Realm.
So the Quantum Realm is the key to reversing Thanos’ damage?
That’s not confirmed but very logically assumed by Ant-Man’s eager appearance in the first footage we’ve seen from the movie. Perhaps there will be some time travel involved, courtesy of that mysterious part of the MCU.
Do we know yet the whereabouts of other heroes whose status was never made clear?
As we noted in our list of who lived and who died, there are some characters whose status was never made clear by the movies nor the filmmakers. One of those is Black Panther’s sister, Shuri, whose face is seen in the first Endgame trailer with a caption that she is missing.
Also, Captain Marvel has to show up, right?
We can assume based on the symbol on Nick Fury’s pager in the Infinity War post-credits scene that Captain Marvel will definitely be flying into Avengers: Endgame ready to help save the day/universe. McFeely also promised in the BuzzFeed interview that Captain Marvel, which opens in February and is set in the 1990s, will also connect to the events of the Avengers sequel:
Put yourself in our positions two years ago. We’re looking at a blank wall, and it says Avengers 3, Ant-Man and [the] Wasp, Captain Marvel, Avengers 4. So there are four big shoeboxes, and we’re responsible for the bookends. As we’re going through deciding what we want to do, we have these two shoeboxes in the middle that you can either look at as burdens or opportunities.
Will the characters who died in Infinity War be resurrected?
The only thing that has kept Marvel fans from being totally devastated by the deaths in Infinity War is the assumption that most will be reversed in Endgame. After all, nobody is truly dead for long in comic books — or comic book movies. And in the comic series Infinity War is based on, the characters wiped out by Thanos’s powers are revived by another character, Nebula, after she takes possession of the Gauntlet.
Sadly, screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFreely said early on that’s not the direction the next movie would go in. Markus told BuzzFeed:
[Avengers 4] doesn’t do what you think it does. It is a different movie than you think it is. Also…[the deaths are] real. I just want to tell you it’s real, and the sooner you accept that, the sooner you will be able to move on to the next stage of grief.
What about the characters who have more movies on the way?
Among those who disappeared at the end of Infinity War are Spider-Man, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Star-Lord and most of the other Guardians of the Galaxy. All of them either have definite sequels in the works or, especially in the case of the massive hit Black Panther, are expected to. McFeely addressed T’Challa’s death in the BuzzFeed interview specifically:
Remember, when we’re writing [Infinity War], and even shooting, there is no Black Panther movie. We don’t know it’s going to be so good, so effective, so resonant. And we had to treat all these characters the same. People who leave us [in Infinity War] are the leads of their own franchises. And Black Panther’s no different.
Also, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige continues to claim that Avengers 4 is a certain ending to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it, though that has often just seemed like a conclusion to a certain storyline. Last fall, though, Feige hinted to Vanity Fair that movies such as the next Spider-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy films, and anything after Avengers 4, will be a new era of canon:
There will be two distinct periods. Everything before Avengers 4 and everything after. I know it will not be in ways people are expecting.
Will any more characters die in Endgame?
Oh yeah. For a long time, fans have anxiously expected that Iron Man and Captain America will die at some point because actors Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans are leaving the franchise. They survived Infinity War‘s brutal ending but they could be next. Co-director Joe Russo told Variety:
For us, there will always be stakes and the stakes have been progressing from film to film. And I think you can extrapolate that they will continue to deepen in Avengers 4.
And specifically when asked about the fates of Iron Man and Captain America, Joe Russo answered “with a sly smile”:
Just you wait.
Will Endgame be even longer than Infinity War?
This is very likely. And considering Infinity War has a running time of two hours and 36 minutes, that means Avengers 4 is going to be really, really long, as Joe Russo admitted to Collider, though this could change:
It could easily be a three-hour film but I think that we’re very hard on the material, we like it to play at a certain pace, so I’m sure we’ll squeeze it. We have a whole year of work left on that movie. I do think it’ll be longer than Avengers 3.
When can we see the movie?
April 26, 2019.
Watch the first Avengers: Endgame trailer:
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Today in Movie Culture: All of Christian Bale's Physical Transformations, a History of Italian Horror and More
Here are a bunch of little bites to satisfy your hunger for movie culture:
Music Video of the Day:
Footage from Return of the Jedi merges with retro ’80s-influenced graphics in this music video for “Sunrise on Endor” by Gemini Sunset (via Geekologie):
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Video Essay of the Day:
For Fandor, Leigh Singer examines Dogtooth, the breakout movie of The Favourite director Yorgos Lanthimos:
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Movie History of the Day:
One Hundred Years of Cinema chronicles the history of Italian horror movies, including the original Suspiria:
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Movie Comparison of the Day:
Couch Tomato shows us 24 reasons that Pixar’s Incredibles 2 is basically the same movie as Ghostbusters II:
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Vintage Image of the Day:
JoBeth Williams, who turns 70 today, in a promo shot with Craig T. Nelson, Oliver Robins and Heather O’Rourke on the set of Poltergeist in 1981:
Actor in the Spotlight:
In honor of Christian Bale’s transformation for Vice, Vulture chronicles his weight change over 12 roles:
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Screenwriting Lesson of the Day:
The latest video from Lessons from a Screenplay looks at the script for Good Will Hunting and how it puts the psychology of its main character on the surface:
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Cosplay of the Day:
Now all Captain Marvel cosplay is apparently required to include a cat, as per the one in the new trailer:
Update: Milo was NOT ready to cosplay with me. He was quite mad. #CaptainMarvel #MiloContent pic.twitter.com/tCq4j4TGBh
— Lee (@leiladaisyj) December 5, 2018
Easter Eggs of the Day:
Speaking of Captain Marvel, here’s another video highlighting the new trailer’s Easter eggs via ScrenCrush:
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Classic Movie Trailer of the Day:
Today is the 45th anniversary of the release of The Wicker Man. Watch the original trailer for the classic horror movie below.
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Today in Movie Culture: Imagining Emma Stone as Cruella de Vil, 'Black Panther' VFX Breakdown and More
Here are a bunch of little bites to satisfy your hunger for movie culture:
Casting Rendering of the Day:
With Emma Stone’s Cruella de Vil movie back in the news, BossLogic shows us what she could look like as the Disney Villain:
?? #Cruella @Disney pic.twitter.com/wAc2qpgTUj
— BossLogic (@Bosslogic) December 5, 2018
VFX Breakdown of the Day:
Industrial Light & Magic shared this look at their digital effects work for Marvel’s Black Panther:
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Remade Trailer of the Day:
Speaking of Marvel movies, here’s a sweded redo of the first (not newest) Captain Marvel trailer:
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Snow Art of the Day:
These giant snow sculptures of a Totoro and the Catbus from My Neighbor Totoro are spectacular:
Snowtoro (and friends)! ? #StudioGhibli ? pic.twitter.com/ND7gVrzgIv
— Marshall Julius?? (@MarshallJulius) December 5, 2018
Video Essay of the Day:
This Nerdwriter video looks into how rare smartphones are in major blockbusters and why:
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Vintage Image of the Day:
Pop music icon Little Richard, who turns 86 today, goofs around with producer Sam Katzman on the set of the 1956 movie Don’t Knock the Rock:
Filmmaker in Focus:
For Fandor, Luis Azevedo highlights the “otherworldly” sounds of the movies of Terrence Malick:
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Filmmaking Lesson of the Day:
This new video from This Guy Edits looks at the new movie Searching for a lesson on how to cut a thriller:
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Cosplay of the Day:
Here are some fans cosplaying as characters from Mars Attacks!, Deadpool and Bumblebee. Click the link to see more.
The very best cosplay of Tokyo Comic Con 2018:https://t.co/Zx8ZpuZItC pic.twitter.com/3hL222owdx
— Kotaku (@Kotaku) December 6, 2018
Classic Movie Trailer of the Day:
Today is the 15th anniversary of the release of The Last Samurai. Watch the original trailer for the Tom Cruise movie below.
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