There are a large number of extremely exciting movies set to be released in the year 2018, but most pale in comparison to Joe and Anthony Russo's The Avengers: Infinity War. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown into one of the biggest franchises of all time in the last decade, and with the touted capstone feature set to be released in May of next year, buzz is at an all-time high. Unfortunately, what remains at a serious low is the amount of footage from the film that's been made public so far -- which is to say none. This naturally begs the question: when will Marvel finally show us The Avengers: Infinity War trailer?
Looking at both key dates and releases in the not-too-distant future, we've picked out five possibilities for the launch of the first look, and explained the pros and cons of each approach. Will the Avengers: Infinity War trailer be out in the next few weeks, or will we be forced to wait a few months? The informed speculation starts now!
With Thor: Ragnarok
Given the tension that exists between Marvel Studios' film and television departments, it's hard to imagine The Avengers: Infinity War being used to boost ratings for Inhumans or Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. - which means that the theatrical release of Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok makes sense as the earliest platform for the preview launch. We know that the company has more than enough footage ready to go to marketing with, given what was shown at the D23 Expo and San Diego Comic-Con, and the third Thor movie does have a comfortable seven month distance from Avengers 3's release date. It's possible that Marvel could wind up using the major release to really push Black Panther instead, given that it is the preceding title in the franchise, but could it be too much to ask for both?
On Thanksgiving
Because it automatically creates a long weekend and brings together families, Thanksgiving has always been a fantastic holiday for the movie industry -- which is why we tend to see so many big releases that week. Of course, big releases also typically means big trailers, and it makes us wonder if Marvel Studios could see it as the perfect opportunity to unleash the first full look at The Avengers: Infinity War. Only further raising the probability is the fact that Disney has its own feature being sent to theaters that week -- Pixar's Coco -- and it would make sense to coordinate those releases. Frankly, this would be kind of nice, if not only to generate a nice talking point during the turkey dinner.
With Star Wars: The Last Jedi
In case you can't tell, Disney's fall slate gets seriously impressive towards the end of 2017, as they have a surprising group of high profile titles coming out in the last two months of the year. Following on the heels of Thor: Ragnarok and Coco will of course be the release of Rian Johnson's Star Wars: The Last Jedi -- screenings of which will undoubtedly feature many trailers for major 2018 blockbusters. The smart money says this will be a time that Disney uses to unleash our first look at Ron Howard's untitled Han Solo movie, but that doesn't mean they won't double dip with The Avengers: Infinity War as well. If the studio is ultimately afraid of robbing Peter to pay Paul, however, they could choose to wait a few weeks and post the trailer...
On Christmas
Christmas this year is loaded up with major releases, including Bill Condon's The Greatest Showman, Alexander Payne's Downsizing, Steven Spielberg's The Post, Trish Sie's Pitch Perfect 3, and Larry Sher's Father Figures, and certainly studios are going to want to take advantage of the box office assault with a few exciting 2018 previews. There is plenty of precedent to support this approach, and if none of the aforementioned dates work, it could wind up being the home of the first Avengers: Infinity War trailer. It's obviously not ideal for fans, given that it means more than three months more of waiting, but it shouldn't be taken off the table as a marketing move.
With Black Panther
This is unquestionably the most pessimistic possibility we could possibly imagine, but given Marvel Studios' history of extreme secrecy, we have to wonder if it may be on the table. Ryan Coogler's Black Panther isn't going to be hitting theaters until February 2018 -- a.k.a. about three months before The Avengers: Infinity War is scheduled to hit theaters -- but it is also notably the last Marvel Cinematic Universe title before the epic event feature. If the company decides that they don't want the third Avengers movie to distract from the release of Black Panther, they may hold back the marketing (which it doesn't really need anyway). This is a very unlikely scenario, and it's much more likely that Black Panther will deliver the blockbuster's second theatrical trailer, but we're putting it out there.
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