The new Avengers: Endgame trailer did a good job of not answering many questions, but it also created a few of entirely new ones. One character that I've become very curious about in the new trailer is Karen Gillan's Nebula. While we do see her in the trailer, the context isn't very clear. She's not at all in the opening sequence where we learn Tony Stark is slowly dying. Is she on board the ship with him? If not, where did she go and if so, then why are they about to die?
The opening of the brand new trailer for the movie we now know is called Avengers: Endgame sees Tony Stark recording a message for Pepper Potts. He's drifting in space on board the ship that belonged to the Guardians of the Galaxy. He tells Pepper that food and water ran out days ago, and oxygen is expected to go shortly. Without a last-minute rescue (which, of course, we're pretty sure will happen) Tony is dead.
But where is Nebula in all this? She was the only one left alive with Tony on Titan after Thanos did his thing. One assumes they would have left the planet together, Nebula may be cold but she's not heartless and leaving Tony alone on Titan is almost certainly leaving him to die. However, Nebula clearly arrived on Titan separately and has her own ship, so it's possible she decided to go her own way.
There are two shots of Nebula in the trailer, one appears to show her on board a ship, and it could be the Guardians' ship, but there really isn't enough in the image to be sure.
The next image shows what appears to be Nebula's hand on somebody's shoulder, which would indicate she isn't alone, the shot is lit similarly to the previous one and looks to come from the same sequence. However, that shot is just bizarre because the idea that Nebula would touch anybody in a manner like that seems out of character for her.
If Nebula is on board the ship with Tony Stark, then I find myself wondering why they're about to die. The Guardians' ship is a place where six people live, and yet two people have run through all the food, water, fuel, and oxygen on board? If Tony were left alone on the ship that would be one thing. He'd probably be smart enough to get it in the air, but he'd have no idea how to navigate space in a way to get home. He could easily run out of fuel, and then food, trying to find the way home. However, if Nebula were with him she could almost certainly pilot the ship to Earth.
At this point, I'm leaning toward believing that Nebula has left Tony behind, but if that's the case, what is she doing? Has she gone on the hunt for Thanos on her own? Will Avengers: Endgame be following her alone on her own journey through the story? It would seem like she'd have a better chance of success by joining up with the Avengers but maybe she's not interested in working with anybody.
Fans of Marvel Comics will know that Nebula plays a key role in the defeat of Thanos in the Infinity Gauntlet comic book storyline and while the movie will certainly see a different ending, I'd wager Nebula will still play an important role. We'll find out exactly what that is in April 2019.
