In the movie, Fury explains that both Thor and Strange aren't available, and presumably Captain Marvel as well. However, the whereabouts of the remaining heroes on Earth aren't mentioned. The likes of Scarlet Witch, Hulk, War Machine etc. could have been a major help against the Elementals.
What does their absence imply about the state of the Avengers post Avengers: Endgame, and does their absence have anything to do with the fact that it was
Talos impersonating Fury?
We don't know where they are as it's never made explicit. Obviously we know Thor is almost certainly off world with the Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel is presumably back up in space helping other worlds again. Strange is noted as unavailable but dealing with the likes of an Elemental isn't really on his payroll anyway.
We can guess at a few, such as T'Challa was probably back in Wakanda ruling, Smart Hulk was potentially in New Asgard due to his friendship with Valkyrie and Hawkeye would have most likely been with his family retired. We could probably guess that Bucky was either in Wakanda to continue treatment or wherever old Cap is.
However, that still leaves War Machine, Ant-Man, Wasp, Scarlet Witch and Falcon. Of those Ant-Man and Wasp could be living a life together doing what they do and the others would likely be the foundation of the Avengers should the team "start up again" having lost its core members.
But where were they? Well we don't know. They may have been taking a hard earned rest, been busy with other commitments or even up in space with Fury. This last one is hinted at in the conversation between Fury and Talos with the latter asking where the team are but that doesn't necessarily mean anything specific.
but dealing with the likes of an Elemental isn't really on his payroll anyway How do you figure?
As we learn in the after-credits scene, the "Fury" we've been seeing throughout the movie is actually Talos in disguise (at the direction of the real Fury). The conversation also implies that the events of the movie were absolutely not planned for and Talos was just flying by the seat of his pants, making things up as he went along to the best of his abilities.
Based on the short conversation, it seems safe to assume that Talos simply doesn't know where everyone is. Spider-Man was the only hero that Talos could get a hold of (because he was supposed to be giving him Tony's glasses as ordered by Fury regardless of the Elementals and all of their business). Other heroes may well have been available and Talos just didn't know how to contact them. One could further assume that even the heroes Talos gave excuses for may not actually have been occupied as he implied but rather, again, simply not able to be contacted out of ignorance.
In the final end credits scene Fury is shown relaxing on a space ship, considering none of the other heroes were available it's being implied that they're where Fury is, although we won't know for sure until the next Marvel movie comes out.
