Doom is coming! After months of heavy speculating and rabid internet appetite for a trailer, today Marvel Studios finally dropped a new one for Avengers: Doomsday!
Since CinemaCon in April, fans have been pressuring Marvel Studios to release the footage of Avengers: Doomsday shown at the annual trade show convention in Las Vegas. Not only did Kevin Feige’s house of heroes release a trailer, but they managed to give us footage which was quite different from the one shown at CinemaCon. Naturally, it’s our duty as nerds of color to break down everything we saw!
Destroyer of Worlds
The trailer begins not in the mainline MCU, but rather in the universe that technically started it all — the Fox X-Men universe (or potentially a variant of it). Presumably, this is the same universe that Monica Rambeau found herself in during the post-credits scene of The Marvels.
In a way, starting the trailer here is a nice nod to the fact that the first film Feige worked on was, in fact, 2000’s X-Men. While that was a very different era for comic book films — one still licking its wounds from the fallout of 1997’s disastrous Batman and Robin — the film, along with Blade, put Marvel on a trajectory that would ultimately lead to the creation of the MCU. So naturally, we should begin the trailer with its destruction.
All of this is set to our first taste of Robert Downey Jr.’s voice as Victor Von Doom. He’s definitely using an Eastern European-esque accent that sounds like nothing we’ve heard before, adding to the verisimilitude of the MCU’s version of Latveria, declaring: “Before this day is done, we shall be faced with an unthinkable decision.” We finally get a good look at the villain himself, looking comics-accurate as hell. You’ll note that we get a good glimpse of one of his medallions, bearing resemblance to a star — not unlike Captain Marvel’s symbol, actually. Perhaps this is a coincidence? Doom being a known conqueror of worlds, it wouldn’t be out of the question to speculate he’s killed a variant of Captain Marvel before. Or potentially, he has the same omnipotent power set as she does. I could be reaching here, but the symbol on this medallion is quite curious.
Thor Assembles the Avengers
We next return to New York, as any good Marvel story does, and get a brief shot of the exterior of the New Avengers building, seen last year in Thunderbolts. We know this is the logo of Valentina’s team, which I’m sure Sam Wilson is totally okay with. That logo is humongous, much larger than that of original Avengers Tower, suggesting that the team is compensating for the perception that these scrappy anti-heroes are not the legitimate Avengers.
We have a voiceover from Thor trying to rally all groups together to battle Doom. This is likely after his first encounter with Victor, which might be from a scene we see later in the trailer. I do find it funny that Thor is always the first to encounter the big threat, as he was with Thanos.
I do also wonder what happened to his adopted daughter, Love. I imagine despite having the powers of Eternity, she may be removed from the equation all together. He somehow finds The Fantastic Four, and enters The New Avengers base with them.
We do see a meeting of the teams: The New Avengers, led by Yelena and Bucky; the classic Avengers, led by Sam Wilson’s Captain America (and including Joaquin Torres’ Falcon and Scott Lang’s Ant-Man); and Marvel’s first family The Fantastic Four in the center (with Mr. Fantastic sporting a nice jacket). This presumably follows the post-credits scene from Thunderbolts, when the team sees The Fantastic Four’s ship entering the mainline MCU. Behind them we see a display highlighting multiple Earths. I’m assuming Reed uses it to explain the science behind the multiverse and incursions.
Wakanda and Talokan
Next, we are taken to Wakanda and Talokan, where we see shots of Namor, Shuri, M’Baku, and more. Last we saw them, Shuri and Namor (rocking a variation on the cool, more modern black vest look he has in the comics) were in an uneasy truce with one another. We see that this animosity has not really been shaken. I mean how could it be, since Namor killed Queen Ramonda? Nevertheless, in the words of Thor, the characters seem to be trying to put aside their differences to stop Doom.
Thor vs. Doom
That takes us to a Thor vs. Doom fight. I believe this will likely be earlier in the film, and the event that prompts Thor to assemble the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, because I think he loses badly. It’s hard to say where they are. Based on the ruins and statues everywhere, it’s possible this may be the remains of another universe that Doom has laid waste to, maybe an alternate Asgard? The Void? The realm of the Beyonders? There is a tall, lanky statue behind Doom that sort of resembles the Beyonders’ look from the Jonathan Hickman Secret Wars and Avengers runs.
AvX
We know for sure there will be a long-awaited Avengers vs. X-Men battle at the X-Mansion. There’s a glimpse of the staircase exploding, and Cyclops fully dressed in his Jim Lee best, appears with his visor glowing. This is the best shot we’ve seen so far in the comic-accurate costume. We also get an awesome shot of Gambit fighting Shang-Chi, prompting me to wonder: what happens if Gambit grabs one of the rings and charges it up? I would so love to see if that’s even possible!
Later on, we see the anticipated Mystique vs. Yelena fight, but before that we get a shot of Reed Richards and H.E.R.B.I.E. right behind her. This is likely where we are also going to see a Nightcrawler vs. Reed Richards fight, as recently teased by Alan Cumming. Also, note the upgraded design on H.E.R.B.I.E.!
We get the briefest of shots of Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, apparently back working for the TVA. Perhaps he is still holding the Multiverse together but found a way to do it while retaining his TVA benefits and 401K? It’s all we get of him this time, but it’s enough, as we know he is going to be a key figure in the battle for the multiverse. Speculation is running rampant that he’ll likely take the place of Molecule Man from the Hickman Secret Wars run, which we can see happening.
Hellos and Goodbyes
We then see a montage of scenes involving the Thing meeting Shuri and M’Baku, along with Bucky, Falcon, Sue, and Ghost, as well as a series of emotional shots showing Xavier and Magneto, Scott Lang and Cassie, and most interestingly, Johnny Storm and (who I believe is) Franklin preparing to say goodbye to each other. This really feels like no one is safe, and Johnny looks like he’s about to sacrifice himself to save Franklin (if that is him). It’s possible he’s just absorbing the flames coming towards the kid, but things don’t look good overall.
We also get a shot of Sue standing in front of a wall of water. This is going to become important because, later in the trailer, we see Namor and Sue doing battle. This is absolutely a callback to Namor’s affections for Sue in the comics, and the, ahem, chemistry between them. Sorry, Reed.
A Miracle in the Face of Doom
The trailer builds up to a few money shots of seemingly impossible things. The first is a callback to the Thor vs. Doom battle, but it tells us everything we need to know about how powerful Doom is. With two fingers, he stops Stormbreaker. The camera cuts to our first real look at Dr. Doom’s mask, in all its glory. Again, something that terrifies Thor.
As soon as we see the face of Doom, Thor also finds the face of hope! We see him talking to someone, who calls out “Hey, pal.” Thor says, “It’s not possible,” before holding out the recently-reassembled Mjölnir. The other person summons it to his hand, as we cut to the face of Steve Freaking Rogers! Evans, as we knew, is back. Now he’s not in the uniform, so it’s questionable as to whether or not he’ll don the stars and shield in the film. One would expect him to. But it simply would not feel like an Avengers film without him!
The trailer has been a massive success so far, generating over 20 million views on YouTube in its first seven hours online. We’ve obviously hit the repeat button a few times ourselves. With all the excitement and possible speculation running rampant, who could possibly resist?
Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters December 18. It’s going to be a long wait until then, but stay tuned to The Nerds of Color for more coverage of Avengers: Doomsday as we get closer to its impending release!
