Over a year of hype-building stunts and slowly-rolled-out teasers has led to this: Marvel Studios has finally released the first full trailer for Avengers: Doomsday, the next chapter in the mega-franchise. Directed by the returning Joe and Anthony Russo and arriving December 18th, the new movie aims to return the Marvel Cinematic Universe to its past glory as Robert Downey Jr. makes his re-cast return to battle a huge cast of characters — including the also returning Chris Evans.
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The trailer (below) opens with our first listen to Downey Jr.’s Dr. Doom voice, a fictionalized Eastern European accent meant to signify the character’s fictionalized home country of Latveria. He warns of a threat that will lead to “an unthinkable decision,” and we see this is Patrick Stewart’s Professor Xavier looks upon an Incursion — the collision of two universes that’s been hinted at in everything from Loki to The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
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We shift to the New Avengers tower, where the “inactive” Avengers, the New Avengers, and the Fantastic Four receive a debriefing from a very nervous Thor. He’s battled Doom, and witnessed his power. As Thor lays out the odds of the upcoming fight, we’re shown clips of just how complex this mashup of MCU characters is. Namor and the Atlanteans seem to end the truce with Black Panther and the Wakandans established in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; the latter then form a new alliance with a hodgepodge of Avengers and Fantastic Four members; then everyone plus Shang-Chi do battle in the X-Men’s universe with the likes of Gambit, Mystique, and Cyclops. Loki gets teased, Cassie Lang makes her return, and finally, as Thor calls for a miracle, good ol’ Steve Rogers reenters the fold.
The full announced cast list for Avengers: Doomsday includes (deep breath) Chris Hemsworth, Vanessa Kirby, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Letitia Wright, Paul Rudd, Wyatt Russell, Tenoch Huerta Mejía, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Simu Liu, Florence Pugh, Kelsey Grammer, Lewis Pullman, Danny Ramirez, Joseph Quinn, David Harbour, Winston Duke, Hannah John-Kamen, Tom Hiddleston, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden, Channing Tatum, and Pedro Pascal. Yes, this includes actors from Fox’s X-Men movies and the MCU-bridging Deadpool & Wolverine, movies which the franchise has established exist in a separate universe from the Earth-616 heroes we’ve followed over the last decade and a half.
How will they all… assemble? That’s a question to be answered on December 18th when Avengers: Doomsday debuts in theaters. For a refresher of how we got here, you can pick up the Avengers Assembled: Complete 4-Movie Collection, or to be a real nerd about it, we suggest reading Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers: The Complete Collection Vol. 4 and Vol. 5, as these comic stories heavily influenced the plot of Avengers: Doomsday (and, frankly, a lot of the MCU in general).
Check out the new trailer above, and check out the poster and some official stills below. Superhero fans also have Spider-Man: Brand New Day to look forward to on July 31st, and you can see where the MCU lands on Consequence’s list of the best action movie franchises of all time.
