Avengers: Doomsday Thor Trailer Hints He May Not Survive and Points Toward Rune King Thor

The HD trailer for Thor in Avengers: Doomsday points to two major things: what is going on with Thor's daughter Love, and the possibility that Thor might not survive the film, which could set him up to become Rune King Thor in Avengers: Secret Wars. The trailer had leaked the week before, and its narration and dialogue had already been picked apart, but the HD frames let me look closely at one specific detail in the key scene.

Thor's prayer to Odin suggests he knows he might not survive the next battle

In the trailer, Thor wanders into the woods to pray to Odin, asking to be allowed to survive the battle ahead. To me, that seems to imply he knows that whatever he is about to do, whoever he is about to fight, and whatever this battle turns out to be, there is a real chance he will not come back from it. That is the whole tone of the prayer.

The other huge subject of the prayer is his daughter, Love. She is technically Gorr's daughter from the end of Love and Thunder, but Thor has taken her as his own and started to raise her. He prays to make sure he can return and keep being Love's father, which means he knows there is a possibility he will not.

Love and Steve Rogers' child put Thor and Captain America where Tony Stark was in Endgame

The obvious connection between the first teaser, which featured Steve Rogers, and this one with Thor is that both focus on the hero embracing their child. During the first teaser, and again with this one, I could not help thinking how interesting it is that these Avengers are now in the same predicament Tony Stark was in during Avengers: Endgame, when he had his responsibilities and his daughter, Morgan Stark.

The other two members of the big three are in a different place in life now. The responsibility of a child means the consequences go a lot further than their own life and death in battle. Steve Rogers and Thor used to be in a place where only their own lives were on the line, and that is completely different now.

Why I don't buy the theory that Doctor Doom is hunting the heroes' children

We have seen very few looks at Avengers: Doomsday: the post credit scene for Thunderbolts, the post credit scene for The Fantastic Four, and these two teasers. At least three of those four limited looks include not just the heroes but their children, specifically Franklin Richards, Steve Rogers' child and Love.

Because of that, a theory had spread online in the two weeks before this trailer that Doom must be after all of the heroes' children. I have seen a lot of reasons offered for it. Maybe he wants to take them to manipulate the heroes into going somewhere he needs them to be. Maybe he has a more sinister plan for the kids. Or maybe the children are the anchor beings he is looking to destroy in order to end the multiverse. "But none of that ever sat right with me exactly."

We know why Doom is after Franklin Richards in that post credit scene. Somewhere across the multiverse he was married to Sue Storm, they had a child, and in his attempt to make Battleworld he is trying to create a reality where his family is back together. I don't think there is a direct connection between that and Love or Steve Rogers' son or daughter. In the comics, Steve has had daughters pretty much across the multiverse, but he has also had other kids. I would say this is most likely his daughter, but who really knows, and I don't think it is important.

I know it looks obvious that kids were placed in both teasers, but I think that is just to establish that the stakes are much higher for these heroes than their own lives. It may seem coincidental, maybe even a kind of synchronicity, that three of the four looks focus on the heroes' kids, and I am willing to concede that. What I am not willing to concede is that I understand directly what it means for them to be put together. Maybe that would only become clear later, possibly not until the film itself.

The HD close up on Thor's right eye shows a healed scar and tears

While Thor says his prayer, the shot zooms in on his right eye. That is the eye he lost in Thor: Ragnarok, which had a fake one in it that was the wrong color for a while, but has now returned to blue. You can see that the eye, along with most of the scar, has pretty much healed, though the scar is still there.

Another very important detail was harder to see when the trailer leaked, because it was blurred. Matching the emotional tension in his voice, he may not be fully crying, but it definitely looks like there are tears in his eyes. I think this actually implies that something has already happened. Maybe someone has died, or something serious has already gone down, adding to his feeling that he might not survive the battle ahead.

Insiders had been teasing a proper send off for Thor all year

Thor's death had been teased all year by industry insiders, much of it starting with The Cosmic Circus, indicating that Marvel was looking to give Thor a proper send off. The idea was something along the lines of New Avengers 32, where Thor, alongside Hyperion, sacrificed himself fighting the Beyonders to save the other Avengers.

Rune King Thor could be the power level needed to rival God Emperor Doom

Rune King Thor is one of the strongest versions of Thor we have ever seen, and becoming him involves an immense amount of sacrifice. It is not only his eye: he actually gives his life in order to return as Rune King Thor. Honestly, "on a scale of 1 to 10, it's about 100 for power set." If you want to know his powers, it would be easier to list the powers he doesn't have, because what he has is basically everything.

What I had supposed would happen, and what now seems proven by this trailer, is that Thor, along with other Avengers, will die, but in death go to Valhalla and return as Rune King Thor, who in his own right would be able to rival God Emperor Doom. Rune King Thor can do everything from warping reality to being omniscient. His power level is absolutely wild, and it is the kind of power you might need to overcome God Emperor Doom.

This trailer was extremely revealing to me. There is a lot going on with Thor's psyche and with what is about to come in this battle, and at the time these trailers had only grown darker, more ominous and more foretelling of the Doomsday on the horizon.

Do you think Thor will fall in Avengers: Doomsday and return as Rune King Thor, or is his prayer for Love a sign he makes it through?