Avengers: Doomsday Trailer Breakdown: Doom's Throne, Loki's Powers and That Chilling "Stolen Lives" Line Explained

A brand new Avengers: Doomsday trailer has just dropped that shows off a lot more of Doom himself, and I want to walk through what I think it means for the movie, beat by beat.

This matters because the footage confirms leaks that have been floating around for a month, teases a Secret Wars style plot with the Beyonders and Molecule Man, and gives us the first real look at how Doctor Doom's tragic backstory with Reed Richards and his mother might play into the film.

Doom's Throne Confirms Leaks From a Month Ago

The Comic-Con trailer opens with Doom sitting on his throne in what I presume is Doomstadt, Latveria. If the throne looks familiar, that is because it is the same one shown during an event in Shanghai, and a picture of it was leaking online a month before this trailer, which the footage now confirms. There are runes and writing on the floor and a stained glass window that has already appeared in the background of the Doomsday countdown.

Thrones are huge Doom imagery in the comics, and I think the movie could even end with him sitting on one, similar to how Thanos did at the end of Infinity War, and similar to how this trailer opens.

Doomstadt and Secret Wars Hint Loki Could Lose His Powers to Doom

In the build up to Secret Wars in the comics, the multiverse was destroyed and Doom pulled together the fragments of every dead world into Battleworld. Its capital was named Doomstadt, and that is where God Emperor Doom ruled. His throne sat at the bottom of a tree, very similar to Loki in the Loki season 2 finale, and because Marvel loves referencing itself, it makes me wonder if Loki's presence in this trailer means the god of mischief could have his powers stolen by Doom.

In the comics, a group called the Beyonders created the multiverse and later wanted to destroy it, placing a Molecule Man on every Earth as a living bomb. Doom learned of this and traveled between realities killing each Molecule Man to stop them being used as weapons, which had the side effect of halting the incursions across the multiverse. The Beyonders still wanted everything destroyed, so Doom hurled the remaining Molecule Men at them and, when they were killed, took their power for himself. He did this alongside Doctor Strange, and I believe Strange will be working for Doom as a wizard in this film. We already know three witches are working under Doom, with their costumes shown at Comic-Con, and I think these are most likely Clea, Selene and Wanda, playing the role of the Black Swans.

In the comics, realizing that taking over the multiverse and killing every Molecule Man himself was too big a job, Doom created a religion to do it for him under the name Rabum Alal, holding himself up as a deity and sending his Black Swans from Earth to Earth. I think this is what gets handed to the witches in the film, with Strange also involved, which would build off the post credit scene of Multiverse of Madness. My theory is that Loki ends up holding the power of the Beyonders in this movie, and Doom steals it from him, which is why Doom can stop Thor with just two fingers, an attack that also nearly let him defeat Thanos in Infinity War.

Sue Storm's Narration Reveals Doom Was Once Different

Over the opening we hear Sue Storm's narration about who Doom used to be. She says: "Victor was always the smartest guy in every room. He used to be different, used to be kind. Everything he loved was taken from him though. I knew he was lost but I did not realize that he was broken." This confirms Doom has a tragic backstory and lost everything at some point. In the comics, Doom and Reed went to the same university and had a fiery rivalry, with Doom wanting to save his mother from Mephisto while Reed wanted to build a spaceship. They fell out, Doom's plans literally blew up in his face, and that is how he got his scars.

Magneto, Gambit, Shang-Chi and Steve Rogers Suggest This Is Later in the Film

As we hear this exposition we see Magneto, Gambit, Shang-Chi and Steve Rogers listening, which suggests this takes place later in the movie, once the heroes have gone to the X-Men universe and Doom has already switched sides. Magneto is shown with a beard and long hair, matching his full look from a recent figure release. We also see Doom looking up at a mural of what could be his wife and child, or possibly his mother with him as a young boy, which is the same image used on the recent movie poster.

The Mural Theory: Doom's Lost Love and the Multiverse Obsession With Loss

Multiverse stories tend to center on loss, on the idea that somewhere out there is a world where the person you loved never died or never left. That theme runs through Into the Spider-Verse, Across the Spider-Verse, Multiverse of Madness, Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3, and even Andrew Garfield saving MJ in No Way Home. I think Doom will learn that the love he lost still exists somewhere out there and will go after it under the guise of making things right, which will cause a ton of issues, the same way it did for Wanda in Multiverse of Madness and for Sinister Strange in the What If episode that ended his world. Steve, by contrast, got his dream life with Peggy, which makes him a thematic opposite to Doom.

Reed Asks Doom "Did You Do This?" and the Leaked Timeline

We see Ant-Man, Thor and the Thunderbolts also listening to Sue, with Thor looking pensive, and I think this scene probably happens later, possibly back at the Baxter Building on Earth 828. Sue's line about Doom being broken makes me expect this scene comes after Doom hacks the Sentinels and turns them on the combined Avengers and X-Men, similar to how Bruce Banner warned Stark, Wong and Doctor Strange about Thanos in Infinity War.

We then see a cloaked Doom and a flyover of a destroyed city, which could be the X-Men's beaten up version of Earth. From the rumors around the film, the X-Men have apparently encountered multiple incursions already and the movie may even open with them battling Raimi's Spider-Man universe, building off the post credit scene of Brand New Day where a Spidey tracking notification flagged a Spider-Man out in space.

Reed then asks Doom, "Did you do this?" According to the leaks, Doom arrives with Reed on his ship alongside Captain America. The rumor is that early in the film Loki visits Cap and explains that his life with Peggy has caused multiverse problems, so Cap is taken to the Fantastic Four's world. Doom then talks to Reed about the incursions, which ties into the post credit scene of First Steps, they discover an anomaly on their Earth, scan it, learn about Steve and the 616, and travel to his Earth, which leads into the Thunderbolts post credit scene.

Why I Think Doom Has Already Betrayed the Heroes by This Point

I have also seen theories that this could be the first time Doom and Reed have met in a long time, with Reed shocked his old friend is now a dictator with apocalyptic powers. But I think it is more likely this scene happens after Doom has already betrayed the heroes, because in the comics Doctor Doom genuinely saw himself as helping humanity, even if it was for his own gain. The Illuminati learned about the incursions and sometimes used Infinity Stones to destroy threatening Earths before they could destroy the 616. Doom, meanwhile, was investigating the multiverse's collapse by killing Molecule Men, and in his mind he was saving two worlds for every one he destroyed, even though many Earths were still lost. That is what led him to recreate the multiverse in his own image as God Emperor Doom. So my theory is that Doom works alongside Reed and the heroes for at least the midpoint of the movie before betraying them, likely because it is the only way to get his wife and kids, or his mother, back.

Franklin, Cassie and a Possible "Life Raft" Callback

We see Scott Lang and Cassie again, plus Johnny Storm hugging Franklin. In the comics, when the multiverse ran out of time, Reed Richards and the Future Foundation built multiversal life rafts before Doom remade everything into Battleworld. That life raft idea connects to the Brand New Day post credit scene, and it is possible Peter Parker is on one of these rafts when we eventually see that shot. In the comics, Storm was also turned into the literal sun of Battleworld, and it is possible something similar happens in this film, maybe even closing the movie out.

Loki's Card, Steve's Baby and Doom's Superhero Landing

We see Professor X and a helmeted Magneto looking up, likely repeating the incursion imagery from the first trailer, followed by Steve holding his baby and Thor and Love living what looks like their idyllic life before the multiverse starts collapsing, showing everyone has someone to fight for. Loki appears again too, with a wedding ring visible and Yggdrasil, the tree he is currently at, on the back of his card, suggesting this is early in the film. We also glimpse Shuri, Ghost, a new Falcon and Cyclops surrounded by fire, which I think could build off the Wakanda meeting between the Fantastic Four and Namor teased in the last breakdown, with pyramids and Namor's throne on parted seas. Cyclops surrounded by fire might come after he destroys the Sentinels, right before Doom drops down from the Fantastic Four's ship and does his supervillain landing to take him on directly. I think this is the moment Doom starts fighting the Avengers and X-Men himself, since he has already shown he can stand against Thor.

The Sentinels Confirm the Leaked 240p Footage Was Real

I believe the Sentinel shot actually comes before this fight, with Doom reviving them as a show of force, playing up his history with Doom bots. The Sentinels, created by Bolivar Trask and first appearing in X-Men issue 14, have always represented human hatred of mutants, and using them here is Doom throwing the X-Men off even further. This shot also confirms that leaked 240p footage of the Sentinels was genuine.

"All of You Have Lived Stolen Lives" - What Doom's Line Might Mean

Over a montage of heroes, Doom says: "All of you have lived stolen lives and now you must give them back." It is a chilling line suggesting no one is safe. I wonder if this ties into all the time travel and multiverse meddling from past films, and whether Doom learned that Steve having a child somehow led to the death of his own loved one. In the comics, Doom's mother was taken by Mephisto and he studied science and sorcery to try to get her back, so if he believes the heroes are responsible for her death and that he alone can rewrite the multiverse to save her, that would only push him further. The "stolen lives" line could also point to Professor X, who has died repeatedly across the films, to Loki, who was supposed to die in Infinity War but escaped through the time travel scenes in Endgame, and to everyone who came back after being snapped, which only happened because of time travel and the branch timeline it created. My theory is that this meddling is what caused Doom's loved one to die, and that the multiverse is unraveling because Loki cannot hold all the timelines together anymore, pushing Doom toward remaking everything like in the Secret Wars comics, which would set up Battleworld and a streamlined reboot bringing all of Marvel's franchises under one continuity.

Thor vs Doom and the Mephisto Connection to Doom's Mother

Later we see Reed asking Doom if he did this again, and Thor squaring up to him with sparks flying off Stormbreaker as Thor says, "I swear you would beg for hell long before I grant it." Doom responds, "Hell answers for me, for I am Doom," a great line that captures his arrogance. His mother, Cynthia von Doom, made a bargain with Mephisto in the comics, and we have already seen Mephisto in the MCU played by Sacha Baron Cohen in Ironheart, so they may bring him back to explain that backstory. In the comics, Cynthia was granted power to kill Baron Fortunov in exchange for her soul, was tricked and killed, then tortured by Mephisto, leading Doom to literally go to hell and back for her in the story Triumph and Torment alongside Doctor Strange. Doom tried to swap Cynthia for Strange, which backfired and made Cynthia realize her son was a monster, but her refusal to accept a sacrifice for her own gain freed her soul to rise to heaven. I don't know how closely the film will follow that story, but my guess is it will simply establish that his mother died, that it changed him, and that he later finds a way in the multiverse to try to bring her back.

My Overall Reaction

The teaser ends with Doom stopping Thor and the Sentinels rising up around him with glowing green eyes, another nod to the Doom bots from Fantastic Four issue five. I think we are heading for a massive Avengers, X-Men and Thunderbolts fight against the Sentinels, likely at the X-Mansion as teased in the previous trailer, with the heroes possibly uniting afterward thanks to Monica before trying to figure out how to stop the incursions altogether. This trailer got me genuinely hyped. Doom looks menacing and terrifying, and I honestly cannot imagine how anyone in this film is going to beat him.

What do you think Doom's real motive is: saving his mother, saving his family, or something else entirely?