Avengers: Doomsday Teaser Has Me Convinced Thor Is Terrified for a Reason

My overall verdict on the Avengers: Doomsday teaser is that I loved the tone even though I still do not know much about the plot. This is the first Avengers movie since Endgame, and the teaser does what a first teaser is supposed to do: give awareness that the movie exists, show a bunch of recognizable faces, and hint at story without actually explaining it. I do not think that is a flaw. As I put it, "It's the first one. It's a teaser. How many teasers come out that you really know what the plot of the movie is?"

The strongest thing in the whole teaser for me is Thor. They lead the narrative with him, and he says something like out of everything he has ever faced, this is the toughest. Those are heavy words considering what Thanos put the Avengers through, and I loved that choice: "So if he is terrified, that means this guy is legit." Opening the story with Thor being scared again, rather than the goofy version from the last Thor movie, tells casual audiences this is a serious Avengers movie while still folding in everyone from the last few years without making them the focus, which I think is the right call for a movie like this.

There is a shot early on of what sounds like Nightcrawler at the school, suggesting the old school X-Men are being folded in. There is a glimpse of Gambit going up against Shang-Chi, and new Captain America clashing with the newer Avengers before essentially being told to put the squabbles aside because something bigger is coming. Doom himself appears mostly getting the better of Thor in their exchange, and Steve Rogers returns at the end, which again feels aimed at pulling longtime fans back into theaters.

On the speculation side, I said I would not be surprised if Ant-Man does not make it, since Paul Rudd barely appears and cutting him would tug at people's heartstrings heading into the next multiverse-spanning movie. I also raised the question of whether Loki, last seen guarding all of time, gets wiped out by Doom, since he is not shown alone in the teaser either. And I am still convinced we will not see much of Robert Downey Jr.'s face this time, maybe five or ten minutes tops, with the mask staying on until that next movie.

I compared Doom's introduction to how Thanos did not really scare anyone until Infinity War despite earlier setup, and to the villain walking through the door in the original Star Wars. Doom has big shoes to fill as one of the more classic comic book characters, and this teaser has to be the start of earning that reputation rather than the whole case.

Did the images in this teaser work for you, or do you need to see more before getting hyped?