Kristian Harloff Reacts to the Avengers: Doomsday Trailer: "I'm Liking What I'm Seeing"

D23 is dropping a wave of Marvel content, and after the Vision Quest reveal came the new Avengers: Doomsday trailer. From what I can tell, this looks like the same footage that was shown exclusively at Comic-Con, now being released more widely now that tickets are on sale.

My overall verdict: I really liked this one. The first trailer was mostly imagery, but this one actually digs into the story, the threat, and just how powerful Doctor Doom is going to be.

The Trailer Leans Into a Genuinely Dark Tone for Doctor Doom

Watching it live, the moment Doom appeared on screen, I called it immediately: "That's Doom." The footage plays almost like a Game of Thrones style scene, with Invisible Woman noting Victor "used to be kind, used to be caring," which had me asking right along with the trailer, "What happened?" Magneto's look in this trailer reminded me of Obi-Wan Kenobi, wise and weathered, while the line about everything Victor loved being taken from him sets up his fall. When Invisible Woman says "I knew he was lost. But I did not realize that he was broke," I compared it to "Walter White style," and the exchange where Victor is asked if he did something and simply replies "Sure did," followed by the line "All of you have lived on stolen lives," struck me as "super super dark."

The "I Am Doom" Line Confirms This Is the Comic-Con Footage

When the Doombot moment hits with "I am Doom," I'm fairly confident this confirms it is the same trailer shown at Comic-Con, since that was the specific beat people talked about afterward. That dark feel is going to hit hard in theaters, especially for anyone who hasn't seen an Avengers or Marvel movie in a while, because the trailer doesn't even need to show Robert Downey Jr.'s face to make an impact. I found it almost funny that the trailer plays coy with "who's playing Doom," when of course we already know it's Downey.

Doom Has to Be Scarier Than Thanos, and This Sets That Up

Doom is one of the most recognized villains in all of Marvel lore, so the movie has to make him intimidating, arguably scarier than Thanos, and set that up quickly. Given the title Doomsday, this darker tone feels right, and I expect the film will open big and devastating. I don't think the trailer leads with humor, though I'm sure there will be some scattered through the movie the way there always is in Marvel films, but the focus here is clearly on tone and threat rather than jokes.

I've been hyped for this movie already, and this trailer only added to that. The characters featured seem to be the central focus of the story, though there may be more characters and story threads still to reveal. I'm digging Downey's voice and what they're doing with this version of Doom.

Do you think this trailer confirms the story will center on Doom's fall from grace, or is there a bigger ensemble story still hidden here?