Avengers: Doomsday Trailer Breakdown: Incursions, Steve Rogers and Why Doctor Doom Wants Revenge

The first official trailer for Avengers: Doomsday brought the Avengers, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four together and gave us our first real look at Robert Downey Jr. back in the MCU as Doctor Doom, complete with a Latverian accent. Marvel also released a new poster alongside it that I think is quite revealing, and I will get to what it may say about Doom's MCU origin further down.

Here I am breaking down what the trailer shows, along with the plot leaks and reports that were circulating when it arrived. Where those reports were not confirmed, I flag that.

Avengers: Doomsday Puts Three Universes on a Collision Course

Avengers: Doomsday and the next film, Avengers: Secret Wars, which is basically Doomsday Part Two, are the culmination of everything Marvel Studios has done up to this point. That includes older films like the Fox X-Men movies. Across the two films there are a lot of multiversal events, because a lot of universes are colliding into each other.

Doomsday focuses specifically on three universes. The first is the main Earth 616, the universe we followed from the very first Iron Man through Avengers: Endgame and for most of the Multiverse Saga. The second is the Fox X-Men universe. The third is the 828 universe from The Fantastic Four: First Steps, not to be confused with the 838 universe from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. These three are about to collide, and that is partly what Doom and Thor are talking about in their monologues.

Professor X Looks On as the X-Men Destroy Another Earth

The trailer opens on the sign for the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. Instead of standing by the front gate as it usually does, it is lying on the floor, badly beaten up. That reflects where the X-Men are at this point in their universe. We then see Charles Xavier looking out a window of the X-Mansion at another Earth, from another universe, being destroyed. The X-Men were on that Earth, and they are the ones who destroyed it.

This is an incursion, where two universes collide and both are destroyed. The only way to stop one is to destroy one of the universes. In the comics, and apparently in the MCU too, the Earths are the central cores, so a collision is two Earths hitting each other. Xavier looks horrified because the X-Men have just killed trillions of people, deciding it was them or us. It was not an easy decision, and it is something Professor X is clearly struggling with, but it was ultimately one they had to make.

Doctor Doom's "Unthinkable Decision" Mirrors Secret Wars

That is what Doom is referring to when he says, "Something's coming. something we may not be able to deter. Before this day is done, we will be faced with an unthinkable decision." I really like his Latverian accent. The trailer is still mostly teasing him, but from what we get, I think he looks pretty good. Doom is the villain of this film, though for probably about the first half he is going to act like a good guy before eventually turning.

Doom takes the X-Men's dilemma a big step further. He wants to rule the entire multiverse, but he thinks it should not be a multiverse at all, just one world under Doom. That is what happens in the Secret Wars comics: Doom tries to save the multiverse until he realises it cannot be saved, then combines a bunch of universes into one world and rules it as God Emperor Doom. His motives in the film are most likely much the same. So the Avengers face two threats: the multiverse being destroyed by incursions, and Doom becoming the ruler of everything.

Thor Rallies the Rival Avengers Teams in the New Tower

In New York we see the new Avengers Tower from the Thunderbolts post credits scene. That scene showed two Avengers teams: the Thunderbolts, now the New Avengers, and Sam Wilson's Captain America team, with conflict between them. That is why Thor tells them to put aside their petty squabbles, because they are fighting to save not just their universe but the entire multiverse. As he begins, "I fought with many warriors in my time," we see the Fantastic Four, who arrived from the 828 universe in that same post credits scene.

One report I had heard is that Thor's daughter, Love, who was brought back to life by Eternity and is connected to it, senses what is happening and tells Thor. That would explain why he returns to Earth, having been off planet at the end of Thor: Love and Thunder. It sounds like he drops her at New Asgard before meeting the Avengers and the Fantastic Four.

From right to left in the group shot we have Thor, Sam Wilson's Captain America, Scott Lang's Ant-Man, who I am super excited to see back, then the Thing, Johnny Storm, Sue Storm, Reed Richards, Ghost with Bucky behind her, Yelena Belova, Red Guardian, US Agent John Walker, and Bob sitting on the steps. He is not really the Sentry here: using his powers risks bringing back the Void, so he avoids them, which is why he is in flip flops, socks and what looks like a robe. He lives in the tower but has not been fighting with the team.

A Cannon Plan and Rumours Doom Is Already in the Room

The screen behind the group shows three Earths connected by lines, telling us these three universes are heading for a collision. From what I had heard about the plot, Reed Richards, Shuri and Beast eventually come up with a plan to put cannons on each Earth and push them apart. In this scene they are forming that plan; they have not yet gone to the X-Men universe, where they need to place a cannon and talk to the team that watches over it.

There were also many reports, not confirmed, that Doom travels to Earth 616 on the Fantastic Four's ship, so he very well could be in this scene. Marvel likes to edit its trailers, removing things or adding shots that never happen, like the Hulk running with the Avengers in an Avengers: Infinity War trailer. Doom reportedly portrays himself as a hero for about half the film before attacking the Avengers, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four.

Who Thor's "Many Warriors" Speech Is Really About

Thor is an Asgardian god over 1500 years old, and he is essentially saying he has fought beside people far stronger than everyone in this room combined, and they all died. He is probably thinking of Odin, Heimdall, Loki and other gods, possibly even Hela, and the Asgardians who died fighting Thanos. None of those threats scared him as much as this one.

The timing is blurry. We see Doom block Thor's Stormbreaker strike with just two fingers. Although it seems the speech comes before that fight, I would not be surprised if it comes after, because there is no bigger threat in the form of a person than Doom. I believe Thor is talking about Doom, since the multiverse being destroyed on its own would not really warrant this speech. There is a chance he means the X-Men, but I do not think he knows about them yet, and if they had been to that universe, they would already have fought Doom, because that Thor fight happens at a completely destroyed X-Mansion.

Shuri, M'Baku and the Fantastic Four Seek Namor's Help

We see Shuri and Wakandans including M'Baku, who we believe is king, since he called himself King M'Baku in a teaser over half a year earlier, with Shuri apparently his Black Panther. They go to meet Namor, king of Talokan, who seems to part the ocean for them. With them are Sue and the Thing, in what looks like a divide and conquer mission, since Reed is with the Avengers in the X-Men universe. Johnny and Franklin may be in Wakanda too, or may have stayed behind.

There is clearly still tension after Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, when Namor attacked Wakanda and killed many people, including Queen Ramonda, even though they let bygones be bygones at the end. Shuri's new Black Panther suit looks really cool and has some new blue in it. That might be Talokanil vibranium, or perhaps not, given the conflict; we will have to wait and see. They are there because they need all the help they can get. The premise is that nothing that happened before matters when you face complete extinction, which is why these two films wrap up so many Multiverse Saga stories.

Johnny and Franklin Hint at a Destroyed Multiverse

In one shot Johnny hugs a child with short blonde hair. Some may think it is Sue, but it is Franklin Richards, his nephew. Behind them is what looks like a massive explosion, possibly a world being destroyed. This might be the end of the film, because some reports said the heroes fail to stop Doom, much as they failed to stop Thanos in Infinity War. The entire multiverse is destroyed, but everyone is brought back on Battleworld when Doom creates it, leading into Secret Wars. That was just a rumour at this point, though it is what happens in the comics.

The X-Men Fight the Avengers Because They Expect an Attack

At the X-Mansion we get Avengers versus X-Men. Cyclops has an incredibly awesome, comic accurate costume. Channing Tatum's Gambit fights Shang-Chi with a staff and cards against the Ten Rings. Gambit was last seen in a Deadpool & Wolverine post credits scene that only appeared on a TVA monitor in the background, showing him in the Void before a light implied someone came for him. Shang-Chi was training with Wong, who was in touch with Bruce Banner, Captain Marvel and the Avengers, which most likely explains his involvement. It makes perfect sense and I am glad to see him there.

Yelena ducks under Mr. Fantastic's stretched arm as he holds back Sam Wilson, gripping Sam's shield, and H.E.R.B.I.E. appears with a big upgrade. Rebecca Romijn returns as Mystique, catching one of Yelena's batons and turning into her, which is super awesome to see. Gambit flips beneath stained glass bearing a giant X-Men logo and smashes the ground with his staff. This first trailer is meant to tease: little Cyclops, no Nightcrawler, and Professor X and Magneto not in action.

The X-Men have survived many incursions by destroying other universes, so when heroes arrive from elsewhere, they assume those heroes are there to destroy them. Many reports said the opening scene might show the X-Men going to Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man universe to destroy it, which would be insanely cool. In reality, they come to realise it is Doom who is there to destroy them.

Loki Reportedly Moved Steve Rogers to the Fantastic Four's Universe

A report from months earlier, and one I had heard almost a year before, says Loki is responsible for Steve Rogers being in the Fantastic Four's universe. Steve staying with Peggy at the end of Endgame was not supposed to happen, and as Loki seasons 1 and 2 showed, it would create a branch timeline the TVA would prune. Reportedly Loki tells Steve everything and moves him, Peggy and their son Jim to the 828 universe, which has no Captain America or Avengers. The Fantastic Four discover them before heading to Earth 616.

Loki reportedly gives Steve a TVA card to contact him, and we see that card here. Loki appears to be at Steve's house in his TVA uniform. I had heard this is a Loki from between season 1 and the end of season 2, but that might not be accurate, because the back of the card shows a tree, and at the end of season 2 Loki becomes Yggdrasil, the world tree, essentially the god of stories. Which point in time this Loki comes from is unknown, but the key part is that he gives Steve the card, which, from what we know, Steve eventually uses with Thor.

Steve Summons Mjolnir and Thor Finds the TVA in Ruins

At the end Thor, holding Mjolnir and Stormbreaker, sees Steve and says "it's not possible." As a test he extends Mjolnir to see if Steve can summon it. This is not the hammer Steve took back in time but the one from Thor: Love and Thunder, still cracked. Steve summons it, proving he is the Steve Thor knew.

From what I had heard, Steve tells Thor he ran into a variant of Loki, and the two visit the TVA. Reports vary, but they consistently say the TVA is destroyed when they arrive. Reportedly Loki is injured, people like Mobius or O.B. die, and Loki might die himself. Across these reports, this is where they realise Doom is the villain. Judging by the Fantastic Four post credits scene, Doom seems to approach Reed to warn him the multiverse is about to be destroyed, which brings them to Earth 616, all part of his plan to appear the hero.

Thor Versus Doom at the Destroyed X-Mansion

The statues threw me at first until I realised this is the X-Mansion. Some of us had seen a version of this scene leaked online. Once everyone realises Doom is the villain, he summons Sentinels with his magic. That explains the first X-Men teaser, where Cyclops fires his optic blast with Sentinels walking behind him, and why destroyed Sentinels, including a clearly visible leg, lie behind Thor here. A few statues survive, matching leaked set photos. The fight presumably starts when Thor and Steve return and say Doom is responsible, and even with everyone together, Doom stops Thor with two fingers.

Doctor Doom's Comic Origin

Doom is one of the strongest Marvel characters, quite possibly its best villain depending who you ask, and one of its smartest people, with a long rivalry with Reed Richards. His mother was a sorceress tricked by the demon Mephisto, who died and was taken to the hell dimension; his father also died. Born in Latveria, he later renamed his hometown Doomstadt. His mother's mystical artifacts made him an incredible sorcerer, and he roomed with Reed at university in New York.

A device to contact his mother exploded, scarring his face, and he was expelled. Monks in Tibet forged his armour and iron mask. He overthrew the Latverian leaders responsible for his parents' deaths, then developed robotics, weaponry and time travel, and at one point in the comics became Sorcerer Supreme. He set out to conquer the world, rescue his mother's soul and prove himself better than Reed.

The Poster Points to a Dead Wife and Son, and Blame on Steve Rogers

In the MCU it sounds like his origin might be a little bit different, at least as far as his scars are concerned. I think the poster is quite telling: at the top are a woman and a child above a planet. We had heard that in Doomsday, Doom had a wife and son. Learning an incursion was heading for his Earth, he built a machine to stop it, but it exploded, scarring his whole body and killing his family. Based on reports, Steve Rogers caused that incursion by being in the 828 universe, where he did not belong, so Doom blames Steve throughout the film.

The planet on the poster has cracks, and there seem to be angels, implying his wife and son died. At the bottom left appears to be a wizard, and we had heard Doctor Strange and some witches and wizards follow Doom, who believes he is the multiverse's saviour. From his perspective the heroes are destroying it: Steve Rogers, Doctor Strange in Multiverse of Madness, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, probably many more. So it is partly about ruling to save the multiverse, and also about revenge against Steve, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men.

I actually thought Robert Downey Jr.'s Latverian accent was pretty good. What did you make of it, and of his first look as Doctor Doom?