Avengers: Doomsday directors confuse everyone by saying those recent trailers are "not teasers" but are "stories" and "clues"

Avengers: Doomsday directors Joe and Anthony Russo have addressed the batch of four character-centric teasers, declaring that they are something else entirely.

"What you've been watching for the last four weeks… are not teasers. Or trailers. They are stories. They are clues… Pay attention," the Russos wrote on Instagram, accompanied by the hashtag #DoomsdayHasBegun.

As a refresher, four Avengers: Doomsday teasers have been accompanying showings of Avatar: Fire and Ash, with a new trailer debuting every week.

First up, Steve Rogers returned in an initial Doomsday trailer. Then, Chris Hemsworth's Thor was the focus of the second trailer. The third, and perhaps most exciting of all, featured Charles Xavier, Magneto, and Cyclops in an X-Men themed teaser. Finally, this week saw the official release of a moment shared between Wakanda's M'Baku and Shuri alongside Fantastic Four's Ben Grimm.

If we put our tinfoil theory hats on for a second, there's a good chance the Russos are referring to children – or lack thereof – in the Avengers: Doomsday trailers.

Steve Rogers, of course, is cradling his baby in his teaser and Thor is talking about adopted daughter Love. The other two could be punctuated by loss: Cyclops is seen in a rage, perhaps because of the disappearance of a loved one.

In Marvel's comics, Nathan Summers (AKA Cable) is a prominent figure. Then there's the scene in Wakanda. Curiously, neither T'Challa and Nakia's son Touissant is present, nor is Franklin Richards. Doom's arrival in the Fantastic Four post-credits scene certainly indicates that Doom has an interest in the next generation of heroes – and might try and save a dying multiverse in his own warped manner.

Still, we've got a while to wait, and plenty of time for your conspiracy theories to coalesce. Avengers: Doomsday hits cinemas on December 18, 2026.

For more, check out the Marvel timeline and our guide on how to watch the Marvel movies in order.