The official trailer for Avengers: Doomsday has arrived, and while we get some pretty sick action scenes, a better understanding of the plot, and our first snippet of Robert Downey Jr.'s accent as Victor Von Doom... we have even more questions than we did before.
The two-minute trailer sees the Avengers, New Avengers, Fantastic Four, and X-Men all face off while the looming presence of Doctor Doom hangs over them. But you might be wondering how the X-Men and the Avengers even meet, or how the Fantastic Four got to Earth-616, or if we're even on Earth-616 in the first place... No worries: that's where we come in. Below, we've put together the 5 biggest questions from the Avengers: Doomsday trailer, and given you our best answers.
Be sure to watch the Avengers: Doomsday trailer before scrolling down, and check out our Avengers: Doomsday trailer breakdown for even more.
How is Steve Rogers back from the past?
In one of the very first Avengers: Doomsday trailers (which were more like mini-teasers), we saw a fairly young-looking Steve Rogers cradling a newborn baby... and nothing else. In the latest trailer, we see Steve approach his old pal Thor, much to Thor's disbelief. In order to prove it's really him, Thor raises Mjölnir – and Steve is able to wield it without any hesitation (much like he did in Avengers: Endgame).
But how is Steve, who previously declined to return to the future in order to have a life with Peggy Rogers, née Carter, suddenly back on Earth-616? Our biggest clue is around one minute into the new trailer, when we see a hand holding Loki's TVA card. Though, at first glance, it may seem like Loki holding his own card... we can see, upon closer inspection, that the hand is wearing a wedding band on its ring finger. This is most likely Steve holding Loki's TVA card, meaning the good ol' Time Variance Authority is most likely responsible for Steve's time travel to the future. We don't yet know for sure, but we can also speculate that the TVA is responsible for quite a bit of the multiversal mess in Avengers: Doomsday.
Is Tom Hiddleston playing more than one Loki variant?
Speaking of multiversal mess, the inclusion of Loki's TVA card in the new trailer has sparked some confusion among fans. At the end of Loki season 2, our favorite trickster god is condemned to a life as the God of Stories, holding the literal fabric of the universe together at Yggdrasil. It's been confirmed that Loki, God of Stories, is set to appear in Avengers: Doomsday... but the TVA card has some fans (and myself) wondering if TVA Loki is also set to make an appearance, and if Tom Hiddleston is indeed playing more than one Loki variant.
The actor previously told Men's Journal that Loki's journey in Doomsday picks up right where season 2 left off, and that the movie won't "undo" any character development. It also makes perfect sense for God of Stories Loki to appear in Doomsday given that Doom's arrival threatens the entire universe and everything it encompasses. I'm sticking to the theory, however, that TVA Loki brought Steve Rogers back from the past somehow (though we don't even know how the two would've made contact in the first place).
How do the Avengers end up inside the X-Mansion?
It's exciting to see the X-Men make an appearance in the MCU, but keep in mind that these are not the MCU's X-Men. Patrick Stewart's Charles Xavier, Ian McKellan's Magneto, Rebecca Romijn's Mystique, James Marsden's Cyclops, and Alan Cumming's Nightcrawler are all part of the pre-MCU, Fox-owned X-Men franchise, and exist in Earth-10005.
Confusingly, Channing Tatum's Gambit is not from the same Earth as the Fox characters, as his standalone Gambit movie was never made, and exists in a 'temporary reality' known as Earth-TRN1401. Tatum's Gambit appeared in Deadpool and Wolverine, alongside a few other pre-MCU characters like Wesley Snipes's Blade and Jennifer Garner's Elektra.
The question is, how do the Avengers and the New Avengers end up inside the X-Mansion on Earth-10005? Again, we're going to blame the TVA somehow. It also seems that the Avengers realize they need all the help they can get to defeat Doom, so they travel elsewhere to recruit some more heroes. But if that's the case, then why are the Avengers fighting the X-Men in the new trailer?
How are the Fantastic Four in the main Marvel universe?
At the end of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the team is still living their lives in the year 1965 on Earth-828. In the Thunderbolts post-credits scene, however, Yelena tracks their ship as an "extra-dimensional" entering Earth-616's atmosphere. We have no idea what prompted them to head to Earth-616, or how (though Reed Richards most likely figured it out given that he's the smartest man in the universe and all), but most importantly... why?
In the comics, Doctor Doom is to the Fantastic Four what Green Goblin is to Spider-Man. He's their biggest adversary, and he appears in their living room next to a young Franklin in the First Steps post-credits scene. Something had to have happened between Doom's appearance and the team heading off to Earth-616, but we don't quite know what that is yet.
What is Doctor Doom's endgame?
The X-Men and the Fantastic Four have crossed over a few times in the comics, and each time Doctor Doom had a plot to either kidnap Sue Storm or cure Kitty Pryde of her mutant powers for his own personal gain. He's also battled the Avengers, with one specific plotline involving the Young Avengers (whose appearance in the MCU we've been anticipating for quite some time now). At the time of writing, we don't know what Victor Von Doom is plotting in Avengers: Doomsday, or what his endgame is regarding destroying the universe. Because he appears in the post-credits scene for The Fantastic Four: First Steps, I think the answer lies with them... especially since, historically, he's their main adversary.
Interestingly enough, Variety posed a theory that Doctor Doom is a variation of Iron Man from another planet (which would explain Robert Downey Jr.'s casting), but Victor Von Doom and Tony Stark are completely separate characters in the comics. They do butt heads in the 2008 Iron Man: Legacy of Doom, which Downey was seen reading as part of his Doomsday prep. He was also reading Secret Wars, in which Doctor Doom is very much alive, which tells me that he won't be defeated at the end of Doomsday and that this is just the beginning for the supervillain's reign of terror in the MCU.
Doomsday arrives this December 18. For more on Marvel Phase 6, check out our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows.
