Finally, at lastThe Avengers are assembling again!
This long-awaited meeting of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes can’t come soon enough. It’s been a tough six years for movie theater owners since their last heroic team-up in 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame.”
To the excitement of exhibitors from Seattle to Key West, Disney debuted the first full trailer for “Avengers: Doomsday” at CinemaCon as part of the studio’s presentation to movie theater owners. So far, Marvel has only offered four brief trailers focusing on Steve Rogers (formerly known as Captain America), Thor, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four, all answering the ultimate call to battle.
The trailer begins with a look at Downey Jr.’s green-hooded, metal-faced Doctor Doom as he prepares to invade the multiverse. There’s a shot of Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) looking out the window of his X-Mansion as a bright flash of light appears outside, signaling trouble. From there there is an avalanche of crossovers: Gambit (Channing Tatum) and Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) fight; Mystique (Rebecca Romijn) transforms into Yelena Belova, resulting in a fight between Florence Pugh and Florence Pugh; and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Doom face off, but Doom catches Thor’s magic hammer, Mjolnir, with his bare hands.
The biggest moment comes when Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers makes his triumphant return and reunites with Thor. The Asgardian is surprised by the arrival of his Avengers teammate, given that Cap had gone back in time to grow old with his beloved Peggy Carter in “Endgame” (and passed the mantle to Sam Wilson). It’s still unclear how Cap returned, but he’s clearly still worthy enough to lift Thor’s hammer, just like he did during Thanos’ battle in “Endgame.”
Similar to how “Infinity War” and “Endgame” brought together the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Wakandans and the Avengers, “Doomsday” mixes Earth’s mightiest heroes with the X-Men, the Fantastic Four and the Thunderbolts. After the Fantastic Four’s ship crossed the MCU in the post-credits scene of “Thunderbolts,” we finally see Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, and the Thing meeting the so-called New Avengers (composed of Bucky Barnes, Yelena Belova, Sentry, Ghost, Red Guardian, and Agent America). There’s also a tense showdown between Black Panther’s Wakandan forces and Namor’s underwater Talokans after the two armies clashed in “Wakanda Forever.”
All the heroes (and several former villains) must put aside their differences and join forces to take down Doctor Doom. Downey Jr., who narrates part of the trailer in a vague Eastern European accent, took the stage with Evans to play the trailer twice to a packed auditorium.
Joe and Anthony Russo are directing “Doomsday” and 2027’s “Avengers: Secret Wars,” which will conclude the MCU’s Multiverse saga. The filmmakers have alluded to the idea that consecutive tentpoles will be connected, a la the two-part story of 2018’s “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Endgame.”
Plot details for “Doomsday” have been kept under wraps, but it promises to be the superhero show of this year or any year: “Doomsday” features a mix of Avengers and
Although Marvel’s recent track record has been rocky, the comic book empire’s biggest post-pandemic hits have been big “Avengers”-style team-ups, including 2021’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home” ($1.9 billion) and 2024’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” ($1.33 billion). Exhibitors are excited about “Doomsday” because the last time Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe brought together the complete The gang was 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame,” which fueled the biggest opening weekend of all time with $357 million domestic and $1.2 billion worldwide. “Endgame” triumphantly left theaters as the highest-grossing film of the year and the second in history with an astonishing $2.8 billion worldwide.
“Avengers: Doomsday” is scheduled to release the same day as “Dune: Part III,” which could result in one of the biggest collective weekends in box office history. “Avengers: Secret Wars” is expected to land a year later December 17, 2027.
