Lizzy McAlpine said it best: âDoomsday is close at hand.â On July 20, the official trailer for Avengers: Doomsday dropped â along with all the hidden Easter eggs that Marvel does best. And, as you can probably guess, fans are already crafting theories about Avengers: Doomsday.
Marvel fans (myself included) have been waiting for this moment for what feels like forever. After months of wild casting reveals, blurry set photos, and everyone trying to piece together the potential plot, the hype is unreal. But of course, Marvel loves to keep its fans guessing. Instead of giving us answers, this trailer made us ask even more questions than before. Rather than laying out the film’s story, the footage prioritizes atmosphere, spectacle, and carefully selected moments packed with hidden Easter eggs that hint at a much larger picture without revealing how any of it fits together.
Hereâs what we actually know: Marvel is throwing everyone into the ring to take on Doctor Doom. The trailer features the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the New Avengers, Gambit, Thor, Loki, Shang-Chi, Ant-Man, Sam Wilsonâs Captain America, Wakandaâs crew, Steve Rogers, and of course, Doctor Doom himself. It is less than three minutes long, but thatâs all it took for fans to start cooking up those wild theories about whatâs to come in the MCU.
So, what are fans theorizing? Here are the three biggest theories to come out of the trailer.
- Steve Rogers might be Captain Hydra.
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One of the main theories fans are talking about revolves around Steve Rogersâ Captain America. Seeing him in the trailer, fans immediately speculated that something seemed off with him. We do know that when Rogers returned the stones at the end of Endgame, he stayed behind to have his dream life with Peggy Carter. We got some insight into his return in his personal Doomsday teaser.
In the official trailer, he wields Thorâs hammer, and only those worthy can do so. Therefore, who else could it be? Well, to take it back to the comics, fans have theorized that it is none other than Captain Hydra, an altered-reality version of Steve Rogers. This has led the internet to conclude that he will potentially be working with Dr. Doom as an ally.
- Loki and Steve Rogers are even more connected.
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Loki was present in the trailer for only a few seconds in what looks to be Steve Rogersâ home, as the curtains look almost identical to the ones in the last scene of Endgame when we see Steve and Peggyâs home. This appearance has led to two different theories. One being that Loki shape-shifts into Steve Rogers â which points back to how âoffâ Rogers is during his reunion with Thor in the trailer when he wields Mjolnir. In the past, Loki has been able to wield the hammer, so this theory checks out.
The second theory is that Loki, being a Time Variance Authority agent and the literal anchor of the multiverse, goes back in time to alert Rogers that his illegal timeline will be erased. Fans are hoping this will be among the additional scenes added to the Endgame re-release, which are to bring a connection between that film and Doomsday.
- There are more heroes than the trailer lets on.
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Another thing fans are talking about is the heroes missing in the trailer. Dr. Strange was last seen in Multiverse of Madness when he travels into a portal to resolve the incursion he caused. Hulk and Spider-Man also appear to be missing, and we might get a reason why once Brand New Day releases next week. Wanda Maximoff is âconfirmedâ to be dead after the events in Multiverse of Madness. All of the Guardians are missing, as they did disband in Guardians of the Galaxy 3.Â
The only two confirmed appearances in Doomsday that we didn’t see in the trailer are Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler and Kelsey Grammer as Beast. Marvel is known for editing characters out of trailers, which we mainly saw in Spider-Man: No Way Home with Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire. Thereâs no reason why they wouldnât do it for this huge movie either.
In under three minutes, Marvel has everyone coming up with wild theories about what’s next. Maybe some of these guesses will be right, or maybe Marvel is just leading us on again. Either way, Avengers: Doomsday is already looking like one of the MCU’s biggest moments since Avengers: Endgame. Until then, all fans can do is replay the trailer, search for more to analyze, and wait for the next surprise from the Russo brothers.