By George & Josh Bate
Disney concluded their whopping CinemaCon presentation with a showcase of arguably the most highly anticipated film of the entire conference – Avengers: Doomsday.
Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige and directors Joe and Anthony Russo were at The Dolby Colosseum to speak about the film. But first, Feige noted that Avengers: Endgame will be re-released in the new premium format Infinity Vision with never-before-seen footage and a few surprises.
Diving into Doomsday, Feige revealed that the upcoming MCU movie will “pick up right where Avengers: Endgame left off.” He elaborated that it will also pick up where the X-Men movies left off. In this sense, Feige’s comments dispel a misconception that watching a movie like Avengers: Doomsday requires extensive homework. According to the MCU big boss, all you need to do is watch Endgame and be familiar with the old X-Men movies and you should be fine.
The Russo Brothers, meanwhile, described Doctor Doom as “the greatest Marvel villain of all time. He’s even better than Thanos. Victor Von Doom is one of the most complex villains. He’s always three moves ahead, which makes him virtually unbeatable.”
Doctor Doom himself Robert Downey Jr. then made a triumphant introduction to the CinemaCon crowd, fittingly donning a Doom t-shirt underneath his jacket. Downey remarked, “I couldn’t have imagined reuniting with this amazing team — let alone as a new character.”
Downey, Feige, and the Russos then revealed the first full trailer of Avengers: Doomsday, which included a first look at Downey’s Doctor Doom in his mask. Keep reading for a detailed description of the trailer.
Trailer Description
The trailer begins with a shot of the sign for Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters damaged and on the ground. Inside the school, Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier looks out the window at what appears to be an incursion. Tons of glowing yellow and purple lights from the sky signal something very bad is about to happen.
We then hear narration from Downey’s Doctor Doom in a Latverian accent. He ominously says, “Something is coming. Something we may not be able to deter. Before this day is done, we shall be faced with an unthinkable decision.” Downey’s voice suggests that his Doom is the same calculating menace portrayed in comics, such as Secret Wars.
We see a look at the Avengers Tower in New York City. Inside, we see glimpses of the Fantastic Four coming through a door as The New Avengers await. We later see Thor in the room, also giving an ominous speech about what’s to come. “I fought with many warriors in my time,” the Asgardian says. “They were far stronger than all of us put together and they died. They died facing enemies and threats that scared me far less than this one. Everything they sacrificed will be for nothing if we don’t stand together. Put aside your petty squabbles.”
Other notable parts of the trailer include various duels inside the X-Mansion between the Avengers and the X-Men. A particularly memorable moment sees Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi and Channing Tatum’s Gambit face off. Rebecca Romjin’s Mystique, donning her white comic accurate costume, transforms into Florence Pugh’s Yelena and fights with the actual Yelena.
We also see more of the meeting between the Wakandans and the Fantastic Four in a desert. Ben Grimm and M’Baku shake hands. Shuri and Sue Storm nod to one another. Namor is seen flying in the air at one point, and sitting confidently in a throne at another.
Most strikingly, however, is our first look at Doctor Doom. He initially appears in the trailer (armored and with a mask on) making a superhero landing in the courtyard of a mansion (maybe the X-Mansion?). Later on, Thor runs at him with Stormbreaker. Doom effortlessly lifts his hand and stops Thor with ease.
The trailer ends as Thor says, “We need a miracle.” He starts talking to someone who we can’t see at first. “This isn’t possible,” he says. “Hey, pal,” the other person replies. The camera then shows Thor is talking to Steve Rogers. He doesn’t look like the Chris Evans we saw in the teaser a few months back. His appearance is more similar to his Infinity War look, with long hair and a beard. He’s also wearing a black suit, not his Cap suit.
The trailer was so mind-blowing that the CinemaCon crowd demanded that it be played again. But before that, Chris Evans was welcomed on stage, wearing a green jacket. Despite brandishing Doom colors, Evans was not having Doom. He jokingly spoke about how he likes Downey, but that he doesn’t like Doom whatsoever. Feige and the Russos playfully broke Evans and Downey apart as they confronted one another. Someone remarked, “Not this again,” a reference to the two coming head-to-head in Captain America: Civil War. Feige then said, “Leave it for set.”
Impressions & Speculation
Simply put, the footage was impressive. Marvel Studios gave themselves a difficult task to follow Avengers: Endgame with a movie that has even greater stakes and an even greater threat, but they seem to have accomplished that difficult feat.
If there’s one word to describe the trailer, it is ‘ominous.’ Downey seemingly doesn’t go showy or too heighted as Victor Von Doom, instead playing him with a more menacing and calculated thoughtfulness. Thor’s speech to the Fantastic Four and Avengers similarly implies the high stakes of the situation. Thor has come up against a number of enemies before, but we haven’t seen him quite as scared or rattled at this. He recognizes the threat of Doom and is eager to let the other heroes know about it.
Everything we saw from Doom looked incredible in the trailer. The armor is gorgeously designed. It looks so much like the Doom armor from the 2015 Secret Wars run in which Doom became God Emperor Doom. However, he is not wearing a white cloak. Instead, he has his trademark dark green one.
Visually, it seems as if the Avengers movies have upgraded massively in bringing on Newton Thomas Sigel as cinematographer. Sigel was the cinematographer on the original two X-Men movies and previously collaborated with the Russos on Cherry. The color grading, establishing shots, and framing all look gorgeous.
Narratively, we suspect that rumblings of Avengers: Doomsday effectively being an Avengers vs. X-Men movie are true, at least in part. Much of the trailer shows the two teams clash. Doom’s limited dialogue also implies that he may be the one masterminding the conflict. “Something is coming,” he says. “Something we may not be able to deter. Before this day is done, we shall be faced with an unthinkable decision.” These don’t feel like the words of a big bad threatening someone. They feel like the words of a covertly ill-intentioned figure giving warning to someone about a threat that, unbeknownst to others, they have engineered.
Speculation is sure to be rampant on social media following the CinemaCon presentation. But we’ll have to wait until winter to find out what happens in the highly anticipated fifth Avengers movie.