"What you’ve been watching for the last four weeks...are not teasers. Or trailers. They are stories. They are clues. Pay attention."
Those were the words spoken by the Russo Brothers when the fourth and final Avengers: Doomsday sneak peek was released earlier this week. Fans have since tried to decipher what the filmmakers meant, coming up with some pretty wild theories along the way.
We've discussed these teasers (or not-teasers) a lot over the past month or so, but there are some significant moments and reveals that we're now taking a closer look at. Scratching beyond the surface, it's these scenes that we believe reveal the most about what's to come later this year.
To check out our latest Avengers: Doomsday breakdown, click on the "Next"/"View List" buttons below...
5. A Talokan Wasteland
While there's been speculation about this being The Void—and it's certainly possible—our theory is that something has happened on Earth-616 to lead to the oceans surrounding Talokan being drained.
We're not entirely discounting the possibility that Namor's underwater nation has somehow been displaced, but if this really is what's become of the oceans, then the world is in major trouble. Of course, it also opens the door to another, far more surprising possibility.
Everyone is expecting Avengers: Doomsday to end with an Incursion that destroys the Sacred Timeline and leads us to Battleworld in Avengers: Secret Wars. Well, what if the world falls before then, and everything that follows is just the fallout?
4. The End Of The X-Men? (Again)
Marvel Studios will reintroduce 20th Century Fox's X-Men in Avengers: Doomsday for what will likely be their send-off before the post-Secret Wars reboot. And, just like we've so often seen on the page, we expect their story to end in tragedy.
The X-Mansion is in a clear state of disrepair, while Cyclops seems to be the last mutant standing against the Sentinels. The Avengers and Fantastic Four might arrive in time to turn the tide, but regardless of whether these scenes take place before or after that meeting, chances are some fan-favourite X-Men will fall in battle.
That's one way to explain the likely absence of Jean Grey, Rogue, and Storm, for example. And, in place of a happy ending, a dire fate for the X-Men could prove an effective way to cement how high the stakes are in Avengers: Doomsday.
3. Steve Rogers' Fate
Since Avengers: Endgame was released in 2019, we've all been waiting for Marvel Studios to pull back the curtain on Steve Rogers' fate. Answers have never come (while the older Steve is presumably dead, it's never been made official), but that's going to change this December.
It's no secret that Captain America remained in the past to get his happy ending with Peggy Carter, and we now know they had at least one child together...and that Steve put his life as a superhero behind him.
Beyond the possibility of this doing serious damage to the Multiverse, the reveal raises some big questions about whether he lived this life in the Sacred Timeline's past or created a branched timeline. Plus, what drags him away from this world and back into the thick of the action?
2. Thor's Fighting For Love
Thor: Love and Thunder was not a win for Marvel Studios. Despite not being a critical or commercial flop, it fell short of Thor: Ragnarok and a comedy-heavy take on the God of Thunder ultimately didn't resonate with the majority of fans.
Chris Hemsworth has willingly acknowledged the movie's mistakes, and this second teaser establishes that the Avenger is definitely getting serious again. However, it was the return of Love–a character we expected to be forgotten about or perhaps left somewhere with Korg to watch over—that came as the biggest surprise.
It seems she will be Thor's main source of motivation in this movie, with the Russos playing heavily on the fact that the Asgardian is a father (we can also safely say that parenthood is going to be a major theme in Avengers: Doomsday).
1. The Fantastic Four Returns
We already knew Marvel's First Family would be back for Avengers: Doomsday, of course, but that makes this interaction no less intriguing. What is The Thing doing in this desert-like setting, meeting Shuri and King M'Baku for the first time? What has drawn them to the same place?
Our theory is that this is the site—before, during, or after—of an Incursion. That potentially explains why the oceans have run dry, and it seems to imply that the Wakandans and Fantastic Four have been drawn to the same place.
There's a lot of history on the page between the Fantastic Four and Black Panther, so these characters sharing the screen is hugely exciting for comic book fans. We're also pretty convinced that the team's rocket and Doctor Doom have been cleverly edited out of this sneak peek...