Just as they did back in September 2018 in the buildup to the release of Avengers: Endgame, directors Joe and Anthony Russo took to Instagram yesterday to share a cryptic black-and-white photo from the set of Avengers: Doomsday, encouraging fans to "look hard" for clues.
There have been a number of intriguing theories, but the majority of fans seem to feel that the arrangement of the photo is teasing "Avengers Vs. X-Men," while others believe that Doctor Doom himself is visible in the shot (see below).
Now, Erik Voss of the New Rockstars has shared a video outlining his theory, and while his findings might seem like a bit of a stretch at first, he does offer some fairly compelling evidence.
Possible spoilers follow.
Voss believes that the image is hinting at the return of Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, with the light in the center of the photo shining directly on three metal beams that could represent Logan's iconic claw slash.
He also points out that there's a good chance this photo was originally going to be shared on September 19 - exactly seven years to the day of the Russos' Endgame post - but the reveal was pushed back after Disney came under fire for the Jimmy Kimmel debacle. This would have nothing to do with Wolverine, of course, but Voss theorizes that the Russo' post was then delayed another full week due to the release of the first trailer for Insomniac's Wolverine video game.
We fully believe Jackman will be back as Wolvie for Doomsday, but is this photo teasing his return? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars were recently hit with significant delays, with Doomsday now set to arrive in theaters on December 18, 2026, and Secret Wars positioned for December 17, 2027.
Both movies will be directed by the Russo brothers, who also make their MCU return after helming Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
"Being able to create stories and explore characters within the Marvel Universe fulfilled a life-long dream of ours, and we discovered a powerful connection with audiences in each film that we made. We’re thrilled to collaborate once again with Kevin, Lou and the entire Marvel team to bring this epic adventure in storytelling to new and surprising places for both the fans and ourselves”, said The Russos in a statement after the SDCC panel.
You can check out the full (for now) Doomsday cast list below.
• Paul Rudd as Ant-Man
• Simu Liu as Shang-Chi
• Tom Hiddleston as Loki
• Lewis Pullman as Sentry
• Florence Pugh as Yelena
• Danny Ramirez as Falcon
• Ian McKellen as Magneto
• Sebastian Stan as Bucky
• Winston Duke as M’Baku
• Chris Hemsworth as Thor
• Kelsey Grammer as Beast
• James Marsden as Cyclops
• Channing Tatum as Gambit
• Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent
• Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm
• Rebecca Romijn as Mystique
• Patrick Stewart as Professor X
• Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler
• Letitia Wright as Black Panther
• Tenoch Huerta Mejia as Namor
• Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards
• Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost
• Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm
• David Harbour as Red Guardian
• Robert Downey Jr as Doctor Doom
• Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing
• Anthony Mackie as Captain America