The first trailer for Avengers: Doomsday is now on YouTube, meaning you don't have to go and see Avatar: Fire & Ash for your first glimpse of the next big Marvel event.
The video is just below – I won't say anything about what you'll find in it here, so you can get the full experience.
The trailer is entirely focused on Chris Evans' Steve Rogers, Captain America himself, first hinting at him through glimpses on this motorbike, before showing the house that's familiar to people who've seen the end of Avengers: Endgame a million times (me), and then Steve holding a baby.
I think we will assume this is his baby, and that Captain America has not turned to kidnapping in his theoretical retirement years.
It ends with a statement that's something of an open secret to any Marvel fans paying attention online: Steve Rogers will return in Avengers: Doomsday.
I say his "theoretical retirement years," because it's fair to say I have mixed feelings about poor Steve being dragged back into the Marvel movies.
Steve – and Chris Evans' performance – were the single best thing about the Infinity Saga and the whole wildly successful first big era of the MCU, in my opinion. And the way that Endgame centers him and then concludes his story is crucial to why I find that movie to be a five-star masterpiece.
To me, pulling him back in just when he was out – like Michael Corleone himself – smacks more of desperation about the troubled nature of the MCU than anything else. I don't find it creatively exciting; I find it a backward step.
However, the flip side of this argument was made succinctly by my colleague Lance Ulanoff: "The only reason to watch Avengers: Doomsday is Steve Rogers coming back."
I think Lance is underselling Robert Downey Jr's Doctor Doom as a draw there, but ultimately, I agree. And it seems like Marvel is on the same page, since this is literally our first look at Doomsday, before even seeing Doctor Doom.
I expect that a lot of people will be feeling a bit underwhelmed by this short and narrow trailer, of course – if you're wondering what's going on and don't mind being spoiled, let's recap what the leaks say.
The leaked Avengers: Doomsday trailer plan to expect – spoilers ahead!
When this trailer leaked online about a week ago, my colleague Tom Power reported on the claimed plans for Avengers: Doomsday trailers being a month-long saga:
"The gossip columns are full of reports that the next one will focus on Chris Hemsworth's Thor, before the third one gives us our first official look at Robert Downey Jr's Doctor Doom. The fourth and final video is rumored to be Doomsday's actual teaser trailer."
It's a nice way to make sure that Avatar: Fire & Ash makes as much money as humanly possible, not that the Avatar movies have had any issues in this regard. The new one has made a cool $345 million in its first weekend, and these movies traditionally make money over a long period – and Disney seems to have guaranteed that by teasing out these Avengers trailers.
Avengers: Doomsday is currently set to be released on December 18, 2026.
