Avengers: Doomsday – As hype builds, is Marvel lost in the multiverse? | film

IIs anything real anymore? In the past few weeks, there have been rumors that Marvel is about to drop the first official footage of the upcoming superhero saga Avengers: Doomsday, ahead of trailers for Avatar: Fire and Ash. This makes some sense: The latest installment in James Cameron’s massive 3D project about blue aliens and colonial disgrace is clearly a visual spectacle, so why not lure Captain America and Thor fans into movie theaters by dangling the promise of a Doomsday trailer in front of them? In a world where everyone expects everything to be online instantly, could the most radical experiment be to put this thing in movie theaters?

If this once seemed like a good idea, it increasingly seems less so. There are rumors that several Doomsday trailers are in circulation, to be released before select screenings of Fire and Ash. But many of them appear to have leaked online already, meaning the most notable Avengers fans are now getting their first glimpse of the new film through the prism of phone shots and zip artifacts. Meanwhile, audiences at early screenings of Cameron’s film have reported seeing no Avengers trailer, although some insist they briefly saw something.

The first leaked trailer appears, according to multiple eyewitness accounts and parts of poor-quality footage, to once again show Steve Rogers in his place as a central heroic presence, framed with unmistakable emotional weight. On-screen text reportedly confirms that the character will return in Doomsday. It’s not clear whether this was meant to be incitement, misinformation, or deliberate provocation, but the implication alone was enough to send audiences into a state of excitement.

This immediately creates a small mountain of problems. Marvel has already introduced a new Captain America in the form of Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson, and he’s spent several years — including an entire Disney+ series and this year’s Captain America: Brave New World — establishing him as the future of the role. Meanwhile, Chris Evans’ Rogers had a very public and deliberate send-off in Endgame, as an old man who traveled back in time to live out his remaining years with Hayley Atwell’s Peggy Carter. Are we really supposed to believe that he’s back now, inexplicably young and ready to fight, to take down Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom? And how much narrative sleight of hand is Marvel willing to deploy before the idea of ​​sequels finally collapses under its own weight?

There are, of course, ways the studio can explain all this weirdness without setting Endgame on fire. Perhaps Doomsday will give us an alter ego for Steve Rogers, one who was eliminated from the main timeline before he even thought about giving up everything for the love of a good woman. Maybe this is Steve being pulled back into service due to the collapse of the multiverse. Or maybe this is simply what happens when a franchise falters at the box office and decides it needs Evans back. Another leaked trailer appears to focus on Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, suggesting that Doomsday will indeed see the old Avengers gang back together, even if Downey Jr. is now wearing a completely different suit.

For Marvel fans, it’s hard to understand what’s going on. You can go and see the avatar and you might catch a little trailer for Avengers: Doomsday. But also you may not. The best you can get online right now is a shaky phone clip that looks like it was filmed from inside a pocket (or a perfectly legitimate but completely meaningless countdown video telling you it’ll be nearly a year before the movie actually hits theaters).

Is this what the hype and anticipation will look like in 2025? If so, Marvel has finally mastered a marketing strategy that feels right for the era: a blockbuster movie launched as a rumor, fueled by nostalgia, delivered through confusion, and headlined by two men who already had their endings, but were called back anyway.