As you are probably aware, Marvel has released a trailer, not just a tease, for Avengers: Doomsday. It’s an amazing bit of promotion with some really cool things in it, and I’m going to touch on a few of my favorites and share a theory or two. Hey, if I’m wrong, y’all get to come back and mock me later.

I’m not sure about the need for this, but I guess spoiler warning for a trailer? I’m going to be talking about things they’ve already shown, and if you’re not interested in the trailer, I’m not sure why you’d be reading this, but… I will be discussing specific detail about the trailer. So, if you’re worried about spoilers for that, I guess either skip this or take 2:26 to go watch it.

The trailer opens with what appears to be a speech from Robert Downey’s Dr. Doom, and it hints at a major choice to be made. At times, in the past, when universes have collided in Marvel comics, the “incursion” as they call it has wiped out one, or both, universes. I wonder if he’s hinting at someone (probably him and whoever he’s trying to persuade) making the “unthinkable” choice of determining the life and death of an entire universe, if not more. More on that in a moment.

Thor also gives a speech that isn’t exactly reassuring, but shows the stakes, referencing more powerful heroes that have died facing other threats. We see some interesting interactions during this which lead to a theory of mine. The heroes of the “main” Marvel Earth have faced all manner of cosmic threats. The Fantastic Four had an entire history on their world that we didn’t really get to see, except for Galactus. But the X-Men, most of their problems have been home-grown, usually centered around anti-mutant or anti-human agendas. We see what appears to be calm interactions between the FF and the Avengers, but the hero vs hero stuff all involves the X-Men. The Shang-Chi vs. Gambit fight should be amazing, and Yelena vs. Mystique could be impressive. I wonder if the Avengers, who are very experienced at this point, and the FF, who have been shown as mature, highly intelligent heroes, manage to calmly talk about what might be happening, but the X-Men, used to being conspired against, are a bit more resistant.

The brief glimpse of Loki is interesting, and he’s definitely not where we last saw him at the end of his second season, seating amid the multiverse version of the World Tree. There are a lot of theories about what happened there, but I don’t feel confident enough to throw anything in that particular ring. I will note that, a few times, in the background, we see what appears to be three globes connected by lines. I wonder if that represents the Earths of the MCU, the FF, and the X-Men. If so, it makes me wonder about the various other Marvel Earths, like the other two Spider-Men for example.

There are two very cool moments near the end. One of them is Thor, fully charged, roaring in fury, slamming down on Doom, and Doom casually blocking Stormbreaker with what appears to be two fingers. That kind of casual arrogance is perfect Doom. Whether this is “our” Thor or not is up for debate, since the multiverse is in play here. The other is the return of Steve Rogers, and Thor’s quick test to verify that it’s really him. The trailer ends with the swelling Avengers theme in a nice dramatic moment.

Now I’m going to talk briefly about what we didn’t see. Conspicuously absent are, among others, Spider-Man, Hulk, Captain Marvel, Dr. Strange, Hawkeye, and the Guardians of the Galaxy, as well as the assorted Defenders heroes. For the Defenders, and arguably even Spider-Man, with the power level at play, they could arguably not do much. I could see them not showing up. I guess the same could be said of Hawkeye, and Jeremy Renner’s dispute with Marvel about pay is fairly common knowledge. I’m still hoping he shows up at least briefly in either Doomsday or Secret Wars. When facing cosmic level events, I’d want the Hulk, Captain Marvel, and maybe the Guardians on my side. We know Hulk is in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and rumors have said that Brand New Day and Doomsday happen at roughly the same time, so that might explain a few absences. I suppose it’s possible that Captain Marvel and the Guardians are off on adventures in other parts of the universe and just don’t get the heads up about what’s happening. Although we’ve seen that Captain Marvel at the very least has a way to communicate with Earth from afar. Dr. Strange may be off-world as well; the last we saw him, he and Clea were going to another dimension. And yes, I’m aware there’s no way to fit everyone in, even over two epic movies.

Overall, I’m very, very excited about this movie. Since the trailer is setting viewership records, I’m guessing I’m not alone. I guess we’ll see if any of my speculation is right come December 18^th. Before then, I’m going to enjoy Spider-Man: Brand New Day, hopefully catch up on Daredevil, and DC’s Lanterns. It’s a good time to be a hero geek.