It’s occurring, Marvel followers: Avengers: Doomsday is formally in manufacturing. Marvel Studios posted a dwell stream forged announcement for the brand new movie, stunning many with a slew of X-Men actors, fairly a couple of surprising characters lacking fully, and the way goddamn lengthy the entire thing took (5 and a half hours!). But as followers course of the entire reveals, one query rises above the remaining: Where are all of the Avengers on this new “Avengers” film?
27 characters have been confirmed within the video, however there are only a few official Avengers members in that checklist. Much of the roster is taken up by actors related to the Fox X-Men franchise, the Thunderbolts, and the Fantastic Four, finally leaving us with solely a handful of correct Avengers. However, analyzing the in-universe and actual world implications of this will likely result in some large hints on the plots of each Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars. Let’s get into it.
Why the Thunderbolts Are More Important to Doomsday Than We Thought
The solely characters revealed within the announcement who’re historically related to the Avengers in both the comics or the MCU are Anthony Mackie’s Captain America, Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, and Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man. Danny Ramirez’s Falcon and Letitia Wright’s Black Panther will almost certainly be Avengers although Joaquin Torres and Shuri aren’t the variations who’re sometimes a part of the group. There are additionally some characters like Namor or the Fantastic Four who’ve dabbled with Avengers membership within the comics, however aren’t thought-about large gamers within the group’s historical past.
So what offers? Where are Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk, Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch, Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel, Don Cheadle’s War Machine, Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange, and so on.? Well, a part of the reply could lie within the Thunderbolts*, and the title’s asterisk that followers have theorized about for months. (And sure, we all know some worldwide posters point out the asterisk signifies an “Avengers are usually not obtainable” message, however that might simply be advertising and marketing enjoyable.)
Bucky Barnes, Yelena Belova, Red Guardian, Ghost, U.S. Agent and the Sentry are all confirmed to be in Avengers: Doomsday. Why a lot deal with a group of characters who aren’t all that highly effective (minus the Sentry) and aren’t usually thought-about Avengers? Because the MCU seems to be altering that in an enormous approach. Now that we all know the Thunderbolts are going to be gamers in Doomsday, this hints that the asterisk means they are going to be known as the New Avengers by the top of the movie. At least in the trailers, Red Guardian appears to be the one one who likes the “Thunderbolts” title, with Bucky insisting they “can’t name ourselves that.” Perhaps the shortage of a group title is a operating gag over the course of the movie, however between group benefactor Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine buying Avengers Tower and her commenting on the shortage of Avengers within the trailer, it appears the Thunderbolts will probably be taking up the Avengers’ position because the MCU’s de facto superhero group.
The Thunderbolts being named the New Avengers or some variation by the top of the movie would additionally make sense with the Sentry being a significant participant, and his evil counterpart the Void presumably being the movie’s primary antagonist. The Sentry was first launched in a self-titled miniseries in 2000, however he was correctly reincorporated into the Marvel universe in 2005 as a part of Brian Michael Bendis’ New Avengers comedian.
Once the group is established within the MCU, they’ll then be recruited to fill out a correct Avengers roster, presumably led by Sam Wilson’s Captain America. Remember, a plot level in Captain America: Brave New World was President Ross asking Sam to assist him rebuild the group. Since Cap doesn’t have entry to a variety of the extra conventional Avengers, perhaps he has to make do with the much less highly effective Thunderbolts, placing the group at an obstacle of their preliminary confrontation with Robert Downey, Jr.’s Doctor Doom.
Are the X-Men Doomed in Avengers: Doomsday?
Speaking of Doom, one in every of Doomsday’s largest considerations is establishing RDJ’s tackle the character as a reputable menace. Since Doom seems to be MIA within the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot, with Galactus taking on villain duties in that movie (though we should still get a cameo in a post-credits scene), it’ll be as much as Doomsday to set the stage for Doom because the Multiverse Saga’s final antagonist. And what higher approach to try this than for Doom to wipe out a number of main characters that followers thought have been secure? In the identical approach Thanos snapped away half of all life and lots of fan favourite characters in Infinity War, Doctor Doom could also be poised to get rid of a large swath of Doomsday’s forged. Looking on the confirmed characters, it seems that the Fox X-Men are those almost certainly on the chopping block.
Consider: We know that Secret Wars is coming, and Incursions (a number of universes colliding, resulting in widespread destruction), a significant plot level within the 2015 Secret Wars comedian storyline, have already been namechecked in Multiverse of Madness. Seeing an Incursion first hand is probably going the easiest way to ascertain the stakes for Secret Wars, which implies a whole universe might want to die at Doctor Doom’s hand. Knowing this, the Fox X-Men universe getting destroyed makes essentially the most sense. Not solely would it not make for a superb “you bastard!” second for Doom, however much like the best way Infinity War quickly killed off many more recent characters so Endgame might deal with the unique six Avengers, Doom wiping out the Fox X-Men would additionally release house and finances for the extra conventional MCU forged to return in Secret Wars.
Having characters like Spider-Man, Hulk, Scarlet Witch, Captain Marvel and the like return to take the combat on to Doom and avenge the destroyed universe would make for a triumphant finale to the Multiverse Saga. It’s additionally doubtless the one approach for Marvel Studios to doubtlessly match the thrill of the epic conclusion of Endgame that they’ve been attempting and failing to comply with up on in Phases 4 and 5. We received’t know for positive if that is the route Marvel is taking till the movie arrives on May 1, 2026, however for now, this appears like essentially the most acceptable clarification for why there are so few Avengers within the Doomsday forged.
What do you assume will occur in Avengers: Doomsday? Let us know within the feedback!
Carlos Morales writes novels, articles and Mass Effect essays. You can comply with his fixations on Twitter.
