During D23 last night, Marvel Studios gave us another look at Avengers: Doomsday. This latest trailer may contain more answers than we expected, with the footage raising questions about Doctor Doom's mysterious past, his connection to the Fantastic Four, and what exactly he's planning for the MCU's fractured Multiverse.
From the revelation that Victor Von Doom hails from Earth-828 to hints that may set the stage for Avengers: Secret Wars, there are plenty of details worth unpacking.
It's fortunate then that we've gone through the trailer frame by frame to break down the biggest reveals, references to the comics, and theories, including what might really be behind Doom's war on the Avengers, X-Men, and Fantastic Four...
7. Doctor Doom Is From Earth-828
We'd suspected this might be the case, but the latest Avengers: Doomsday trailer finally confirms that Doctor Doom hails from Earth-828. Based on Sue Storm's narration, it seems Victor Von Doom was once a friend to the Fantastic Four, and perhaps even a good man.
The Fantastic Four hinted at Doom's connection to the team. Latveria was absent from the United Nations, and we now know that wasn't because they're an isolationist nation. Instead, Victor seems to have cut himself off from the world after suffering a tragic loss.
6. Victor's Tragic Origin Story
In the MCU, it seems everything changed for Doom when he lost his wife and son, marking a major departure from the comics. On the page, the arrogant Victor is a Latverian student who attendead the same college as Reed Richards; he was never a particularly nice person.
He was left horribly scarred when a device he built to contact his mother, whose soul is trapped in Hell, literally blows up in his face. That begins his descent into villainy, and Victor eventually takes over his childhood home, becoming a dictator who rules Latveria through fear.
5. A Decimated New York
How did Earth-828's Doom lose his family? That's not revealed here, but rumours suggest it was the result of his trying to solve the Incursions laying waste to the Multiverse. Seeking revenge and likely hoping to bring them back from the dead, Victor's wrath will know no bounds.
Is he responsible for laying waste to this version of New York? We think that's a misdirect, but this may be what's left of Earth-10005 after the X-Men have fended off multiple Incursions, or even another familiar version of the Big Apple. The home of Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man, perhaps?
4. "Stolen Lives"
"All of you have lived stolen lives," Doom says in the trailer, but what exactly does he mean? We know that Earth-616 is the Sacred Timeline, meaning that Victor (and the Fantastic Four) are Variants from one of countless parallel realities and branching timelines.
If it's true that Loki helped Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter, and their son hide out on Earth-828—leading to the experiment that killed Doom's family—then he may be speaking to them. That, or the experiment saved Earth-616 and Earth-10005 when it was only meant to protect Victor's world.
3. What Did Victor Do?
This special look at Avengers: Doomsday is very cleverly edited, and we don't believe Mister Fantastic is confronting Doctor Doom about the remains of New York or even the moment he seemingly reveals his true nature and takes down the Avengers, X-Men, and Fantastic Four.
Instead, we believe that Doom has somehow manipulated events to ensure there's a Final Incursion that somehow helps him acquire enough power to create a new reality (Battleworld). If Victor killed Loki and stole his power, then he might even be the cause of the Multiverse's end.
2. Franklin Richards
We now see that the Human Torch is embracing Franklin Richards, not Sue Storm, as a world seemingly shatters in the background. This could be what Johnny believes are their final moments, but that feels like far too big a scene to give away in an early trailer.
In the Secret Wars comic, Doom rewrites reality to make Sue his wife and Franklin his son. That was weird on the page, but it makes more sense here, particularly if the villain seeks to replace the family he lost with Reed's. We're also expecting Franklin's Power Cosmic to be key.
1. Sentinels Rise
In the trailer's money shot, after making short work of Thor—Doom flings Stormbreaker aside like it's nothing—the villain uses his powers to restore a fleet of mutant-hunting Sentinels. We know from a leaked clip that they'll be pitted against the Multiverse's Mightiest Heroes.
It's a great sequence, and one that we believe will come at the midway point of Avengers: Doomsday. Hopefully, it's a precursor to Doom unleashing an army of Doombots during the Avengers, X-Men, and Fantastic Four's last stand in the movie's final act.
Check out some 4K screenshots from the Avengers: Doomsday trailer below.