When the first Avengers: Doomsday teaser trailer leaked online earlier this week, we could see (barely) that it ended with a countdown. There have been conflicting reports about what it was leading to, including the anniversary of the movie's initial cast reveal and Tony Stark's birthday.
With better quality leaks out there if you look hard enough, we now know that it's simply counting down to Avengers: Doomsday's release in theaters next December. However, there may still be more to it than meets the eye...and it's seemingly a countdown to "Doomsday" in more ways than one.
According to reliable runtime and trailer leaker @Cryptic4KQual, while he's not sure whether Mister Fantastic and "the gang" create watches for everyone, Avengers: Doomsday's heroes will wear wrist devices that track and count down to the final Incursion.
This lines up with the comics; in Jonathan Hickman's Avengers and New Avengers runs, the Illuminati wore watches that would warn them of Incursions and tell them how long they had left before the two colliding worlds were destroyed.
It makes sense for this to carry over into the MCU, and it's interesting that Marvel Studios is incorporating this countdown into marketing. While it's somewhat predictable for fans, this countdown to the final incursion—and the end of the MCU as we know it—is what sets the stage for Doctor Doom to rule over Battleworld.
On the page, Doom uses the power of The Beyonders to create a new world out of the remains of those previously destroyed. He rules over it as the planet's "God Emperor," and only a handful of Earth-616's heroes manage to survive by taking refuge on a cosmic liferaft created by Reed Richards.
In Secret Wars, they face Doom and manage to restore reality, albeit with a few key changes; in other words, this will be what reboots and creates an MCU where the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Spider-Man all exist in the same space.
Avengers: Doomsday officially stars Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Mackie, Winston Duke, Tom Hiddleston, Sebastian Stan, Letitia Wright, Paul Rudd, and Robert Downey Jr. Wyatt Russell, Simu Liu, Tenoch Huerta Mejia, Florence Pugh, Danny Ramirez, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, and Lewis Pullman all make their Avengers franchise debuts in the movie.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps leads Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn join them, as do X-Men franchise stars Kelsey Grammer, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden, with Deadpool & Wolverine star Channing Tatum.
The Russo Brothers direct Avengers: Doomsday from a screenplay by Stephen McFeely, with whom they previously collaborated on the Avengers and Captain America franchises. Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness's Michael Waldron is also working on the script.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released on December 18, 2026, with Avengers: Secret Wars scheduled to arrive on December 17, 2027.