The first trailer for Avengers: Doomsday was released yesterday (you can check out our breakdown here), and fans eager to figure out what's to come are, unsurprisingly, searching through every frame for clues.
Similar to the first Spider-Man: Brand New Day teaser, many people are convinced that key characters have been edited out of scenes in the trailer. Looking at the screenshot below, it seems likely that someone is standing between the Fantastic Four.
And, before dismissing this theory out of hand, lest we forget that the fourth Avengers: Doomsday teaser—released back in January—removed Sue Storm and the New Avengers from The Thing's meeting with Black Panther and M'Baku!
Who is the missing character? We believe it's Doctor Doom, who recent rumours have said is also from Earth-828. Based on The Fantastic Four: First Steps' mid-credits scene, he'll likely travel to the New Avengers Tower with Marvel's First Family.
Our favourite theory, however, relates to the returning Steve Rogers. Chris Evans' (sinister?) smile when he's proven worthy of wielding Mjolnir has left some fans convinced that this isn't Earth-616's former Captain America.
Instead, the belief is that this Steve is working with Doctor Doom and posing as the real deal. There have been rumours to that effect, but if he's not our Steve, who is he? HYDRA Cap is the most popular suggestion, with the idea being that this lookalike infiltrates Earth's Mightiest Heroes to help Doom take control of the Multiverse as its God Emperor.
One prominent scooper has already said that's not the case, and we're inclined to believe that this is just a slightly older version of the Steve we saw packing away his Captain America uniform in one of Avengers: Doomsday's teasers.
Still, HYDRA Cap wielded Mjolnir, and the real Steve being elsewhere would be one heck of a way to set up next December's Avengers: Secret Wars.
Avengers: Doomsday will almost certainly spawn more wild fan theories like these in the coming months, and with reshoots reportedly adding more characters and new scenes to the movie, those plot leaks could eventually prove wildly inaccurate.
See if you can spot any new clues by rewatching Avengers: Doomsday's new trailer below.
In Avengers: Doomsday, beloved heroes from three distinct universes will be set on a deadly collision course and face an existential threat unlike anything they’ve ever encountered.
Avengers: Doomsday stars Chris Evans, 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, Mabel Cadena, Florence Pugh, Danny Ramirez, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Lewis Pullman, India Rose Hemsworth, and Wesley Holloway all make their Avengers franchise debuts.
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 and Avengers: Secret Wars from a screenplay by Stephen McFeely, with whom they previously collaborated on the Avengers and Captain America franchises. The movie is produced by Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito, and Jonathan Schwartz, with Callum McDougall serving as executive producer.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released on December 18.