I’m going to be quite blunt here: after Avengers: Endgame, I mostly tuned out of the MCU for a while.
That isn’t a knock on everything that’s come out since then. I still watched a couple of the Disney+ shows and picked a few movies to see, but after more than ten years of building toward the Infinity Saga and the final battle with Thanos, I was simply spent. Endgame felt like such a satisfying conclusion that it was hard to immediately get excited about what came next. It also didn’t help that the post-Endgame era has been, let’s just say, a little inconsistent. Some projects have been excellent, others have been fine, and a few have been, well, absolute ass cheeks. Looking directly at you, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
To say the recently released trailer for Avengers: Doomsday got me genuinely excited for the MCU again would be a massive understatement. I was already interested because I knew the Fox-era X-Men were returning. As someone who grew up with those movies, seeing that cast interact with the modern MCU is something I’ve wanted ever since Marvel Studios regained the rights.
Then there’s Robert Downey Jr.
I was fascinated the moment Marvel announced he would be returning, not as Tony Stark, but as Doctor Doom; that’s one hell of a way to bring back the face of the MCU. I’m incredibly curious to see how he transforms from the hero who helped define this universe and make the ultimate sacrifice to save the world into arguably one of Marvel’s greatest villains. A villain who, depending on the story, can make Thanos look like a minor inconvenience.
Then the trailer dropped.
Seeing the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the Thunderbolts, and the X-Men all sharing the same movie somehow made this feel like a genuine event again. This is exactly the kind of crossover spectacle that comic book fans have been imagining for years.
Also…Sign me up for that Gambit versus Shang-Chi fight teased in the trailer.
Immediately.
No questions asked.
I have to give Marvel credit for one particular moment in the trailer where they show Doctor Doom casually batting Thor and Stormbreaker aside with two fingers like he’s swatting an annoying fly. That one shot tells you everything you need to know about how terrifying this version of Doom is supposed to be and sets him up nicely as the next big world ending threat. No lengthy monologue or exposition, just pure “Oh…this guy is a problem.”
Will Avengers: Doomsday actually deliver? We’ll find out. But for the first time in quite a while, I’m genuinely excited to see where the MCU goes next. If nothing else, Marvel accomplished something I didn’t expect. They made me feel like I did in the lead-up to Infinity War again, and after feeling burned out on the MCU for the past several years, that’s saying something.
Also, did I buy my ticket for opening weekend for a movie that’s four months away? You’re damn right I did!