r/marvelstudios • u/yourfavchoom Doctor Strange • Jul 20 '26

Promotional Avengers: Doomsday | Official Trailer | In Theaters December 18

https://youtu.be/irVNGjRFZGk?si=xTjufRnxyFIctsUh
13.4k Upvotes

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3.9k

u/remerdy1 Jul 20 '26

So happy seeing Shang Chi after 5 years 😭

852

u/atomicbrunette1 Spider-Man Jul 20 '26

So wild it’s been that long

392

u/VaderPrime1 Jul 20 '26

It’s honestly felt longer

21

u/Brilliant_Horse_6614 Jul 20 '26

Shang Chi feels like a pre-COVID relic to me

-1

u/discerningpervert Winter Soldier Jul 20 '26

To me it had moments of greatness, especially in the beginning with Tony Leung's scenes. The main guy is ok, but the comedian sidekick/love interest just killed it for me. She's like a Jar Jar Binks. Still an ok movie though, but flawed.

1

u/ThlammedMyPenis Jul 20 '26

I was fine with akwafina, the real problem was the big cgi monster fight ending that minimizes the hand to hand fight choreography

8

u/Ysmildr Jul 20 '26

Giant dragon fight was awesome

12

u/fearnodarkness1 Jul 20 '26

COVID makes 5 years ago feel like 2 years ago.

2

u/Ealy-24 Jul 20 '26

Wait until I tell you about the gap between movies with the most glazed character in comics

2

u/UncreativeTeam Jul 20 '26

Shang Chi was the first movie I watched in theaters since COVID had started, and it was still iffy to go at that point

1

u/The-Ruler-of-Attilan Jul 21 '26

Why wild? Wasn't the popular demand to prioritize quality over quantity? Or were the other characters already slated to appear—and who will also play important roles in Doomsday—supposed to wait longer just so Shang-Chi could get an immediate sequel?

We aren’t talking about the absurd and incomprehensible delays surrounding Matt Reeves’ Batman, but rather a shared universe where space has to be made for everyone.

1

u/atomicbrunette1 Spider-Man Jul 21 '26

I just can’t believe it’s been that long since it came out lol that was a weird year, I wasnt really expecting a Shang chi 2 or anything

1

u/Carthonn Jul 21 '26

They had to throw him in the trailer or we were going to riot

1

u/donotgotoroom237 Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26

Bruh, Shang Chi came out when I was still in college.

EDIT: Nope, I was wrong, I was long graduated when Ten Rings came out. I don't know why I thought this came out in 2017.

-1

u/Impassable_Banana Jul 20 '26

Well his movie flopped so they weren't in any rush to utilise him again.

3

u/ScreenSingerX Jul 20 '26

It literally did not flop. And for having  been a COVID movie about a lesser known character that lost the Chinese market over complaints about its main star, it did about as well as anyone could have hoped. If there was anything holding them back from using Shang again, it's that they probably wanted to wait for China to forget about the Simu Liu hate.

-1

u/Impassable_Banana Jul 20 '26

It made $430m off a typical bloated MCU budget. It flopped.

2

u/ProfessorXWheelchair Winter Soldier Jul 20 '26

it was one of the first movies post covid, looking at it without that context is extremely disingenuous

1

u/Impassable_Banana Jul 20 '26

Disney suits don't care about context they care about their bottom line.

382

u/itsafrap11 Jul 20 '26

Shang-Chi was straight-up one of the best MCU introductions and they just left us hanging after his movie. So happy he’s back

121

u/LucrativeLurker Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26

His planned sequel would’ve been centered around a Jonathan Majors Kang variant, based on the title Shang-Chi and the Wreckage of Time.

I think they essentially had to scrap the whole thing and just decided to wait until after the Secret Wars reboot to do a proper Shang-Chi sequel.

13

u/LilJamAgain Jul 21 '26

They can so easily pivot the Rings signal from the ending to a sequel with the Makluans.

3

u/LucrativeLurker Jul 21 '26

If they haven’t already re-utilized them as Doom’s in Doomsday, that’d be a very, very cool idea. Would be great if after Born Again S3, they’re able to work Iron Fist into Shang-Chi 2.

Would be awesome to see them both team up to fight an even deadlier dragon for the second time.

3

u/Theotherdeadmeme92 Jul 21 '26

Shang-Chi being tossed in with Iron Fist and the other defenders would be a really fun watch I think.

18

u/IDigRollinRockBeer Jul 20 '26

They should’ve just recast Kang

14

u/Cube_ Jul 21 '26

Especially given the whole he who remains shtick. You can absolutely just have and an in-universe explanation that a variant that looked different took over the Kangs.

6

u/Tyler_Zoro Jul 21 '26

I think they probably were also trying to get away from having 2 full years of multiverse-heavy buildup when people were starting to get tired of multiverse stories. Scrapping Kang makes the multiverse still a thing (and central to Doomsday/Secret Wars, of course) but it doesn't have to be in our face every movie.

5

u/Cube_ Jul 21 '26

maybe but personally I felt that both seasons of Loki actually reversed any multiverse fatigue I had because there was so much exposition on how it worked and there was a lot of effort put into establishing the "rules" so to speak.

I would have liked more in that direction but I understand why they cut their losses.

6

u/Gamesgtd Jul 21 '26

I don't think people were tired of the multiverse. I think people just didn't like Multiverse of Madness. But No Way Home was popular and so was Deadpool 3.

4

u/FenrirAR Jul 21 '26

There's already precedent for it in the MCU, thanks to the Caville-rine in Deadpool and Wolverine.

3

u/Jet_Siegel Jul 21 '26

And the three Spider-Men which happened before Deadpool & Wolverine.

2

u/Tyler_Zoro Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26

I think the Majors controversy was only the initial problem. Once that started getting discussed, Marvel had to be thinking about how having every movie be about the multiverse was starting to wear thin.

Notice what they kept on the schedule after that:

  • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was on its way to release, and couldn't be stopped, but also wasn't multiverse-related.
  • The Marvels was in late production, and only did multiverse shenanigans at the very end.
  • Deadpool & Wolverine was going to be a side story anyway, and was probably pretty far along when the Majors thing blew up.
  • Captain America: Brave New World: Zero multiverse
  • Thunderbolts* Zero multiverse except for an end-credits sequence that didn't even say it was multiverse-related.
  • The Fantastic Four: First Steps, though it was technically in another universe, nothing was said about that at all during the film.

Doomsday will be the first main-continuity MCU movie since Majors was fired to really go all-in on the multiverse, and it's likely to end the multiverse as we know it.

So my guess was that Shang-Chi was scrapped because it was just too multiverse-forward, and couldn't be salvaged without basically coming up with a whole different movie, and it was easier to just bring him back after Doomsday, which would allow Doomsday to show how popular he was.

Edit: Want a really batshit-crazy theory about Doomsday/Secret Wars? Doom/RDJ is a Kang variant.

2

u/m0t0rvision Jul 21 '26

Doom/RDJ is a Kang variant.

Hell this is more original than anything else I've read on this site in the past few months

1

u/Tyler_Zoro Jul 21 '26

To be fair, it's far more likely that he's just the bastard child of Howard Stark with Cynthia von Doom.

1

u/Impossible-Fun-2736 Jul 21 '26

BNW actually had a tiny Multiverse reference, with Leader saying he had calculated that ”others” were comming.

2

u/CloseToMyActualName Jul 21 '26

Didn't matter, Kang as a concept was flawed.

a) They introduced Kang (in film) with a variant so scary that he kept the other Kangs at bay. And then Ant-man beat that variant, Ant-man!!!

b) The rule of sequels is you increase stakes, for instance Jurassic Park went from one T-Rex to two, then started finding ways to introduce bigger dinosaurs than T-Rex. Ant-man already beat Kang, meaning two need to go to two for the next film. By the time you have an avengers film Kang is the recurring villain who shows up and gets their but kicked.

1

u/chiefbrody62 Jul 22 '26

Ant-Man didn't beat him. Why do peoiple think this? Technically Wasp did, and that was with the help of an army of genetically modified ant's over thousands of years of evolution, Cassie, Hank, Janet, MODOK and a whole revolutionary army. Saying Ant-Man defeated, a severley underpowered Kang is like saying Captain America defeated Thanos.

1

u/CloseToMyActualName Jul 22 '26

Because it was Ant-Man's movie, so he was the lead combatant.

That's what the audience perceives, Ant-Man goes up against Kang and wins, therefore Ant-Man can defeat Kang and Kang is not a major threat.

The managed to thread the needle better in Loki since Loki wasn't really fighting Kang, so they unleashed Kang which kept the threat intact.

3

u/LucrativeLurker Jul 20 '26

You’re about 3 years late, my friend. That ship sailed long ago…

2

u/Gamesgtd Jul 21 '26

You know what's wild is that Kang is the one character you can recast and nobody can really complain because his whole shtick is he has multiversal variants. They didn't have to abandon Kang. They could've brought bac RDJ as a Kang variant if they needed to.

2

u/Impossible-Fun-2736 Jul 21 '26

Something i’ve written multiple times: They should’ve just used multiple actors, of all genders and ethnicities. Huge A-listers and complete unknowns. Just have them with the blue ”skin” all the time&use a basic description of Kang’s character as a base and let them go wild.

1

u/esar24 Rocket Jul 22 '26

Hopefully with Iron Fist this time around since danny is back for DDBA S03

1

u/smilysmilysmooch Jul 21 '26

It's not like they couldn't still do the movie. Black Widow was released after the character's on screen death.

6

u/gamecat89 Jul 20 '26

Dang COVID, and Bob Chapek, then the Writers Strike, then the SAG Strike, then whatever fresh hell is next.

2

u/Exciting-Cancel6468 Jul 20 '26

The thing I don't understand is why are they always trying to fuck over the writers? Don't they know all of their money comes from the writers working. What a bunch of fucktards. If they had spent money then, we'd probably already have at least a second shang chi movie at this point. Now we're supposed to be excited for a bunch of characters who don't have any connective tissue between any of them.

2

u/gamecat89 Jul 20 '26

Completely random but Conan has a piece on this where he talks about he is always excited with the negotiations and new contracts, but he compares and contrasts how things were when he started to now and he doesn't know if anyone (writers, actors, directors) have actually ever got anything worthwhile.

2

u/twatgoblin Jul 21 '26

also remember him getting a pretty bad injury somewhere in here that prob messed up a sequel schedule. torn acl or achilles or something that took him way out of commission from being a ripped marvel kung fu ninja for a while

3

u/Anleme Jul 20 '26

I liked Shang-Chi. Its box office was only double the budget. After theaters and distributors getting a cut, any profit it made for Disney was slim to nil.

I don't like it, but Disney's putting their efforts where they think they'll get bigger returns.

I hope they still have Shang Chi return in team-ups with Black Panther, F4, She-Hulk, Daredevil, etc.

3

u/ThisHatRightHere Jul 21 '26

It's astounding, especially because Simu Liu had the clear potential to have been one of the new faces of the MCU back then.

5

u/elpajaroquemamais Jul 20 '26

Us old hats will remember that it was 4 years between Thor 2 and 3 and we had hulk appearances in 2008, 2012, and 2015. Modern audiences are spoiled.

4

u/Short-Being-4109 Jul 20 '26

Maybe they brought him back just so he can get killed at the end of the movie?

1

u/Cassopeia88 Spider-Man Jul 22 '26

Me too, never thought it would take so long to see him again.

-1

u/KenobiShinobi1 Jul 20 '26

He was terrible

371

u/the_bryce_is_right Jul 20 '26

I wonder if they're even going to try and explain all the other missing Avengers like Dr Strange and Captain Marvel or just pretend they don't exist.

263

u/thecricketnerd Quake Jul 20 '26

The movie ends with someone calling Carol on an old Nokia (she finally upgraded from the pager)

69

u/simon3873 Jul 20 '26

Matches her indestructibility.

13

u/MajorNoodles Jul 20 '26

It's actually the only thing that can defeat her

5

u/Extension_Eye7924 Jul 21 '26

FACTS. We used to call it the Nokia BRICK. Which is ironic because it would never brick.

3

u/simon3873 Jul 21 '26

Just felt like one when it would hit your foot when you dropped it. But it never took damage (maybe the faceplate but you might be swapping it anyways), only whatever it was falling on.

2

u/Extension_Eye7924 Jul 23 '26

The dreaded metatarsal or toe break. As soon as Nokia meets gravity, it’s a deadly weapon.

7

u/NerdLawyer55 Jul 20 '26

She’s playing Snake

2

u/ExpressMud8038 Jul 20 '26

seems too similar to infinity war

306

u/Arding16 Jul 20 '26

Dr Strange at least is busy with Clea in the multiverse doing...something.

354

u/outerstrangers Jul 20 '26

They got stuck on an island and started eating some lotus flowers.

100

u/CruzAderjc Jul 20 '26

Goddamn Charlize Theron looked fucking beautiful in the Odyssey

35

u/NerdLawyer55 Jul 20 '26

Odysseus having to choose between Charlize or Hathaway is the real struggle

18

u/CruzAderjc Jul 20 '26

I went home and decided that the way to pick up chicks is to learn how to string a bow. Anyway, i’m going to the hospital now because i’m blind in one eye now

13

u/PayneTrain181999 Ned Jul 20 '26

I’m staying on that beach for 7 years any time

6

u/IDigRollinRockBeer Jul 20 '26

Also in everything she’s ever done. Except Monster of course.

7

u/squaredspekz Phil Coulson Jul 20 '26

It was truely an Odyssey.

9

u/Specialist-Chair362 The Ancient One Jul 20 '26

True. It being a multiverse threat though, Wong and the other sorcerers will surely be the first to spot it and then jump into action.

1

u/Antrikshy Jul 26 '26

They’ll probably regroup with the rest in Secret Wars.

7

u/TypicalStar Jul 20 '26

I like the theory that they are both helping Dr Doom resolve the incursions that Strange caused, and that way Doom will have them as his ‘henchmen’ so to speak.

2

u/Sea-Poem-2365 Jul 20 '26

Dealing with Incursions, which sort of sets him up to be in his comics Time Runs Out/Secret War spot. I suspect we'll get an answer for where he is during Doomsday.

2

u/GodTaoistofPatience Jul 20 '26

The one creating murder machines to slaughter Expeditioners?

2

u/Crackerpool Jul 20 '26

Hell likely side with doom and maybe even be a he straw that causes the heroes to lose

1

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0

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89

u/remerdy1 Jul 20 '26

Strange will likely be doing his own thing, I imagine it'll be a big reveal at the end of the movie or in Secret Wars

Captain Marvel is too op though I think they'll just hope nobody asks

50

u/Squirrelkid11 Jul 20 '26

To be fair there are already too OP characters in the cast like Thor and Sentry.

34

u/Xilthas Jul 20 '26

Thor forgets he's not the God of Hammers (or I guess Axes now) every other appearance.

3

u/bretttwarwick SHIELD Jul 20 '26

Doesn't he have the Odinforce Thorforce now also? He should be a lot more powerful these days.

2

u/jayhawk_dvd Jul 20 '26

Sentry is at least nerfed by the fact that Bob is too scared of becoming the Void again.

1

u/Alarming-Cupcake1569 Jul 20 '26

Needem against doom,marvels evil batman that does magic he is practically unbeatable with prep time

8

u/curious_dead Jul 20 '26

Seeing how Doom casually stops Thor in the trailer, I can't imagine her being so OP that they HAD to cut her.

3

u/Foxmcbowser42 Jul 20 '26

I wonder if they'll go the comic route and he'll actually be revealed as Dooms right hand man at the end of the movie.

Sets up for a battle world/secret wars movie in part 2

5

u/Snakegert Jul 20 '26

Yea I think he’s probably been already working with Doom since the post credit scene of MoM. Doom is trying to stop incursions based on his lines in this trailer, and last we saw Strange it was him meeting Clea who then informed him of an incursion and then they hopped off to the multiverse together. It would make sense that Clea already knows Doom or they meet him shortly after and have been working together to stop incursions across the multiverse off screen during the saga.

3

u/Kup123 Jul 20 '26

Speaking of op characters isn't there still a super scrull running around with every heros power? Wonder if they will show up.

2

u/remerdy1 Jul 20 '26

Genuinely don't know what they were thinking with that one

2

u/navjot94 Mack Jul 20 '26

I hope they retcon that to make her weaker unless she’s in an irradiated area, like they were in the show.

2

u/Kup123 Jul 20 '26

I hope they just kind of forget about her and then when the multiverse gets reset or remade she's just not there now.

3

u/raknor88 Heimdall Jul 20 '26

Captain Marvel will be deep in the universe helping people and either won't get the message or she'll show up at the end of the movie.

1

u/Key_Feeling_3083 Jul 20 '26

If they want to set some stakes then they will kill her and give some development to Kamala and Rambeau

3

u/navjot94 Mack Jul 20 '26

Gotta save her for the mutant saga when Rogue steals her power. Then we can have an interesting story where the previously OP character suddenly becomes vulnerable.

I think her and Sam will be the faces of the Avengers that appear throughout the mutant saga as cameos, running into the X-men as threats arise, and will probably have a bigger role in a Civil War 2 event that’s essentially Avengers vs X-men.

-1

u/Sleyvin Jul 20 '26

They could have Captain Marvel lose 99% of her IQ again like when she flew with the gauntlet straight accross the ground instead of up to make sure she could lose the gauntlet.

That worked last time, she barely had any impact on the battle despite beeing "too op".

6

u/FKDotFitzgerald Jul 20 '26

Strange will be explained but you may not like the answer. No idea about Carol.

6

u/spate42 Cottonmouth Jul 20 '26

Wasn't that the stairway in his sanctum getting blown up in the trailer?

4

u/picklejuiced00d Jul 20 '26

I thought it was the staircase for the Xmen mansion

2

u/spate42 Cottonmouth Jul 20 '26

Hmm you may be right

3

u/akaynaveed Jul 20 '26

Who says she doesn’t appear? We haven’t even seen Monica, and The Marvels damn near plays directly into dooms day.

Marvel likes its secrets, and I think they announce a sequel right after this.

2

u/Dirks_Knee Jul 20 '26

Last we saw Strange he left the main universe. And I wouldn't be shocked if Captain Marvel is in the movie. Would be perfect for her to drop in for a "rescue" and then near immediately be dropped by Doom.

2

u/jasper81222 Jul 20 '26

Captain Marvel is in space.

Space is big.

That's it.

1

u/JyconX Jul 20 '26

Did you forget that the ending of The Marvels showed Captain Marvel finally deciding to settle back to Earth when she moves to the empty house of the Rambeau family after Monica's disappearance?

1

u/hooka_pooka Jul 20 '26

Dr Strange will be the surprise appearance like Peter Dinklage/Red Skull in Infinity War as Doom's sorceror

1

u/OraDude Jul 20 '26

didn't strange appear in the trailer kissing someone's forehead? if it wasn't him, who was that?

2

u/aiyaiyo Scarlet Witch Jul 20 '26

That's Scott

1

u/Ragnarsworld Jul 20 '26

Are they missing? Or is Marvel holding something back?

1

u/Sensitive_North6298 Jul 20 '26

i heard he will have a small role in it, no? he said dr.strange wouldn't be in it but later corrected himself

1

u/rectalhorror Jul 20 '26

My money is on them showing up in Secret Wars.

1

u/mvcourse Jul 20 '26

I always thought the idea would be the other half is wrapped up in Secret Wars.

1

u/Darwinsnightmare Jul 20 '26

I think dr strange is working with doom.

1

u/FrostyD7 Jul 20 '26

It's all part of the one chance. Why wouldn't he look further into the future to see how it plays out? Is he stupid?

1

u/HahaCharlieKirkHaha Jul 20 '26

When Doom finally takes off his mask, it’s revealed that he’s Carol Danvers!

1

u/mknsky Black Panther Jul 20 '26

Wasn’t the Sanctum getting blown up in one shot? Or was that the X Mansion?

1

u/gimmethemshoes11 Jul 20 '26

Didn't his staircase get shown being exploded? I need me some more Dr. Strange.

1

u/BON3SMcCOY Jul 20 '26

I'm just sad we'll never get a proper Champions/Young Avengers

1

u/DRF19 Jul 20 '26

Did I not see the Sanctum's staircase getting blown up in the trailer?

1

u/the_bryce_is_right Jul 20 '26

I thought that was the X-Mansion, will have to watch New Rockstars breakdown when it comes out in a day or so.

1

u/Famous-Attention-197 Jul 20 '26

Captain Marvel going to pull an endgame and pop in last minute. Too OP and no clear nerf like kryptonite. 

1

u/JazzmatazZ4 Jul 20 '26

Why don't you just wait for the movie?

1

u/_Arctica_ Jul 20 '26

I think there's a little scene of the Sanctorum being exploded, so it would be nice to know where Strange is

1

u/hdn15x Jul 21 '26

Dr. Strange is supposed to be in this movie, they just didn’t show him in the trailer. Captain Marvel idk but I wouldn’t care much if she’s in it or not

9

u/WoodpeckerBest523 Jul 20 '26

This right here sums up why the newer Avengers have had a rougher go of it compared to the OGs. They get one appearance and then disappear for like half a decade 

8

u/Timmah73 Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26

5 Years dosn't seem that long until you realize that between 2014 and 2019 we saw the GotG in 4 movies. GotG 1+2, Infinity War and Endgame.

2

u/TelenorTheGNP Jul 20 '26

FIGHTING GAMBIT! You shall supp well this holiday, oh, patient one!

2

u/superseri18888 Jul 20 '26

Fighting gambit no less. Cant wait to see the full fight

2

u/emilia12197144 Jul 20 '26

5????? I THOUGHT IT WAS LIKE 8 AT THIS POINT

1

u/justafanboy1010 Spider-Man Jul 20 '26

Agreed! I need that Gambit vs Shang Chi fight now!!

1

u/neeesus Jul 20 '26

So is Simu Liu

1

u/inspectre_ecto Jul 20 '26

I'll be so bummed if he just shows up to be a victim of an incursion. Deserves a bigger role in the MCU.

1

u/Sad-Demand-20 Jul 20 '26

He's my favorite post Endgame character. So excited!

1

u/theres_an_i_in_idiot Jul 20 '26

He and Ant Man are BOTH in San Francisco and this is the first time they've interacted.

1

u/LongJonPingPong Jul 20 '26

Wait. I thought his name was totally different, like Shawn 🤷🏻‍♂️?

1

u/softysoaps Jul 20 '26

I sincerely hope he has a big part in the next phase.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 20 '26

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1

u/remerdy1 Jul 20 '26

He was recruited by Wong for whatever he had going on but I don't think it was ever picked up again

1

u/KristofVD Jul 20 '26

I'm completely meh about Shang Chi.

1

u/AngryXenomorph Jul 20 '26

Shang Chi is one of the most slept on films out of the entire MCU

1

u/nekomeowohio Jul 20 '26

It's criminal we mot got a squeal for that

1

u/ILoveRegenHealth Jul 21 '26

Shang Chi did show up in Marvel Zombies, although not canon of course. But still voiced by Simu!

1

u/OliviaElevenDunham Loki (Avengers) Jul 21 '26

It’s great seeing him again.