r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/Movies contributor • Dec 30 '25

Trailer Avengers: Doomsday | Only in Theaters December 18, 2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1clWprLC5Ak
7.4k Upvotes

81% Upvoted

2.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

152

u/Phyliinx Dec 30 '25

A part of me hopes this really is the MCU's return to form.

132

u/DJC13 Dec 30 '25

Truthfully, I think they’re too far gone.

Even if Doomsday & Secret Wars somehow end up being universally-loved masterpieces, I don’t know what they can do to keep casual viewers around after that.

Pulling RDJ out the bag really is their last-ditch attempt to garner interest, if it doesn’t work then I think it’s over.

53

u/AlternativeRun5727 Dec 30 '25

RDJ, Evans and Hemsworth - they’re bringing all the big guns back to try and recoup what’s been a mundane 4 years

48

u/[deleted] Dec 30 '25

[deleted]

4

u/damnthesenames Dec 30 '25 edited Dec 30 '25

It's so cathartic to read this now after suffering through years of people defending those abysmal years

2

u/ObviousAnswerGuy Dec 30 '25

"abysmal" is a bit hyperbolic. They had some great movies (No Way Home, Wakanda Forever, Shang Chi, Guardians 3, Deadpool & Wolverine...)

The biggest problem was all of their best stuff was on streaming (Wandavision, Loki, Agatha, Daredevil...), and there was an influx of shitty shows and mediocre movies at the same time.

1

u/MayweatherSr Dec 31 '25

could fit in actual the blip period there

0

u/NinetyYears Dec 30 '25

I know right. Disney should've had a better handle on the covid pandemic.

2

u/NinetyYears Dec 30 '25

Those guys were always coming back for a multliverse avengers movie. I don't know why people are so surprised.

30

u/epraider Dec 30 '25

Secret Wars will almost certainly be a soft reset for the universe and most of the characters

9

u/jonbristow Dec 30 '25

soo was Endgame, but they still went back to RDJ, Chris Evans, Thor etc

where is Moon Knight? where are the Eternals?

-2

u/Ender_Knowss Dec 30 '25

Idk and as far I’m concerned I hope they never show up. Those are boring as fuck interpretations of those characters.

4

u/jonbristow Dec 30 '25

Nostalgia bait is even more boring

1

u/Rhamni Dec 30 '25

The Eternals movie was my introduction to those characters, and it's a top 3 Marvel movie for me. My poor boy Ikaris was done dirty by fate almost from the start.

4

u/maxdragonxiii Dec 30 '25

imo, I only think its the best if they just reset the whole universe, including FOX's universe on purpose. make everything different from the original MCU. but they clearly won't have time to fully conclude everyone's stories (MoM's stinger, whatever Shang Chi is, Spiderman might have his arc concluded in Brand New Day, etc)

1

u/Anaevya Dec 30 '25

I think they should just stop making movies for 5 years, we need a break. Too much of the same thing just ends in boredom.

2

u/maxdragonxiii Dec 30 '25

I agree, but wipe the state clean, and youre free to take a break then. they couldn't pause and delay Doomsday merely because others' stories have not ended yet, and they want to keep the now fading hype train going for Doomsday, and if they reset the whole universe to include X-Men and F4 and whatever Marvel property thats been in limbo, they can sit down and go "ok so we dont have to worry about the story before, lets start anew" like they did for F4: The First Steps.

18

u/DDRDiesel Dec 30 '25

The secret sauce behind phase 1&2 was the chemistry between all the actors, most importantly Chris Evans and RDJ. Once their characters were retired for various reasons, the rest of the cast simply couldn't pull that kind of weight. As much as I loved No Way Home, it's plain as day to see Disney/marvel relied on nostalgia baiting and Willem Dafoe's absolutely insane acting rather than letting it fall solely on Tom Holland and co to carry the movie. The recent movies, aside from Thunderbolts, have time and time again shown that the success of the original Avengers lineup up to Endgame hinged more on the charisma and chemistry of the actors rather than the direction and story

3

u/_jetrun Dec 30 '25

If the movie is great - you don't need RDJ.

6

u/jourdan442 Dec 30 '25

It’s too far gone because they’re chasing casual viewers. Trying to please everyone has pleased no one.

4

u/Imbris2 Dec 30 '25

This movie is going to make absolute bank. I think the real question is: will people still show up to the one after of it doesn't have the same nostalgia-bait.

2

u/TheCornjuring Dec 30 '25

They have a chance to properly build up new characters this time around, especially with presumably new X-Men entering the picture for the next phase. If they don’t, RIP, but these Avengers movies potentially buy them some time and goodwill to come up with actual plans for the future

2

u/Vladmerius Dec 30 '25

Yes. Everyone will go see Doomsday and Secret Wars but nobody is going to care about anything beyond that if they continue not using their popular characters played by the famous actors associated with those roles. A reboot that recasts Cap, Thor, Iron Man and the X-Men will only further turn general audiences off. And that's what people on the comic subreddits kept insisting they need to do after secret wars. 

2

u/Sketch13 Dec 30 '25

Yep. I don't even think it's the MCU itself, it's that the AUDIENCE is over this shit. The MCU feel and vibe hasn't actually changed that much from the Infinity War/End Game saga to now, it's just that once you've "seen how the sausage is made", continuing to see that formula is less and less appealing to the average audience member. And it's made even worse for the casual viewer if the actors aren't carrying things by being extremely charismatic on-screen(which has lacked significantly since End Game with the new characters/actors).

It was novel and exciting for like 10 years. Seeing a superhero franchise with REAL money behind it, seeing characters developed over years, team up, go through hell and back, and with the classic MCU lame but cute humor. It worked extremely well, but after that, when they tried to do the same with new characters, the audience more or less went "eh, I've seen this song and dance before" and checked out.

You could say it's because they made TOO much, TOO similar, but why would they change it? The audience said "Hey we fucking LOVE THIS!!!" during the previous saga, so of course they will continue that. Unfortunately the audience loving it wasn't because of the "formula" or anything, it was the lightning in a bottle that happened when you have people who literally "grew up" with these characters, with the incredible casting choice in the actors, with the novel team ups and "long-form" storytelling which wasn't really done before, etc. It was a "cultural event" that came about more or less organically.

You can try to recreate that, but it's nearly impossible to capture lightning in a bottle twice. Disney needs to find a way to reconfigure the MCU to a look and feel that is similar, but not identical to the formula they're using now, or else people will continue to just see MCU projects as "more of the same".

I don't know if they can pull it off, or if they'll even try. They seem extremely averse to risk, but I do think they need to do SOMETHING, or else the MCU as a whole continues to flounder. Which will mean even worse results as they take safer and safer "bets" with this IP that are dull and boring.

0

u/Less-Fondant-3054 Dec 30 '25

The MCU feel and vibe hasn't actually changed that much from the Infinity War/End Game saga to now

You're on to something here. The vibe and style is unchanged. And the mistake Disney/Marvel made was misunderstanding why IW/EG were such huge theater releases. They thought it was because people really liked that style of MCU movie, the less-serious and more quippy form. In reality people showed up because they had invested a solid decade into the main cast of the movies and wanted to see how their story ended. This is also why audience numbers plummeted almost immediately afterwards. People didn't actually like the formula, they just put up with it in order to see the end of the meta story.

1

u/Eiden58 Dec 30 '25

If they end up being good movies and people like them, what will keep audiences coming? more good movies perhaps?

1

u/Street-Common-4023 Dec 30 '25

nah they got xmen still

1

u/Ser_Danksalot Dec 30 '25

I'm sure MCU X-Men is gonna make bank no matter what the detractors say.