Avengers: Doomsday’s New Doctor Doom Trailer Repeats The MCU’s Thor Curse

Published Jul 20, 2026, 11:50 AM EDT Richard Craig is a Senior Author at Screen Rant covering film and TV. Richard has also written extensively about horror and film soundtracks, contributing a chapter to the first major academic collection on the folk horror genre, The Routledge Companion to Folk Horror. Richard is also a performing musician and holds an MA in Music and Sound Art. Avengers: Doomsday has already repeated the narrative technique that has plagued Thor for several phases in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After months of carefully controlled reveals, Marvel Studios has finally released the first full trailer for Avengers: Doomsday. While previous teaser trailers offered brief glimpses of returning heroes, mysterious locations, and Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom, the latest footage provides a much clearer look at the movie's story and central conflict. As expected, the trailer is packed with major talking points. The returning Fox-era X-Men receive additional screen time, several MCU veterans are shown preparing for what appears to be a multiversal war, and Doctor Doom immediately establishes himself as one of the franchise's most intimidating villains. Marvel clearly wants audiences to understand that this is not simply another world-ending threat. Doom is being positioned as a force capable of challenging everyone from Earth's Mightiest Heroes to powerful cosmic figures. The footage also offers an intriguing look at where some long-running MCU timeline characters currently stand. Thor, in particular, appears to occupy a very different role than the one audiences first met in 2011. Rather than the impulsive warrior eager for battle, he seems to have become one of the franchise's elder statesmen, a battle-scarred veteran who has survived loss after loss. However, one moment in the trailer immediately stood out to longtime MCU fans. In an attempt to demonstrate just how dangerous Doctor Doom really is, Marvel appears to have fallen back on a familiar storytelling shortcut – using Thor as a measuring stick for villain power levels. Avengers: Doomsday Sees Thor Establish Another Villain's Power Level Photo courtesy of Marvel One of the Avengers: Doomsday trailer's most striking shots features Thor charging directly at Doctor Doom with Stormbreaker, accompanied by enough force to flatten almost anyone in the Marvel Universe. Unfortunately for Thor, Doom barely reacts. Instead, the villain casually stops Stormbreaker with just two fingers, completely neutralizing an attack that should be capable of devastating entire armies. It is a visually impressive moment, but it also continues a long-running MCU tradition that has become increasingly noticeable over the years. Whenever Marvel wants to establish a new villain as a serious threat, Thor is often the hero selected to suffer the humiliation. Hela famously shattered Mjölnir with one hand in Thor: Ragnarök, immediately demonstrating that she was unlike anything Thor had faced before. Similarly, Avengers: Infinity War repeatedly used Thor's confrontations with Thanos to emphasize the Mad Titan's overwhelming strength and durability. The pattern makes sense. Thor is one of the MCU's strongest heroes, so defeating or overpowering him instantly communicates a villain's danger. Still, after more than a decade of seeing Thor used to demonstrate the latest threat, the technique has become something of an MCU tradition. Thor's Doomsday Story Balances Out The Unfortunate MCU Trend Fortunately, the trailer suggests that Thor's role in Avengers: Doomsday extends far beyond being Doctor Doom's latest victim. It portrays him as the most experienced figure among the assembled heroes. One sequence shows Thor delivering a rousing (albeit very bleak), leading the heroes into battle. Although his words carry a sense of optimism, they are also tinged with exhaustion and realism, reflecting everything the character has endured. It is a fascinating evolution for a hero who once viewed every problem as something that could be solved with a hammer. After surviving the destruction of Asgard, losing Loki multiple times, witnessing the Snap, and enduring countless wars, Thor now seems to possess a level of wisdom that few MCU characters can match. That shift helps offset the frustrating trend of using him as a benchmark for villain strength. While Doctor Doom stopping Stormbreaker may provide an effective showcase for the movie's antagonist, the Avengers: Doomsday trailer also positions Thor as something arguably more important: a veteran warrior whose value comes from experience as much as power. Release Date December 18, 2026 Runtime 165 Minutes Director Anthony Russo, Joe Russo Cast Vanessa Kirby Sue Storm / Invisible Woman Johnny Storm / Human Torch Ebon Moss-Bachrach Ben Grimm / The Thing Avengers: Doomsday is the fifth Avengers film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and will bring together heroes, new and old, to face off against Victor von Doom - played by the returning Robert Downey Jr. The upcoming film notably marks the beginning of Phase 6 of the MCU. Writers Stephen McFeely, Michael Waldron, Jack Kirby, Stan Lee Producers Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Kevin Feige Prequel(s) Spider-Man: Brand New Day Sequel(s) Avengers: Secret Wars Franchise(s) Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers, Fantastic Four, Black Panther, Thor, X-Men Main Genre Superhero Executive Producer(s) Jonathan Schwartz, Louis D'Esposito, Callum McDougall, Chris Castaldi