Doctor Doom's Possible Journey in Avengers: Doomsday — Our Point of View

Every great villain needs a reason. Not a excuse, not a throwaway line about wanting power for power's sake, but an actual wound that explains why they became who they are. And if the pieces floating around about Avengers: Doomsday are anywhere close to accurate, Marvel might finally be giving its next big bad exactly that. We've spent a good amount of time piecing together what Victor Von Doom's arc could look like in this film, and honestly, the shape of it is far more tragic than we expected.

Avengers: Doomsday is set to showcase some high-stakes clashes between heroes and villains as the Multiverse is on the brink of destruction. Marvel Studios unveiled the first official trailer for Avengers: Doomsday exclusively to attendees at CinemaCon 2026, featuring memorable scenes of Multiversal crossovers, a glimpse at Thor and Steve Rogers' reunion, and a terrifying showcase of Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom. 

Among the trailer's most standout moments were the intense hero-versus-hero battles, as characters (mostly the Avengers and the X-Men) from colliding universes clashed while desperately fighting to protect their own realities, a tense premise that makes it genuinely hard to pick a side. 

Every Major Marvel Fight Confirmed In Avengers: Doomsday 

Thor Vs. Doom

The most-talked-about moment in the official Avengers: Doomsday trailer from CinemaCon was the clash between Chris Hemsworth's Thor and Doctor Doom. 

In the footage, Thor leaps at a fully armored Doctor Doom with Stormbreaker for an overhead strike. However, Doom casually stops the axe mid-swing with one hand, and he barely flinched. Despite Thor's god-like power, the fact that Doom singlehandedly prevented his attack proves how terrifying and formidable this new Marvel ending really is. 

The brutal clash also makes it clear that Doom could kill Thor with shocking ease, which is bad news for the rest of the lesser-powered heroes. 

This moment in the trailer serves as the big-bad introduction for Doom, and it could be why Thor gets humbled early, leading to his prayer to Odin seen in the second Avengers: Doomsday teaser trailer. 

Gambit Vs. Shang-Chi

Another tense moment seen in the Doomsday trailer is the fight between Shang-Chi and Gambit. The pair of master combatants were seen duking it out inside the X-Mansion, fighting over a misunderstanding that may have been set up by Victor von Doom's manipulation. 

Gambit is simply defending home turf while Shang-Chi arrives amid the chaos, believing that the X-Men are the villains and possibly responsible for the incursions. 

Some fans have pointed out that Shang-Chi would win if it were purely hand-to-hand combat, while Gambit would come out on top if the fight were based on power abilities. 

Yelena Vs. Mystique

Another epic clash between two unlikely opponents is between Rebecca Romijn's Mystique and Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova (the leader of the New Avengers). 

The trailer showed Mystique shapeshifting into Yelena mid-fight, creating a mirror-match showdown between the pair of female anti-heroes. 

The reason for their fighting could be the confirmed clash between the X-Men and the Avengers over the incursions, with both groups believing the other is an invading force or responsible for the collapse of their respective Earths. 

Avengers Vs. X-Men

After a long wait, Avengers: Doomsday will finally showcase the much-awaited clash between the Avengers and the X-Men on the big screen, presumably due to Doctor Doom's manipulation and mind games, and the presence of the incursions. 

The core premise of Doomsday ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠revolves around three universes slamming together, and this situation instantly creates distrust among heroes. While the Fantastic Four and Earth-616's Avengers find common ground, the X-Men see them as intruders trying to destroy their Earth to save theirs. 

Outside of the aforementioned Shang-Chi and Gambit fight and Yelena and Mystique clash, memorable, high-stakes clashes between the likes of Cyclops and Sam Wilson, Beast and Winter Soldier, and Magneto and Thor could happen at some point in the film. 

Namor Vs. Sue Storm / Fantastic Four?

Avengers: Doomsday's official trailer revealed that the desert seen in the fourth Wakandan-related teaser was actually the drained ocean floor (which explains why Namor is so pissed). 

The footage showed Tenoch Huerta's Namor flying while Sue Storm screamed as a tidal wave rose above her, indicating that Namor was protective of his territory upon seeing new faces like the Fantastic Four. 

This clash could simply be a misunderstanding on Namor's end, and it will be up to Shuri to stop him from attacking their new allies from another universe. 

BONUS: Nightcrawler Vs. Mr. Fantastic / Fantastic Four 

In May 2025, Alan Cumming spoiled that his Nightcrawler will seemingly fight Pedro Pascal's Reed Richards at one point in Avengers: Doomsday, with him noting that he hit "Pascal against the head:"

    "... And I'm sort of learning these fights, I'm like, 'What? Who am I fighting with?' They said, 'You're fight– you're hitting Pedro Pascal against the head or something. It's just that I can't quite believe– especially 'cause it was such a long time ago, but actually that's quite a nice thing I think is about life and about as you get older, that things come back. They always do and people come back and it's actually a really nice thing about getting older."   

This matchup has the potential to be a standout, thanks to the pair's contrasting abilities. Nightcrawler's lightning-fast teleportation and swordplay, colliding with Reed Richards' elastic stretching and near-limitless durability, promise some of the creative and entertaining sequences in Doomsday.

Marvel Studios is banking big on Avengers: Doomsday, its biggest crossover event film since Endgame hit theaters back in 2019.  

After an up-and-down run of films in recent years, the studio wants to end things with a bang, bringing together the likes of the Avengers, New Avengers, X-Men, and The Fantastic Four. While four short teasers made their way into theaters earlier this year, Marvel has unleashed the first trailer for Doomsday at CinemaCon, and it sounds like the ultimate superhero crossover event.

A trailer for Avengers: Doomsday was shown to audiences at CinemaCon, and The Wrap has provided a description of what was shown. The footage prominently featured Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, while also reintroducing Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), Gambit (Channing Tatum), and Mystique (Rebecca Romijn). Thor and Steve are shown reuniting, with the trailer ending on the latter summoning Mjolnir out of Thor's hand. Read the full description below:

"We hear the words "Something's coming. Something we may not be able to deter" over the ruins of the X-Mansion.

We see Doctor Doom kneeling and his face looks scarred.

Thor remarks that he's fought many enemies and threats that scare him less than this, saying all his heroes and friends died. Everything they sacrificed will mean nothing if they don't stand together.

We get footage of Thor approaching Doom with Stormbreaker. The Fantastic Four meet the MCU heroes. Shang-Chi fights Gambit. Mystique turns into Yelena Belova.

Thor leaps at Doom with Stormbreaker in hand, and Doom stops it at once.

Steve Rogers approaches Thor and says, "Hey pal." Thor says, "It's not possible. Steve reaches for Mjolnir and it leaves Thor's hand, coming to his."

At CinemaCon, Marvel Studios had its own presentation during the Walt Disney Studios panel. Kevin Feige hosted the section, which primarily focused on the biggest film yet in the Multiverse Saga, Avengers: Doomsday. The film, which hits theaters this December, features the return of several MCU icons, including Chris Evans as Steve Rogers. Evans was also in attendance alongside Anthony and Joe Russo, who returned to direct their fifth film in the franchise. Feige confirmed that the film "takes place where Endgame left off but also goes back to when it all started with X-Men."

Despite murmurs online in recent weeks that Marvel Studios was considering moving Avengers: Doomsday up a week in the release schedule, the superhero event film is staying the course. It is still set to open on Dec. 18 opposite Dune: Part Three, which has exclusively secured IMAX screens for three weeks, completely shutting out the MCU's biggest film since Endgame in the popular premium theatrical format. Instead, Marvel will look to ScreenX, 4DX, and other formats to help boost ticket sales profits at the box office, which should still be quite healthy despite the heavy competition. The studio also announced that certain theaters will be certified as Infinity Vision to help moviegoers select the best (and largest) screens possible to see Doomsday.

The cast of Avengers: Doomsday includes Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm / Invisible Woman, Anthony Mackie as Captain America, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Letitia Wright as Shuri / Black Panther, Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Wyatt Russell as John Walker / U.S. Agent, Tenoch Huerta Mejía as Namor, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm / Thing, Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Kelsey Grammer as Beast, Lewis Pullman as Sentry, Danny Ramirez as Falcon, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm / Human Torch, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Winston Duke as M'Baku, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Ian McKellen as Magneto, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, James Marsden as Cyclops, Channing Tatum as Gambit, Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, and Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom.

Avengers: Doomsday

Avengers Doomsday Movies TV Shows Anime

Release Date: December 18, 2026
Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Writers: Stephen McFeely, Michael Waldron, Jack Kirby, Stan Lee

Crish Hemswort (Thor)

Rober Downly Jr. (Doctor Doom)