A second trailer for Avengers: Doomsday is out, unveiled at Disney's D23 showcase in Anaheim on 14 August and released online the next day. The first trailer in July was a roll call, a fast tour of the Avengers, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men sharing a screen. This one slows down and spends its two minutes on the villain.
The new material is Doom's history. Vanessa Kirby's Sue Storm narrates, warning the assembled heroes about a man she and Reed Richards already know, someone who was once the smartest person in any room until everything he loved was taken from him. The Fantastic Four's past with Victor von Doom, only hinted at in July, is now the spine of the pitch.
It also shows Doom fighting for the first time. Thor swings Stormbreaker at him and the armor does not so much as dent, a beat built to reset expectations after two Avengers films in which Thor was the heavy hitter. Ant-Man and Black Panther get their first glimpses too. Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell presented the footage on stage, and Atwell's presence confirmed that Peggy Carter is part of this story.
Anthony and Joe Russo direct, and the film opens in theaters on Friday 18 December as the first Avengers film since Endgame, folding the Fantastic Four and the X-Men into the same story for the first time.
Two trailers in, the strategy is clear: sell Doom as a threat the heroes cannot punch through, and keep the plot itself out of view. Whether the film can make three previously separate universes feel like one story is the question neither trailer answers.
