Avengers: Doomsday is going to be make or break for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Like many others, I tapped out with Endgame and was unwilling to engage with what became an untenable stream of films and TV shows deemed as required viewing if I wanted to keep up with the tangled knot of new heroes, villains, and unending arcs. It simply wasn’t worth the effort, so I haven’t looked back since. That was until the cast reveal of Avengers: Doomsday earlier this week.
While we already know the Fantastic Four is coming later this year and will likely set the stage for Robert Downey Jr’s return as Doctor Doom, alongside a quarter of new heroes and the debut of Ralph Ineson as Galactus, this cast reveal felt like the first time Doomsday was concrete. It provided a laundry list of famous actors already associated with beloved characters that we now know will appear and have something to do with the new film.
Perhaps I’m just a pathetic dog lapping up dregs of IP from a muddy puddle, but seeing all of these new and old names together in one place and knowing they’re set to appear in this film together is undeniably exciting. I am seated, and if Marvel plays its cards right, plenty of others will be too.
Avengers Doomsday Needs To Feel Like A Cultural Event
Endgame felt like the end of something monumental. For an entire decade, the MCU has put so much time and effort into not only bringing comic book characters to the big screen, but to have them exist in the same universe. If something big went down in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, it was going to have an impact on the films to follow, and as a consequence, viewers felt rewarded for keeping up with everything. It also had Thanos looming on the horizon, a villain so threatening that, for a long time, the idea of stopping him felt nigh impossible. But we cared about these heroes, so we stayed invested.
There were some stinkers along the way, don’t get me wrong, but even mediocre efforts such as Thor: The Dark World was still feeding into the bigger picture, and so people turned up in their millions to watch them in theatres so they wouldn’t be left asking questions whenever a new Avengers film rolled around. There’s a reason why Infinity War and Endgame made so much money at the box office, and why we still refer to Thanos’ snap on the daily almost six years later. It feels like we remember it more than people in the MCU do, and it’s bizarre.
When Endgame concluded and big players walked away from the cinematic universe, it felt like a sign for audiences to do the same, but with more money on the table, Marvel wanted us to stick around and expected further investment from us. But it didn’t provide us with a big villain or television shows and movies worth watching.
Even if Jonathan Majors hadn’t been found guilty on assault and harassment charges, I’m not sure if I cared much about the evildoings of Kang anyway. Too many multiverses, too many movies, and not nearly enough reasons to give a crap. But with this cast reveal, it feels like Avengers: Doomsday is eager to reset the clock and make us forget all of that. To my nostalgic horror, it just might work.
And Marvel Needs To Tell A Simple Story With Lovable Characters
Avengers: Doomsday needs to stop all of those narrative and character questions from being asked in the first place by telling a simple yet gripping story that is ultimately compelling. The multiverse is already in full swing, and there’s no avoiding it, especially with Fantastic Four taking place in an alternate universe. But so long as we all care about the characters themselves and what they’re fighting for, that will be enough for most people to come along for the ride. It’s not a hard-fought win, but it’s one nonetheless.
This is a film that has to attract people who haven’t interacted with the MCU since Endgame, and I understand how hard a task that is. I imagine that’s precisely the reason why RDJ was brought back in the first place, to have people point at the screen and go, “wait a minute, ain’t that Iron Man?”, and have that intrigue be enough to get them through the door. At first, it was a cheap and nostalgic trick, but with the cast reveal, it feels like the hole might go much deeper.
It’s impossible for Avengers: Doomsday to need absolutely zero prior knowledge of the MCU to be enjoyed, but the more it can lean in this direction, the better.
We’re talking older and returning X-Men alongside Thor, Loki, and the all-new Captain America. There is as much importance to be placed on who isn’t present within the cast reveal too, and how Doomsday is placing pieces on the chessboard instead of foolishly knocking them all over. It doesn’t have the decade of narrative built-up this time around or a built-in audience ready to see how this story ends, so it needs to strike a balance to become the success it needs to be. If it doesn’t, maybe the age of superhero movies is coming to an end.
I haven’t cared about the MCU for a long time, but like millions of others, I’m not immune to the power of nostalgia or an effective marketing campaign. Millions of people watched as the cast was revealed for Avengers: Doomsday earlier this week, meaning there is still a fervent appetite for films like this and the people who appear in them. They just need to tell effective stories with great heroes and even greater villains, and perhaps by wiping the slate clean or even daring to simplify it just a little bit, the MCU could do just that.
