Robert Downey Jr. & Chris Evans Show 'Avengers: Doomsday' Trailer: X-Men, Thunderbolts & Steve Rogers Return

In the Avengers: Doomsday trailer, we see the Avengers exploring Professor X's mansion, and it's totally rundown, dark, and dirty. It definitely seems like something's gone wrong. (But that's kind of a given. That's always how Avengers movies open).

We See Magneto, we see Professor X, we see Gambit, we see Cyclops, and we also get official visual confirmation of a few heroes I have been wanting to see in Doomsday!

Shang-Chi FINALLY returns (my personal favorite newer Avenger), as does Joaquin (my other favorite newer Avenger). Sam is back, Bucky's back, Yelena's back. We also the Fantastic Four and Thor, and Thor is warning all of the new Avengers that Doctor Doom is scarier than anything he faced with the original Avengers, and with all of the Asgardians. Basically, Doctor Doom is the worst threat they have yet to face.

There's a shot where Thor is going up against Doctor Doom, and he brings Stormbreaker (his axe) down for a fatal blow, and Doctor Doom literally just stops the axe with like his finger. Like Anna in Frozen stopping Hans's sword. That was crazy. Everybody in the auditorium was going nuts.

Another detail that I noticed is one of my favorite microtropes, I guess you could call it. I just love seeing group dynamics with people of different personality types, and I love when somebody really outgoing and rebellious is paired with someone who is very cautious, and kind of a caretaker.

So as the Avengers are exploring Professor X's mansion, we see Reed stretched out across a walkway, stopping the rest of the Avengers. But Yelena just kind of ducks under his arm and keeps exploring, and everybody else isn't too sure about that decision. Reed looks particularly concerned.

That's such a tiny detail, but I love scenes where you just look at all the characters and know exactly what's going on in their minds. And to actually believe they care about each other and have audiences care about them too. THAT'S the core of a powerful story in my opinion!

We also see Mystique, who transforms into Elena, and then we get a Florence Pugh versus Florence Pugh fight, as well as a Shang-Chi and Gambit fight.

The end of the trailer features Thor face to face with someone in a jacket, holding out his hand for Thor's hammer Mjölnir. The camera pans, and it's Infinity War Steve! At least it appears to be. Long hair, bearded Steve Rogers, who else could it be? Does this mean we're getting the "Steve returning the Infinity Stones" story people have been begging for? Only time will tell.

Overall, Avengers: Doomsday already feels like a return to Phase 2 of Marvel (which had hits like Captain America: The Winter Soldier). I'm so excited to see all these characters that I care about, and have reached different demographics over the last few decades.

No view of Scarlet Witch, but never say never!

Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on December 18, 2026.

The confirmed cast list includes Robert Downey Jr. as Victor von Doom/Doctor Doom, Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Captain America, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing, Simu Liu as Xu Shang-Chi, Lewis Pullman as Bob Reynolds/Sentry, Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres/Falcon, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch, Winston Duke as M'Baku, Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr/Ghost, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Letitia Wright as Shuri/Black Panther, Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man, Wyatt Russell as John Walker/U.S. Agent, Channing Tatum as Remy LeBeau/Gambit, Tenoch Huerta Mejía as Namor, Kelsey Grammer as Hank McCoy/Beast, Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier/Professor X, Ian McKellen as Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto, Alan Cumming as Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler, Rebecca Romijn as Raven Darkhölme/Mystique, James Marsden as Scott Summers/Cyclops.