This Wednesday, March 26, in front of several million viewers on social media, Marvel officially announced the start of filming for Avengers: Doomsday. At the same time, Kevin Feige's company revealed the list of actors and actresses invited to take part in the adventure. From the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and the original Avengers, the Russo brothers' film is racing toward the superhero reunion that fans have been waiting for years.
While the company hasn't yet crossed the threshold of a crossover with DC—this has already been the case in glossy publications—it's clear that nothing else seems impossible within the saga that began in 2008 with Jon Favreau's Iron Man. But after six hours of a rather soporific event, a retransmission longer than the film itself, we sincerely wonder if all this is really still worth watching. What if, after more than a decade of religiously following the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we gave up?
“I’m talking about a time…”
In 2017, fans (like us) are on the lookout. Marvel promised an epic conclusion to its Infinity Saga, an apotheosis after a decade of good and loyal service. Thanos’ plan has been unfolded over a dozen films. His arrival was promised in some rather clever post-credits scenes, and Civil War put the team in a state that truly sanctifies their reunion.
When the company released a few-minute video on February 11th to officially announce the start of filming on the Russo brothers' film, it was mainly about looking back on the journey and giving some clues about what the future held for viewers. We find Robert Downey Jr., Chris Pratt, and Tom Holland in front of a huge set, and directors Joe and Anthony Russo in an interview. Everyone is emphasizing the uniqueness of this project, everyone is excited at the idea of finally seeing these characters meet in a movie. Until now, the Guardians and the Avengers had not crossed paths. Iron Man and Captain were at odds.
A year later, the audiences are there. The preview screenings are sold out in France as in the rest of the world and there is no doubt that the first part of the diptych will mark the history of the MCU and more broadly of pop culture. In the darkness, when the fanfare is replaced by a distress call from the Asgardian ship, the fans in us wake up and stamp their feet. It's here, the moment we've been waiting for since the Chitauri invaded New York in front of Joss Whedon's camera. We're far from imagining that the Russo brothers' proposal will upset the balance of the franchise. To be honest, we even considered Marvel taking a hiatus of several years after the finale of Endgame. Yes, we were probably a little naive...
Marvel can't do better...
Infinity War and Endgame have set the bar so high that it now seems out of reach. How can you top the heartbreaking disappearance of half a universe? How can you be shocked by the death of a hero when the dead can come back again and again to sacrifice themselves for the twentieth time? We're talking about you, Loki. Who can still be surprised by the arrival of the X-Men when Doctor Strange 2 brought them in and they were at the epicenter of Deadpool & Wolverine?
No, if there's one thing that surprised us during the long and boring Avengers: Doomsday live stream, it's that no surge of interest was felt among the Marvel aficionados we were not so long ago. Nothing was able to titillate the child in us, nothing was able to erase that feeling of a failed party with old school friends. We've grown up, and we have nothing in common anymore.
We're even worried about the number of characters announced for Doomsday, about how the narrative will be able to exploit them all without bordering on indigestion. In Infinity War, there were no fewer than 25 main characters and just as many secondary ones. 27 names were shared yesterday... and Marvel is already hinting that other names will be announced in the coming months. It must be said that some are sorely missing, like Spider-Man and Doctor Strange, who we imagined would be at the epicenter of the story.
At first glance, this row of chairs isn't surprising, since Secret Wars was already a gigantic event on glossy paper. But, even with a film that should happily exceed three hours, our heroes are going to have to fight their way through. They won't have many issues and episodes to tell their story.This is especially true since Doomsday doesn't benefit from the head start that Infinity War had. Its plot is based on a phase that is at best incomplete, at worst chaotic. Until recently, Kevin Feige was preparing for the arrival of Kang the Conqueror with his films. This is why he appeared in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and why one of his variants was at the epicenter of Loki on Disney+.
Doctor Doom hasn't even had a post-credits scene yet. Proof, if proof were needed, that the House of Ideas is still groping forward, Brave New World didn't have the luxury of even mentioning his name. Seven years earlier, Thanos' personality had been built over several films, through the journeys of Gamora, Drax, and even Loki. Doomsday starts from scratch with a result that we hope won't be as chaotic as Phases 4 and 5 of the MCU.
Suspense? What for?
But rather than speculate on what the next Avengers film might or might not be, let's take a look back at what we know about Doomsday. The event broadcast yesterday, in addition to being punctuated by predictable announcements, reminds us that Marvel doesn't care about the films that will be released before the return of its behemoth. Proof, if any were needed, of the little interest that the company has in Thunderbolts* and Fantastic Four, the names of the central actors and actresses of the two films have been made official in the casting of Doomsday. As for the suspense, we'll come back.
In the second case, it was easy to guess given the importance of Reed Richards and Sue Storm in the story of Doctor Doom. For Thunderbolts*, however, it's much more complicated. Marvel has confirmed that none of these protagonists will die in Jake Schreier's film. The studio even suggests that Lewis Pullman is not what the latest trailer suggested. We had already pointed out that the promotional campaign for Captain America: Brave New World was incomprehensible, Marvel is at it again and confirms that it is no longer a question of surprising viewers but of giving them a precise menu of the film they will see a few months earlier. She will still ask the first viewers not to spoil the next ones, as long as you have something to spoil...
Now, will we be there on April 29, 2026, professional conscience aside? Yes. Because the Marvel machine is well-oiled and the franchise has taken us hostage and holds us by our worst flaw: curiosity. Faced with all the challenges that the Russo brothers and screenwriter Stephen McFeely will have to overcome, we can only wait impatiently to find out if all these wonderful people will convert the try. And this is undoubtedly where Marvel has succeeded, the fate of the characters (and the actors) matters so much to us that we do not let our disappointment make us completely break with this franchise in decline. Stockholm syndrome? No doubt.
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