Avengers: Doomsday's first trailer left out an important character crucial to the movie's Multiverse storyline, but it made complete sense. The MCU's highly anticipated crossover event will bring together the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men as they team up for the first time ever to try and prevent the Multiversal reign of terror of Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom. While marketing has heavily featured these superhero teams, even spoiling the return of Chris Evans' Steve Rogers in Doomsday's first teaser, one key character has yet to appear in the movie's promotional footage.
Avengers: Doomsday's official CinemaCon trailer did not feature Tom Hiddleston's Loki or the Time Variance Authority (TVA). The lack of Loki is notable, mainly because Hiddleston is confirmed to return as the God of Stories in Doomsday after being part of the much-talked-about chairs casting announcement in March 2025.
Loki's omission makes sense given what transpired at the end of Loki Season 2, when he ascended to become the God of Stories and the one holding the Multiverse together. This pivot retroactively positioned Loki from being the first Avengers villain to the MCU Multiverse's savior.
Outright spoiling his appearance in the trailer would diminish his impact on the story Doomsday is trying to tell and would risk spoiling a major narrative trajectory of the crossover.
As the guardian of the Multiverse, Loki is positioned as a pivotal figure, the one character all the heroes and Doctor Doom may ultimately converge upon in the fight to either preserve or take control of the already-collapsing Multiverse.
In fact, Marvel Rivals executive producer Danny Koo previously described Loki as a "key character" in the game's upcoming "Path to Doomsday" event, emphasizing the Marvel hero's importance to the Multiversal plot:
“Loki is the center of it… he will be the key character that’s going to link all these events together.”
Loki's absence in the trailer keeps the focus on the immediate chaos, such as the incursion, heroes fighting each other, and Doctor Doom's manipulation.
This is actually a smart move from Marvel Studios because it lets the trailer shine as pure spectacle while still hinting at the ultimate endgame (which is to get to Loki as the final boss-level for everyone involved).
Despite this omission, it's clear that Loki still plays a major role in Avengers: Doomsday. A previous rumor from insider Alex Perez claimed that Loki will take on the role of the Beyonders from Marvel Comics' Secret Wars storyline. In this story, Doctor Doom stole the Beyonders' power to create his own Battleworld universe.
Becoming Doomsday's version of the Beyonders spells some major trouble for Loki because it could hint that he will die again if Doctor Doom gets ahold of his throne.
Still, it would likely demand a final stand by heroes like Thor, Sentry, and Steve Rogers to defend Loki against Doom, which would make for an exciting final battle.
While Loki's role is clearly important (he is described as the character that moves the plot forward), it's also reasonable to assume that Hiddleston's Marvel character will have a smaller role in Doomsday, potentially appearing in the film's final act. This could explain why he is not featured enough, as there is not much material to use without showing off his full role in the movie.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to premiere in theaters on December 18.
Why I Think Loki Will Not Die In Avengers: Doomsday
Killing off Loki after Doctor Doom presumably depowers him and takes over his throne as God of Stories at the end of the Multiverse is not impactful because it would be too predictable if he simply dies and fades off from existence.
The Multiverse Saga laid the groundwork for Loki to become one of the franchise's most important characters, and Marvel Studios should capitalize on that front by allowing him to return in Avengers: Secret Wars and work alongside the heroes, including Thor, to map out a plan to defeat Doom if he truly succeeds in making Battleworld.
By making Loki a pivotal, living force rather than another character killed to drive the plot forward, it presents many exciting storytelling opportunities and character interactions.
Loki Season 2 already proved how good a team player this Variant of Loki is, and seeing him work alongside new and familiar faces like Thor, Steve Rogers, and the New Avengers could be a breath of fresh air for the MCU.
