Avengers: Doomsday's latest posters have split the fan base and sparked backlash against Marvel Studios. Fans are now in the final two months of the countdown to Doomsday, and following VisionQuest's Disney+ premiere, it is finally the next MCU project, set for release on Friday, December 18. As such, Marvel Studios is stepping up the marketing trail to new heights, including posters, public events, cast and crew interviews, and, of course, the final trailer.
Avengers: Doomsday released a new international poster featuring Doctor Doom, the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Sentinels, and an Incursion. The poster received praise for finally spotlighting the movie's heroes after Victor von Doom had taken center stage for the last year of marketing, but it has equally divided the fan base due to criticisms of its composition and choice of featured characters.
Beyond a terrifying cloud of Doom, heroes from the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and New Avengers, as well as Loki, stand united against the Sentinels. The poster only features roughly one-third of the movie's stacked cast, sparking controversy over which heroes were chosen to represent Avengers 5 and which were omitted (but at least everybody agrees Thor's new superpower looks AWESOME).
Doomsday's poster line-up has many fans joking that "Regular Dude" should be the new MCU codename for Steve Rogers after letting go of the Captain America mantle. It seems that Chris Evans' hero will simply go by his god-given name in Doomsday while wielding Mjolnir in battle, but the biggest criticism has been his basic civilian clothes, which feel somewhat out of place in the action.
Steve Rogers isn't the only one who has been dubbed out of place in the battle, as Patrick Stewart's wheelchair-bound Professor X is also at the heart of the action. His placement feels rather odd, as Charles Xavier has usually operated from the sidelines due to his telepathic powers, and would perhaps have looked better with Ian McKellen's Magneto in his place to maintain the older mutant representation.
Marvel Studios also unveiled another, simpler Doomsday poster featuring seven of the Multiverse's last hopes standing in a lineup. The poster once again drew backlash, with some citing how it highlights a larger problem in Doomsday of a rather bland and unexciting roster of superheroes leading the charge.
This very same Avengers, X-Men, and Fantastic Four line-up has been featured across most of Doomsday's 25+ recent promotional posters, give or take a Beast or Cyclops to switch things up. Some have criticized the marketing for putting Marvel veterans like Magneto, Bucky Barnes, and Ant-Man in the backseat, as well as recent breakout heroes such as Shang-Chi and Sentry.
Many fans have rightfully dubbed it strange that Channing Tatum's Gambit made the cut for this seven-hero line-up over any of the classic Fox X-Men superheroes who are returning for Doomsday, like Cyclops or Magneto. The decision may be down to Tatum's popularity, but also his supporting role in 2024's R-rated Deadpool & Wolverine, which grossed over $1 billion and remains the MCU's most popular non-Spider-Man movie since Avengers: Endgame.
Some fans have also pointed out that Pedro Pascal's Reed Richards and Ebon Moss-Bachrach's Thing look out of place on either side of the heroes, who have much more muted color palettes and militaristic costumes. While the Fantastic Four received some costume tweaks for Doomsday, they have clung to the comic-booky palette of Earth-828, which stands out much more across the Multiverse.
Avengers: Doomsday's Marketing Still Has a Long Way to Go
Even after two main trailers and with only two months until release, Avengers: Doomsday's marketing has still kept its storyline completely under wraps. The trailers have shown that the Avengers, X-Men, and Fantastic Four will face Doctor Doom, who has inexplicably "lost everything" before the movie, but the all-important Incursions have only really been teased in Avengers: Endgame Encore.
8 years ago, it was only in Avengers: Infinity War's final trailer that narration from Gamora confirmed Thanos' goal to collect the Infinity Stones and wipe out half of all life in the universe. Similarly, the final stretch of Doomsday's marketing ought to give a greater idea of Doctor Doom's plans and the story being told.
Reliable rumors and reports have already revealed that Doomsday is hiding some secret cameos from Wolverine, Spider-Man, Deadpool, and possibly Wanda Maximoff. One has to wonder whether Marvel Studios will spoil any of those ahead of time to bolster the box office or hope that the mystery can do that job.
Regardless, it's encouraging to see Doomsday's marketing entering a new era in which it's finally not all about Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom. The masked sorcerer scientist may be Avengers 5's main character and central antagonist, but fans still must be excited enough to root for the movie's heroes as well.
