It won't just be Earth feeling the heat in Avengers: Doomsday; the entire multiverse is in danger of going up in flames. From the beginning, the Multiverse Saga has built up various realities, showing all the ways they differ from Earth-616. But all of their interests are about to align with Doctor Doom on the prowl, as the iconic Marvel villain is sure to want to leave his mark on the multiverse and won't care who or what stands in his way.
But Doom isn't the sole threat to existence. No, a secret enemy has been operating in the shadows, destabilizing realities without a second thought: incursions. A popular concept in the pages of Marvel Comics, incursions have only briefly been mentioned in the MCU during the events of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
The Illuminati explained the concept of incursions to the protagonist of the 2022 movie, revealing that its version of Stephen Strange caused one and destroyed an entire reality by dreamwalking. To put it in simple terms, they're people or things that end up in the wrong place and throw things out of whack. However, all has been mostly quiet on the incursion front since Earth-616's Strange defeated Sinister Strange and grew that third eye on his forehead.
A sleeping giant is still a giant, though, and incursions are sure to rear their ugly heads again once Doomsday arrives in theaters on December 18, 2026. Fortunately, the way has already been paved for their reemergence via four Marvel Studios post-credits scenes.
Marvel Studios Post-Credits Scenes That Tease Incursions in Avengers: Doomsday
Not long after Strange learned to see using three eyes, he was visited by another Master of the Mystic Arts, Clea, who revealed that he had caused another major incursion that she needed his help to stop. The two ran through a portal as Multiverse of Madness' runtime came to an end, but Doomsday is unlikely to pick up where that movie left off.
Benedict Cumberbatch and Charlize Theron were not among the names announced as part of Doomsday's cast. But reports have been swirling about Strange's return in Avengers: Secret Wars and not just as a cameo. If the powers that be are keeping Strange on the sidelines for now, that must mean that the other post-credits scenes are stepping up to the plate first.
The one that's becoming more relevant as the days go by belongs to The Marvels. At the end of the team-up movie, Monica Rambeau got transported to another dimension and came face-to-face with a variant of her mother, as well as Beast from the X-Men. While it hasn't been confirmed, Kelsey Grammer will likely be playing the same version of the furry mutant when he reprises his role in Doomsday.
The trailer for the upcoming film that CinemaCon attendees got to watch featured several heroes from Earth-616 travelling to the same world Monica ended up on and interacting with some of the X-Men. As cool as that meeting is on paper, it's sure to have major ramifications for the multiverse, as will all the other reality-hopping that's sure to take place during Doomsday.
A report from The Cosmic Circus claims that Monica will attempt to broker peace between her allies and the X-Men, who could be out to save themselves. However, there are bigger fish to fry, as the final two post-credits scenes went out of their way to reveal.
It's better to work backward rather than forward when talking about the next two eyebrow-raising moments. At the conclusion of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the titular team saved their world from Galactus and slipped back into its role as Earth's protectors. Everything went swimmingly for a few years, until Doctor Doom showed up and got his hands on Franklin Richards in the movie's post-credits scene.
While the results of their meeting are still a mystery, the outcome was clearly serious enough for the Fantastic Four to travel between universes. That's where the New Avengers find them in the post-credits scene of Thunderbolts*, entering Earth-616's atmosphere in their ship, the Excelsior.
Putting all the pieces of these scenes together will take until December, as Marvel Studios likes to keep its cards close to the vest. But Doomsday's trailer at least offered a breadcrumb that will feed the internet for the next few months.
In the new look at the film, Doom dropped an ominous line of dialogue, saying, "Something's coming. Something we may not be able to deter." All these words put together sure make it seem like the villain is as afraid of incursions as anyone is of him.
If that actually is the truth and Doom is trying to pull the green wool over everyone's eyes, then MCU heroes other than Strange are going to have to get up to speed on incursions and the irreparable damage they can cause.
