Even with everything teased during Avengers Endgame: Encore, we still don’t know a ton about Avengers: Doomsday. We know it’s Doctor Doom, played by Robert Downey Jr., versus a bunch of Avengers and X-Men from previous movies, and that the multiverse will play a role. We also know, like Avengers: Infinity War before it, there’s more to the story, with Avengers: Secret Wars coming in 2027. So, when the Russo brothers talk about the ending of Doomsday, we have to be extra careful about what they say.
In a new interview with Fandango, Joe and Anthony Russo were asked about what kind of expression they expect to see from audiences at the end of Doomsday. They likened the question to guessing your Christmas presents before the big day, but then Joe added, “I think people are going to be surprised. It’s a very surprising ending. It’s a very surprising movie and that’s all we’ll say about it.”
Now, clearly, there are some people who love spoilers and want to hear the ending right now. Then there are people who’d prefer to discover it on their own, in a theater, on December 18. Personally, we’re in the second group, but the quote still has us scratching our heads a bit.
Because we know that the story is going to be in two parts, at least, a “surprising ending” seems inevitable. Marvel and the Russos need people to enjoy this experience but then immediately want to come back and see the next part. To do that, you need a cliffhanger. Something to keep people talking. And, we surmise, this is what Russo means when he says people are going to be surprised.
But ending the film on a cliffhanger, something like Doctor Doom winning or transporting all the characters to another planet for Secret Wars, is the expectation. A surprise would be if Doctor Doom dies at the end and Jonathan Majors returns as Kang again. A surprise would be if Rey shows up, and the Star Wars universe is merging. Those are “surprises.”
And, come on. We know nothing like that is going to happen. Maybe some other X-Men characters show up, or Tony Stark is resurrected, or Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield return. But would any of that actually be surprising? We aren’t so sure.
Basically, because of everything we know about Avengers: Doomsday, it’s not surprising that the film has a surprising ending. What would be surprising is if it didn’t.
We’ll have to wait a few more months to figure out what the Russos mean by this quote, but ultimately, whatever the ending of Doomsday is, we know it’s not actually an ending. It’s just a beginning.
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