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What does Avengers: Doomsday have in store for people who are emotionally invested in the MCU?
Actually, let’s back up for a minute: what did Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame have in store for fans who were emotionally invested in the MCU? Cap and Tony settling their differences, reuniting Cap and Bucky, Gamora pushing through her complicated feelings for Thanos, the sweet romance between the Vision and Scarlet Witch, bringing back the fallen after the blip, Iron Man and Black Widow’s sacrifices. It goes on. There were plenty of emotional stakes in those two movies, which is part of the reason they were so damn successful.
Now, let’s ask ourselves again what Avengers: Doomsday has in store for people who are truly invested in the MCU: seeing some incredible team-ups that might include the Fantastic Four, the Thunderbolts, and Cap’s Avengers, most of whom were left in a pretty standard if geopolitically intriguing spot after their own movies. There’s also the return of the X-Men, which is sure to offer some consistently vital stuff between Professor X and Magneto. The movie will also properly introduce Doctor Doom to the MCU, as we’ve only seen the back of him in a post-credits scene thus far. It’ll likely introduce some new emotional stakes we can’t yet fathom.
That sounds fun! Personally, I’m really looking forward to seeing all of that, but what is the beating heart of this movie? What’s the catharsis and payoff that fans have been waiting for since Endgame bowed? Looking over the Doomsday roster (Shang-Chi! Where tf has he been?!), the real heart of the forthcoming Marvel flick will inevitably rest on the relationship between two characters, Loki and Thor.
The brothers’ encounters have spanned countless pages of Marvel Comics over the decades and have been absolutely key to the cinematic universe as well. There’s a reason that the God of Mischief keeps lurching back to life in the MCU, despite all of Kevin Feige’s best efforts to kill him: fans love Tom Hiddleston as Loki, and they love Chris Hemsworth’s Thor. Seeing them together onscreen is always gold, and we shouldn’t take their reunion in Doomsday lightly.
Bringing the duo back together next year will finally bring one of the MCU’s most defining relationships full circle. For many years, their story has swung between betrayal and redemption, culminating in Loki’s sacrifice and Thor’s grief. Now, Thor, somewhat broken by years of guilt and failure but reenergized by becoming a father, will meet a Loki who has evolved far beyond the trickster he once knew. This (we assume) will be the Loki who has literally held the multiverse together. Their reunion might naturally be joyful and surprising, but it will also be about recognition. They are now both the people they were always destined to be, despite everything that’s happened.
With all the big teams colliding in Doomsday, these two can ground the overwhelming scale of its conflict. And as multiversal threats escalate through to Secret Wars, Thor and Loki’s bond can provide the human core that anchors a sprawling story and continues the MCU’s overarching theme of choosing who you become, not who you were.
It will be really cool to see the Thunderbolts, the Fantastic Four family, Cap’s Avengers (once again, Shang-Chi, everybody!), and the X-Men together in Doomsday, but if Marvel handle it right, Loki and Thor, who will appear as the longest-serving MCU characters in the mix, can give the movie a strong enough heartbeat to weather superhero fatigue or any disinterest in seeing more of some post-Endgame characters who have failed to inspire too much excitement.
Of course, there could be other characters in Doomsday whose appearances are being kept secret, but right now, Thor and Loki really are endgame.
The post Avengers: Doomsday’s Emotional Stakes Will Need to Rely on One Thing appeared first on Den of Geek.
