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Only a fraction of the people who will buy tickets to Avengers: Doomsday next month have been watching Marvel’s latest Disney+ series – but a teaser at the end of the finale might just be “required viewing”.
That’s been the response on social media at least, with the final scene of the Paul Bettany-led series VisionQuest providing a big twist, undoing the ending of a previous Marvel film, and teeing up two characters in Doomsday.
Spoilers follow for the series finale of VisionQuest…
VisionQuest follows on from the events of the 2021 series WandaVision, which saw Vision (Bettany) resurrected and re-imbued with his memories after being seemingly killed during Avengers: Infinity War (2018).
His partner and longterm love interest Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) was also seemingly killed at the end of the 2022 Marvel movie Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. After wreaking havoc as the film’s main villain, Maximoff (also known as Scarlett Witch) chooses to collapse a temple onto herself, and was not seen again in the franchise.
However, it was teased throughout VisionQuest that Wanda had in fact survived – a twist confirmed after the credits of the series finale.
In the scene, the villainous Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr) is seen approach Wanda’s cadaver, whereupon he says: “Scarlet Witch, awaken. Your powers will be mine.”
At this point, Wanda wakes up.
The scene is expected to have direct consequences for the plot of Doomsday, which is released in cinemas next month.
Doomsday – the fifth Avengers movie and the 39th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), is expected to become one of the biggest films of all time.
Advanced ticket sales mean that the film has already made more than $125m at the box office – a figure that puts it ahead of the total box office numbers for recent blockbusters such as Supergirl and Masters of the Universe.
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Doomsday spotlights what is being billed as the largest cast of stars in history, with actors from previous MCU films – and other, older Marvel adaptations, including the X-Men franchise – set to feature.
Among the confirmed cast members are Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Mackie, Winston Duke, Tom Hiddleston, Sebastian Stan, Letitia Wright, Paul Rudd, Mark Ruffalo, and Downey Jr, all of whom appeared in previous Avengers films. Downey Jr, however, is portraying a different character – shifting from his role as the franchise’s first hero, Iron Man, to the masked villain Doom.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps stars Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn are also set to feature in Doomsday, as are MCU returning players Channing Tatum, Wyatt Russell, Simu Liu, Tenoch Huerta Mejia, Mabel Cadena, Florence Pugh, Danny Ramirez, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, and Lewis Pullman.
The late Sir Patrick Stewart will be reprising his role from the X-Men franchise, alongside fellow stars Kelsey Grammer, Sir Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, and James Marsden.
Avengers: Doomsday is released in cinemas on 18 December.