How similar is the current speculation and hype for Doomsday compared to IW/Endgame?
I watched all the infinity saga after it had already released and am jealous at what everybody else got to experience in the decade long buildup to a spectacular finale.
How was the online chatter in the years leading up to infinity war and endgame, compared to what we see now for doomsday and secret wars? I’m assuming the botching of the multiverse saga has thrown way more jaded criticism into the fold. Also hard to believe there was this many wildly differing theories on what the film would hold. What was one largely accepted theory of those films that didn’t come to fruition? Were there any huge leaks that ruined what would have been a mind-blowing surprise?
How was the online chatter in the years leading up to infinity war and endgame, compared to what we see now for doomsday and secret wars? I’m assuming the botching of the multiverse saga has thrown way more jaded criticism into the fold. Also hard to believe there was this many wildly differing theories on what the film would hold. What was one largely accepted theory of those films that didn’t come to fruition? Were there any huge leaks that ruined what would have been a mind-blowing surprise?
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I do think Doomsday will do well, but it won't be on the same level as IW/Endgame. That was a decade-long buildup that really paid off.
I get they don't want to cannibalize their other films' box office and especially when you add in other non MCU Disney films but its not working.
And that doesn’t take away from other films post-Endgame. They just happened to catch lightning in a bottle. Still looking forward to Doomsday and Secret Wars
The post Endgame phase has been a mess. Its a mix of movies and shows. Some are must watch some were forgettable.
The online culture was just very different then. Now people are way too obsessed with set photos and leaks and speculating off that instead of speculating off what is actually officially confirmed for the movie and just watching it honestly. You also get a bunch of people that follow leaks and then they "predict" things they already know will happen because they want internet points like goofballs.
Many people knew based on the source material that there was a chance Thanos would assemble the gauntlet but nobody thought Marvel/Disney had the balls to end Infinity War like they did, and a huge talk online was the reactions and how many kids were in the theaters sobbing, there were tons of clips and videos posted of just the reactions theaters had to the moments from each movie. People knew it was likely the characters would be brought back (again based on source material) and everyone knew details about MCU actor contracts at the time so it was speculated numerous actors whose contracts were up would be dying and maybe the original Avengers would all sacrifice themselves to save the rest of the heroes.
The biggest theory I remember not happening was the theory that Heimdall's eyes were the soul stone and it was why he could see everybody everywhere, having vision of their souls. The soul stone being unaccounted for going into Infinity War meant it had a lot of speculation around what it is, from being the meteor that gave Wakanda vibranium to something Wakanda simply guarded to explain the ability to visit the Astral Plane. There were also theories it would involve Adam Warlock who was teased in the Guardians Vol. 2 post-credit scene and tied to the stone and this story in the comics.
During the pandemic the floodgates just seemed to open with No Way Home pics - I still strongly suspect that Sony were responsible for leaking so many of those.
Now, each person has their own personalized internet sphere, which means more diversified interests and opinions across the board. Back then, it truly felt like a hivemind sometimes. Literally everybody in the world was talking about IW. I remember when the first Endgame trailer came out, I was on the bus, and was putting my headphones on to watch it the moment I saw that YouTube Notification, and I noticed other people around me doing the same. It was a truly communal experience.
I've waited those movies more than any other Multiverse Saga project, and I can't stand the idea of redditors who "predicted" the films would fail getting to write posts and comments like "haha, I was right". :/
It was already annoying to hear/read so many people trash-talk Disney era Star Wars.
I'm just saying that the hype is not there anymore.
I think this is also emblematic of theatre culture writ large.
The time of Infinity War/Endgame’s release was also the time when Hollywood studios were starting to pick up on their endless sequel or live action remakes. Then the pandemic happened in 2020 and studios lost their damn minds with sequels and live action remakes. Combined with pandemic restrictions & the increased popularity of waiting for films to hit streaming, you then end up with people being much less excited for new theatrical releases overall
It's like I doubt IW would have been as hotly anticipated if they had pivoted away from paying off the plots of Phases 1-3 and instead had all the marketing trying to build up buzz about bringing back Lou Ferrigno, Tobey Maguire and Wesley Snipes.
If I'm being silly and Marvel/Disney have complete faith in the Post-Endgame roster and they're planning on them being front and center in these movies then why isn't that the angle of the marketing campaign rather than "hey look who we've got back from before Endgame!"
Yes, the bulk of post EG MCU feels like subpar buckshot, but more than that, it just feels like they’re trying to try EVERYTHING rather than make a few, confident, leaps.
But as someone who used to read comics as a kid, didn’t know that IM 1 was releasing when it did and seeing the success of MCU in general since then, I am excited. If you expect “non-hyped” storytelling but a “near future expectation of storytelling”, then you can never really get disappointed (MJ said something similar to that effect) but it holds true for fans to not get their hopes up because everything is just an experiment with every MCU entry starting from IM1 and this might pay off or it will fall flat but in either case, it will be a cinematic masterpiece if we go by Russos brothers experience in story telling
Infinity War and Endgame is INSANE. it's the first time we get all of these separate groups of people FINALLY meeting up and banding together, and with Civil War properly dividing Cap and Tony, it made longing for their reunion even stronger.. which didn't happen in Infinity War which is great because it'll hurt more when Endgame came and damn EVERYONE IS FUCKIN HURT AND DAMAGED before Endgame came. Ppl grieving and stuff.
It's just a whole different hype. Speculation was fun, everyone was basing off of comics and obviously what can be theories from past releases. Theories then was exciting and seemingly possible even tho they didn't turn out to be what happened. Unlike now the remaining ppl who care to theorize are basing from leaks which tbf makes kind of sense because we have no goddamn idea what miracle they're hoping to pull off with Doomsday. But still, the effort atp is limited now.
Instead of faking leaks with photoshop edits, people now fake leaks with AI slop. I'd say faking leaks are the most comparable. (obviously not 1:1 because AI)
I think a big part of it is that for IW and Endgame we were really interested to think about characters and what their emotional arcs would be, how their relationships would be tested and what their final fates would be all based on a collective love of how these versions had developed over a decade of films.
With Doomsday it just feels like a huge gimmick. No one is thinking about character stuff because most of us don't care about any of the films that have come in the intervening years. People are just wondering who will be wheeled on for a cameo, what costumes they'll wear and who they'll interact with. It just feels a lot emptier.
Do the x men fresh, stop bringing in geriatric actors when the MCU desperately needs a new face.
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Most people dont seem to give af about the MCU anymore outside of Marvel fans and/or comicbook fans. The general casuals have moved on, unfortunately.
Even Marvel comics would sell out in bookstores, which is pretty rare in Korea. This started happening around Civil War to be more accurate. The hype ramped up around WS and IM3, got a huge boost with CW, and right around IW and Endgame half the nation was caught up on all the MCU films and just buzzing.
Right now.... the MCU is just dead over here. Abysmal. Nobody really cares. The ticket sales for all three MCU films of 2025 are really, really, really bad. It's sad because SK used to be one of the most avid countries when it came to MCU popularity. The drop is really abrupt.
You can flame and downvote me for this take, but the fact that they're making the return of the big 3 actors and characters feels like they need to create hype again because almost no one cares that much as before. In my particular case, it's been almost two years I don't see nothing from the MCU. Neither I see how Moonknight, Eternals, Loki, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, new Avengers, Kate Bishop and even Daredevil would fit there. As I said, it's a huge mess. I would go cinema but only because of my friends, but as for now I'm not hyped at all.
Phases 1-4 were lightning in a bottle. Well written films leading into each other with unexpected story and character crossovers culminating in a decade of slow build-up and tease of the "big bad" with perceived "real stakes" if your favourite character was in jeopardy due to the years of storytelling.
Channels reporting on leaks or micro-analysing actor interviews were huge and absolutely everywhere in the early MCU stages.
Unfortunately since Endgame, the MCU has been a confused hot mess of new one-and-done characters appearing in TV shows and Movies who are quickly forgotten with no big pay-off or character development. The films have no real tie to each other, so the build up of anticipation cannot be recreated like in Phases 1-4.
The Multiverse saga has been marred with real-world controversy and negative reactions both justified and stupid resulting in sudden changes in direction, re-shoots, cancelled projects. (Remember, Black Widow, Eternals and Shang-Chi are all part of the multiverse saga - why?)
Post Phase 4 seems unable to stand on its own two feet and so older characters are brough back in canon breaking ways to draw audiences back in on sentimentality (RDJ/Hemsworth/Evans/Maguire/Garfield/McKellen/Stewart etc)
Phase 4-6 has also been filled with standalone films not really connected (currently) to the big finale.
Now it feels Marvel is just announcing 'the next film' with 'returning character' or 'next TV show' with 'minor unimportant character'.
The hype is growing gradually, but IW/Endgame will never happen again, at least not within the MCU.
There is no comparison.
IW played on a decade of infinity stone elements, and Thanos had a few appearances prior to the movie. Plus the phase 3 movies really felt like they played off the events of Avengers 2 and had a lot of connections between them.
So hype is lower, but it will build, still a year away.
Which is one of the big reasons they are bringing back so many of the OG cast. They are trying to garner interest from the people that stopped caring.
Hype for the new ones are being carried by leaked nostalgia bait. I don’t necessarily hate it as I love seeing these characters again but they don’t have the build up we had from phase 1 all culminating to the infinity saga
Plus, whatever Doomsday ends up being. It’s not really a culmination of anything since endgame. It honestly doesn’t even really feel like an “avengers” movie because it’s really just “all the heroes you know in one spot”
That said, I’m as stoked as I ever am, but I can’t say I’m banging the doors down like I was for either infinity war or endgame
This time, they've realized they messed up and all the hype is going to be built up since the movie and cast was announced. So expect they will be going HARD these next 12 months on trying to sell tickets. I expect a shitload of fan service in Doomsday and Secret Wars to try and match IW and Endgame.
IW and Endgame it was the finale of years of - RECENT - consistently released and consistently narrated stories all finally coming together.
This is practically standalone, coming off of years of random oversaturation, and while we're aware of what's happening, there's no real intimacy with the material. We don't even know *what* kind of conflict there's about to be, at all. Even with the Big 3, we have zero idea what kind of involvement or stakes they're going to have in the story.
It's all very abstract in almost every possible way. No real premise for the same level of hype as IW/Endgame just yet.
But IW, the wait was unreal. And then the first trailer dropped. I still recall being at work and my phone gave me an alert about new trailer. I got my friend who is also a marvel fan and our jaws dropped. People made reaction videos, there were all these theory videos, people were jacked.
This film feels so… blah. If they hadn’t fumbled the new movies so bad or had at least followed up on characters they introduced (Shang Chi), it might’ve been comparable. Since Kang was scrapped and they had to redo everything, it feels rushed. They’re rushing to the reboot of the universe and most people can tell it.
Doomsday will have hype, especially with Marvel starting the promotion cycle a full year out. But I don’t think we’ll ever experience anything like the conclusion of the Infinity Saga ever again.
The problem is precedent.
You have chattering heads over and over saying how there was really nothing built up on Thanos and how it all manifested as they were building the staircase.
And that's 100% true. And it 100% worked.
Now you have a precedent...and the last 2 phases of MCU have NOT lived up to that.
By this stage in infinity saga you already had established characters with 2-3 solo films, interconnected overlap, and...TWO AVENGERS FILMS.
Lmao the biggest selling point for doomsday is RDJ, Evans, and characters being brought back from 20 years ago...which Deadpool basically already did.
Disney is 100% banking on milking the fuck out of the nostalgia teet and it is 100% going to work as a spectacle piece. But, sorry not sorry, there is no rewatchability, IMO, to those types of films. Looking at you NWH and DP&W.