By Chris Snellgrove
| Updated 18 seconds ago

With the teaser trailer just around the corner, Marvel fans are hungry for any and all details regarding Avengers: Doomsday, the tentpole blockbuster film that might just put this cinematic universe back on the map. If you’re eager to learn more about this upcoming superhero ensemble, it turns out that the answers have been hiding in front of you for months.

That’s because Marvel has confirmed that the post-credits scenes for Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps all contain important information about Doomsday.

The Answers Were Right In Front Of Us All Along

Disney+ Latin America recently shared a series of images on Instagram in order to promote the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday. The first image was Doctor Doom and Franklin Richards from The Fantastic Four post-credits scene (this was captioned “The World is Getting Ready for a New Event”), and the second image was of the titular group from the Thunderbolts post-credits scene (this was captioned “They already started preparing for meeting… and you, what’s your theory?”). The final image was Sam Wilson meeting with the Leader in the Captain America: Brave New World post-credits scene, where the villain warns him it will be difficult to protect Earth from “the others.”

These are all from the post-credits scenes of the last three Marvel movies, and Disney+ sharing them confirms something many fans had already assumed: that these scenes are setting the stage for Avengers: Doomsday in a big way. The meaning of certain scenes is more obvious than others. For example, the post-credits scene of Thunderbolts shows the titular team (now rebranded as the New Avengers) monitoring the arrival of the Fantastic Four’s ship. This confirms that Marvel’s First Family will be arriving on our Earth while setting up other plot details, like the Thunderbolts working in Avengers Tower and fretting about getting sued by Sam Wilson.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps credits scene is similarly straightforward, showing Doctor Doom visiting a young Franklin Richards. The villain doesn’t have any dialogue, but it’s a safe bet that he’s interested in the young child’s ability to warp reality. In turn, this power is almost certainly tied to how and why Doctor Doom gains enough power to become a threat to the entire multiverse.

An Ominous Warning From A Forgotten Villain

Perhaps the most interesting post-credits scene is the one in Captain America: Brave New World (admittedly, the least interesting movie), where we see Sam Wilson visiting the Leader (a character first introduced in the Hulk movie) in The Raft, the MCU prison for super-powered individuals. There, the villain asks Sam, “Do you think you’re the only ones? Do you think this is the only world?”

After asking those questions, the evil super-scientist ends with a very provocative statement: “We’ll see what happens when you have to protect this place…from the others.” It’s a safe bet that he’s talking about Doctor Doom, but it’s not entirely clear who the rest of “the others” might be. There are strong rumors that this might be evil versions of familiar MCU heroes from other universes, like the evil Hydra Cap that once made such a big splash in Marvel comics.

What Do These Scenes Tell Us About Avengers: Doomsday?

Collectively, what do these post-credits scenes tell us? Simple: Doctor Doom gains reality-warping powers from Franklin Richards and begins conquering worlds. Meanwhile, the Fantastic Four (who are already familiar with Doctor Doom from their own universe) try to foil his multiversal madness by heading to Earth in time to defend against the supervillain and whatever evil Avengers he has assembled. There, they will team up with Earth’s mightiest heroes in order to defend against a foe with a foe who doesn’t need an Infinity Gauntlet to rewrite reality in his image.

Based on this, Avengers: Doomsday has all the ingredients needed to be a hit film, and we can only hope that the Russo brothers can make this film as good as Endgame. Of course, the movie could always topple under the weight of its ambitious plotting and its small army of cameo characters. To get a better idea of what the Doomsday will be like, be sure to check out the highly anticipated teaser trailer dropping on December 19th ahead of James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash.