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| Credit: Marvel |
Fresh leaks and D23 buzz have Marvel fans talking about what could be the opening scene of Avengers Doomsday — and if the latest YouTube breakdown is right, the Russo brothers are planning one of the boldest openings in Marvel Cinematic Universe history. The theory comes from the movie theories channel Film Royalty, and it paints a picture of Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man going head-to-head with Hugh Jackman's Wolverine while the X-Men try to blow up an entire planet. Here is the theory, what it would mean for the movie, and the full transcript of the video below.
The Theory: Spider-Man vs. the X-Men During an Incursion
According to the Film Royalty breakdown, Avengers Doomsday opens with Professor X and the X-Men watching an incursion unfold on another version of Earth — the sky turns red, the planet explodes, and Professor X watches in horror. The theory goes further: the X-Men have figured out a way to stop incursions — detonating a massive bomb on the other world to destroy it and save their own.
The twist? The other world is Tobey Maguire's Earth, where Spider-Man is the only hero left. So Spider-Man is forced to fight the X-Men — including Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, with Deadpool lurking in the background — to save his world from destruction. The fight reportedly ends with Spider-Man and Wolverine falling into the exploding world, making it look like both heroes die in the first ten minutes.
Why This Opening Would Work
The incursion crash course. The video argues this scene exists so casual fans who skipped Phase 4 and Phase 5 can learn how incursions work — by watching one unfold rather than sitting through exposition.
A classic Russo misdirection. Just like Loki's death opened Avengers: Infinity War and set the stakes, seemingly killing two icons in the opening would raise the stakes immediately — and the video's creator does not believe either hero stays dead.
Dr. Doom pulling the strings. The theory speculates Doom may have planted the idea of destroying other worlds with the X-Men — tying into the trailer line "We face an unthinkable decision."
The 2002 cameo, finally paid off. Back when Tobey Maguire's 2002 Spider-Man was being made, Hugh Jackman was reportedly set to cameo as Wolverine before the plan fell apart. This opening would pay off that decades-old what-if.
Watch the Full Video: Avengers Doomsday Opening Scene Breakdown
The full breakdown comes from Film Royalty's "Avengers Doomsday Opening Scene Breakdown" on YouTube (8:07).
Credit: Marvel studiosFull Transcript of the Video
Transcript of Film Royalty's video (auto-generated captions), provided for reference:
[0:06] There's been a ton of info coming out of D23 about Avengers Doomsday, and some of the stuff that's leaked is absolutely wild. We finally got a better look at what's happening in that opening scene, and it sounds like the Russo brothers are pulling out all the stops. They've done this before with Infinity War and Endgame, so they know exactly how to hook an audience from the very first second. So, what we've heard is that we start off with Professor X and the X-Men watching as an incursion unfolds in another version of Earth. The sky turns red, the planet explodes, and Professor X looks genuinely devastated watching it all happen. But we've since learned that it's actually the very opening scene of the movie, and it involves some major players. We're talking Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man, Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool, and the rest of the Fox X-Men. And apparently this is all part of a much bigger plan that sets up everything that follows. Now, here's where it gets really interesting. There have been a bunch of leaks suggesting that in this scene, Spider-Man is fighting Hugh Jackman's Wolverine with Deadpool lurking in the background. And the reason he's fighting them is that he's the only hero left on his Earth. So, he's basically forced to fight the X-Men to save his own world from being destroyed by an incursion. That is one of the coolest concepts I've heard in a long time. It's like something straight out of the comics and it creates this perfect emotional conflict that the Russo brothers excel at. But let's back up a bit and talk about how we even know about this. Walker Scobell, yeah, the kid from Percy Jackson, was at D23 for his own thing, and he just started talking about this epic Doomsday scene in detail. He used to be best friends with Ryan Reynolds and he even filmed a movie with Hugh Jackman, so he went on and on about Tobey Maguire fighting the X-Men, and it was hilarious because you could tell he was just sharing stuff from Ryan. And it wouldn't be surprising if Marvel snipers gave him a call after that to tell him to keep quiet. But apparently this scene is set up to give casual fans a crash course in how incursions work because Marvel knows that not everyone watched every single Phase 4 and Phase 5 movie. They're basically banking on the fact that a bunch of people skipped straight from Endgame to Doomsday. So, they need to explain the multiverse rules without being too heavy-handed. The incursion concept was introduced in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness by Reed Richards. But a lot of people probably didn't catch that or don't remember it. So using this X-Men scene to show, not tell, how incursions work and how devastating they can be. Now, the big twist here is that the X-Men have actually figured out a way to stop incursions from destroying their world. They've learned that when two planets are about to collide, detonating a massive bomb on the other world will destroy it and save their own. So, in this opening scene, the X-Men are trying to plant that bomb on Tobey Maguire's Earth to destroy it and save their own. It's pretty brutal. But Spider-Man being the hero he is, isn't about to let that happen. So, he fights them, trying to save his world, and the first person he runs into is Wolverine he's fighting. The rest of the X-Men are also there trying to get the job done. But it sounds like the fight ends with both of them falling into the exploding world, which makes it look like they both die in the opening scene. That's a classic Russo brothers move. By the way, remember how they killed Loki at the beginning of Infinity War? That immediately established the stakes. They're doing something similar here, making us think that two of the biggest comic book icons, Spider-Man and Wolverine, are gone in the first 10 minutes. I don't buy it for a second. These guys are way too valuable, and I'm pretty sure they'll be back for Avengers: Secret Wars. It's a classic fake out, and I'm sure they'll be brought back. Maybe Dr. Doom pulls them into Battle World after he creates it at the end of Doomsday. Or maybe they escape through some kind of portal.
Speaking of Dr. Doom, there's a lot of speculation that he's secretly pulling the strings behind all of this. It sounds like he might have given the X-Men the idea to destroy other worlds in the first place because that's exactly the kind of morally questionable manipulation Doom would engage in. He's always been a master of gaslighting and using people to execute his will. So, it makes perfect sense that he'd be nudging events in a certain direction. And there's that line from the trailers where he says, "We face an unthinkable decision." That's almost certainly about the choice to destroy another Earth to save your own. It's such a Doom thing to say and it sets up the central moral dilemma of the movie. Now, let's talk about why Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man is wearing a motion capture suit in those leaked images instead of his classic cloth suit. The rumor is that he's getting a new, more comic accurate Iron Spider suit, similar to what Tom Holland wore in Infinity War and Endgame, but designed to look even cooler and more faithful to the comics. That would explain why he needs all that motion capture technology. The suit is going to be heavily enhanced with visual effects, and that's a really exciting prospect. Tom Holland actually mentioned recently that he tried on Tobey's and Andrew Garfield's suits for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and he said they felt so much better than his own suit that they inspired the design for his new one. So, there's a lot of thought going into making these suits feel practical and authentic, even when they're enhanced with CGI. The other big reason the Russo brothers want to include this opening scene is to pay off a decades old deep cut. Back when the original Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movie was being made in 2002, there was actually a plan to have Hugh Jackman's Wolverine cameo in it. Fox and Sony worked out a deal and Wolverine was going to appear in his black suit. But on the day of filming, the suit didn't work out, so they scrapped the cameo. And then as both franchises got bigger, the lawyers could never come to an agreement to make it happen. So now, all these years later, the Russo brothers are finally delivering on that long-lost idea. It's such a cool piece of Marvel history coming full circle, and it shows how much thought and care is going into this movie. The opening scene also serves to establish how smart the X-Men are. Professor X and his team have already figured out the mechanics of incursions, and they're acting decisively to save their world. But there's a moral weight to their actions that can't be ignored. Destroying another Earth, even to save your own, is a horrific choice. And that's exactly the kind of dilemma that makes for great drama. In Jonathan Hickman's Time Runs Out comic, the Illuminati faced the same exact decision, and it tore them apart. Some of them were totally on board, while others couldn't stomach it. I wouldn't be surprised if we see similar conflicts within the X-Men in this movie. And let's not forget the potential for some fourth wall breaking humor from Deadpool. In those leaked scenes, he's there in the background. And you know, Ryan Reynolds is going to have a field day with the absurdity of it all. He could easily make a joke about how audiences are getting tired of the same multiverse plots being recycled, which would be a hilarious way to acknowledge the elephant in the room. But even with the humor, the stakes are incredibly high, and the Russo brothers are masters at balancing tone. So, as it stands, the opening of Avengers Doomsday sounds like an absolute roller coaster. We've got Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man fighting Wolverine, the X-Men trying to blow up an entire planet.
End of transcript. Video: Film Royalty, "Avengers Doomsday Opening Scene Breakdown," 8:07 — watch on YouTube.
