While Avengers: Doomsday is currently in post-production, marketing for the movie is already in high gear. However, a recent social media post from directors Joe and Anthony Russo — known collectively as the Russo Brothers — has deliberately raised questions. They hinted that each trailer holds a secret.
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“What you’ve been watching for the last four weeks… are not teasers. Or trailers. They are stories. They are clues… Pay attention,” the Russos wrote on Instagram, followed by the hashtag #DoomsdayHasBegun. The comment accompanied the most recent trailer, which features Wakandan leaders meeting with Ben Grimm.
But if the four trailers aren’t trailers, what are they? They’re part of an interactive marketing strategy designed to renew lagging interest in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It also speaks to the growing trend in fan communities to search for Easter eggs at every opportunity.
What the Trailers Show
Over four consecutive weeks, a new Avengers: Doomsday trailer was attached to Avatar: Fire and Ash. Starting with Steve Rogers, the following trailers showed Thor, the Fox era X-Men, and the Wakandans and Ben Grimm from The Fantastic Four.
Cyclops releasing his optic blast in the Avengers: Doomsday trailer – Marvel Entertainment, YouTube
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On first viewing, none of the trailers seem to contain a secret message. The Steve Rogers trailer revealed that Chris Evans was officially returning to the MCU, which had been previously unconfirmed. Thor’s appearance showed that the character would be regaining some of the dignity fans felt he’d lost. The X-Men trailer leaned heavily on nostalgia, while the final trailer emphasized the scale of the crossover.
However, after the Russo Brothers dropped their hint that the trailers aren’t just trailers, the internet immediately went to work. Now, it seems that the code may have been cracked.
Digging Deep and Cracking the Code
Keen-eyed fans noticed that at the end of each trailer, between the on-screen text showing the release date of December 18, 2026 and the Doomsday clock countdown, there are a few frames of what appear to be random letters and numbers. At the end of the Steve Rogers trailer, the text is: 1e:24ber:02020.
Secret code from the Steve Rogers Avengers: Doomsday trailer – Marvel Entertainment, YouTube
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SuperHeroHype reports that the text is not random. It appears that the secret messages are timestamps for Avengers: Endgame, the last MCU film directed by the Russo Brothers. There’s some debate online as to the specific scenes these timestamps lead to and their significance. However, the strategy seems to have worked in that people are giving the trailers a closer look and talking about them.
It’s a strategy that landed at a moment when genre fans are actively looking for secret messages — even where none exist.
Secret Messages, Real and Otherwise
The Doomsday trailers were cut before the “Conformity Gate” conspiracy swept through the Stranger Things community. Audiences, disappointed in the series finale, combed through episodes of the Netflix series, looking for any clues that promised a secret, “real” ending. From rearranged props to hand placements, some viewers convinced themselves that another episode would drop on a specific day and time. So many checked that it briefly overwhelmed Netflix’s servers.
Eleven in Stranger Things – YouTube, Netflix
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Ultimately, there was no secret message in Stranger Things and no alternate finale. But it proved that a large segment of the online community wants to puzzle out clues hidden in their favorite entertainment. The fact that there is something to uncover in Doomsday may provide a sense of satisfaction for those willing to dig deep. Whether that satisfaction translates into ticket sales, however, remains to be seen.
Does a secret message marketing campaign increase your interest in Avengers: Doomsday? Sound off in the comments!
