The Marvel Cinematic Universe has lots of titles in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription, but no project has the amount of hype surrounding it as Avengers: Doomsday. The upcoming Marvel movie is the shared universe's next big crossover, and lucky for fans Doomsday's first trailer finally arrived. Although the fandom isn't taking one character redesign well: the Fantastic Four's robot sidekick H.E.R.B.I.E..
Moviegoers who spent years watching the Marvel movies in order will recall how H.E.R.B.I.E. became fan favorite after debuting in First Steps. He'll once again appear as part of Doomsday's cast, but he's going to look very different. As one fan pointed out on Twitter:
H.E.R.B.I.E. has been redesigned for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ pic.twitter.com/LaDTuk5lHZJuly 20, 2026
Talk about a difference. H.E.R.B.I.E. will seemingly be getting a big upgrade during the next Avengers movie, presumably since the Fantastic Four will be popping up in Earth-616 during the course of the blockbuster. And with new tech available, that's likely why we'll be getting a new version for the First Family's robotic member.
Unfortunately, fans aren't taking kindly to this new H.E.R.B.I.E. design. They sounded off the comments section of the above Twitter post, and weren't pleased about the little guy's makeover. Some responses include:
- My mans got that Bluetooth going for him.
- Best case scenario is he got damaged during a fight scene he got caught up in and was repaired perhaps in the main MCU universe with their tech and that’s why he looks so different.
- First image looks disgusting. Why would they change the design for? Stupidity?
- they hurt ma boi!
- What have they done to my boy
Marvel fans are known for being passionate, which is a big reason why the franchise has gone on for nearly 20 years. But they're also not shy about sharing their dissatisfaction for creatives choices... especially when it comes to character design. And unfortunately this change in H.E.R.B.I.E. hasn't been going over well so far. After all, fans loved the retro futuristic design of the Fantastic Four movie.
Following Doomsday's brief teasers, the movie's first trailer finally arrived this week, to the joy of fans. We finally got to see the epic crossovers coming our way, including fights with the OG stars of the X-Men movies. As a reminder, you can check out the trailer below:
This footage is thrilling, but (of course) fans found some things to complain about, including H.E.R.B.I.E.'s new design. Regardless, the Doomsday trailer did increase excitement for the movie, especially with advanced tickets for the movie now available. This anticipation will hopefully result in massive box office numbers, which are especially important after bombs like The Marvels.
All will be revealed when Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on December 18th as part of the 2026 movie release list. We'll just have to see what H.E.R.B.I.E.'s role in the movie is, and if he ends up surviving the battle with Doctor Doom.
