Teaser Trailers for Avengers: Doomsday

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Someone observed that in about a month, we’ve had four teasers for Avengers: Doomsday. It is, indeed, unusual.

The ones focusing on fathers(!), Steve Rogers and Thor, were released at the end of December 2025:

Steve Rogers Will Return | Avengers: Doomsday in Theaters December 18, 2026 by Marvel Entertainment on YouTube

Thor Will Return | Avengers: Doomsday in Theaters December 18, 2026 by Marvel Entertainment on YouTube

The trailer about Professor X and Magneto came out at the beginning of this January:

Avengers: Doomsday | Only in Theaters December 18, 2026 by Marvel Entertainment on YouTube

And the Wakandans trailer a good two weeks ago:

Avengers: Doomsday | Only in Theaters December 18, 2026 by Marvel Entertainment on YouTube

My first thought was: I wonder what has changed that Marvel has disrupted their pattern of marketing? Then I saw the plot synopsis on IMDB: “Plot under wraps.”

Ah. Likely they’re after hype, probably spurred on by the less than stellar performance overall of phases four and five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

As the teasers are really short, we obviously don’t get much detail, however. It’s intriguing and refreshing that so much of the Steve Rogers trailer concentrates on him smiling and just holding (presumably) his baby. An interesting choice for such a short clip.

It’s also refershing that an uber-masculine franchise such as MCU is now mature enough to discuss not just fathers and sons from the perspective of being the son, but also becoming the father. We had a version already in Avengers: Endgame and a glimpse in Thor: Love and Thunder, but it seems it may now get a somewhat larger share of attention.

What does baffle me is why we see so many fewer women on screen than, say, in Avengers: Endgame. The current cast listing on IMDB is also very, very man-heavy. It’s like someone suddenly developed an overwhelming case of cooties…

We’ll have to see how many of my impressions change in the coming months as more trailers are released, as I’m sure they will be.

At this writing, the release date for Avengers: Doomsday is either December 17 or 18, 2026, depending on location.

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Early Iranian Spindle Whorls

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We all know that everyday tasks aren’t really made lighter by having eye-pleasing tools to work with. But there clearly is some innate yearning in humanity to not just modify but also to decorate our environment.

Earlier we’ve blogged about Minoan mugs from ca. 1,500 BCE, a Bronze Age cup with an attempt at animation, a Minoan octopus flask, a brilliantly colored ancient Greek glass perfume bottle, a monster mosaic from a 3rd c. BCE Greek city in Italy, a statuette of girls playing knucklebones from ca. 330 BCE, and a Maya vase with a rabbit scribe, and many other examples.

Here’s one more case in point: Iranian spindle whorls from the early islamic period c. 700s-900s CE. They are made from incised bone and carved with intricate designs.

Tumblr theinternetarchive Iranian Spindle Whorls

A spindle is a hand tool for making yarn, basically a long thin stick around which the freshly formed yarn can be wound. A spindle whorl is a weight attached to the bottom of a spindle. Whorls provide more torque and a longer spin time—purely functional, in other words.

Many, many spindle whorls found around the world have been carefully shaped, which is to be expected—you do want your tools not just to work, but work well for the purpose. In addition, so many of extant spindle whorls are also beautifully decorated.

You could perhaps argue that the small surface makes for a quick and easy art project. However, most whorls are round or spherical, which makes for a more challenging surface to decorate.

Spinning must have been an unending task for our predecessors. Spindles—and, by extension, spindle whorls—were the most basic, utilitarian tool you could imagine. And yet, we find innumerable people throughout history wanting to decorate their whorls. Little details like this make me love humanity all over again, despite all the awful we’re also capable of.

Images by The Cleveland Museum of Art, mashup via theinternetarchive on Tumblr

Out There highlights intriguing art, places, phenomena, flora, and fauna.

Nan Madol: A Megalithic Palace in the Pacific

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On the eastern coast of the island of Pohnpei, part of the Federated States of Micronesia, are the remains of a gigantic complex of megalithic structures. These structures stand along the coast of the island and on nearly a hundred artificial islands just offshore. This site is called Nan Madol.

Platform and enclosure wall, photograph by Uhooep via Wikimedia (Nan Madol; c. 1100-1200 CE; stone)

The structures of Nan Madol were first built in the 1100s CE and served as an administrative and ceremonial center for the Saudeleur ruling dynasty that held power over Pohnpei from approximately 1100 CE to the early 1600s. They were constructed using columns of volcanic rock that formed natural geometric shapes. By carefully jointing these stones together, the people of Pohnpei created large structures stable enough that many walls still stand today.

Wall with opening, photograph by Patrick Nunn via Wikimedia (Nan Madol; c. 1100-1200 CE; stone)

Nan Madol is one of many sites around the world that remind us that cultures capable of coordinated labor, careful planning, and social complexity are not the product of only one environment or part of the world.

Out There highlights intriguing art, places, phenomena, flora, and fauna.

Trailer for The Death of Robin Hood

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Oh, I had not come across this—a new Robin Hood adaptation is coming to the big screen. It involves an old, wounded Robin, and they’ve scored quite a big name for the titular role: Hugh Jackman.

Here’s a trailer:

The Death of Robin Hood | Official Trailer HD | A24 by A24 on YouTube

There are some impressive locations and cinematic beauty, like when the little girl (who sounds like one of the protagonists) and Robin meet in the woods and he promises to make her a bow. Sadly, though, I find the trailer a bit too vague; too many flashbacks to Robin’s past, perhaps? Also, some of the scenes are too dark to see. While that’s a benefit for me when really graphic violence is depicted, I can’t say I really care for either. (I wish the movie business would get out of the if-it’s-fantasy-it-must-be-explicitly-violent-because-Game-of-Thrones-was-and-that-did-great rut already!)

It seems that Jackman is the only name I know from the cast. Even the writer-director Michael Sarnoski is completely unknown to me, so I can’t even guess at the style of story this might be. I do like what I see of the adult and young female protagonists, though (played by Jodie Comer and Faith Delaney, it looks like).

While there is something to be said for a tale where a man and a girl form a meaningful connection, this doesn’t look like a movie for me. (Like I implied in my post about the 2025 Red Sonja reboot, there is no longer a need to see absolutely everything SFFnal if you want to see anything, since the selection has grown so much.) We’ll see if that changes with further trailers.

According to IMDB, The Death of Robin Hood has only two release dates at this writing: one for Mexico on May 28, 2026, and merely 2026 for United States.

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A WoW Player Housing Treasure: Winter Sauna by CottageWizard

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The next World of Warcraft expansion, Midnight, will be released at the beginning of March, but one of the new features—Player Housing—was made available already at the beginning of December 2025.

This early access has been hyped quite a bit in some circles—we were certainly excited about it, and followed various news items. A lovely feature I stumbled upon is the Midnight beta gallery of user-submitted builds at Wowhead.

There are so many inspiring houses and rooms at the gallery, with inventive uses of items and decorative elements—not surprising from gamers, right? 🙂 However, I want to especially highlight one: a Winter Sauna Cottage by CottageWizard.

Wowhead CottageWizard Winter Sauna Cottage Mashup Sm

In real life, little cottages like this are quite popular here in Finland, and typically contain a multipurpose room (or two) plus a sauna room with washing facilities in a corner.

CottageWizard describes the idea like this: “Winter sauna cottage built on the Midnight Beta. Tried to create the illusion of a snowy environment without snowy housing items! This was created at house level 3.”

The whole is really, really impressive. I absolutely love it! And, having messed about in the housing editor, I can see how much effort went into the build. The facade. The snow. (Snow!) The covered firewood storage. Towels on their pegs in the hallway. Creating the wood panels and benches in the sauna. The added platforms and beams in the room (e.g. as molding in the kitchen area). The kitchen backsplash.

What I don’t get is how the snow outside is achieved. I wish CottageWizard had included a little more detail; I’ll have to ponder that a bit.

But the sauna is absolutely perfect! The heater (kiuas) is protected with railings, as it should. Wood paneling throuhgout, ditto. Buckets (barrels) of water and ladles. A couple of levels of seating to adjust your bathing experience when it gets too hot or cool. A window is a bonus. (But HOW does it look snowy outside?!?! HOW?!?) There even is a sauna whisk (vihta or vasta, depending where you’re from) and a thermometer on the wall!

LOVE. IT!!! 😀

Images: screencaps from World of Warcraft: Midnight beta release by CottageWizard via Wowhead, mashup by Eppu Jensen

Of Dice and Dragons talks about games and gaming.

Swimmers of the Sahara

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Thousands of years ago, the Sahara desert was not the dry, sandy place it is now. There was a time when northern Africa was wet and green. Most of what we know about climate changes in the past comes from the study of geology and paleontology, but one small indicator of a wetter ancient Sahara comes from the people of the time themselves.

There are numerous rock paintings and carvings in the Sahara, showing that people once lived in places that are now inhospitable desert. Several pieces of rock art show animals that could not survive in the Sahara in its modern desert state. One interesting painting, from a cave in southwestern Egypt, shows people floating or swimming in water.

Swimmers from the Cave of Swimmers, photograph by Ronald Unger via Wikimedia (Wadi Sura, Egypt; c. 8000-5000 BCE; rock painting)

Anthropologists have speculated that the swimmers represent souls of the dead floating in the primordial waters of the afterlife, in an early version of what would become the mythology of ancient Egypt. Whether this speculation is true or not, however, it must be the case that floating in water was something the people of the ancient Sahara could imagine, an experience that is hardly possible in the region today.

Out There highlights intriguing art, places, phenomena, flora, and fauna.

“101 Things to Do When Bored at Home”

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The other day I was browsing a random blog. Seeing a post title “101 Things to Do When Bored at Home” or something to that effect, I turned to Erik and said: “I don’t understand the concept.”

I truly don’t, not for my part!

We’re both introverts who love our home. Home is where our books are. Where we can watch tv in comfort. Play games. Craft, sew, write. Go nap or lie down with a blanket to think about things. Heck, even clean or mend things—it’s something to do, and we do enjoy a well-functioning home (even if cleaning and mending aren’t favorite pastimes themselves).

I literally can’t remember the last time I’ve been bored at home.

I can—and do—give my brain rest breaks. Idling is important to creativity, which is important to all of life, if you ask me. But boredom…? Nope. It just doesn’t happen, there’s so much to do.

I’m actually looking forward to the time when I’m old enough to need less sleep—more time to enjoy being conscious! 🙂

Here there be opinions!

Winter is Coming, and He’s Got a Hare to Share

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Winter is upon us here in the northern hemisphere. We’re settling in for cold days and long, dark nights. Here’s how the winter season was imagined in late Roman Britain.

This figure comes from a floor mosaic at Chedworth Villa in western Britain. Each corner of the mosaic had a little allegorical figure representing one of the seasons. Winter appears bundled up in warm layers with a hooded cloak, carrying a hare in one hand (the reward of a hunt), and a symbolic leafless branch in the other.

Wishing you a warm, cozy, and cheerful winter season!

Image: Winter from Chedworth dining room floor, photograph by Pasicles via Wikimedia (Chedworth Roman Villa; 4th c. CE; mosaic)

Out There highlights intriguing art, places, phenomena, flora, and fauna.

Something Different: A Silver-Toned Earthen Pally Transmog

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We’ve played The War Within: Legion Remix since finding out that some player housing decor items will be released through it. I made myself a female Dwarf paladin—always a favorite combo—but decided to try something a little different (for me, that is).

So, saved for posterity, here’s my silver-toned Earthen retribution pally.

I’ve hidden the helmet, wrist, belt, and boot slots, and I’m not using a shirt or tabard for this look either. The Dueler’s Snowy Shoulder Cape and Aspiring Aspirant’s Drape make a fantastic combo for the shoulder and back slots. The Overlord’s Chestplate is an older design, but its relatively smooth front makes up for the clunky pixels, and the chain mail underlayer in the model does not detract from the look I had in mind.

WoW TWW Legion Remix Pally1

Dauntless Handguards plus Long Snowy War Skirt and Leg Wraps finish off the outfit. Since she’s a paladin and mostly covered in armor, I kept her gems to a minimum, just a knuckle cluster on one hand. Her white mohawk hairdo and white-grey eyes form a large part of the striking look. I assume because she’s an Earthen, there’s a prismatic sheen to her hair that’s just amazing. Her weapon is one version of The Ashbringer.

WoW TWW Legion Remix Pally2

If interested, you can have a look at the set in Wowhead’s Dressing Room.

Images: World of Warcraft screencaps

Of Dice and Dragons is an occasional feature about games and gaming.