Avengers: Doomsday Test Screening Details Tease Doctor Doom, Runtime, And More

Some more details have made their way online as we gear up for "Avengers: Doomsday." The major crossover movie for Disney's Marvel centers around the villainous Doctor Doom, foe of the Fantastic Four, and the various heroes from across the multiverse coming together to put an end to a potentially cataclysmic event, or an incursion, in which entire universes collide with each other. Although the film was originally meant to focus on Kang the Conqueror, featured heavily in "Loki" and "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," Marvel pivoted to "Doomsday" over "The Kang Dynasty" due to abuse allegations against actor Jonathan Majors. Now, the beleaguered film is finally hitting some eyes in test screenings, with a few details coming out.

Test screenings are used by studios to gauge what's working and what isn't. If it sounds surprising that "Doomsday" is still being actively tested, it should be, as rumors indicate the film is still in the works just weeks away from its December 18 debut. Those who have spoken about the test screenings to different outlets or on social media have already come out with a positive reaction. Huge praise comes for Doctor Doom, played by "Iron Man" lead Robert Downey Jr. in a weird twist. A few members of the audience who have seen the early screenings said that Doom stands up there with Thanos, the main villain of the first 10 years of Marvel films, ending with "Avengers: Endgame."

We already know the movie is going to feature past actors and characters, including Rebecca Romijn as the shapeshifting "X-Men" baddie, Mystique, who last had a major role in a Marvel property in 2006's "X-Men: The Last Stand." However, James Marsden returning as Cyclops is apparently a standout of the whole film. That's very exciting, especially as the comics are currently also converging around something major happening with Cyclops in the current "X-Men" run and crossover, "DNX."

For those wanting even more, screenings have reportedly revealed that there is a post-credits scene in the prerelease version of "Doomsday."  According to the reports, there's only one — or at least, only one that is important. Whether more will be tacked on after post-production has concluded, obviously, has yet to be seen. Considering that the follow-up "Avengers: Secret Wars" has potentially been hit with a delay, writers might need more time to finalize any additional post-credits scenes that would serve as connective tissue between the films. But, with barely any real information on "Secret Wars" as of writing, news that 2015's "Secret Wars" author, Jonathan Hickman, has been consulting on "Doomsday" can only mean something good is cooking for 2027 ... or beyond. 

The film is reportedly two hours and 50 minutes, shorter than "Endgame" by about 10 minutes. This would make it the second-longest film in the entire MCU lineup, knocking off "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" with its run time of two hours and 41 minutes. However, it's clear that the 2026 film will end on a cliffhanger.

What is surprising is how few details about the film have come out of the test screenings, leaving us to speculate. So why do we think it'll end on a cliffhanger? Some of us have actually read the comics, not to sound too snooty, and Marvel has had trouble coming up with original ideas for quite some time. "Doomsday" isn't based on any one particular comic, instead pulling various threads of inspiration from over the last few decades of Marvel comics, including "Fantastic Four" and "Avengers" stories.

Jonathan Hickman, a major author for Marvel, effectively guided the company's overarching plot between 2009 and 2015. This was slowly introduced over the course of several series, including crossovers with the original "Ultimate Universe," and inevitably, Doctor Doom kicking off "Secret Wars" by creating an entirely new reality that fits his vision.

Fans have speculated that the movie "Secret Wars" will actually blend both the Hickman 2015 "Secret Wars" and the original, 1984 crossover "Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars." In the original, Spider-Man was given the famous black suit that would become Venom. Speculation online suggests that this could be a way for Tom Holland's character to go through the black suit storyline.