SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 27: Robert Downey Jr. speaks onstage at the Marvel Studios Panel during … [+]
Recently, there was a leak of what was reported to be concept art for the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, drawn not by some sort of AI generation, but from an actual, currently employed Marvel artist, lending it legitimacy.
However, even if that was indeed a Marvel artist, Avengers: Doomsday directors Joe and Anthony Russo told THR that it was not actually a leak from their film:
JOE: No [it doesn’t spoil anything], because that artwork was not from Avengers: Doomsday or Secret Wars.
ANTHONY: Nothing spoiling in there. That’s not our concept art.
While we have no reason to doubt them, the fact that this is not actually the concept or look of the Avengers: Doomsday film is sort of disappointing. Generally speaking, it was so well-received that some even believed Marvel had let it leak purposefully as a trial balloon for the upcoming film, which reportedly once struggled with its concept until the Russos said they had a breakthrough. Disney didn’t even seem to bother issuing copyright takedown notices for the images.
The art seemed to imagine a medieval-based concept where Doom ruled over Latveria, seemingly surrounded by alternate versions of existing MCU characters. Yelena holding Reed prisoner with Bucky in a dungeon. Hulk and She-Hulk dressed in period outfits in the village.
Ms. Marvel
There were also more modern-day settings, which included a seemingly re-cast T’Challa in Wakanda, and Star Lord hanging out with White Vision, Wong and the cast of the new Young Avengers, Kate Bishop, Cassie Lang, Speed, Wiccan and Ms. Marvel. There were notable absences like the new Captain America, Thor, Captain Marvel, Spider-Man and especially Scarlet Witch who many believe will have a prominent role in the film.
Again, all of this looked pretty cool, but the Russos seem to indicate that this isn’t just not their concept art, but it’s not spoiling anything because it’s not even the concept at all.
A quote making the rounds from that same interview is how the Russos have been keeping track of the expansive casts for their movies, which now involve literal custom, magnetic baseball cards about salaries and contract lengths. Shuffle them around and create a cast and story, it seems.
The Russos have made four high-profile MCU movies for Marvel, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. But they’ve also dipped into Netflix original films, their latest being The Electric State, a movie with a huge budget that currently has a 16% critic score. So of course, many are hoping their return to Marvel in 2026-2027 across the next two Avengers movies goes better than that. But it won’t involve what we’ve just seen here, it seems.
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