With hype building for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, so have the fiendish “leaks” of major moments and reveals from the film. Thankfully though, one of them has been proven to be a fake.
Classic Fantastic Four and Avengers villain Doctor Doom has long been speculated to debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the Black Panther sequel, with an apparent leak even showcasing his iconic mask. Turns out though, it’s just not real. Encyclopaedic Marvel fans have been quick to dismiss the leak, quickly able to find its actual source.
The real source is none other than a piece of fan art posted to Reddit, just with a few filters thrown on top of it and a letterbox aspect ratio. Congratulations everyone for your part in fake news, real solid stuff.
Impeccably amusing before every Marvel film is the potato-quality camera used to “capture” these apparent huge scenes. Instead of the incredibly high-tech and advanced cameras actually available today, it seems leakers are only capable of taking photos with 2003 flip phone cameras.
Doctor Doom will undoubtedly pop up in a Marvel movie soon, with the character too iconic and loved to not be seen. Portrayed in the past by Julian McMahon and Toby Kebbell, Doom has really struggled on screen to seem threatening or comic accurate. The 2005 Fantastic Four series nearly stuck the landing with their design, while 2015’s Fant4stic saw a far more body horror-inspired villain.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has not shied away in recent years from fully comic-accurate looks, with even Doctor Strange able to look faithful while still feeling like he’s living in the modern day. The various Black Panther suits have also all looked very good, with the MCU ditching the usual cape.
Doom could still show up in Black Panther 2, albeit not as seen in the fake leaks. Wakanda Forever hits cinemas Nov. 11.