Avengers: Doomsday test screening: is Doom on par with Thanos?

Marvel Studios has held another test screening for Avengers: Doomsday, and from what I'm hearing, the response is great news. The reported reactions say Doctor Doom is on par with Thanos, if not better, and Cyclops is a standout. The people who've seen it are giving the film incredibly positive reviews.

This screening is different from the last ones we heard about. Those reports came before Marvel did all of the reshoots for Avengers: Doomsday, so this audience saw completely new scenes. I'd call it the new version of the movie. The reports also mention a post credits scene, and I'll explain below why that's interesting.

The new Avengers: Doomsday cut follows Marvel's reshoots

Keep in mind that this might not be the final version of the film. Test screenings exist so the studio can figure out what people like and what they don't, and things could change depending on how audiences respond.

Still, from what I've been hearing from insiders online, it's being received incredibly well. Here are the reasons why, starting with some standouts.

Doctor Doom is reportedly on par with Thanos

Hearing this gets me so excited, especially since I was worried about Doom. Doom is a standout. The movie is about him. It's called Doomsday, and I think that title has a double meaning. It's Doomsday because Doom is here and he's going to win. That's why Avengers: Secret Wars comes next. Doom wins, he makes Battleworld, and that leads into Secret Wars.

It's also the doomsday of everyone besides Doom. Everyone and everything dies in the Marvel way: they die and then they get brought back in Secret Wars. According to the reports, Doom is on par with Thanos, if not better, and is now one of Marvel's best villains on screen.

I'd argue he's Marvel's best villain, and I know there can be long conversations about that. He's definitely in my top three Marvel villains, and probably in my top three villains in general, because of how complex he is. Being on par with Thanos is fantastic. I thought Infinity War and Endgame were awesome, and Thanos was awesome too. If Doomsday and Secret Wars land the same way as Infinity War and Endgame, I think people are going to be satisfied. Those are two of the biggest movies of all time.

Avengers: Doomsday runtime reportedly sits at two hours and 50 minutes

Apparently, the cut that was screened runs two hours and 50 minutes. I know some sites list it at two hours and 45 minutes or two hours and 15 minutes. Marvel Studios hasn't publicly released an official runtime, because it can change.

But Marvel did many reshoots, and test screenings let the studio swap scenes out, edit them more, add material or take some out. That time can change.

Overall, the reviews from people who've seen it are incredibly positive. These are the people willing to risk the NDA they signed, the agreement saying they won't talk about the film. The ones telling others about it anonymously are all saying the movie is very good.

Marvel's Disney Plus description of Doctor Doom

Marvel itself has been talking about Doctor Doom, releasing a new description for him on its official Disney Plus website. It reads: "The fearsome Victor von Doom is the mysterious and enigmatic monarch of Latveria. He is master of both sorcery and technology with an intellect to rival Reed Richards and a will to match. He shares a rich and complex history with the Fantastic Four. And one can never truly know what is happening behind his impenetrable mask."

Hearing that makes me feel like they're going to do Doctor Doom right in the MCU. According to these test screening reports, they are.

Cyclops is reportedly a standout as leader of the X-Men

I'm happy to report that the reports say Cyclops is a standout. I love Cyclops. He's one of my favorite superhero characters in general. I like James Marsden as Cyclops, but I don't think the original X-Men movies did him justice. Now we're finally going to get that justice.

It sounds like, based on some rumblings, rumors and reports online, he's going to get as in-depth a story as you could possibly get. I'd probably say he gets the most time of the X-Men. Does he survive and go into Secret Wars, or die at some point? I have no idea. We've only heard rumors about who could die, and his name hasn't really been thrown out there.

Some people have pointed to possible leaked scenes of him dying. In the time of AI it's hard to tell, but I think those are probably fake, because I've seen plenty of fake material out there. Apparently he stands out as the leader of the X-Men, and his optic blasts already stood out. The very first look at Doomsday gave us two seconds of Cyclops taking off his visor and firing an optic blast. If we get more of that, he's going to be done right.

The X-Men, Avengers and Fantastic Four interactions

Everything I've been hearing, from actors and from people on set leaking things out, is that the X-Men are done well and are standouts in general. This is the first time we're seeing all these characters interact in the MCU, and all the Russo brothers have to do is make it look cool.

We've already seen the costumes and the setting of them meeting for the first time. It's going to be in the X-Mansion. They go inside, then go outside to fight Doctor Doom with the Sentinels there. It already looks cool. Since Cyclops and Doom are both standouts, I think we're probably going to get a cool showdown between the two of them, and really between everybody. I'm glad we're going to get the X-Men done right, along with the interactions between the X-Men, the Avengers and the Fantastic Four.

Test screening reportedly showed one post credits scene, with two expected

The reports say the screening had one important post credits scene. Most of the time, I'd say, test screenings show no post credits scenes at all. That doesn't mean a film lacks them; they just typically aren't shown. So it's interesting that they reportedly showed one. That doesn't mean we won't get two, because we've heard about two. From what I understand based on all of the reports, there should be two. Spoilers follow.

One is supposed to show Hugh Jackman's Wolverine and Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man together, searching for Loki. That makes sense to me. Loki is probably the one who saves them at the beginning of the movie, and he may not be the glue, but he's definitely an important chess piece, because Doom is playing chess. Even after Secret Wars, where he might not remember things, I think he's going to be incredibly important.

Scarlet Witch post credits scene reports are mixed

The other reported post credits scene shows the Scarlet Witch, and the reports on it are mixed. One says she has a team, which is vague. We're not sure what that means. Another, which seems to be the case, says she has an army and is with Doctor Doom.

In that version, she doesn't remember anything yet and is high up in command on Doom's side on Battleworld. The job of the Young Avengers is to find her and awaken her memory, so she can help awaken the memories of everybody else on Battleworld and all the heroes can come together to fight Doctor Doom. Both scenes would be important, and it looks like those are the two we're going to get. That could still change if they aren't received well or if audiences are confused or not as excited.

We're about a month and a half from release, probably even a little less. Hearing that the film is getting such good reviews in these final stages, I love it, and it makes me more excited for Avengers: Doomsday.