Our first look at Avengers: Doomsday's take on Doctor Doom came when a piece of promo art was spotted at a Merchandise Expo in China.
The villain's mask has since been featured on a couple of t-shirts, and that original piece of artwork resurfaced during Disney's panel at CinemaCon yesterday evening.
We've had multiple sources confirm that this is what Doom is wearing in the trailer, but look closely, and you'll notice that one noteworthy change has been made to the design.
Victor Von Doom now has a completely different belt buckle. It's common for alterations like this to be made as a design develops, and it doesn't appear to have any story-related significance. However, it will be interesting to see whether we get any contradictory merchandise later this year.
Why are we telling you about a belt buckle? Well, remember those character photos everyone dismissed as AI? It seems the shots of Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom were, in fact, real.
The belt buckle matches the "AI fake" perfectly, and there's no way that can be a coincidence. At the time, new AI technology allowed for a seemingly endless wave of convincing images to do the rounds on social media, but that first wave of Avengers: Doomsday shots was, it seems, the real deal.
For what it's worth, the Avengers: Doomsday plot leak you may have seen being passed around on platforms like X and Reddit is not real. Daniel Richtman was first to debunk it, adding that this version is still the closest to what actually happens in the movie.
Fans weren't in the CinemaCon crowd, so there have been no major leaks. While exhibitors and press were allowed to take photos, videos were not permitted, and we've heard of some people being ejected during Disney's panel for attempting to make recordings.
However, part of the Avengers: Doomsday teaser has surfaced, featuring the title card and a snippet of Alan Silvestri's epic score...
In Avengers: Doomsday, beloved heroes from three distinct universes will be set on a deadly collision course and face an existential threat unlike anything they’ve ever encountered.
Avengers: Doomsday stars Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Mackie, Winston Duke, Tom Hiddleston, Sebastian Stan, Letitia Wright, Paul Rudd, and Robert Downey Jr. Wyatt Russell, Simu Liu, Tenoch Huerta Mejia, Mabel Cadena, Florence Pugh, Danny Ramirez, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Lewis Pullman, India Rose Hemsworth, and Wesley Holloway all make their Avengers franchise debuts.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps leads Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn join them, as do X-Men franchise stars Kelsey Grammer, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden, with Deadpool & Wolverine star Channing Tatum.
The Russo Brothers direct Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars from a screenplay by Stephen McFeely, with whom they previously collaborated on the Avengers and Captain America franchises. The movie is produced by Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito, and Jonathan Schwartz, with Callum McDougall serving as executive producer.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released on December 18.