Although Avengers: Endgame Encore hits theaters tomorrow, most Marvel fans still have their sights set on Avengers: Doomsday. In part, that’s unfortunately because yesterday saw numerous leaks of apparent footage from Encore, which has taken the wind out of the re-release’s sails to a degree. More than that, though, Encore was just never going to reach the hype of Doomsday. For one, this is a movie Marvel fans have seen—more often than not, they’ve done so many times over—and the re-release reportedly only includes a few extra minutes of run time, with some putting it at three minutes and others putting it at six (with the current rumor being that those who see it in IMAX and Infinity Vision theaters will get more of the movie than others).
Now, Disney has confirmed a different imbalance in what MCU fans will have access to. According to Empire Magazine, Disney has just bumped up the release date of Doomsday from Dec. 18 to Dec. 16., but there’s a catch. This earlier release date apparently only applies to theater goers in the UK. Already, this has drawn criticism from audiences. In response to Empire Magazine’s X post about the change, one commenter replied, “Wtf whyyyyy??? They will give spoilers,” and another echoed, “It only leads to complete movie spoiled for globe.” However, as reported by Empire Magazine, Doomsday won’t be the first major MCU movie that was released a few days earlier in the UK; both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame hit UK theaters a day or two earlier as well. Even so, it’s clear that this is going to prove controversial.
It’s a little surprising for Disney to make this change, particularly on the heels of what just happened with Endgame Encore. If those reported leaks were enough to create issues, then surely giving some audiences such a significant head start with Doomsday will lead to similar if not even bigger problems. In fact, just as many commenters on Empire Magazine’s post are saying, this will almost certainly lead to widespread spoilers and, presumably, other leaks. Of course, that might happen regardless, even before the new UK release date. It’s unclear exactly where the leaks for Endgame Encore were coming from and what those screenings were for. Presumably, they were early screenings for press and influencers, which is standard practice in the industry at this point, but that’s not confirmed.
If that is the case, though, then in all likelihood those very same screenings will be happening with Doomsday, very likely before the UK release date. In that sense, the UK change might be neither here nor there when it comes to this problem. Yet, even outside of spoilers and leaks, this decision runs the risk of further frustrating fans who are already seemingly a bit frustrated. Moves like the (rumored) decision to give IMAX and Infinity Vision audiences more of Endgame Encore led to backlash, and there continue to be complaints about various things, from the fact that Endgame Encore changes seemingly mean the MCU making last-minute alterations seven years later so that these movies fit together to myriad casting and character choices. This Doomsday decision may therefore be throwing fuel on the fire, but hopefully, that’s not the case.
