For months, rumours have persisted that Doctor Doom would make his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. It was said Latveria's ruler would appear either at the very end of the movie or in a post-credits scene, with the reveal that he had been the one pulling the strings to orchestrate the war between Wakanda and Talokan.
We also heard that the scene had been shot with a stand-in, with Ryan Gosling and Giancarlo Esposito supposedly among the possibilities for who could voice the Fantastic Four villain.
A few weeks ago, some online scoopers started claiming Doom's appearance had been cut.
However, reports from the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever premiere that the sequel had only one post-credits scene led to speculation there might be a surprise in store for moviegoers (hiding it from critics would be a good way to avoid it being spoiled after what happened with Eros and Hercules).
So, is Doctor Doom in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever? The answer, unfortunately, is no.
Watching the sequel - you can check out our review by clicking here - it's hard to imagine how Doom could have ever been tied into the wider story, so we're guessing those rumours were bogus. While T'Challa and Shuri have a history with Victor in the comic books, DoomWar is more likely to be a story that's adapted for a future movie than a random post-credits tease.
When we will see the villain remains to be seen, though it has recently been reported that he'll first appear in Fantastic Four's post-credits scene. After taking centre stage in all the previous movies revolving around Marvel's First Family, it makes sense to hold off and reboot Doom in a way that can make him a credible threat to both them and the wider MCU.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is now playing in theaters.
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