Directors Anthony and Joe Russo sparked excitement among fans when they teased a “surprise” linked to Marvel Studios’ highly anticipated film, Avengers: Doomsday. Many expected the makers to unveil the film’s first trailer. However, the tease appears to have led to something much smaller than fans had anticipated.
What was Russo brothers’ big surprise?
The much-hyped reveal ultimately turned out to be little more than a themed coffee shop experience. Instead of a major announcement, fans who arrived at the announced location at 2 pm found a Doctor Doom-inspired café offering speciality coffee blends and complimentary coasters. Marvel’s promised “surprise” turned out to be a meet-and-greet with Joe and Anthony Russo, with attendees leaving with bags of coffee beans signed by the filmmakers.
The pop-up shop, called Dom Latveria Coffee, is reportedly a rebranded Flying Horse Coffee outlet in Shoreditch, East London, near the SXSW London festival venue. Videos shared by fans online showed the café selling Latveria-branded small-batch coffee featuring the fictional nation’s emblem. The branding had been gradually teased by the Russo Brothers and music producer Mustard on social media over the past week, leading many fans to speculate that a new trailer or major announcement was imminent. Instead, the campaign culminated in the launch of the themed coffee shop.
The shop also features several Easter eggs aimed at Marvel fans. One sign welcomes visitors to Latveria, the fictional nation ruled by Doctor Doom, and prominently displays the phrase “Richards was wrong”, a direct reference to Reed Richards, better known as Mister Fantastic, one of Doctor Doom’s greatest rivals in Marvel Comics.
Fans expressed their disappointment on social media. One user wrote, “The promotion of this movie so far needs a time travel do-over.” Another posted, “Jesus Christ, how embarrassing it must be to organise this slop instead of releasing the first full trailer for one of this year’s most anticipated movies.” Another wrote, “This is a stupid surprise.” One more user commented, “So all that teasing was for a dumb pop-up?”
The reveal came a day after Marvel teased fans on X, writing, “The Russo Brothers are teasing ‘AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY’ news at SXSW London. Starts June 2 at 10am. Surprise at 2pm.”
About Avengers: Doomsday
Robert Downey Jr. is set to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the villain Doctor Doom in the multiverse-crossing film. The movie also stars Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Paul Rudd, Tom Hiddleston, Letitia Wright, Simu Liu, Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Florence Pugh, David Harbour and others.
Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled for release on December 18, the same day as the third instalment of the Dune franchise, setting up a box-office clash that fans have already dubbed “Dunesday”.