Marvel’s secrecy surrounding ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ may be even more extreme than fans realize. Alan Cumming recently admitted that he doesn’t fully understand the movie’s plot and joked that he was basically there to “run around” and follow instructions.
Considering the film’s enormous cast and multiverse-heavy story, his comments offer a fascinating glimpse into just how carefully Marvel is protecting its biggest secrets.
Alan Cumming Didn’t Even Film His Scene With Florence Pugh
Cumming described filming one of the rare Doomsday scenes where he was actually on a backlot instead of working in front of a blue screen. At one point, someone began explaining what was happening around his character, including the presence of giant robots.
Related: How ‘Avengers: Endgame’s Greatest Strength Could Become ‘Doomsday’s Biggest Weakness
Cumming’s response was basically: just tell me where to point. He didn’t need the entire explanation. He only needed to know what he was supposed to do. The even stranger part came when Cumming met Florence Pugh at the Emmys. He joked that it was funny they had never actually met despite her apparently lying on top of him during a scene.
Except there was a catch. Cumming had been working with Pugh’s stunt double, while Pugh had apparently been working with Cumming’s double. “And I saw Florence Pugh yesterday at the Emmys. And I said, ‘Gosh, it’s so funny. I’ve never met you, but you lay on top of me, or your body double did.’ And she goes, ‘Yeah, I lay on top of you as well, but it was your body double.'”
So the scene exists, but the two actors weren’t actually together while filming it. That’s a pretty wild way to make a movie. However, Marvel has plenty of experience with this kind of secrecy.
Marvel Used The Same Strategy For ‘Endgame’
The Russo brothers famously went to extraordinary lengths to protect ‘Avengers: Endgame’ spoilers. The production reportedly kept a single real copy of the script in a guarded room, while many actors received limited or altered versions of the material.
In case you missed it: ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ May Have Secretly Revealed Loki’s Fate in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’
Tom Holland was famously given only the lines he needed and sometimes didn’t even know who he was acting opposite. Mark Ruffalo also filmed multiple versions of scenes, including possible endings, without knowing exactly what would make the final cut.
‘Doomsday’ appears to be taking that strategy even further. With a cast of more than 30 actors and a story involving multiple universes and franchises, scenes can be assembled like pieces of a giant puzzle. Cumming might not know the whole story. And honestly, that may be exactly how Marvel wants it.
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