Marvel has put out two new pieces of “Avengers: Doomsday” footage in two days, and both lean on the same joke. The first was a 60-second sneak peek that aired during Game 1 of the World Series on Friday, October 23rd. The second was a 30-second TV spot that Marvel Entertainment posted on Saturday, October 24th. Only a handful of seconds in either are new. Most of the rest was already in the July trailer or the August Special Look. The new material is a ballpark on another Earth and a meeting at Avengers Tower, where nobody can agree on who gets to be called Cap.
The film opens on December 18th, the same day as “Dune: Part Three.” Joe and Anthony Russo direct from a script by Michael Waldron and Stephen McFeely, with Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr.) as the villain. Marvel’s description promises heroes from three universes on a deadly collision course. The new videos follow the first official trailer on July 20th and the Special Look in August. Warning beyond this point there are spoilers for everything shown in both new videos.
Only a handful of seconds in either are new.”
MLB announced the preview on Thursday, October 22nd. Fox aired it Friday night as the Rays played the Brewers in Milwaukee. MLB’s own teaser post promised “Something’s coming” over a clip of the Avengers logo in the sky above American Family Field, according to Deadline. The full video went up that night on MLB’s YouTube channel, not on Marvel’s. Its description names five players: Bryce Harper, Freddie Freeman, Jacob Misiorowski, Junior Caminero and Randy Arozarena. Disney Entertainment Studios head of marketing Martha Morrison said in MLB.com’s report that there is “no bigger stage in baseball than the World Series.”
The sneak peek opens on an aerial shot of a ballpark captioned “EARTH: 828”, the retro-futuristic world introduced in “The Fantastic Four: First Steps.” An announcer says: “Please welcome to the mound, Reed Richards!” Reed (Pedro Pascal) raises an arm in a blue Fantastic Four uniform and a Dodgers-style cap, with Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) beside him. The edit then cuts to a dugout, where the five players watch in their real uniforms. Misiorowski sets the tone by joking that ceremonial first pitches are “getting bigger and bigger.” MLB.com says the scene takes place at Ebbets Field, which suggests a world where the Dodgers never left Brooklyn.
The players spend the next stretch trading lines. One asks: “Who’s next? The Avengers?” Another says: “Think they’ll drop the hammer?” A third answers: “Nah. Maybe if Thor was pitching.” That is the cue for the first real film footage. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) stands in a room with a skyline behind him and asks: “This doesn’t bother you, does it?” Thor (Chris Hemsworth) answers: “You know it does.” The hammer does not appear in this version of the exchange. It shows up in the TV spot a day later.
A player then offers a pitch of his own: “You know who you could trust? Cap on the mound.” That hands off to the joke. The film cuts to Avengers Tower. Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) turns toward Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and asks: “Right, Cap?” Sam wears the star-and-wings Captain America suit. Scott corrects himself with “I mean, Steve. Right, Steve? I mean, right, Cap?” Steve glances over in the middle of it. Deadline says the bit leaves Scott confused about which man to call Captain America. The exchange is short, and the stumble is the whole gag.
Back at the ballpark the announcer says: “And here is Reed Richards with the windup.” Reed’s arm stretches across the field in one long blue streak. The camera whips to the plate in a blur while a voice marvels at the stretch. IGN reports the pitch goes to Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), though the catch itself is not clearly shown. The players laugh. One of them says: “Okay, but did you see that? We got to go, like, now.”
The final stretch is a run of shots that fans have seen before. Doom stands hooded in a flare of blue-white light. Steve looks down in a quiet room. Magneto (Ian McKellen) fills the frame in his helmet, and the Black Panther (Letitia Wright) stands among Wakandan guards. Doom spreads his arms between two giant silhouettes, and a figure stands in a burst of red light and fire. A voice talks about “stolen lives” that must be given back, a line the Special Look carried too. Freeman then eats popcorn in the dugout. The video closes on the logo and “12.18.26 IS DOOMSDAY” over small MLB legal text.
Marvel’s own channel followed on Saturday with a 30-second spot titled “Avengers: Doomsday | In Theaters December 18.” IGN and ComingSoon both put its release on Saturday. YouTube’s page dates the upload October 25th in UTC. It opens on Thor holding Mjolnir and Steve’s hand reaching out. Both shots come from the end of the July trailer. This version gives Steve a new line, “Let’s go.” He has long hair and a beard and wears a dark jacket. A card reads “THIS DECEMBER.”
Doom appears next with a green glow in his hand and again with his arms wide. IGN credits Thor with the line over it: “Doom will tear this world apart. Team up and stand together.” A bald man watches fire through a stained-glass window, which ComicBook.com reads as Drax. A card reads “3 TEAMS.” Mystique grips a staff. The desert handshake between the Wakandans and the Fantastic Four follows, and the cards read “WILL STAND AS ONE.” Thor then throws lightning.
Then the Tower scene returns with a longer version of the joke. Scott asks: “Then it’s settled. Right, Cap?” Steve glances over. Scott adds “I mean, right, Cap?” with Sam in the frame. A man in a black beret raises a finger and says: “I was also Cap for a minute.” IGN and SYFY identify him as John Walker (Wyatt Russell), who had a brief run as Captain America in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.” Scott gives up with “Captain America? Captains America?” The Avengers title card lands right after it. SYFY’s headline says the film “Can’t Decide Who’s Captain America: Steve Rogers or Sam Wilson?”
The spot closes on a rooftop where Steve holds Mjolnir. He asks: “This doesn’t bother you, does it?” Thor answers: “You know it does.” That is the exchange from the sneak peek, now with the hammer on screen. A beam of light then rises over a city skyline. ComicBook.com and GeekTyrant read it as the Bifrost and both pass along a claim from James Mack on X that the effect was made for the ad and the heroes will really travel by TVA portal. Nothing official backs that. The last card reads “December 18” and “Tickets on sale now.”
Against the July trailer the new footage is thin. The ballpark and the Tower banter are new, and so are the rooftop and the extra lines. The Mjolnir moment picks up the trailer’s final scene, where Thor holds the hammer and Steve holds out a hand. SlashFilm reports that Steve’s face in the reused shot looks subtly different from July, citing changes to the eyebrows, hairline and nose. IGN reports that fans read the sneak peek as filling a gap in the July trailer’s hall scene, which puts Steve beside Ben Grimm. IGN adds that some fans doubt any edit happened at all.
Reaction to the sneak peek was mixed, going by outlet reporting. TheWrap quoted one fan who wrote “oh so like 3 new seconds lol” and another who wrote “I actually like that they’re recycling the same scenes” in its defense. IGN said the sneak peek “felt more like a cute crossover than an opportunity for new footage.” FirstShowing’s headline calls it “Another Extra Boring Baseball-Themed” teaser. ComicBook.com notes it was never promoted as a trailer reveal. It also reports fans on X calling the later TV spot “rewarmed nachos.”
The joke drew its own argument. SlashFilm reports that some fans saw it as a slight against Sam, who took the Captain America title in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.” Critic Griffin Schiller wrote, “Would be cool if the MCU would stop undercutting Sam’s legitimacy as Captain America.” Others defended it. One X user quoted by SlashFilm wrote, “Everyone, take a deep breath. It’s a joke. Scott is a Steve fanboy.” CinemaBlend notes that Scott has been a fan of Steve since they met in “Captain America: Civil War.” ComingSoon says Marvel has not commented on the backlash.
SYFY reports that Anthony Russo said earlier this year: “We have a special affinity with the character.” He added: “We can’t see this narrative without his central role in it basically.” Both new videos back that up. Steve gets the hammer and the closing beat in the spot. The campaign also arrives after a satire account’s fake test-screening report spread earlier this month. “Avengers: Doomsday” opens December 18th and “Avengers: Secret Wars” follows on December 17th, 2027.
What Do You Think? Is the Captain America joke good-natured ribbing, or does it keep undercutting Sam? Did the World Series sneak peek deserve the hype, or did it show too little? And with three Captains America and one hammer in the room, who do you think carries the movie?
See you on the next binge!
