Avengers: Doomsday Teaser Puts Mjolnir in Steve Rogers’ Hand After a World Series Sneak Peek

Featured image: the Captain America: The Winter Soldier cast, including Chris Evans and Anthony Mackie, at San Diego Comic-Con 2013. Photo: Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Lowdown

Marvel picked two very different stages in two days: a World Series broadcast for a gag about a first pitch, and a 30-second teaser built on Steve Rogers lifting Mjolnir. The bigger signal is tone. After a run of serious trailers, this campaign is leaning into the comedy of three Captain Americas in one room, and that looks like the Avengers formula audiences came back for.

Key Takeaways

A Doomsday preview aired during Game 1 of the World Series on October 23, with Pedro Pascal‘s Mister Fantastic throwing the first pitch to Joseph Quinn‘s Human Torch (Deadline).
The spot featured Chris Evans‘ Steve Rogers, leaving Paul Rudd‘s Ant-Man unsure who to call Captain America now that Anthony Mackie‘s Sam Wilson carries the shield (Deadline).
A new 30-second teaser arrived October 24, opening with Steve Rogers summoning Mjolnir from Thor’s hand (Polygon).
It also shows Doctor Doom fighting, Professor X watching another world’s destruction, and the Invisible Woman and the Thing meeting M’Baku and Black Panther (Polygon).
Avengers: Doomsday opens in theaters December 18 (Deadline).

The Story

Marvel took Avengers: Doomsday to baseball’s biggest stage. During Game 1 of the World Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Milwaukee Brewers on October 23, broadcast on Fox and streamed on Fox One, MLB and Marvel aired a special preview in which Pedro Pascal‘s Mister Fantastic takes the mound for the ceremonial first pitch to Joseph Quinn‘s Human Torch (Deadline).

The preview also brought back Chris Evans‘ Steve Rogers, which leaves Paul Rudd‘s Ant-Man confused over who to call Captain America, with Anthony Mackie‘s Sam Wilson now carrying the shield (Deadline). MLB had teased the spot the day before, and its post after the game said the preview “assembles Bryce Harper, Freddie Freeman, Jacob Misiorowski, Junior Caminero and Randy Arozarena” (see the posts below).

A day later, on October 24, Marvel released a new 30-second teaser. Polygon reports that it opens with Steve Rogers summoning Mjolnir from Chris Hemsworth‘s Thor, and later shows Rogers holding the hammer as he asks Thor whether it bothers him before they travel by Bifrost (Polygon).

Between those moments, the teaser shows new shots of Robert Downey Jr.‘s Doctor Doom fighting, Patrick Stewart‘s Professor X seemingly observing another world’s destruction, and Vanessa Kirby‘s Invisible Woman and Ebon Moss-Bachrach‘s Thing meeting Winston Duke‘s M’Baku and Letitia Wright‘s Black Panther (Polygon).

Its funniest beat, per Polygon, has Ant-Man stumbling over the fact that three people who have held the Captain America mantle are in the room: Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson and Wyatt Russell‘s John Walker (Polygon).

Avengers: Doomsday sees the multiverse collapse, forcing heroes from multiple Earths to unite against Doctor Doom. It opens in theaters December 18 (Deadline). It is also Stewart’s final on-screen role; read why.