Marvel fans say the new Avengers: Doomsday teaser might have revealed who was edited out of its first trailer.
Marvel Studios didn't not reveal more from its December team-up movie when the Doomsday baseball teaser premiered during Game 1 of the 2026 World Series last night. Focusing more on letting Pedro Pascal's Reed Richards throw Joseph Quinn's Johnny Storm a stretchy pitch as MLB players did their best to fit in, the minute-long TV spot felt more like a cute crossover than an opportunity for new footage – but that doesn't mean fans aren't still all over it.
In between the shots of the Fantastic Four's Earth-828 are, occasionally, what amounts to a few precious seconds of new footage from Avengers: Doomsday. With less than two months left to go until the premiere, Marvel really only took the time to highlight some funny interactions between Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and characters like Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth).
Worlds collide ⚾
— MLB (@MLB) October 24, 2026
An exclusive preview of Marvel's new Avengers movie assembles Bryce Harper, Freddie Freeman, Jacob Misiorowski, Junior Caminero and Randy Arozarena 👀
Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters everywhere December 18 https://t.co/WX1YtKjAKt
It's…not much. While you might think Steve taking a jab at Thor while wielding Mjolnir is the standout moment, some eagle-eyed fans think it's the scene the former Captain America shares with Ant-Man that we should be paying attention to.
Let's take a step back. You might remember Marvel fans doing what they do best by looking for clues tucked into the original Doomsday trailer. One shot that caught a lot of attention was an image showing the New Avengers having a meeting with old heroes and the Fantastic Four. A gap between the Earth-828 heroes led many to believe Marvel had, as it's been known to do before, edited out an important character from the scene.
The World Series teaser took viewers back and showed that scene from a new perspective, bringing Steve Rogers along as a plus one. The quick shot of Evans' character showed that he's almost certainly standing next to Ebon Moss-Bachrach's Ben Grimm as he does his best to entertain Scott Lang. With Evans unseen in the previously questionable look at the scene, Marvel fans believe Steve Rogers was the character Marvel was trying to hide all along.
Steve being next to Ben confirms he was edited out of the first trailer. He is next to Ben, Sam and Scott
by u/Kanozx in MCUTheories
Steve being next to Ben confirms he was edited out of the first trailer. He is next to Ben, Sam and Scott https://t.co/FS8To3Z7nt
— Shaane (@bussdownhendrix) October 24, 2026
"Yup, and Doom is edited out too," another fan said, referencing a theory that Doctor Doom may appear as an ally during the events of the film. "I wonder if they will show it in the trailers, hopefully they do just a tiny bit."
And ta-da: We finally seem to have our answer – but why? Why would Marvel edit out a character that fans are already well aware had a role to play in Doomsday? It's confusing, especially considering Steve does eventually show up later in the trailer he's believed to have been edited out of.
On the other side of things are those still trying to determine if the person we've seen wielding Mjolnir is even Steve Rogers at all. One popular fan theory that has gained more traction as Evans' role is once again put under the microscope is that his character is actually Tom Hiddleston's Loki in disguise. Some also suspect that the original trailer wasn't ever edited in the first place, with this new footage simply showing the same scene but a few seconds before or after that shot of questionable positioning.
Was Marvel playing with its hero positioning just to give its first trailer a bit more punch toward the end, is there more mystery to solve, or are fans maybe looking too much into things? That's the main conversation fans are having in the aftermath of just a few frames of new Doomsday footage.
Holdup https://t.co/A3arrek86n
— Best of Marvel (@BestMarvelU) October 24, 2026
this sounds exactly like something Loki would say to Thor as steve rogers 😭 https://t.co/OUEmvJubQu
— hailey* ౨ৎ (@sentrynation) October 24, 2026
"In the new trailer, I can't be the only one, Steve's face or something looks weird like it kept changing in each scene or something else," one theorist said. "I can't quite put my finger on it but something about him is off."
As ridiculous as some of this might sound, Marvel has absolutely played with pre-release footage to throw fans off the scent of big reveals before. Marketing materials released in the lead-up to Avengers: Infinity War in 2018 provide a few of the most notable examples, with many seemingly important scenes featured in trailers completely cut from the final version of the film. Searching for potential edits with a fine-tooth comb is also something Marvel fans did ahead of the release of Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until Avengers: Doomsday comes to theaters december 18, 2026, to find out which theories are correct and which ones didn't quite pan out. In the meantime, you can read about the latest addition to the film's already-stacked cast. You can also see how David Harbour did his best to walk back potentially spoiler-y comments he made earlier this year.