Marvel Studios is sitting out the Super Bowl, but the decision does make sense. It had been anticipated that there would be a new look at Avengers: Doomsday as part of the big game advertising. The movie started its marketing campaign early, beginning with a teaser confirming the return of Chris Evans back in December. In total, four Doomsday teasers played before Avatar: Fire & Ash across consecutive weeks, each one eventually debuting online, but it had been expected that they’d build to something even bigger.
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The general belief (in part fuelled by some internet scuttlebutt) was that Marvel was going to unveil a final teaser for Avengers: Doomsday centered on Robert Downey Jr’s Doctor Doom, and this seemed like the perfect occasion given the size of the audience. However, it’s been reported that there won’t be a Doomsday trailer at the Super Bowl, and nor will there be one for Marvel’s other 2026 movie, Spider-Man: Brand New Day (though that decision comes from Sony). The MCU not having a presence is something of a surprise, but from Disney’s perspective, that money is surely much better spent elsewhere.
The Mandalorian & Grogu’s Super Bowl Trailer Is Much Bigger Without Doomsday
While none of this is 100% confirmed, Deadline‘s reporting believes that while the word is Marvel is sitting out, there is likely to be a trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu. There will also likely be spots for other Disney-owned projects, perhaps Pixar’s Hoppers or Toy Story 5, but it’s the new Star Wars movie that could make the biggest splash, given the demographics of the game’s audience. And more importantly, it’s the one that would most benefit from the Super Bowl spotlight.
The film marks Star Wars’ return to theaters for the first time since the divisive The Rise of Skywalker back in 2019. It should be a major event, and Lucasfilm needs it to land like one. But as it stands, it certainly doesn’t feel like it. The reception to the first Mandalorian & Grogu trailer was extremely muted, and that’s being quite kind. It has a lot of work to do in order to convince audiences that this is something they need to go out and see at movie theaters, rather than simply being more of the show they can watch at home on Disney+.
That’s true with or without an Avengers: Doomsday trailer, but it’s a lot easier without the competition. The only Star Wars movie to bomb at the box office was Solo: A Star Wars Story. There were myriad reasons for that, including coming off the backlash to Star Wars: The Last Jedi, questions over recasting Harrison Ford’s iconic role, and whether we really needed a Han Solo origin movie. But a major one was its poor marketing campaign, and that went in tandem with another major Marvel movie, Avengers: Infinity War. The two films were released just a few weeks apart, and while there was immeasurable hype leading into Infinity War, there was next to none for Solo.
That’s the kind of situation Disney needs to avoid repeating. With Avengers: Doomsday not releasing until December, there’s no need to be making such a major marketing blitz right now, and even more so when these TV spots cost millions of dollars. If a Doomsday trailer were to drop at the Super Bowl, especially if Downey was in it, then it’d absolutely be the biggest talking point of the night from a movie perspective. That kind of push needs to be given to The Mandalorian and Grogu, because while Avengers 5 doesn’t really need the help (and certainly doesn’t need it now), Star Wars very much does, and this decision at least makes the trailer’s job a little bit easier.
Update: Disney, much to my dismay, did none of this. Instead, The Mandalorian & Grogu Super Bowl spot was a riff on Clydesdale Budweiser commercials. No, I don’t get it either, but hey, tauntauns are cool, I guess.
The Mandalorian & Grogu will be released in theaters on May 22nd, 2026. Avengers: Doomsday will be released on December 18th, 2026.
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