Marvel's World Series promo has Mister Fantastic throwing a first pitch at Ebbets Field, MLB stars in the dugout and Doctor Doom crashing in.
Marvel used baseball's biggest night to show something new from Avengers: Doomsday. A short promo aired during Game 1 of the World Series on Fox on Friday, and it puts the Fantastic Four on a baseball field before Doctor Doom crashes the party, according to Deadline and MLB.com.
A first pitch with a stretch
Deadline reports that Pedro Pascal's Mister Fantastic takes the mound for the ceremonial first pitch, with Joseph Quinn's Human Torch catching it. MLB.com says the scene is set at Ebbets Field in the world of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and that Reed Richards wears a Brooklyn Dodgers cap while using his elastic arm to throw.
The clip is not only movie footage. Real players were cut into the dugout for the broadcast version: Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers, Randy Arozarena of the Mariners, Brewers starter Jacob Misiorowski, Bryce Harper of the Phillies and Rays third baseman Junior Caminero, MLB.com says. Misiorowski, who started Game 1, delivers the line "These ceremonial first pitches are getting bigger and bigger."
Doom arrives, and so does Steve Rogers
The promo ends when Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom appears in the sky above the field. Harper notices and tells the group, "We gotta go. Like, now," per MLB.com.
Deadline adds that the preview also includes Chris Evans' Steve Rogers, and a moment where Paul Rudd's Ant-Man is unsure what to call him, since Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson now carries the shield.
The tease came before the game. The league's post promised "Something's coming" with a short clip of the Avengers logo appearing in the green-tinted sky above Milwaukee's American Family Field, as quoted by Deadline.
What it tells us
This is a promo cut for a baseball audience, not a full trailer, and the studio has not said how much of the footage will appear in the finished film. MLB.com quotes Disney Entertainment Studios head of marketing Martha Morrison saying there is "no bigger stage in baseball than the World Series."
That choice is our read to make, so here it is: putting a Marvel scene inside a live sports broadcast is a smart way to reach people who would never click a trailer. The Brooklyn setting is also a handy reminder that the multiverse in this film includes the retro-futuristic Earth from The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Avengers: Doomsday opens in theaters on December 18.
Picture credit: MLB
