If last year’s five-and-a-half-hour Avengers: Doomsday cast announcement livestream didn’t give it away, Marvel was heading for an aloof—and elusive—marketing run with its new superhero team-up movie. The stream in question notched up almost six million views as chairs printed with actors’ names were placed alongside each other, and while it was an impressive roster, it ended with Robert Downey Jr. showing up to view the long line of chairs, eyeballing the camera and making a “shushing” motion as he placed a finger to his lips.Arguably, that “shush” was the start of what would become a marketing campaign so weirdly secretive that many fans would begin asking themselves, “What the hell is even going on with this movie?” From a countdown clock to a string of give-basically-nothing-away trailers that the Russo Brothers claimed were actually “clues,” to June’s exciting Avengers: Doomsday tease that ended up being …a pop-up coffee shop, very little has actually been confirmed or revealed about the plot of this year’s blockbuster or Downey Jr’s new role as Doctor Doom as the movie gears up for its December release, and I’m here to say: Good. Keep it up.cnx.cmd.push(function() {cnx({playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530",}).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796");});This week, fans are once again getting their hopes up for a first proper Doomsday trailer to come out of Marvel’s (only potentially triumphant) return to Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con. In the past, head honcho Kevin Feige has made some big reveals there for Marvel Studios, bringing out Tom Hiddleston in full Loki costume and even announcing plans for entire phases of the MCU, but now that Marvel has kept up its cryptic Doomsday campaign for so long, it’s even funnier to cross the line from amusing to absurd through sheer commitment and reveal very little or nothing at all. It could actually become the marketing equivalent of the henchman screaming as the slow, steady pace of a steamroller heads toward him in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, or the puking scene in Team America: World Police. String this out as long as possible, please, because I’m finding it more hilarious the longer it goes on. While I know it infuriates others, such as my good friend, fellow Den of Geek writer and podcast co-host, Joe George, I simply love a gag that doesn’t know when to stop.More than just being incredibly funny to me, Doomsday’s lack of build-up has given something back to Marvel that it desperately needed: the wonder of the unknown. Laying out exhaustive phases full of MCU movies and TV shows has not only drained the creative well but also made many of Marvel’s projects feel like mere stepping stones. As soon as one finished, there was a post-credits scene teasing the next thing, and fans became aware that X couldn’t die because they were in Y project, or that Z’s plot didn’t matter because they had already told us Thing Would Happen. For the first time in a long time, we don’t really know what will happen next. Yes, we know there’ll be another Avengers movie, and that other films are in development, but the longer the Doomsday secrecy goes on, the less we can predict about what Marvel has up its sleeve. It may not feel like it right now, but Marvel is trying to go back to basics here. It needs to make people feel excited about the MCU again, and some of that excitement will naturally lie in the unknown. “We were both talking about this concept that we are back to phase zero,” Doomsday co-director Joe Russo told SXSW London last month. “This is starting over from scratch.” Maybe it’s time to believe him and embrace this weird new era, rather than expect the MCU to somehow continue at the level of hype that led to Avengers: Endgame. This “phase zero” might be cryptic, but it’s also embracing a pretty funny edging approach that Marvel has never really attempted before. Of course, part of me still hopes that everyone who wants a big Avengers: Doomsday trailer out of Marvel’s SDCC appearance gets what they so desperately crave. That this incredible footage finally lands and properly ignites the hype train for the film. In fact, Marvel has already begun teasing it via its Fantastic Four social media accounts. But since Marvel has yet another chance to do the unexpected at SDCC, I would no longer be surprised if it takes it. Casting rumors for the studio’s X-Men reboot have gone into overdrive this month, and a full cast reveal for that movie would certainly be something else to witness instead. If you do get a revealing Doomsday trailer this week, I hope you’re happy with it. If you don’t? Well, I hope you’ll spare a moment to imagine me having a good old chuckle about it.The post Marvel Has the Chance to Do Something So Funny with Avengers: Doomsday at SDCC 2026 appeared first on Den of Geek.