Avengers: Doomsday’s World Series Preview Gives Reed Richards the First Pitch

Marvel and MLB used the October 23 World Series opener to debut an Avengers: Doomsday crossover promo featuring Reed Richards’ ceremonial first pitch and an appearance by Doctor Doom. Its five baseball stars were added for the advertisement, so their presence does not confirm roles in the theatrical film.

The distinction comes from MLB’s own report, which describes a new film scene combined with players inserted into its dugout for the special promotion. The report was published at 00:58 UTC on October 24, after the October 23 US broadcast.

Watch the official World Series preview

This is MLB’s original one-minute promotional video, not a newly announced full-length theatrical trailer.

What does the Reed Richards scene show?

According to MLB, Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards wears a Brooklyn Dodgers cap and uses his elastic arm to throw a ceremonial first pitch at Ebbets Field. The setting belongs to the retro-futuristic world introduced in The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

MLB presents the baseball sequence as a preview of a new Doomsday scene. That attribution is narrower than a claim that this advertisement reproduces an entire finished scene unchanged. Its added dugout appearances are the clearest reason to keep the promo edit separate from the final theatrical cut.

Are the baseball players actually in the movie?

The five players named by MLB are Freddie Freeman, Randy Arozarena, Jacob Misiorowski, Bryce Harper and Junior Caminero. MLB explicitly says familiar faces were cut into the scene for the World Series spot.

Their participation in this campaign therefore establishes an advertising crossover, not five confirmed film cameos. Seeing a player react to a Marvel character in the ad is not sufficient evidence of a casting credit or a shared story role.

The distinction also matters for the ending: MLB identifies Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom appearing in the sky above the field. That is a reveal within the promotional footage. It does not establish why Doom arrives, how the encounter resolves or which elements of the commercial will survive in the movie.

For background on the character rather than a guessed plot explanation, see Doctor Doom explained. Our Doomsday watch order addresses the separate question of which earlier films provide useful context.

When does Avengers: Doomsday open?

The US campaign and Disney’s D23 announcement advertise December 18, 2026. Disney’s UK press kit lists December 16 for the UK.

Those different official dates are a reason to check the listing for your territory rather than treating the American spot’s date as universal. The World Series promotion itself does not announce a new global release schedule.