As Super Bowl LX approaches on February 8, 2026, fans of blockbuster cinema and the Marvel Cinematic Universe are facing an unexpected twist: Marvel Studios and its partners reportedly won’t debut new MCU trailers during the Big Game broadcast, bucking a long-standing tradition of major superhero premieres on the biggest advertising stage of the year. Reports suggest that anticipated spots for
Avengers: Doomsday and
Spider-Man: Brand New Day are not scheduled to air, a shift likely influenced by rising ad costs and evolving marketing strategies.
Super Bowl LX and Movie Trailers Landscape
Ever since the
first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel has bet big on the commercials for the NFL’s biggest game. Here’s a list of every Marvel Studios commercial that aired during the Super Bowl.
On May 15, 2025, the National Football League announced its complete regular season and postseason schedule for 2025–2026. Super Bowl LX is clearly stated in that contract as taking place on Sunday, February 8, 2026. The game will begin at 6:30 p.m. ET and be shown nationally on CBS—a continuation of the network’s current broadcast cycle under the NFL’s 11-year media rights agreement (2023–2033).
The commercials allow the studio to reach millions of people. Super Bowl LX on February 8, 2026, is projected to break viewership records, with NBC expecting over 130 million viewers. The Michael Jackson biography
Michael,
Scream 7, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Minions 3, and Steven Spielberg’s
Disclosure Day are among the anticipated trailers.
Historically, Marvel trailers have debuted during the Big Game. Here’s a list of all the trailers released since 2008.
| Year |
MCU Releases |
| 2008 |
Iron Man |
| 2010 |
Iron Man 2 |
| 2011 |
Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger |
| 2012 |
The Avengers |
| 2013 |
Iron Man 3 |
| 2014 |
Captain America: The Winter Soldier |
| 2015 |
Avengers: Age of Ultron |
| 2016 |
Captain America: Civil War |
| 2017 |
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider Man-Homecoming |
| 2018 |
Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War |
| 2019 |
Captain Marvel |
| 2020 |
Black Widow, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, WandaVision |
| 2021 |
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Disney+) |
| 2022 |
Moon Knight |
| 2023 |
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 |
| 2024 |
Deadpool & Wolverine |
| 2025 |
Thunderbolts* |
As you can see, since 2008, there has been only one year Marvel hasn’t released a promo or a trailer. In 2009, Marvel didn’t release any content, so there was nothing to promote. But in 2014, they
released a teaser for
Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but Marvel decided not to promote the first
Guardians of the Galaxy.
Marvel Studios’ Absence from Super Bowl Spots
Deadline reports that Disney will prioritize advertisements for Pixar’s
Hoppers, The Mandalorian & Grogu, and
Toy Story 5 over previews for Marvel Studios’
Avengers: Doomsday at the Super Bowl next weekend. There had been strong suspicions that at least one Marvel movie would gain airtime during the game; earlier Super Bowl promos for Marvel properties such as
Deadpool & Wolverine set records when they premiered.
They suggest there will be no MCU trailers during this year’s telecast. According to the source,
Avengers: Doomsday’s series of teasers during the holiday season will not lead to a full Super Bowl trailer. Meanwhile,
Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is set to premiere on Jul. 31, 2026, also has no official trailer yet, and various AI-generated fake trailers have emerged online amid fan restlessness.
In the past, Marvel released the first
Fantastic Four teasers the week before the Super Bowl. So, a surprise release for
Brand New Day is still possible because the First Steps trailer was released on February 4 of last year instead of during the game. Multiple reports have suggested the
Spider-Man 4 trailer has been cleared, mixed, and is ready to go, which normally means it’s coming soon.
Why Marvel Might Be Sitting This One Out
Why would mega-studios like Marvel and Sony skip the biggest advertising day of the year? It’s mainly because of cost.
The price of a 30-second commercial slot at the Super Bowl has soared to
$10 million in 2026, a substantial increase from the previous year, when it cost around $7.5 million. This surge has forced many studios to rethink their investments.
Back in 2023, the CEO of Disney, Bob Iger said
they’re cutting costs. The studio already had a massive promotion for
Doomsday by just
pointing a camera at chairs. In addition, from December 2025, Marvel has displayed four teasers for
Avengers: Doomsday in theaters prior to
Avatar: Fire and Ash. The videos reached
over one billion views
Fan Reaction & Marketing Strategy
Marvel’s reported decision to skip Super Bowl LX trailer debuts for
Avengers: Doomsday and
Spider-Man: Brand New Day didn’t exactly go over quietly with the fandom. For years, the Super Bowl has doubled as a mini–Comic-Con for blockbuster movie fans, with Marvel often using the massive TV audience to drop surprise footage. So when reports surfaced that no MCU trailers would air during the Big Game, social media lit up with confusion and disappointment. Many fans questioned why Marvel would pass on one of the largest marketing stages of the year, especially with two high-profile
Phase 6 projects on deck
Entertainment outlets noted that the absence marks a rare break from tradition. Previous Marvel films frequently used the Super Bowl to launch first looks or extended TV spots, making this year’s silence feel especially noticeable. Industry reporting suggests both Marvel and Sony opted out of buying ad time, meaning neither
Doomsday nor
Spider-Man will get the splashy, halftime-adjacent reveal fans expected . For longtime viewers accustomed to “blink-and-you’ll-miss-it” MCU teasers between touchdowns, the shift feels like the end of an era.
From a marketing standpoint, however, the strategy may be less shocking than it seems. Super Bowl ad costs have reportedly climbed into the multi-million-dollar range for just 30 seconds, pushing studios to reconsider whether one expensive TV spot beats weeks of controlled online hype. By pivoting to digital-first releases — YouTube premieres, social countdowns, and influencer reactions — Marvel can stretch buzz over days instead of minutes, keeping the conversation alive longer and reaching global audiences instantly rather than just U.S. viewers.
Ironically, the lack of a Super Bowl trailer may be doing exactly what Marvel wants: keeping fans talking anyway. Speculation threads, rumor roundups, and “when will the trailer drop?” debates have filled forums and timelines, generating free publicity without the stadium-sized price tag. In classic MCU fashion, the studio appears to be betting that anticipation — not airtime — will drive excitement for its 2026 slate.
While Marvel’s absence from Super Bowl 2026 may disappoint fans hoping for first looks at the upcoming superhero movies, the shift underscores how the studio is revisiting promotional strategies amid a crowded 2026 release slate and expensive Super Bowl ad market. Whether trailers will emerge just before or after the game — or surface online through dedicated digital campaigns — remains a major talking point for MCU followers and movie marketers alike as excitement builds toward the next chapter of the Marvel Universe.
Do you think Marvel made the right call skipping a pricey Super Bowl trailer, or did they miss the perfect moment to drop jaw-dropping Avengers: Doomsday or Spider-Man footage? Share your take in the comments — and tag a fellow MCU fan to keep the debate going. 
