The Avengers and Spider-Man leaked trailers: How AI is doing Marvel a favour

Next year, there are only two Marvel films on the slate: Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and Avengers: Doomsday. It’s pretty much confirmed that a trailer for the latter is coming with the release of Avatar: Fire and Ash this Friday… but the internet may have spoilt the surprise with a leak.

If that wasn’t enough, it was then revealed that this trailer was one of four for the film – as corroborated by The Hollywood Reporter newsletter. And if that STILL wasn’t enough, yesterday, half a trailer for Spider-Man 4 also seemingly dropped online. 

In previous years, leaks of this kind for Marvel were a complete PR disaster. Take Spider-Man: No Way Home, for example. Around six months before the film was released, a photo of Andrew Garfield in his spidey suit was picked up by the press, leading to the poor actor having to deny in every interview that he was returning as a multiversal variant.  

However, that was back in 2021… before the era of AI slop.

Why people online think the Avengers leaked trailers are fake

A quick glance on Twitter/X of any post sharing the first Doomsday teaser (and arguably the most spoilerific – details on what’s shown follow below) is full of comments immediately declaring it fake AI slop.

Some users on Reddit are even pulling it apart frame by frame, analysing supposed errors and inconsistencies and putting out very plausible explanations as to how this footage could have been made with AI. Text spoilers from leakers emerged first, and then someone inputted the prompt into a generator, and boom, a ‘trailer’ was ready to be shared. After all, it’s very easy to do just that in 2025, and with minimal effort.

It doesn’t help that, on social media, users have been upscaling the original (lower quality) footage seemingly using AI, which may have created more confusion… but all of this is great news for Marvel.  

It means that audiences may still be surprised and hyped for the trailers, as they’re confused about what’s real and what isn’t. There are even theories that this footage was created by Disney itself to completely throw fans off the scent – a bold strategy, but Marvel’s PR machine has worked just as hard in the past. 

All that being said, I don’t think that’s the case this time around.

Now I’ll admit, despite all the evidence I’m pouring into this article, even I’m not completely sure about the footage… but there are several clear indications that these are actual videos that have somehow escaped the confines of Disney.

Why the leaked Avengers: Doomsday and Spider-Man trailers are (probably) real

AI slop has existed long before these leaks. In fact, you can find ‘Doomsday’ fabricated scenes on YouTube easily – even now, with all this news. Here’s one of my favourites, with some incredible natural line delivery (honestly, how do people tell it apart from the real thing?):

But what you will notice is that if you click on any of the links to the new footage on those Subreddits and social platforms, the trailers are being copyright stricken and taken down – almost immediately. Now, some users are arguing that they’re doing this so these rumours don’t interfere with any other marketing strategies, but it feels like drastic action to take if it’s fake.

It’s also interesting that days before the two Avengers teasers broke the internet, there were written descriptions that line up exactly with what we’ve seen. That doesn’t feel like a coincidence. That also goes for plot leaks of this film that have been circulating for a long time – and a sighting of one actor who is heavily rumoured to return, despite not being announced in that ridiculous video with the chairs.

The Spider-Man trailer is harder to verify, as there were no indications that one was coming as there were for Avengers, despite the fact that this movie is slated for release much earlier in 2026. But again, Sony has also been on a copyright striking spree – and that footage is even blurrier than the Avengers one.

I’ve probably gone as far as I can without going into what the trailers entail, and why the theories align. So…

Possible major spoilers for Avengers: Doomsday and Spider-Man: Brand New Day ahead

What are the Avengers: Doomsday leaked trailers?

Let’s start with the elephant in the room – the biggest trailer leak claims that Steve Rogers/Captain America will return for Avengers: Doomsday.

The video opens with Steve riding his motorcycle, before heading into his home – the same one where he’s seen dancing with Peggy during the final shot of Endgame. He then picks up a little baby (presumably his child), before text confirms that the character will return in Avengers 5.

Bringing Steve back is a huge move for Marvel and will no doubt be a big draw for casual fans who have dropped off during the last few phases. It’s surprising to announce now, a year before release… but it’s not entirely unexpected if you’ve been as active as I have on the Marvel spoiler circuit.

Chris Evans generated a lot of attention during the press tour for Sacrifice at the Toronto Film Festival, where he stepped out looking rather… well, buff, shall we say?

Leia mais

pic.twitter.com/3mKU0K3zHH

— Media Updates (@mediaforupdates) September 7, 2025

Now, he may have just been hitting the gym for personal reasons, or for another role – but this is the same man who gave the following quote about his fitness routine for the films to Men’s Health in 2011 (via Digital Spy):

“It was brutal and I’d find any excuse possible not to go. But I had to do it… I don’t think my body is supposed to be as big as it got for Captain America”.

As someone who became a first-time dad in October 2025, choosing to go hard on a rigorous workout routine is unusual. And let’s face it, those images certainly show superhero levels of buff. With no other movies on his schedule that would require him to look like that, it seems like a big clue – along with him being clean-shaven.

This clip was also in September 2025, the same time that Doomsday was (just) still filming. A month before that, rumours began about Evans returning to set, along with Haley Atwell as Peggy Carter.

The second leaked trailer features a character we already knew was in the fifth Avengers film – Chris Hemsworth as Thor. The videos aren’t as readily available for this one, but the audio heard by fans suggests that the trailer will also be centred around his role as a father. He allegedly says:

I’ve bled the crowns for realms, for pride. I ask for none of that now.

Father, hear your son. I am not worthy in life.

Dear, I beg you to let the thread run longer. Not for thunder, not for war. Let me stand long enough to see Love laugh more.

‘Love’ is Thor’s daughter, who made her debut in the fourth standalone film about the God of Thunder. Now, why is that important? Well, Victor von Doom (played by Robert Downey Jr.) was introduced at the end of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, appearing menacingly to Franklin Richards – another child, the son of Reed Richards and Sue Storm.

So, there is a rather gnarly theory going around now that, for some reason, Doctor Doom is going after the kids of superheroes specifically – possibly kidnapping them. The question is, why?

According to leaker Daniel RPK, Doomsday is a direct sequel to Avengers: Endgame. One of the choices made in that film was to have Steve Rogers decide to live out his happy ending with Peggy. But as we know, thanks to shows such as Loki, tampering with the multiverse has consequences. And what else fits the bill like the birth of a superhero’s child, one who was never meant to exist in the first place?

If that choice then impacted someone else, such as Doom in his universe, he’d have a motive to set things back in order, or take revenge.

Plus, both Love and Franklin are equally special. Love essentially cheated death after being resurrected by Eternity at the request of Thor. Meanwhile, Franklin can warp reality and create pocket universes. Alternatively, Doom could want these children to take advantage of their powers. After all, Baby Rogers would be the child of a super soldier.

While a child-snatching Doom is pretty nasty stuff, it’s high stakes enough to make him a terrifying villain, while having a completely different motive to Thanos. Plus, it gives our heroes a shared cause to bring them together. It doesn’t exactly explain how the X-Men or the New Avengers get involved – but some aspects being left unresolved isn’t a bad thing.

The final two trailers in the leaked list (which so far, haven’t yet made the rounds as videos) apparently include one based on Doom specifically, and one more general trailer – the details of which are still murky. If these leaks continue, then they may drop in a few days.

What is the Spider-Man: Brand New Day leaked trailer?

Brand New Day is supposed to be more of a ‘street-level’ story, but this leaked trailer appears to give some hints as to who Sadie Sink’s mysterious character is. The actress is best known for playing Max in Stranger Things, which is rolling out its fifth season on Netflix now.

The video footage requires a lot of squinting to even make out a tiny bit of Tom Holland’s face, but the audio does give us some clues. The trailer opens with Peter telling an unknown person that he’s Spider-Man, and discussing why he had Doctor Strange cast the spell that made everyone forget about him.

We hear Sadie Sink say the following:

“You’re a mess, Spider-Man. Don’t get in my way. Otherwise, it won’t just be your friends who don’t remember who Peter Parker is.”

Unless this is a misdirect (as Far From Home did for Mysterio), then Sink seems to be an antagonist – and somehow, she knows who Peter is. So, she has some sort of mental or cosmic powers. The current two most popular theories are that she’s Jean Grey (of X-Men fame), or that she’s Shathra, a ‘Wasp Goddess’ and multiversal threat who has a vendetta against Spider-Man in the comics.

Either of these characters would certainly be a big enough threat to be involved in Secret Wars, the sixth Avengers film, in which Sink is reportedly starring.

Unlike Doomsday, Spider-Man 4 has managed to keep a tighter lid on filming spoilers, so it’s harder to verify whether the description of Sink’s role is accurate. But other rumours of this leaked footage does track with the cold, hard facts.

Some articles (such as Forbes) are reporting that Tombstone, Bruce Banner and The Punisher also have lines in this trailer. These didn’t appear in the footage that I saw, but we do know that all three of these characters will appear in the film, played by Marvin Jones III, Mark Ruffalo and Jon Bernthal respectively.

While we can take these leaks with a pinch of AI-flavoured salt, I wouldn’t be surprised to see variations of them drop in the coming weeks to try and rebuild the MCU hype train.