It wasn’t just Robert Downey Jr. that rumors said would return to Avengers movies after Iron Man died in Endgame. We also saw plenty of leaks claiming Chris Evans would be back as Steve Rogers and Captain America, with the actor struggling to dodge questions about his character, especially in more recent years.
Meanwhile, Marvel confirmed RDJ would be back, giving fans an amazing and unexpected twist. The actor will portray the MCU’s first Doctor Doom variant, a multiverse character who will be the main villain (or should I say antagonist?) in Doomsday and Secret Wars.
Marvel wasn’t so quick at confirming that Chris Evans would be back, nor do they have to. Robert Downey Jr. is all the bait Marvel needs to ensure fans will be dying to see Doomsday and Secret Wars. Remember that Marvel also confirmed that the Russo brothers are back to direct the MCU’s next massive crossovers.
We do have plenty of leaks saying that Steve Rogers will be back, and they all make sense. After all, the original Captain America didn’t die. He aged in a different reality where he married a version of Agent Carter (Hayley Atwell). The newest rumor is easily the most exciting one, as it reveals the massive and quite obvious plot twist hiding in plain sight, one that I’m certainly happy to see mentioned in leaks.
Massive spoilers will follow below, so you might want to avoid it all if you prefer surprises.
Where’s Steve?
Steve Rogers’ retirement at the end of Endgame is one of the film’s biggest loose ends. Well, it was at least until the first Loki season that I realized that Captain America’s ability to retire in a different reality is either the work of the version of Kang who kept the Sacred Timeline on a specific path or a direct result of Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) killing that Kang variant.
Still, I’d watch a movie or TV show featuring Rogers and Carter in that universe, especially considering that we don’t know why Cap felt like he had to return to Earth-616 to give Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) a shield, essentially knighting him as this reality’s Captain America.
Chris Evans returning for Doomsday could help answer that. Not to mention that Atwell is also rumored to appear in the upcoming Avengers movies as Agent Carter rather than the Captain Carter variant from What If…?
But that only scratches the surface of what I really want from a Chris Evans Avengers return.
Chris Evans characters I want to see
I said more than once that I hope RDJ’s Doctor Doom is actually a version of Tony Stark from the multiverse who still thinks he’s saving his reality. But instead of fighting Thanos (Josh Brolin), he’ll face off against Earth-616’s Mightiest Heroes and their multiversal friends.
After all, it’s what the primary Stark did. Remember that in Endgame, the Avengers went back “in time” to steal Infinity Stones from realities without disregard for the well-being of those worlds. Only halfway through the mission, Professor Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) figures out they need to return the Stones. That is, Stark, Rogers, and everyone else wanted to save their world without caring for other realities.
Back to Doomsday, that’s what Doctor Doom might be doing. And he might need allies. Scratch that. He certainly has allies. And I’m hoping he actually has a version of the Avengers working with him for their greater good. A Rogers variant would work incredibly well with that Doctor Doom.
Exciting Avengers: Doomsday plot twist
That was my thought process all along ever since Marvel announced that RDJ would be back. Now, we have some sort of confirmation about Chris Evans’ return for such a scenario. It’s coming from well-known Marvel insider Alex Perez, who answered fan questions about the upcoming Multiverse Saga adventures.
Here’s what Perez had to say about the other antagonists in Doomsday and Secret Wars:
It’s funny, you assume that a movie of this magnitude only has 1 secondary antagonist. What I can tell you is that the secondary antagonists, whoever they may be, according to my sources, are going to be variants. There is going to be an overwhelming number of variants in these movies, a lot more than the characters set to appear in these movies that from Earth-616. Some are going to be good, some are going to be bad, and some are going to be really worse.
Talking specifically about Chris Evans, he said the actor will definitely play the main Steve Rogers. But Evans could also play an ally of Doctor Doom:
One of the rumors I had heard for these films was that a lot of actors might be pulling double duty when it comes to the characters they portray. Evans could be a prime example of that because he could be playing a number of characters in these upcoming films. One of those will definitely be the Steve Rogers from the end of Endgame, who went on to live happily ever after with Peggy, who was recently confirmed to also be coming back for [Doomsday]. The confirmation that she’ll be Agent Carter rather than Captain Carter indicates we’ll be heading back to that timeline. I’ve also heard that Evans could be portraying another character in the movie that stands alongside RDJ’s Doctor Doom.
Later, he also said that Chris Evans’ stint as Johnny Storm isn’t necessarily over despite the character dying in Deadpool & Wolverine. After all, we’re in the multiverse, so there might be plenty of Evans-looking Johnny Storms out there.
If this pans out, and I hope it will, Marvel will deliver the biggest mind-bending surprise with Doomsday and Secret Wars. In Endgame, we knew the dead Avengers would be back, thanks to all the leaks from the set. But we didn’t have the multiverse concept at the time.
With Doomsday and Secret Wars, knowing who is on the set won’t be enough to figure out who they’re playing. And imagine how amazing it’ll be to see your favorite Avengers fighting against a Chris Evans Captain America variant who can do this all day.
Finally, I’ll remind you that other rumors say Tom Holland’s Spider-Man will fight the Peter Parker variants played by Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire in Doomsday and Secret Wars. That aligns well with Perez’s remarks above that some actors will play multiple roles in these movies. I can’t wait to see it all in action.
Doomsday premieres in May 2026, with Secret Wars to follow a year later.
