It’s official: Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is returning to the MCU for Avengers: Doomsday. Six years after passing on the Captain America shield and getting his happy ending at the climax of Avengers: Endgame, the first Doomsday trailer has confirmed Steve’s return, and revealed that he and Peggy had a baby as well. Unfortunately, his time playing happy families may be at an end, at least temporarily, as he’s seemingly going to be forced back into the fray to face off with Doctor Doom.
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It’s easy to see why Marvel would want Evans back, especially with Robert Downey Jr. playing the villain, but what’s notable about is return is what it promises – and what it doesn’t. Steve can be seen putting away his Captain America suit, and the very end of the teaser states that “Steve Rogers will return in Avengers: Doomsday,” but doesn’t say that Captain America will. That’s perhaps a relatively minor semantics issue, but it could also be quite telling about his role.
Steve Rogers Isn’t Captain America Anymore
When Steve went back into the past to return the Infinity Stones and decided to stay with Peggy, he also chose to give up being Captain America. Officially, he passed the mantle on by giving Sam Wilson the shield when he returned as an old man at the very end of Endgame, and while Sam has faced his own trials to take on that moniker and live up to his friend, he is now well established as the MCU’s Cap.
Having Steve very clearly return as Captain America would risk undoing that work. Kevin Feige himself has already said that Captain America: Brave New World‘s box office struggled because it wasn’t Steve Rogers, and if Cap’s next appearance were to just then outright have Steve back in the role, it only amplifies that problem. Of course, Evans’ return arguably does that anyway, but in a movie where we could feasibly see Sam’s Captain America leading the Avengers, it at least helps mitigate it slightly and backs him as carrying on with the mantle.
Still, it’s quite possible Marvel will try to have its cake and eat it too with this. It’s hard to imagine we won’t see Evans in a costume and using a shield during Avengers: Doomsday, even if he won’t be the official Captain America. This could be a little closer to what we saw in Avengers: Infinity War, perhaps, or even more fully committing to him taking on the name of Nomad from Marvel Comics, which happened after he abandoned the name and shield of Captain America.
The other issue with Steve’s return is that it revives the debate around Captain America’s Endgame fate: did he remain in the main MCU timeline, or did he create and live in a branched reality? That’s something even the Russos and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely disagreed on, but they’re going to be forced into answering it.
With that, there’s also the question of whether this is creating a time loop, where Steve gives Sam the shield because he’s already done it, since the version from the past hasn’t yet given it to him. It’s also possible Steve had already decided to give Sam the shield before he went back in time, but it all adds to the complicated time travel mechanics that Doomsday is going to be dealing with now that Cap Steve is back.
Why Chris Evans Is Back For Doomsday After Retiring From The MCU
Evans’ return notably comes six years after he confirmed he was done with the MCU. Endgame was supposed to be his swansong, which is why his ending felt so fitting and so final. He’s previously played coy on the idea of coming back, so why is he now? Story wise, it is expected to be linked to Doctor Doom – one of the more prevalent theories is that Steve going back in term created an incursion that impacted Doom’s universe, and now he’s out for revenge.
There’s potentially something compelling in that, but Evans’ return is also an admission of failure from Marvel. The post-Endgame era has been tough for the MCU, as its had its biggest box office bombs, worst-reviewed movies, and a general sense of audience apathy and fatigue towards the Multiverse Saga. Newer characters haven’t connected, and while there are various reasons for all of this – pushing too much, too fast into streaming; characters appearing and then not returning; theatrical viewing habits changes; a lack of quality control, and so much more – bringing Evans back as Steve is a bid to win people back.
This is Marvel saying “we know you loved the Infinity Saga, and haven’t loved the newer stuff, so let’s run it back.” Or more succinctly, “we f**ked up, forgive us.” It’s playing on nostalgia – a powerful tool for any IP – and while that doesn’t inherently mean it has to be bad, it does mean that Avengers: Doomsday has to very carefully get the balance right. It’s people like Sam, and even newer characters, who should be the future of the MCU, and the movie needs to make audiences care about them, not just heroes like Steve Rogers.
Avengers: Doomsday will be released on December 18th, 2026.
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Image courtesy of Universal Pictures.
