New Marvel Theory Could Reveal Chris Evans’ Role in Avengers: Doomsday

Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Doomsday has taken an intriguing turn with Chris Evans joining Robert Downey Jr. in the cast. While Downey Jr.’s role as Doctor Doom was revealed at San Diego Comic-Con, Evans’ character remains a mystery, meaning MCU fans are trying to piece together all the puzzle pieces to uncover what Doomsday is about. A compelling new fan theory suggests Evans could reprise his role as Steve Rogers/Captain America, linking the events of Avengers: Endgame directly to the upcoming film’s multiversal crisis. The theory provides a potential explanation for Doctor Doom’s emergence while addressing one of the MCU’s biggest unresolved plot threads.

The theory connects to a pivotal moment from Avengers: Endgame, where Steve Rogers embarked on a mission to return the Infinity Stones to their proper timelines after the Time Heist. This crucial task was meant to prevent alternate realities from spiraling into chaos, as the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) explained to Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo). However, instead of returning to the present after completing his mission, Rogers chose to remain in the past to live out his life with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). While this decision provided a touching conclusion to Cap’s story, the temporal implications of his choice were never fully explored in subsequent MCU entries.

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The time travel mission was complex, requiring Rogers to visit multiple historical points. Unfortunately, the logistics of this mission were never shown on screen, leaving room for speculation about what might have gone wrong during these delicate temporal operations. To make matters more complicated, according to Marvel’s established time travel rules, Rogers’ decision to stay in the past should have created a branch in the timeline, yet he appeared as an elderly man in the same timeline he left. Something seems off in the whole ordeal, so Avengers: Doomsday might address this event directly.

Did a Marvel Fan Guess What Avengers: Doomsday Is About?

Reddit user LollipopChainsawZz‘s theory presents an intriguing possibility: Avengers: Doomsday could be set in an alternate 1950s timeline created by Steve Rogers’ temporal displacement. The theory suggests that Cap’s decision to remain in the past had unintended consequences, leading to a butterfly effect that resulted in the emergence of the Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom, and the Baxter Building instead of the Avengers. This would explain why Tony Stark never became Iron Man in this timeline – instead, his genius took a darker turn, leading him to become Doctor Doom.

The theory aligns with the MCU’s current Multiverse Saga. Throughout Phases Four and Five, Marvel has explored the consequences of timeline manipulation, from Loki‘s TVA to the multiversal incursions in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The concept of branching timelines has also been central to recent MCU storytelling, with projects like What If…? demonstrating how small changes can lead to drastically different outcomes. Having Rogers’ past actions serve as the catalyst for Doomsday would raise the emotional stakes by making one of the MCU’s most beloved heroes inadvertently responsible for its greatest crisis.

The concept of Rogers having to fix a reality he accidentally broke could provide precisely the kind of meaningful story that would justify revisiting the character after his bittersweet departure in Endgame. Plus, this narrative direction would serve to tie The Fantastic Four: First Steps into the larger MCU, as the upcoming movie is set in an alternate version of the 1960s. It’s an inspired idea that could help the Multiversal Saga to gain new meaning while allowing beloved characters to return.

Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled to premiere in theaters on May 1, 2026.