Last year, to commemorate the start of Avengers: Doomsday production, Marvel Studios turned the cast announcement into an event by hosting a record-breaking livestream where the names of 27 actors were revealed over the course of several hours. Shortly after, Kevin Feige confirmed that there would be more announcements to come, but the only confirmation we’ve had since is the return of Chris Evans as Steve Rogers. With just under five months to go until the film’s premiere, fans can’t help but wonder who else might be appearing in Doomsday. During the Marvel panel at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, additional names were shared.
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At the presentation, it was confirmed Hayley Atwell will reprise the role of Peggy Carter in Avengers: Doomsday.
Hayley Atwell’s Return in Avengers: Doomsday Makes Sense
Marvel waited until Comic-Con to officially confirm Atwell’s involvement with Doomsday, but it shouldn’t come as any surprise that she’s coming back. Doomsday essentially acts as a sequel to Avengers: Endgame, with one of the most prevalent theories being that Steve Rogers was inadvertently responsible for the incursions that caused the multiverse to collapse when he made the decision to remain in the past and stay with Peggy Carter. The very first teaser trailer we saw for Avengers: Doomsday was set in this seeming idyllic past; Steve returned home and was seen holding his baby. It always stood reason to believe that Peggy would at least appear in any scenes depicting Steve’s home life post-Endgame.
It will be interesting to see how substantial a role Peggy has in Doomsday. If Steve truly is one of the main catalysts of the plot, she could have a decent-sized part to play. Peggy always was a woman of action, never afraid to jump into the fray when lives are on the line. She could feel partially responsible for the multiverse incursions and offer to help Steve and the other Avengers find a solution to the problem. Peggy doesn’t have super powers, but she is a brilliant tactician and has years of experience, so she could at least be valuable in formulating a strategy to take Doctor Doom down. Of course, it’s also plausible that Peggy appears for just a few brief moments — as she did in Avengers: Endgame — that help establish Steve’s character. This would be a disappointing turn of events, as fans surely want to see Peggy back in action on the big screen.
It also remains to be seen how many Peggy variants Atwell will play. With the multiverse at the center of the Doomsday narrative, anything is possible. Instead of simply portraying the Peggy that Steve stayed with in Endgame, perhaps Atwell will once again don Captain Carter’s suit and shield. The version of that hero we saw in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness perished at the hands of Wanda Maximoff, but there could be other Captain Carters running around the various realities. Watching Steve and Peggy fight together on the battlefield would be an exciting sight for long-time MCU fans, though arguably some of the impact would be lost since Steve doesn’t have a personal history with a Captain Carter.
Prior to the reveal of Atwell’s casting, Doomsday already had a large number of characters to service, and now there’s another. How directors Joe and Anthony Russo pull this off will be fascinating to see. Their previous Marvel efforts were defined by a keen ability to juggle large ensemble casts and deliver satisfying payoffs that were years in the making. However, Doomsday is at a bit of a disadvantage here, as the Multiverse Saga has lacked the cohesive, steady buildup that made the Infinity Saga such a memorable cinematic event. The challenge here will be ensuring that all the characters included in Doomsday fit organically into the story being told so nobody comes across as empty fan service. It would be a shame if a fan-favorite like Atwell came back and didn’t have much to do.
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