5 Ways Marvel Could Bring Chris Evans Back For Avengers: Doomsday

And we thought “Avengers: Doomsday” bringing back Robert Downey Jr. (not as Iron Man, but as Doctor Doom) was Marvel Studios hitting the red emergency button.

Now, it’s been confirmed that “Doomsday” will also feature the MCU’s second main host: Chris Evans, last seen as Captain America in 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame.” (This seems like a bad omen for “Captain America: Brave New World” and Anthony Mackie/Sam Wilson keeping the franchise going, but we’ll see).

Evan’s career after Cap hasn’t exactly been envious. He was a riot in “Knives Out” and earned good buzz for the Apple TV+ miniseries “Defending Jacob,” but since hanging up his shield he’s been mostly in sloppy action movies like “The Gray Man,” “Ghosted” and “The Red”. Compare this to how his Bucky, Sebastian Stan, who challenges himself with risky roles in films like “The Apprentice”, or Chris Hemsworth giving the villain of the year role as Dementus in “Furiosa: The Mad Max Saga”, or Downey Jr. Winning an Oscar for “Oppenheimer.”

Now, Evans has previously said that he would resist revisiting Captain America after his original run ended so cleanly. However, with some distance from Cap and the lack of new roles remaining the same, you may find yourself feeling nostalgic. (The money surely doesn’t hurt either.)

But how will Evans’ return as Captain America play out? is The Captain America we know?

This is the most obvious and most likely thing to happen: Chris Evans returns as a young and capable Steve Rogers donning the Cap costume again. Marvel is not going to bring Evans back and then No use it to its full potential; You can only make a big return once.

Yes, “Avengers: Endgame” ended with Captain America going back in time to retroactively age with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). But, presumably, the Avengers still have access to the reality-hopping technology they pulled off the “time heist” with.

The setup would be pretty simple: the MCU faces a bigger threat than ever (it’s “Doomsday” and all), so it needs its greatest hero to return. It would also fit with the fact that Marvel is calling Evans because the MCU needed a shot in the arm. “Deadpool and Wolverine” did just turn Disney’s purchase of 20th Century Fox into a metatext about different universes colliding.

After Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine died in “Logan,” that movie used a technicality to bring him back: “Logan’s” Logan stayed dead, and Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) found a different Wolverine from an alternate universe, but one still played by Jackman. and close enough to the one we knew. “Doomsday” could probably pull off a similar move with a “close enough” Cap variant, technically leaving Cap’s farewell in “Endgame” standing.

At the end of “Avengers: Endgame,” Falcon speaks with a century-old Cap (played by Evans in digital old-age makeup), who passed him the shield. This is, naturally, a consequence of Cap taking the long route to the present. Old Man Cap, and Falcon as his successor, dates back to a 2014 comic story by writer Rick Remender, where Steve Rogers lost the super soldier serum and quickly aged into an old man.

“Falcon and the Winter Soldier” provided no clarity on what happened to Cap from there, beyond that he “left.” We’ve yet to find out if “Brave New World” will offer any answers (but since Evans’ return is now assured, some last-minute reshoots may be possible for a cameo). Maybe “Doomsday” will reveal where Steve Rogers has been spending his secret retirement. This could even be combined with the first suggestion, where Steve starts the movie as an old man and then reverts to his younger self later in the movie.

If Evans is up for it, maybe Marvel will keep him playing Captain America until he really looks like he does in the final scenes of “Endgame.”

When news of Evans’ return in “Doomsday” first broke, /Film’s own Ryan Scott wrote that it seemed “inevitable.” One reason is that Evans already He returned to Marvel Studios in “Deadpool & Wolverine,” but not as Captain America. Instead, Evans reprized his role from the 2000s “Fantastic Four” films as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch. The nostalgia runs so deep that we are now paying homage to movies that most people didn’t like in the first place!

Will Evans’ Johnny return? Maybe, but he’s less likely to play Cap again. Evans’ cameo in “Deadpool & Wolverine” was built around misleading the audience (and Wade) into expecting him to be a variant of Captain America. His Johnny also met a gruesome end at the hands of Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin) in that film. On top of all that, Joseph Quinn will play the MCU’s new Johnny Storm starting in “Fantastic Four: First Steps,” in “Doomsday” and “Avengers: Secret Wars.” need Two Human Torches?

The return of Robert Downey Jr. in “Doomsday” is based on the turn of a hero transformed into a villain. Could Marvel be making the same move with Chris Evans? There is precedent for Captain America going bad.

One of the most famous and infamous comics of the 2010s was “Captain America” ​​#1 by Nick Spencer and Jesús Saíz. Steve is revealed to be a villainous sleeper agent for the Nazi terrorist group HYDRA; The final page of Captain America declaring “Hail Hydra” pulled a batch of headlines.

Of course, it all turned out to be the result of some reality-warping shenanigans and good old Captain America was restored after the 2017 event “Secret Empire.” However, HYDRA Cap (sometimes known as HYDRA Supreme) has remained a villain, having taken the name Grant Rogers (as in Cap’s full name, Steven Grant Rogers).

Will Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom team up with Evans’ HYDRA Supreme? Photoshop users around the world would be vindicated.

HYDRA Supreme doesn’t have to be the only (potential) variant of Captain America in “Avengers: Doomsday.” “Deadpool & Wolverine” featured a multiverse jump montage where Deadpool encountered Wolverine from several different comic stories (Old Man Logan, Weapon X from “Age of Apocalypse,” the Humphrey Bogart-inspired patch, etc.).

If the Avengers need all the Captain America they can get, they have an entire multiverse to draw from. How about a tougher, more stubborn Captain America like the one seen in Ultimate Marvel? (For another strong representation of this idea, see Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy in “The Boys.”) Maybe we can even get some cameos from the Cap variants previously glimpsed during “What If…?”, like the zombie Captain America or the Steve Rogers who never received the Super Soldier serum, but rather piloted a robot.” HYDRA Stomper” in support of the Captain Carter.

Captain Britain in the comics is a completely separate character from Captain America, tied to the complicated astral mythology of Avalon and the Otherworld. Of course, the MCU isn’t shy about making changes; Imagine Captain Britain as a variant of Steve Rogers, wrapped in a Union Jack and sporting a Cockney accent. (You could say that in that universe, the United Kingdom won the Revolutionary War.)

It’s true that Captain America isn’t as flexible a character as Wolverine, but if Evans wants to have fun with the role, this could be it.

“Avengers: Doomsday” is scheduled to be released in theaters on May 1, 2026.