Avengers: Doomsday theory: is old man Steve Rogers leading?

Across the Avengers: Doomsday rumors, one name stayed constant: Chris Evans returning as Steve Rogers. The theory I'm breaking down here says the Steve Rogers in that film isn't an evil Hydra Cap or a younger Steve living with Peggy. It's the old man Cap of the main MCU timeline, still around, still involved and possibly leading the Avengers. I like this theory.

Chris Evans and the question of which Steve Rogers returns in Avengers: Doomsday

Industry insider Jeff Sneider said back in May that when the next round of Avengers: Doomsday cast announcements arrived, Chris Evans's name would be on that list. That still left a bigger question open: which Steve Rogers would we be seeing?

The rumors pointed in different directions. Early rumors were sure Evans would play an evil Steve, a Hydra Cap. More recent rumors, tied to talk from the set, said it would be the Captain America who went back to return the Infinity Stones. In that version, the story would pick up with him and Peggy trying to live their life before he was dragged back into the fold.

This theory says it's none of the above. Because this is the multiverse, there's a chance for endless variants to show up. But the variant that matters to the storyline we've already seen is our Steve Rogers from Earth 616, who we last saw as old man Cap. The theory holds that he's still in the MCU, still involved, possibly leading the Avengers, and that he's the version we'd see in Avengers: Doomsday.

How the Time Runs Out comics created the same old man Captain America

At the end of Avengers: Endgame (2019), Steve Rogers went to return the Infinity Stones, took a detour and ended up living out his life with Peggy. The directors and the writers couldn't agree on whether he was in the 616 the entire time or had been living in a branch timeline as a variant. Either way, he showed back up in the 616 as an old man and passed the shield on to Sam Wilson.

That leaves Steve Rogers in the MCU gone, but not specifically dead, and old. That matches the Captain America of the Time Runs Out comics, the run that led up to Secret Wars. Those are the exact comics we know the Russos are drawing heavily from, alongside the 1980s run, to inspire Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.

The comics got Steve there a different way. Instead of going back in time to live out his life with the woman he loved, he had his super soldier serum drained by a villain called the Iron Nail. That didn't just end his time as a super soldier. It reverted him to his biological age, turning him into old man Cap, and that's what prompted him to hand the mantle of Captain America to Sam. The circumstances are completely different, but the Steve Rogers of Time Runs Out is the same version we have in the MCU now.

In the comics, Steve Rogers became Commander Rogers

This is where the theory starts to take shape. In the comics, when Sam took on the mantle of Captain America, Steve Rogers didn't stop being part of the Avengers. He became Commander Rogers, took a back seat and helped the Avengers in a mentor role. He was "absolutely 100% still involved."

Why Steve Rogers was never confirmed dead in the MCU

There's an old movie saying that if you don't see a death on screen, especially for a major character, it didn't happen. The MCU has made implications along the way that Steve is gone, and that's how characters have referred to him. But they've never said he's dead or confirmed it in any scene.

You'd have to think that if Steve Rogers had passed away at any point since Endgame, during the time we've spent with Sam Wilson, it would have come up in dialogue. It would have been an important moment. We might even have seen Sam visiting his grave in Captain America: Brave New World. We've seen and heard nothing of the kind, so I find it hard to believe he died.

Could old man Cap be on the S.W.O.R.D. base guiding Sam Wilson's Avengers?

Go back to the early days of Disney Plus and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, where Sam was grilled about Captain America possibly being on the moon. At that point we weren't supposed to know there was a S.W.O.R.D. base orbiting Earth. That makes it seem like those in world rumors about Cap being on the moon might have something to them if he was up on the S.W.O.R.D. base. That idea sits at the center of the theory that old man Cap is still alive and well.

Whether or not he's on that base, the theory says he's still in touch with Sam, giving him advice as a mentor and a friend. Now that Sam is in charge of his own team of Avengers, Steve could play a role as their commander and director behind the scenes. Think of him as the Nick Fury of Sam Wilson's Avengers: still in costume, but not part of the physical fighting, directing combat from the background as a general.

If you're skeptical, the biggest piece of evidence is that the MCU hasn't confirmed, shown or even alluded to Steve's death. So old man Cap would still be in the 616. If Sam needed him, and that goes for all the Avengers Steve fought alongside, you'd imagine he'd be there for advice and mentorship, even if that's all he has left to give.

Why old man Cap and other Steve Rogers variants could appear together

What I like about this theory is that it isn't a theory for theory's sake, where someone says the most outrageous thing they can and then tries to prove it. There are canon events that seem to support it. I don't think it's mutually exclusive with a younger Steve Rogers who returned the Infinity Stones and is living out his life with Peggy, or with a multiversal variant joining the fray as well.

Yes, that would mean two different versions of Captain America. But if you think that's weird, you haven't been following the Multiverse Saga. As we heard right after Robert Downey Jr. was confirmed as Doctor Doom, and from multiple sources now, he may be playing several roles himself, which would imply not only Doom but maybe a couple of Iron Man variants.

So I wouldn't be surprised to see this old man Cap variant, and I wouldn't be surprised to see several variants. The more original the character, the more chance we'll see variants of them. The fun part of infinite variants is that if the 838 Reed Richards gets popped like a balloon by Wanda, you've got the 828 Reed Richards to fill in for our Fantastic Four. I think we may see some of that in Avengers: Doomsday before Avengers: Secret Wars settles on the main variants that make up that story.