Avengers: Doomsday Update Points to an 11 Year Time Jump for Steve Rogers and Backs a Dark Ending Leak

Spoiler warning: this piece covers a major plot leak about the ending of Avengers: Doomsday. A new update from Robert Meyer Burnett says Steve Rogers' scene in the Doomsday trailer takes place 11 years after the teaser clip shown in December, and if that is true, it lines up with a leak from just over a month earlier about Steve Rogers' son.

The difference between the two Steves is important. I trust this source, but the bigger reason for the warning is that this update appears to confirm a huge plot point for the end of the film. If you would rather go in not knowing, now is the time to back out.

Robert Meyer Burnett says Steve Rogers' trailer scene is set 11 years later

Robert Meyer Burnett will be familiar to many from his own show and his appearances elsewhere, mostly on the John Campea Show. This was his latest update. Apparently, in his words, "Steve's appearance in the Doomsday trailer clip is 11 years later."

That refers to the trailer shown at CinemaCon, which we assumed would be the same one released to the public. According to Burnett, in the teaser clip shown in December, Steve has yet to meet Doctor Doom. In the trailer, he has already met Doom, because by then he is living on Earth 828 with Peggy and his son Jim.

An 11 year time jump could explain the two versions of Steve Rogers

Taken at surface level, this fits something I had been talking about for a while: there was a likely chance that Loki would relocate Steve Rogers to Earth 828. I thought we might even see something like that in a post credits scene tied to Avengers: Endgame, because even the Russos have said those two things will have a chance to bridge together.

The time jump also makes up for a discrepancy. The teaser showed a clean shaven, clean cut Steve Rogers, while we had been hearing we might see an older, bearded, grizzled Steve Rogers later in the film. Those two things did not seem to mesh. According to this update, Avengers: Doomsday features a time jump of 11 years, which would reconcile them.

It was unclear whether the film would feature flashbacks or some sort of origin point for the story with a time jump in the middle. Avengers: Endgame definitely did that, and they could employ the same technique here. Either way, by the time we get to the crux of the battle, it would be 11 years forward for Steve Rogers.

The rumored ending: Doctor Doom's vendetta against Steve Rogers' son

Here is how this lines up with the plot leak. It had been heavily rumored that Doctor Doom kills Steve Rogers' son, and that initial leak actually pegged the son's age as 11 years old, the same span as the reported time jump.

Doom's vendetta against Steve is apparently because Steve's displacement into Earth 828, the realm we also assume this version of Victor Von Doom is from, does something that causes Victor to experiment to solve it, and maybe even kill his own family. Killing Steve's son at the end of Avengers: Doomsday would serve as a major shock and a point of emotional trauma for Steve the character and for us the audience. It would also be meant as retribution, basically the ultimate act of revenge Doom had been looking to orchestrate the entire time: kill Steve Rogers' son, and get his family back.

And who is his family? None other than Sue Storm and Franklin Richards. That makes the post credits scene for The Fantastic Four even more poignant. The theory holds water, because that is exactly what the Russos themselves revealed at their AGBO headquarters: Sue Storm, Franklin Richards, and Doctor Doom together, "a regular Brady Bunch."

I think the December teasers were real scenes from the film

Shifting from the plot back to the structure of the film, some speculated that the preview vignettes released in December were not actually frames from Avengers: Doomsday, but were shot specifically as preview trailers. I never really thought that was the case.

Is there a chance some of those frames will not make it into the movie? Sure. But more likely than not, that material is from the film. And if that is the case, there is for sure some sort of time jump.

How Avengers: Doomsday might be structured around Earth 828

Here is how I think it is probably going to work. We get an extended post credits scene for Avengers: Endgame showing the displacement of Steve Rogers, probably visited by Loki as the rumors have suggested, and moving over to Earth 828. Avengers: Doomsday then picks up where that scene left off, with a Steve Rogers who has just had Jim and is brand new to Earth 828. It may establish some of Doom's origin and the relationship between Steve, Doom and Reed Richards. Then the film jumps significantly forward in time to catch up with where the MCU was at the end of Thunderbolts, with the Fantastic Four's ship approaching.

Speaking of which, one of the initial rumors about this film was that the Fantastic Four were not the only ones aboard their spaceship, and that they were joined by Doctor Doom and Steve Rogers. At the time that did not make a lot of sense. But if the film starts on Earth 828 and shows the initial relationship between Reed Richards, Steve Rogers and Doom, it would make sense that they may all be aligned in an attempt to save Earth 828, or first identify whatever incursion anomaly is headed straight for the 616, and then all board the ship to come to that timeline.

That is where Doctor Doom's plan would be revealed, which at the time was rumored to be building giant cannons in order to repel worlds. I still do not know how that is a viable plan, and I cannot wait to see how he describes it.

Has Steve Rogers really never seen Doctor Doom's face?

While all of this seems to fit together with the plot leaks, the updates and the rumors, here is the problem. If Steve Rogers has known Doctor Doom for a significant amount of time, even half of the 11 year time jump, are we meant to believe that the Steve Rogers we followed through the Infinity Saga has not once seen Doom's face? Our Steve would recognize a Tony Stark lookalike, and from that first moment there would be some sort of connection.

It was heavily rumored that Doom would not be unmasked during the film, yet he had his mask off in the living room during the post credits scene of The Fantastic Four, meaning he was okay revealing his face to Franklin and more than likely Sue Storm as well. Some other rumors indicated he would stand up and actually reveal his face. We will have to wait and see if that is true.

All of this suggests that Steve, despite his past relationship with Doom, may not have seen his face, and that Doom may have kept his mask on the entire time or at least hidden his identity from Steve. That does not seem logical at all. If Doom is willing to reveal his face to the Fantastic Four, it is probably because they have already seen it, and if they have, maybe Steve Rogers has too.

Why I don't buy that Doom looking like Tony Stark is just a coincidence

What is interesting is that Doom's resemblance to Robert Downey Jr. is starting to feel less and less important to the character. With what we have heard recently, it feels like they have built this character independent of Tony Stark, with no real connection to him other than looking like Robert Downey Jr. Incidentally, the actor who plays Steve Rogers has also played the Human Torch from the Fantastic Four universe, a character who just happens to look like our Steve. Different characters, completely different people, same actor, same face.

The Russos, Kevin Feige and everyone involved have touted the story as the main reason they all came back: a story worth telling, one they were able to craft that could make this all make sense. In the same breath, they promised it would all be addressed at some point across Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. Yet it was starting to seem more and more like the opposite, that Doom looking like Tony Stark may just be a coincidence of casting, and that they would not bridge the characters in any meaningful way or bring in an identity twist at all.

"I don't buy it." I think whatever story they crafted has to melt the two characters together and explain why Victor Von Doom has Tony Stark's face. That is the whole crux of the story that brought them back, and there is no way they would have toiled as hard as they did to find a way forward if it did not attempt to answer why they look alike. If it is just a unique Victor Von Doom who happens to look like Tony, are we meant to believe they brought back Steve Rogers, Thor, the original X-Men characters and the rumored Tobey Maguire for the beginning of the film, and will not bring Tony Stark back into the fold in some way? Otherwise, in this celebration of all Marvel cinema, they would be leaving out one of the most important characters.

A Tony Stark twist could be saved for Avengers: Secret Wars

I get that we might not get any of this in Avengers: Doomsday. But that would mean they are building toward a huge twist and reveal in Avengers: Secret Wars. I think it will be a dual role of sorts, with Tony Stark showing up from somewhere across the multiverse to duel a Doctor Doom who has stolen his identity from the start.

Does that mean Doom will ultimately be played by someone else? I don't want to go that far, and I don't know. I do think Doom should stick around after Avengers: Secret Wars. He is not the type of villain you just get rid of after two outings, and he should be part of the future of the MCU. Whether he will still be played by Robert Downey Jr. is an open question.

Do you think the Russos will tie Doctor Doom back to Tony Stark, or is the resemblance just a coincidence of casting?