Avengers: Doomsday theory: how does Steve Rogers return?

The news that Chris Evans would return for Avengers: Doomsday narrowed down what the Russo brothers could be planning. I think the answer is that Evans comes back as the same Steve Rogers we followed from 2011 to 2019, living in an alternate universe, and that this could resolve the biggest unanswered question from Avengers: Endgame.

Endgame (2019), starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson, ended with an old Steve Rogers on a bench handing his shield to Sam Wilson. How he got there has been debated ever since, even by the people who made the film. Below I go through what was known about Doomsday at the time, how it might connect to The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which role Evans could play, and my theory for how it all fits together.

What was known about the Avengers: Doomsday cast

When Avengers: Doomsday was announced, Kevin Feige confirmed that the Fantastic Four cast from First Steps and the Thunderbolts team would all return in the film, alongside Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom. Over the following months, more news trickled out. Benedict Cumberbatch indicated in a Netflix retrospective that his plan was to return for the fifth Avengers film, saying he was looking forward to the next Avengers movie and that it was building to something big.

That version of Avengers 5, though, was from a time when the film, as far as Cumberbatch knew, was being directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. So we weren't sure where he stood when Feige announced a month later that it was a new project led by the Russo brothers, with Stephen McFeely writing the script.

Later, Cumberbatch confirmed he was still part of Avengers: Doomsday and was eager to work with Downey. He told a Japanese news site: "I'm really excited not just to work with the Russo brothers again, but for Robert Downey Jr. returning as Doctor Doom." Tom Holland's return as Spider-Man had already been confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter in October, in a piece about Holland's busy 2025 shooting schedule with Spider-Man 4, Avengers: Doomsday and Christopher Nolan's next film.

Deadline tied Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson to the Chris Evans news

When Deadline reported on Evans' return, it added that its sources said Anthony Mackie would also be back in Avengers: Doomsday as the MCU's current Captain America, Sam Wilson. Deadline mentioned that to play down the chances of Evans returning as the main Captain America.

Not so fast, Deadline. I think there's a possible explanation here. But first, it's worth laying out the options for who Evans could actually be playing.

Which role Chris Evans could play: Johnny Storm or Steve Rogers

Evans probably won't return as Johnny Storm from the 2005 to 2007 Fantastic Four films. We saw that cameo in Deadpool and Wolverine, and his death looked pretty final.

Presumably, Evans would return in a role that goes beyond his elderly look from the end of Avengers: Endgame, which technically remains Steve's current status in the MCU. In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Joaquin Torres hinted at conspiracy theories about Steve Rogers being on the moon, and maybe he and Sam Wilson reopen that subject in Captain America: Brave New World. A recent Microsoft ad featuring Brave New World footage shows Joaquin owns a copy of Scott Lang's book, Look Out for the Little Guy, which tells us this Falcon is eager to learn more about the history of the Avengers saga.

I think it's possible we'll see Evans in old man makeup again. I just think his role will be much bigger than that, because bringing Evans back in a film directed by the Russos and written by McFeely reopens the argument over exactly how the end of Endgame works.

The Russo brothers' explanation of Endgame's ending

How did old Steve Rogers end up on that bench after going back in time to return the Infinity Stones? According to the Russo brothers, they stick to the film's internal logic, where major changes to the past create branch timelines in the multiverse. In their reading, this version of Steve lived his life with Peggy Carter from the 1940s onward in an alternate timeline. Then, at some point in that timeline's future, he traveled back to the 616 universe to hand the shield to Sam.

That would mean this old man knows someone who has mastered travel through multiverse portals. I know he looks far too old to make that trip on his own, but who knows what life he lived and who his friends might be.

Under that logic, there's an alternate branch universe where Steve Rogers, Captain America, lived through the 1950s, the 1960s and beyond, where he went to free Bucky from Hydra. Then, at some point in that alternate history, he used multiversal technology to travel back to 616 just to give that world's Sam Wilson the shield and make him Captain America. That seems like a lot of effort for a completely different life he left behind long ago, unless there was a specific reason for it.

The Markus and McFeely version, and why I side with the Russos

According to Endgame's screenwriters, Stephen McFeely and his writing partner Christopher Markus, that isn't what happened. They say their intention was that when Steve returned to Peggy in the 1940s, he lived his life inside the MCU's 616 universe, in the background of the history we knew, perhaps preferring to stay out of sight. Then, once things calmed down after the Battle of Earth in Endgame, he showed up to hand the shield to Sam Wilson.

That version suggests that throughout the stretch of the MCU we'd been following, there was an old man who knew every bad thing that would happen in this history and simply let it happen. That's why I've always sided with the Russo brothers on this.

That's true even though my own general preference for time travel stories is closer to the Markus and McFeely reading. Theirs feels like a middle ground between the Back to the Future approach and the Prisoner of Azkaban or Interstellar approach, which suggests changes to the past rewrite history to be the way it always was from the start.

Why Stephen McFeely returned without Christopher Markus

I think this whole messy conflict could explain what the Russos and McFeely have in mind for Avengers: Doomsday and Evans' part in it. It might also explain why McFeely alone came back to write Doomsday, and not Markus as well.

I admit I'm guessing when it comes to why Marvel hired one writer for the latest draft of the script and not both. It's likely that these two hugely successful writers simply took their money after Endgame and went down completely different career paths, and all respect to them for that.

But I think that for Avengers: Doomsday to be a true sequel to Avengers: Endgame, starting with the unanswered questions about Steve Rogers is exactly the right place to begin. It's the way to tie Endgame to the wider Multiverse Saga.

What If season 2 reopened questions about Steve's trip back in time

Marvel Studios had already signaled interest in Steve Rogers' journey through time after Infinity War and Endgame, in an episode of What If season 2. In the 1602 episode, we saw another branch timeline where Steve broke the Time Stone on Thanos' gauntlet, which altered the course of time.

That made us wonder again about Cap's return trip with the Infinity Stones. How exactly did he put each one back in its place in history? How did he manage to return the Soul Stone to Vormir? And what did his life with Peggy really look like? That's the life Sam asked about, and Steve answered cryptically: "No. No, I don't think I will."

My theory: Doctor Doom and a clash between two Marvel universes

Here's my theory. I think Avengers: Doomsday will be a story centered on Doctor Doom that sets up a clash between at least two alternate universes in the multiverse. One is the 616 universe as we've known it. The other is an ideal Marvel world with a roster of heroes just as appealing, or more so.

That alternate universe could be the Fantastic Four's world in First Steps. Or it could be the unidentified X-Men world Monica Rambeau ended up in during the final scene of The Marvels. Or maybe, who knows, they could be the same universe.

I think Doomsday will partly answer what happened to Steve Rogers after Endgame, or really, what happened between those final scenes of Endgame. With the Russos and McFeely back, I think the Russos will want to settle the debate and explore Steve's life in an alternate Marvel universe, one where the 20th century played out differently with Captain America in it instead of locked in the ice.

Captain America in a 1960s Silver Age Marvel universe

Think about it. Instead of spending the 1950s and 1960s in Arctic ice and missing the Cold War and the space race, Steve Rogers would have been there for all of it. We could end up in an alternate Marvel universe where Captain America, Steve Rogers, is active in 1960s New York alongside the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and the X-Men, as they were in the Silver Age of Marvel Comics.

I think Marvel Studios wants to use The Fantastic Four: First Steps to present an alternate premise about what the MCU would have looked like if it had owned the rights to everything. It would be a Silver Age Marvel universe set in the 1960s, with all the features of the real Marvel world in New York. In that universe, many familiar faces from our 616 world would return, thanks to the randomness of quantum mechanics, but with different names and identities.

Since Victor von Doom in that universe resembles Steve's old friend Tony Stark, that could create a unique relationship with Steve after everything he went through in the Infinity Saga.

How Reed Richards could explain Steve's journey back to Sam Wilson

Under this theory, Evans would return as Captain America, the Steve Rogers of Marvel Studios' 2011 to 2019 films, following him into that alternate history after his last dance with Peggy, where he might meet the Fantastic Four and an alternate Doctor Doom. When that universe faces a multiversal crisis with our 616 universe, Sam Wilson's Captain America, Doctor Strange, Peter Parker and the Thunderbolts wouldn't just face a familiar face on Doctor Doom. They would face the very same Steve Rogers who left them after the Battle of Earth.

They might see him in that alternate universe's 1960s Captain America suit, maybe with upgrades from his friend Reed Richards, such as a proto adamantium shield. Steve's relationship with multiverse expert Reed Richards would explain how this old man traveled across the multiverse to get back to Sam in the distant future.

We would learn that old Steve gave Sam Wilson that shield to give our 616 world a fighting chance in the incursion conflict Steve knew was coming. So it wasn't just that he wanted to keep his secrets about Peggy to himself when he was cryptic with Sam in Endgame. He was sparing us spoilers for Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars when he said it.