(Image Credit: Marvel Studios)
Avengers: Doomsday is set to feature a ton of different new and returning stars to the MCU, including Chris Evans in a reported return to Captain America. While the news will excite most, it does also damage one of Marvel Studios’ biggest movies.
Evans’ return as Steve Rogers/Captain America has been rumored for so long, but confirmed now in teaser trailers that have begun showing alongside Avatar: Fire and Ash. Without going into detail, the trailer confirms that Steve Rogers will be back in Avengers: Doomsday.
While it’s unknown exactly how much of Chris Evans will be in the latest Avengers movie, the move comes as a surprise. Evans’ role seemed to have ended in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, and his sudden inclusion now in Doomsday tampers with and damages that movie now in hindsight.
How Chris Evans’ MCU return could harm Avengers: Endgame
When Avengers: Endgame released in 2019, it was meant to be the capstone to a decade of storytelling in the MCU. The film not only culminated in a big battle against Thanos, but it also acted as a send-off to several longtime veterans of the MCU, including Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, and more.
Specifically, Evans’ Steve Rogers sheds the title of Captain America, passing on his shield to Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson to instead choose to travel back in time and live out his life with Peggy Carter, a situation he never got the chance to. The ending was a happy ending for Rogers, and one that seemed to cement that Evans would not be coming back at all.
On top of the emotional moments in the movie, Endgame was also a massive box office success. The film earned just under $2.8 billion at the global box office, and briefly became the highest-grossing film of all time. For all intents and purposes, the movie was the perfect way to cap off an entire era of the MCU, and move on to the next one.
Now, though, a lot of that seems thrown into question. Not only is Evans back as Steve Rogers, but Robert Downey Jr. is as well, this time as Victor Von Doom/Doctor Doom. Other stars are also rumored to be returning to appear in Doomsday as well, all of which seem to be in an effort to get the MCU back on course after a few years of tumultuous box office returns for some of its post-Endgame films.
Whether or not Evans returns in a full-time capacity as Captain America or not, the inclusion of him in the movie is sure to excite fans. Evans is one of, if not the most popular actors in the MCU, and Marvel Studios clearly knew his return would garner a big reaction. However, in doing so, it seems like the studio has undermined its own storytelling in the process, and now made what was an emotional end to a character in a decades-long story feel mostly for nothing.
