Late last year, The Wrap reported that Chris Evans is set to make his return to the MCU for Marvel Studios' Avengers: Doomsday. Fans expected Evans to show up as Steve Rogers in Avengers: Secret Wars, anyway, but it was nice to finally have confirmation that the OG Sentinel of Liberty would be suiting-up for action once again.
This wasn't the first time we've heard that plans were in place for Evans to return to the role, and some intriguing rumors relating to the version of Rogers he will play in the movie have circulated since (more below). Even so, the actor has always denied the reports - and continues to do so!
Evans recently claimed that he was "happily retired," and has no intention of reprising his most famous role. During a new interview with Screen Rant, the Materialists star remained adamant that he won't be back, while admitting that he's sad to be missing "the party."
"I mean, it's sad to be away. It's sad to not be back with the band, but I'm sure they're doing something incredible, and I'm sure it's going to be that much harder when it comes out and you feel like you weren't invited to the party."
The last time we saw Rogers, he had handed his iconic shield over to his friend Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) after first deciding to remain in the past and live out his life with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) in Avengers: Endgame. We had assumed that, if Evans did make his MCU return, that he would be playing a Multiversal variant, but that's not the only possibility.
Evans appeared as Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch, in Deadpool and Wolverine, and there have been rumors that he may not be quite done with his old Fantastic Four role (he is believed to have filmed something for The Fantastic Four: First Steps).
We have also heard that Evans will actually be playing Nomad. Though several characters have held this mantle in the comics, the name was originally introduced as an alternate identity that Steve Rogers adopted after he abandoned the Captain America costume and title.
If this is accurate, it remains to be seen which version of Rogers suits-up as Nomad in the movie. It's highly unlikely to be the original (unless he's really upped his Callisthenics regime), so a variant from another timeline/reality makes the most sense.
There's been some speculation that Doomsday might introduce a new team of "Evil Avengers," which could potentially see Nomad join forces with Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom and some other variants.
Then again, maybe Evans is telling the truth and we won't be seeing him as Rogers again (place your bets below).
Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars were recently hit with significant delays, with Doomsday now set to arrive in theaters on December 18, 2026, and Secret Wars positioned for December 17, 2027.
Both movies will be directed by the Russo brothers, who also make their MCU return after helming Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
"Being able to create stories and explore characters within the Marvel Universe fulfilled a life-long dream of ours, and we discovered a powerful connection with audiences in each film that we made. We’re thrilled to collaborate once again with Kevin, Lou and the entire Marvel team to bring this epic adventure in storytelling to new and surprising places for both the fans and ourselves”, said The Russos in a statement after the SDCC panel.
You can check out the full (for now) Doomsday cast list below.
• Paul Rudd as Ant-Man
• Simu Liu as Shang-Chi
• Tom Hiddleston as Loki
• Lewis Pullman as Sentry
• Florence Pugh as Yelena
• Danny Ramirez as Falcon
• Ian McKellen as Magneto
• Sebastian Stan as Bucky
• Winston Duke as M’Baku
• Chris Hemsworth as Thor
• Kelsey Grammer as Beast
• James Marsden as Cyclops
• Channing Tatum as Gambit
• Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent
• Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm
• Rebecca Romijn as Mystique
• Patrick Stewart as Professor X
• Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler
• Letitia Wright as Black Panther
• Tenoch Huerta Mejia as Namor
• Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards
• Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost
• Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm
• David Harbour as Red Guardian
• Robert Downey Jr as Doctor Doom
• Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing
• Anthony Mackie as Captain America