Making sense of the Steve Rogers theories around the Avengers: Doomsday trailer

[#item_full_content] [[{“value”:”Marvel Studios has finally dropped the first legit trailer for the next team-up flick Avengers: Doomsday, giving fans a chance to check out the footage that was shown a while back to theater distributors at CinemaCon. It features a big ol’ mix of old and new Marvel heroes, combining characters from the old X-Men films, the new Fantastic Four, and characters from other Marvel flicks like Black Panther, Thunderbolts and Brave New World.
But most notably, the trailer-ending stinger features the long-awaited return of Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, aka Captain America. Or at least… a version of him, if all the TwitterX, Threads and TikTok theories are to be believed.
So what’s the theory? What are the odds it’s actually true? Let’s dig in.
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First up, let’s set the scene. We get a bunch of fight and disaster scenes, and it all ends with Thor (who seems to have taken on the role as de facto leader of this new-look Avengers team) saying they’re going to need a miracle to take on this massive new threat in Doctor Doom.
Then, we see that miracle seemingly arrive, as a bearded Steve Rogers walks out of the shadows with a “Hey, pal,” to Thor — with the trailer ending as Steve calls Thor’s hammer to him and catches it (having been established in the prior Avengers movies that Rogers is worthy to wield Thor’s weapons, something he did to many cheers in the last Avengers movie).
The evil Steve Rogers theory, explained
The obvious read of this trailer is that Steve Rogers returns when Earth’s Mightiest Heroes need him most, and the OG Captain America is about to be back in action with heroes new and old to take on Doctor Doom.
But the viral fan theories look to find a more ominous read of Rogers’ return, noting the visual cues of him wearing dark clothes, sporting a dark beard, and wearing a wry smirk that (upon rewatching the trailer a dozen times) can feel just a little bit off with his usual earnest vibe.
Last we saw Rogers, he was an old man, having returned the Infinity Stones after their war with Thanos and retired to the past to live out a regular life with Peggy Carter. He showed back up as an old man in the present, passing the shield on to Sam.
But now… he’s back. Supposedly.
The obvious play here is for Marvel to play the hits, bring Evans back as Rogers to rejoin the Avengers, and let him be a big hero again alongside Thor, Bucky, Sam and all the new heroes.
But if they don’t go the obvious route? This trailer reveal could all be a fake-out, featuring an alternate version of Steve from somewhere else in the multiverse, or perhaps even a character with the ability to change their appearance, like Loki or Mystique.
One popular theory is this is potentially an evil version of Steve from an alternate universe (with the prevailing theory being this is possibly HYDRA Steve, a version of Captain America introduced in the comics a while back who is basically a version of Cap if he sided with HYDRA and became their No. 1 agent).
So could it be true? It totally could, especially since Marvel has already brought Iron Man star Robert Downey, Jr. back into the fold as new big bad Doctor Doom. An evil Steve Rogers could certainly be a one-two punch to shake things up (with the potential to maybe bring back the good version of Steve in the next Avengers movie, since we know that’s already on the calendar).
It also begs the question of how he was able to wield the hammer, but in the comics, there have been instances of bad versions of Cap doing just that (or if he’s Loki in disguise, maybe he’s become worthy?!). So I mean, it’s possible. And it’d certainly feed the fake out.
It could also make sense why Marvel would reveal Rogers’ return so early in the action with the first trailer. Set expectations with the obvious reveal of his return, knowing they’re potentially preparing the fake out to pull the rug out from under viewers this December. It could also make for an enticing role for Evans, who was content to hang up his shield after the last Avengers movie, feeling like he’d done pretty much all he could with the character.
But playing a different version of Steve? An evil one, perhaps? Now that could be a meaty role intriguing enough to pull Evans off the bench (along with the millions and millions of dollars, of course).
My take on it all? I put the odds at around 50/50. We know we’re dealing with the multiverse, and the fact that Doctor Doom is wearing Iron Man’s face means everything is already on the table, potentially. We’ve also already seen Evans return to the Marvel fold with his hilarious role in Deadpool & Wolverine (playing his OG Marvel role, the Human Torch). It makes some sense this could be a different kind of fake out.
It really depends on exactly what kind of story Marvel is cooking up for the long-awaited return of the Avengers film franchise. Does it take the obvious “big team-up vs. big bad” route, or mix things up with some fake outs (not unlike the surprise post-marketing for Thunderbolts The New Avengers).
Here’s hoping whatever it is, Marvel is keeping more than a few surprises on lock to recapture some of that billion dollar box office magic.
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