The marketing campaign for Avengers: Doomsday is about to kick into full swing this week, with no less than four different versions of the teaser trailer premiering at screenings of Avatar: Fire and Ash. It speaks to how seriously Marvel Studios is taking this film, especially since Fire and Ash is shaping up to be one of the biggest movies of 2025. However, in a twist no one could have seen coming, one of the teaser trailers leaked, confirming the return of Steve Rogers (Chris Evans).
This return fired up speculation about Evans‘ role in Avengers: Doomsday, especially considering where Avengers: Endgame left Steve Rogers’ story. Following his quest to return the Infinity Stones to their proper place in time, Steve decides to take a detour and reunite with his long-lost love Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), living an entire life in the blink of an eye. Upon returning, he’s grown noticeably older, and even passes on his shield and mantle of Captain America to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie). If one of the teasers is focused on Steve, it hints that the former Sentinel of Liberty might have unwittingly set Doomsday‘s events in motion.
Steve Rogers May Have Triggered The Events Leading to ‘Avengers: Doomsday’
While Steve reuniting with Peggy might provide some heartwarming closure to his character’s journey, there’s a dark undercurrent to it that very few people noticed. Early in Avengers: Endgame, Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) speaks with the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) about the dangers of removing the Infinity Stones from certain points in time. The Ancient One points out that removing the Stones would cause a branch in time, leading to disastrous consequences. Steve traveling to see Peggy could have created such a branch, which leads to an even more horrifying theory.
In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, it’s revealed that “incursions” — interdimensional events where two parallel worlds occupy the same space — is ripping reality apart. This raises the question: did Steve trigger a wave of incursions when he traveled back to Peggy’s time? It’s a grim thought, but it could also explain why one of the trailers is focused on him. Maybe upon learning of the damage his actions potentially caused, he could help the Avengers. Or maybe Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr.) will deliver retribution upon Steve at some point.
The ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Teaser Trailers Highlight A Key Part of the Avengers Movies
Steve Rogers’ potential return isn’t the only notable element about the Avengers: Doomsday trailer. Each one focuses on a different character; one features Steve, another features Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and another is focused squarely on Doom — which is fitting, given that he is the main villain of the film. Interestingly enough, this reflects the core of the Avengers, which usually consists of Captain America, Iron Man and Thor. While Steve isn’t Captain America anymore, and great pains have been taken to assure fans that Downey‘s Doom is not a Tony Stark variant, bringing together Evans, Hemsworth and Downey in an Avengers movie continues the trend of the three actors anchoring this franchise.
It also points to Marvel Studios wanting to recapture the magic of previous Avengers films. So far, each of the Avengers films has dominated the box office, not to mention most of them recieved rave reviews. Most of the Avengers: Doomsday news feels like an effort to regain that goodwill, whether it’s bringing back Robert Downey Jr. as Doom or teasing the potential of the Avengers fighting the X-Men. Even the fact that Avengers: Endgame will be re-released in theaters points to that mindset, while also highlighting the potential importance of Steve’s decision to live a life with Peggy.
No one ever thought that Chris Evans would come back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and yet Avengers: Doomsday potentially has the perfect way to handle said return. By potentially showcasing how Steve’s desire to reunite with the love of his life could cost others theirs, Joe & Anthony Russo could turn what feels like a nostalgia play into the kind of bold storytelling that made Avengers: Endgame a hit.
Avengers: Doomsday premieres in theaters on December 18, 2026.
via Collider