Captain America’sMCUending gets revisited in a huge new theory that perfectly explains Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell’s returns inAvengers: Doomsday. Chris Evans' Steve Rogers and Hayley Atwell’s Peggy Carter have been at the center of one of the MCU’s longest-running and most complex love stories. This could now continue in Phase 6, as both Evans and Atwell have been confirmed to becast inAvengers: Doomsday, which is set to kick-start the last chapter of the Multiverse Saga when it hits theaters on July 31, 2025.
Chris Evans' return to the MCUis especially exciting, as he previously portrayed Steve Rogers' Captain America, one of Marvel’s cornerstone heroes, between 2011’sCaptain America: The First Avengerand 2019’sAvengers: Endgame.Evans recently reprised his classic role of Johnny Storm’s Human Torch inDeadpool & Wolverine, and he is now expected to debut him as a new MCU character. It still hasn’t been revealedwho Chris Evans will play inAvengers: Doomsday, but while theories suggest he could play an evil Captain America, there’s one clear character he’d be much better suited for.
Chris Evans & Hayley Atwell Will Reunite In Avengers: Doomsday
Chris Evans & Hayley Atwell Both Debuted In The MCU In 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger
The romance betweenSteve Rogers and Peggy Carteris one of the MCU’s most iconic, and it’s especially poignant, as they actually ended up getting some semblance of a happy ending.After he was frozen in ice at the end ofCaptain America: The First Avenger, Rogers woke up in the modern era having missed his dancing date with Carter back in 1945. He had to watch his lost love ail and eventually pass away inCaptain America: Civil War, so it seemed as though Rogers would never end up with the thing he was looking for.
MCU: 7 Ways Peggy Carter Is Steve Rogers’ True Love (& 7 Ways It’s Bucky Barnes)
Steve Rogers may have ended up having a life with Peggy Carter in the MCU but his one true love was arguably actually Bucky Barnes.
Avengers: Endgamechanged everything, as Steve Rogers took the opportunity, after returning the Infinity Stones to their respective timelines, to retire as Captain America and remain in an alternate past.He reunited with Peggy Carter and the pair were last seen dancing together, completing Rogers' arcperfectly. Now, however, both Chris Evans andHayley Atwell have been confirmed to be returning inAvengers: Doomsday, and it perhaps makes the most sense that they would simply pick up where they left off, reprising their original MCU roles.
Steve Rogers’ Endgame Retirement Must Have Caused Problems For The Multiverse
Steve Rogers Wasn’t Supposed To Stay In The Past
As beautiful asAvengers: Endgame’sending was for Steve Rogers, this was never supposed to be his journey in the MCU. The revelations and transformative events of the Multiverse Saga have seemingly confirmed thatthe longer Rogers remains in his newly-created timeline with Peggy Carter and the bigger footprint he makes, the more at-risk the stability of that entire reality will be.Rogers returning as an elderly maninEndgamesuggests nothing went wrong, but Marvel Studios could easily use the multiverse to rewrite this.
It makes sense that Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter’s new reality could fall victim to an incursion caused by Rogers' very existence there. Steve Rogers living in the 1950s is an epic diversion from the “proper” flow of things, so will surely cause problems. One popular theory suggests this could come to a head inThe Fantastic Four: First Steps, as the movie’s retro-futuristic 1960s-inspired worldmay be the cause of Rogers being around in the 1950s. However,Avengers: Doomsday, with Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell in the cast, is the most obvious place for this damage to be seen.
Chris Evans Could Return In Doomsday As His Original MCU Hero
Chris Evans Played Captain America In 10 MCU Movies (& Made 2 Further Cameos)
Currently, the most popular theory regarding Chris Evans' return inAvengers: Doomsdaysuggests he will be playing a version ofSteve Rogers who was indoctrinated by HYDRAat an early age. This would be brilliant to see in live-action, butit’s far more convincing that Chris Evans will actually be playing his original version of Steve Rogers. This still makes sense for the Multiverse Saga, as Rogers found himself in a branched timeline inAvengers: Endgame, and would also clearly explain Hayley Atwell’s return, too.
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Chris Evans has repeatedly voiced his reluctance to return as the original version of Steve Rogers, feeling very protective over the role and his ending. However, this touching ending would cause significant issues for the multiverse, and afterDeadpool & Wolverinebegan withDeadpool digging up Wolverine’s grave, clearly messing with the beautiful ending ofLogan, it would be subversive to see this happen again.The lovely timeline created by Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter in the 1950s could be destroyed by an incursion, bringing the original Captain America back to the MCU.
How Hayley Atwell’s Peggy Carter Can Be Different In Doomsday
Hayley Atwell Has The Chance To Play An Entirely New Peggy Carter
While Chris Evans could easily return as the original version of Steve Rogers, the original Peggy Carter died peacefully in her bed inCaptain America: Civil War.The version of Peggy Carter at the end ofAvengers: Endgamewas a variant from the branching timelinecreated when Rogers elected to remain, and her backstory has not been explored at all. This gives Hayley Atwell the chance to play an entirely new version of Peggy Carter inAvengers: Doomsday, perhaps even bringing hersuper-soldier, Captain Carter, back into live-action for a more full-on adventure.
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After debuting in the animatedWhat If…?series, another variant ofCaptain Carter appeared in live-actionas a member of Earth-838’s Illuminati in 2022’sDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. She was swiftly killed by the Scarlet Witch, along with many of her teammates, but Hayley Atwell could play a new version inAvengers: Doomsday. This would be amazing, asChris Evans and Hayley Atwell could play formidable super-soldiers alongside each other, strengthening their MCU relationship seven years after they were both thought to have departed.
Avengers: Doomsday
Cast
Avengers: Doomsday is the fifth Avengers film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and will bring together heroes, new and old, to face off against Victor von Doom - played by the returning Robert Downey Jr.. Avengers 5 will also mark the beginning of phase 6 of the MCU.
