Avengers: Doomsday Makes A Huge Change To Endgame's Captain America Ending In Chris Evans Return Theory

Chris Evans' return to the MCU is especially exciting, as he previously portrayed Steve Rogers' Captain America, one of Marvel's cornerstone heroes, between 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger and 2019's Avengers: Endgame. Evans recently reprised his classic role of Johnny Storm's Human Torch in Deadpool & Wolverine, and he is now expected to debut him as a new MCU character. It still hasn't been revealed who Chris Evans will play in Avengers: 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 between Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter is 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 of Captain 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 in Captain America: Civil War, so it seemed as though Rogers would never end up with the thing he was looking for.

Avengers: Endgame changed 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' arc perfectly. Now, however, both Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell have been confirmed to be returning in Avengers: 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 as Avengers: Endgame's ending 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 that the 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 man in Endgame suggests 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 in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, as the movie's retro-futuristic 1960s-inspired world may 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 in Avengers: Doomsday suggests he will be playing a version of Steve Rogers who was indoctrinated by HYDRA at an early age. This would be brilliant to see in live-action, but it'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 in Avengers: Endgame, and would also clearly explain Hayley Atwell's return, too.

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 after Deadpool & Wolverine began with Deadpool digging up Wolverine's grave, clearly messing with the beautiful ending of Logan, 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 in Captain America: Civil War. The version of Peggy Carter at the end of Avengers: Endgame was a variant from the branching timeline created 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 in Avengers: Doomsday, perhaps even bringing her super-soldier, Captain Carter, back into live-action for a more full-on adventure.

After debuting in the animated What If...? series, another variant of Captain Carter appeared in live-action as a member of Earth-838's Illuminati in 2022's Doctor 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 in Avengers: Doomsday. This would be amazing, as Chris 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.

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