Marvel fans slam potential return of Chris Evans as 'desperate' Hail Mary to save the franchise

Chris Evans is reportedly due to appear in Avengers: Doomsday and fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) are not pleased.

The 43-year-old actor - who recently starred in Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's Christmas film bomb Red One - is claimed to be making a surprise appearance in the studio’s next crossover blockbuster in 2026 according to The Wrap.

Chris played Steve Rogers AKA Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) from 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger until Avengers: Endgame in 2019.

While the outlet reported the ‘Red One’ star would be returning to the MCU 'in some capacity' for Avengers: Doomsday, it was not confirmed which role Evans would be playing after the actor also recently appeared as Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch, in Deadpool And Wolverine. 

Fans of the MCU were not pleased by the news as many flooded X (formally Twitter) - including on the popular Discussing Film account's comment section - to express their displeasure.

One of the more popular replies featured a .GIF of a man violently banging the back of his head on the couch with the caption:  'marvel relying on nostalgia again.'

Another mocked Disney executives as they wrote: 'PLEEAAASSSEE come see this f***ing movie, look!! we have all your favorites back!!'

As Robert Downey Jr. has already been announced to be returning to the MCU as supervillain Dr. Doom after the death of his original character Tony Stark AKA Iron Man, one user made a hilarious jibe about who Chris could be coming back as as they wrote: 'He’s ALSO playing Dr. Doom.'

Another X user took a more serious approach to make the same point as they said: 'I actually don't understand how you masterfully build up Endgame as a goodbye to Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans in the MCU to only bring them back for the next Avengers movie right after Endgame.'

The news may be alarming for some as the 2019 blockbuster Avengers: Endgame ended after the defeat of Thanos (Josh Brolin) where Rogers returns the Infinity Stones to their original timeline, and elects to live in the past with his one true love, Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell).

He returns as an elderly man to pass his iconic Captain America shield, and therefore the title of Captain America, to Sam Wilson, a.k.a. The Falcon (Anthony Mackie). 

If this recent report turns out to be true, Evans will be reuniting with his former Avengers co-star in the aforementioned Downey Jr., 59, who will be playing the antagonist Doctor Doom in Doomsday.

The Oppenheimer star - who had fronted the MCU from its inception with 2008’s Iron Man until Endgame 11 years later - was revealed to be returning to the franchise as its next big villain at this year’s San Diego Comic Con in July, where it was also announced directors Joe and Anthony Russo would be back behind the camera for 'Doomsday'.

After being unveiled as the series’ next big bad, Downey Jr. explained how Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige pitched the role of Doctor Doom to him and his wife Susan Downey.

During an appearance on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, he recalled: 'Susan and I were sitting down with Feige at one point, and he said, "It just keeps occurring to me that, if you were to come back…" And Susan was like, "Wait, wait, come back as what?"

'And then we both realized, over time, that it was another thing that just disproves any doubt anyone could ever have about that guy.

'[Feige is] a very sophisticated, creative thinker about, "How can we not go backwards? How can we not disappoint expectations? How can we continue to beat expectations?"

'And he brought up Victor von Doom, and I looked into [the] character, and I was like, "Wow." And later on, he goes, "Let's get Victor von Doom right. Let's get that right."'

After the Sherlock Holmes star concluded he wanted to play the villain, Downey Jr. and Feige went to Disney CEO Bob Iger’s house to pitch the idea, and found that the executive was a big fan of the plans.

Downey Jr. continued: 'So then I said to Kevin, "Can I go talk to Bob Iger?" He goes, "About?" I go, "About everything."

'We go to Iger’s pad, and we sit down and start saying, "I just really want to be…" He goes, "I like it." I was like, "He likes it."'

As well as Downey Jr. and potentially Evans, it was also recently reported Anthony Mackie would appear in ‘Doomsday’ as Captain America after his first solo outing as the new Star Spangled Man in 2025’s Captain America: Brave New World.