Who is Chris Evans playing in ‘Avengers: Doomsday?’ The answer isn’t as obvious as you’d think

Chris Evans comebacks are like buses, apparently: you wait ages for one to come along and then two arrive at once. One of the best surprises in Deadpool & Wolverine was the Captain America icon’s cameo, which saw him reprise not Steve Rogers but Fantastic Four‘s Human Torch. Apparently, his brief role in the irreverent blockbuster threequel left him missing the Marvel life as reports say Evans is returning to the MCU yet again for its biggest upcoming film.

As first claimed by The Wrap, Evans has signed up to make another appearance in the never-ending superhero cinematic universe in Avengers: Doomsday, aka Avengers 5, the next outing for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes coming in May 2026. Evans isn’t the only MCU icon making a grand return for this one, of course, as Robert Downey Jr. was unveiled to be playing the (almost) eponymous Doctor Doom in the film over the summer — the very same weekend Deadpool 3 released, in fact.

The exact nature of Evans’ involvement in Doomsday remains cloaked in mystery, however. While Downey will surely play a major role as the movie’s main villain, The Wrap reports that it’s unclear how integral Evans’ role will be… or even what his role will be. Once upon a time, that would’ve been an easy question to solve, but with Deadpool & Wolverine bringing him back as Johnny Storm instead of Cap, and the Multiverse Saga coming to a head in Doomsday and its 2027 sequel Secret Wars, all bets are off. So let’s run through the different options.

Steve Rogers

Storytelling-wise, it would obviously make the most sense to bring Evans back as his most beloved role, that of the Sentinel of Liberty himself, Steve Rogers. After all, what exactly happened to Old Man Cap after Endgame is one of the MCU’s biggest unanswered questions. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier even joked that he had relocated to the moon. Considering that the Inhumans’ city of Attilan is also found on the moon, that sounds like a delicious one-two punch of a cameo waiting to happen.

On the other hand, Evans has voiced reluctance for the idea of returning as Steve after saying goodbye to him so conclusively in Endgame. Likewise, would the Russo brothers really want to undo their own perfect ending for the character in the very next Avengers movie? While there might be many dangling plot-threads regarding how the heck Steve’s time travel worked, maybe it’s best to let sleeping Caps lie.

Human Torch

R.I.P. Void Johnny Storm, you beautiful pottymouth, you. Yes, the particular version of Human Torch encountered by Wade and Logan might’ve been killed by Cassandra Nova, but there’s a whole multiverse of variants where he came from. Should Evans and the Russos wish it, it would be all too easy for him to make a second comeback as his original Marvel character.

The obvious way to top his prior Deadpool cameo would be to have Evans this time reunite with his original superhero team-members — Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, and Michael Chiklis, his cohorts in the FF films from the mid-aughts. You know fans would lose it if the OG gang got to meet Pedro Pascal’s MCU incarnation of the first fam.

This would be the perfect way to bring Evans back for another punch-the-air cameo, but if the plan is to use him in a more significant capacity then Marvel may be planning to go with a third, much more mischievous, option…

Evil Captain America

The thing is, Jeremy Renner might’ve already told us exactly what Marvel has planned for Doomsday. Shortly after the DowneyDoom announcement, the Hawkeye star admitted that he suspected the entire original Avengers lineup would be brought back alongside him — and this additional Evans news makes that all the more likely. The only thing is the intention might not be to simply bring them back as their old characters.

Fans may bristle at the idea, but RDJ’s casting can only mean that Doom will be an evil Tony Stark variant… So why not bring his co-stars back as their own dark counterparts? Rumors have claimed exactly this, with these Evil Avengers potentially serving as Doom’s henchmen — similar to Thanos’ Black Order in Infinity War and Endgame. We already got a jokey hint at HYDRA Cap in that 2019 film, but this could be Evans’ opportunity to really bring a corrupted Steve Rogers to life.

Or, you know, maybe he’s playing a Squirrel Girl variant (Squirrel Guy?). The important thing is, he’s back. Let the Evans-naissance begin!