Doomsday’s Evil Steve Rogers Comes To Be According To Major Captain America MCU Theory

Avengers: Infinity War provided a storyline that could perfectly set up giving Avengers: Doomsday an evil Steve Rogers according to 1 MCU movie theory. With Phase 5 coming to a close with the release of Thunderbolts*, the MCU timeline is closer to the release of the fifth Avengers movie than ever. However, there are still naturally some major questions about what the story of Avengers: Doomsday will hold for fans, especially since the premise of the Multiverse Saga opens more doors than ever before when it comes to what’s possible for the MCU’s movies.

This goes some way to explain why there are so many theories regarding what the next two Avengers movies will be about, and what their impact will be on the franchise. One major line of discussion revolves around how the MCU could bring back Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers as a different version of the character, with a new theory suggesting the story elements put in place by Avengers: Infinity War have already made one way for this to come to fruition in the upcoming MCU movie when combined with Marvel’s comic history.

Theories That Avengers: Doomsday Will Debut An Evil Version Of Steve Rogers’ Captain America Have Been Rife For Some Time Now

Not long after Avengers: Doomsday was announced to be the MCU’s fifth Avengers movie following its change from the Kang-led Avengers: The Kang Dynasty to the new Doctor Doom-focused film, theories that an evil Steve Rogers could feature in the movie began to emerge. This was in no small part because of Robert Downey Jr’s return to the MCU now in the role of Doctor Doom, as this raised the idea to many viewers that Chris Evans could similarly return as an alternate universe Captain America who could also serve as a villainous parallel to his initial Marvel hero role.

The Multiverse Saga’s premise blends into this idea, and indeed incited further discussion around it by bringing the actor back in Deadpool & Wolverine as the Human Torch, further igniting the idea that future appearances in MCU movies were possible. While Chris Evans has denied the rumors that he will be appearing in Avengers: Doomsday, it’s worth noting that MCU actors have previously had to deny they were in films to avoid spoilers despite being part of the cast, like when Dafne Keen returned as Laura in Deadpool & Wolverine, or when Andrew Garfield returned in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Indeed, with so many Marvel comics having explored the idea of what an evil Steve Rogers would be like, it would stand to reason for the concept to also be addressed in the MCU, especially while the franchise can simply show a multiversal variant versus tainting the actual story of its own main version. In fact, the ties between Marvel’s comics and a storyline introduced by one other Avengers movie already pave a path that logically makes the evil Captain America story concept seem all the more possible for Avengers: Doomsday.

Avengers: Infinity War Perfectly Sets Up How A Comic Explanation For An Evil Steve Rogers Can Become MCU Reality

Avengers: Infinity War has a pretty considerable Captain America plot twist in terms of revealing that Red Skull is in fact alive. Instead, the movie reveals he resides on Vormir as the stonekeeper who watches over the Soul Stone – an Infinity Stone that can manipulate a person’s soul – as punishment of sorts for him trying to use the Tesseract for his own warped devices in Captain America: The First Avenger.

While Red Skull is essentially trapped on Vormir in the main universe of the MCU, it’s not impossible to imagine that in one of the many different universes, he may have found a way to use the Soul Stone. Though the Soul Stone requires its user to sacrifice a loved one in order to gain use of it, a different Red Skull could still have family alive that he’d willing to sacrifice, or be willing to give his own life to provide the Soul Stone one last objective.

As such, it’s worth noting that, between the comic series Avengers: Standoff and Secret Empire, a then-90-year-old Steve Rogers is transformed back into youthful fighting shape self by the living Cosmic Cube Kobrik – who is similar to the MCU’s Tesseract – though, unbenownst to him, Red Skull also implanted him with false memories during this time that convince him he’s been a HYDRA sleeper agent since the Second World War. Given Red Skull’s positioning in Infinity War, it seems entirely possible the MCU could replicate a version of this to justify an evil variant of Cap emerging through the Soul Stone.

Steve Rogers returning the Infinity Stones after Avengers: Endgame would open up a stretch of time where Red Skull could theoretically sacrifice himself to ensure Steve becomes an agent of HYDRA and the organization lives on. However, given the source material, it could also be possible that Red Skull’s machinations might require enough time for Rogers to get to age like the main iteration of the hero, only for the villain to instead use the Soul Stone to manipulate the essence of his nemesis’ being.

Why Adapting The Marvel Comic Storyline Would Work For Avengers: Doomsday

The reveal that Red Skull was alive and had a new role in the Infinity Saga was a fascinating one that linked the later Avengers movies even closer to the MCU’s earlier releases via its ties to Captain America: The First Avenger. Since nothing has been revealed about this story since Avengers: Endgame – and since the concept of what happened to Red Skull and when Steve Rogers returned the Infinity Stones is a still-discussed topic – exploring a different version of this would work in much the same way while adding more layers to Infinity War & Endgame‘s stories as well.

The MCU could also use this to suggest or show what happened to the main universe’s Red Skull following Avengers: Endgame, though it’s not clear if they would wish to return to this storyline at this point in time.

Interestingly, the Russo brothers have previously mentioned they had prior plans to make Steve Rogers physically be the Soul Stone. Though these plans, according to them, quickly fell through, this narrative could serve as a nod of sorts to the previous story idea by providing a different but still major link between the Soul Stone and Steve Rogers’ stories.

If Robert Downey Jr’s Doctor Doom story is indeed that of a multiversal variant take on Iron Man’s own – as it seems may well be the case – it would make even more sense for Avengers: Doomsday to also bring a villainous Steve Rogers into the mix, if only so both could further underline the heroism and morals of their previous iterations. Even if this isn’t the case for the MCU’s Doom, though, having characters like Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes forced to face off against someone who looks just like their beloved friend and ally would have huge emotional weight for the movie and its new Avengers team.