After the Marvel Cinematic Universe largely took a break in 2024, the biggest movie franchise in the history of ever will be back in a big way with three upcoming Marvel movies on the 2025 movie schedule. The larger MCU story will likely start to come together quickly heading toward the next big crossover movie, Avengers: Doomsday, which as of this writing is less than a year-and-a-half away.
But exactly what the plot of that movie actually is is anybody's guess. We know that it will include the return of Robert Downey Jr., now playing Doctor Doom, but an intriguing theory suggests how a potentially returning Chris Evans and Captain America may factor in, and how it will actually all tie into Avengers: Endgame.
Did Captain America Bring About Doctor Doom?
While there’s a lot about the various upcoming Marvel films we don’t know, one thing we do know about Fantastic Four: The First Steps is that the movie won’t, at least at the outset, be taking place in the MCU as we know it, but in an alternate universe. Considering the long history between the first family of Marvel and Doctor Doom, it’s widely believed, though not yet confirmed that Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom may make his debut in the movie as well.
This leads to the theory, suggested on Reddit, that Avengers: Doomsday will also be set in this alternative universe, and that the branch of reality was specifically created when Steve Rogers traveled back in time to return the Infinity Stones and then spend the rest of his life with Peggy Carter. Realizing that he’s the one who accidentally broke reality, it’s up to Captain America to fix it, and this is how Chris Evans’ return as Captain America will be explained.
If Rumors Turn Out To Be True, It’s Not A Bad Theory
To be clear, this theory, while intriguing, requires a lot of unconfirmed information to turn out to be accurate. While Robert Downey Jr.’s return is confirmed, Chris Evans' reported return to the MCU is still only a rumor. Even if he does return, the rumors don’t confirm he’ll be playing Captain America, and even if he does, it’s been rumored he might go the route of Hugh Jackman in Deadpool & Wolverine and appear as multiple different characters, or different versions of Captain America, not necessarily the same one we said goodbye to in Avengers: Endgame.
But just as we can’t confirm this theory with the evidence we have, we also can’t disprove it. Because we know so little, a great deal is potentially possible, and this certainly isn’t the worst fan theory that’s ever been presented.
If any of it is on the right track, we might get the first pieces of evidence when the Fantastic Four movie debuts in July.
