Earlier this week, The Wrap confirmed that Chris Evans will make his return to the MCU for Marvel Studios' next big event movie, Avengers: Doomsday. Fans expected Evans to appear as Steve Rogers in Avengers: Secret Wars, anyway, but we still don't know for certain that he will reprise that particular role.
The last time we saw Rogers, he had handed his iconic shield over to his friend Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) after first deciding to remain in the past and live out his life with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) in Avengers: Endgame. We had assumed that, if Evans is playing the hero, that he would be a Multiversal variant, but that's not the only possibility.
Evans appeared as Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch, in Deadpool and Wolverine, and there have been rumors that he may not be quite done with his old Fantastic Four role.
So, will it be Rogers, or Storm... or someone else entirely?
On the latest episode of the Hot Mic podcast, Jeff Sneider said he heard that Evans will actually be playing Nomad. Though several characters have held this mantle in the comics, the name was originally introduced as an alternate identity that Steve Rogers adopted after he abandoned the Captain America costume and title.
If this is accurate, it remains to be seen which version of Rogers suits-up as Nomad in the movie. It's highly unlikely to be the original (unless he's really upped his Callisthenics regime), so a variant from another timeline/reality makes the most sense.
There's been some speculation that Doomsday might introduce a new team of "Evil Avengers," which could potentially see Nomad join forces with Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom and some other variants.
All just rumors for the time being, but Evans returning to the MCU - no matter who he plays - is an undeniably exciting prospect.
Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters on May 1, 2026, followed by Avengers: Secret Wars on May 7, 2027. Both films will be directed by the Russo brothers, who also make their MCU return after helming Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
"Being able to create stories and explore characters within the Marvel Universe fulfilled a life-long dream of ours, and we discovered a powerful connection with audiences in each film that we made. We’re thrilled to collaborate once again with Kevin, Lou and the entire Marvel team to bring this epic adventure in storytelling to new and surprising places for both the fans and ourselves”, said The Russos in a statement after the SDCC panel.
Have another look at some photos Downey Jr. shared to Instagram after the big reveal below.