Chris Evans’ Avengers: Doomsday Has Me Excited To See His MCU Return (Even If I’m Worried About What It Means For Anthony Mackie’s Captain America)

The return of Chris Evans in Avengers: Doomsday is undeniably exciting, but I have some reservations about the negative way it could affect other MCU characters. Evans’ return in the upcoming MCU movie was confirmed in December 2024, despite it being unclear what exactly his role would be. This naturally raised the excitement for the already anticipated story of Avengers: Doomsday, which is still set for release worldwide in May 2026, with its sequel – Avengers: Secret Wars – coming a year later in 2027.

Evans’ addition to the film makes Avengers: Doomsday‘s confirmed cast one that causes extreme excitement. Not only is Evans set to reunite with his former costar, Robert Downey Jr., but the heroes of 2025’s Marvel movies such as The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Thunderbolts* are also confirmed to be part of the story. Although I cannot wait to see how all of these heroes, familiar and unfamiliar, will be folded into the story of Avengers: Doomsday, I do have some worries. Above all else, my key reservation is that the movie’s big MCU returns will overshadow other characters in the franchise.

Chris Evans’ Avengers: Doomsday Casting Is Good News, But It Makes It Even Harder For Other Marvel Characters To Shine

The Leaders Of The New Avengers Will Likely Take A Back Seat

As I have alluded to, Evans’ return in Avengers: Doomsday is good news. The actor is a cornerstone of the MCU and played one of the more beloved characters in the Infinity Saga. For these reasons alone, Evans will always be welcomed back to the franchise by me and the countless other Marvel Studios fans across the world. What makes Evans’ return even more exciting is the lack of clarity over who he is playing. Will it be Captain America, an evil version such as a HYDRA agent, or something else? We cannot wait to find out.

All that being said, Evans’ return – combined with that of Robert Downey Jr. – risks taking the spotlight away from other Marvel characters. Many hoped that Avengers 5 and 6 would allow other Avengers that received less of a focus in the Infinity Saga to come to the fore. Be it Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel, Spider-Man, Black Panther, or Anthony Mackie’s Captain America, this now looks less likely given a great deal of focus will be placed on Evans and RDJ. The return of two massive actors will cause this subconsciously, making it harder for other MCU characters to shine.

I’m Worried Chris Evans’ Avengers: Doomsday Role Will Overshadow Anthony Mackie’s Captain America

Captain America Deserved To Lead An Avengers Film Without Other Distractions

Perhaps the biggest victim in all of this will be Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson. While Avengers 5 has always presented the chance to give many other Avengers a spotlight, it was a personal hope of mine that it would position Sam’s Captain America as the true leader of the team in the absence of Steve Rogers. Of course, I am aware this could still happen if Evans is brought back in a villainous role or as another multiversal hero, but the involvement of someone so synonymous with Steve Rogers’ Captain America will undoubtedly pull focus away from Sam.

Avengers: Doomsday presented the chance to give Sam Wilson massive development after his first solo MCU outing in Captain America: Brave New World‘s story. Again, I still think Mackie’s Cap will be important to the film, but the subconscious connection audiences will make between Evans and Steve Rogers will be prevalent throughout Avengers 5‘s story. This, combined with the already-huge event of his return alongside RDJ’s, may not allow Avengers: Doomsday to give Mackie’s Captain America the focus he deserves from audiences.

The Announcements Of Mackie & Evans Joining Avengers: Doomsday Makes Me Even More Worried

Admittedly, these worries could be written off as personal reservations I have about Avengers: Doomsday. However, the casting announcements of Evans and Mackie joining the project only reinforced my belief that the latter could become overlooked in the film. The reports that Chris Evans would return in Avengers: Doomsday were released by outlets at almost exactly the same time as similar reports that Mackie had also signed on to the film. This caused massive discussion and discourse online, but the large majority of this was directed towards Evans and his MCU return.

It is not lost on me that this is simply because Evans’ return in Avengers: Doomsday was highly unexpected, with many predicting Mackie would play a big role in the film. Regardless, the majority of talk being directed towards Evans’ return and not Mackie’s reinforces the idea that Avengers: Doomsday could place too much focus – intentional or otherwise – on the former. If Mackie’s role in Avengers 5 had been announced on a different day than Evans’, I have no doubt that audiences would be excited and theorizing about Captain America leading the team. However, Evans’ announcement took the spotlight.

How Chris Evans’ Return Could Still Allow Anthony Mackie’s Captain America To Shine

The MCU Has Enough Story To Go Around

Despite my worries, I do believe Avengers: Doomsday – and Avengers: Secret Wars – can balance Evans’ return in a way that allows Mackie’s Captain America to take the spotlight as he deserves. The main element of the initial report that gives me this hope is that the extent of Evans’ role in the film has not been clarified. It has not been reported that Evans is a main character in the film or will have as big a role as Downey Jr. will with Doctor Doom. This leaves the door open for Avengers 5 to focus on Mackie’s Captain America and other MCU heroes.

As everyone knows, Avengers 5 will directly set up the story of Avengers: Secret Wars. In Marvel Comics, the story of Secret Wars involves Doctor Doom merging the surviving worlds of a collapsing multiverse into a singular plane of existence: Battleworld. This meant that several Marvel characters from across the multiverse combined to defeat Doom and restore the multiverse. With this in mind, Evans’ appearance makes more sense for Avengers: Secret Wars than it does for Avengers: Doomsday.

Therefore, Evans’ return in Avengers: Doomsday could simply be as a post-credit stinger or a cliffhanger moment, teasing his bigger role in Avengers 6. Not only would this drastically raise the anticipation for Avengers: Doomsday‘s sequel, but it would also explain why the reports could not clarify his screen time in the former movie, as it is only a brief scene towards the end. This way, Avengers: Doomsday could focus entirely on Anthony Mackie’s Cap and his team, before Avengers: Secret Wars allows for major cameo appearances.

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Avengers: Doomsday is the fifth Avengers film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and will bring together heroes, new and old, to face off against Victor von Doom – played by the returning Robert DOwney Jr.. Avengers 5 will also mark the beginning of phase 6 of the MCU.

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