It’s now official: Captain America star Chris Evans will be back in Avengers: Doomsday.
Disney’s first trailer for the December 2026 blockbuster — which first leaked online earlier this week — has now been officially released in theaters alongside the first showings of Avatar: Fire and Ash. And with this, Evans’ return is now set in stone.
The minute-long trailer begins with a familiar figure parking a motorcycle outside a 1950s-style house. After carefully folding away his Captain America uniform, Evans is then revealed — and we see him holding a baby. The trailer then cuts to black, before on-screen text confirms: “Steve Rogers will return in Avengers: Doomsday.” Finally, we see a ticking countdown clock, tracking the months, days, hours, minutes and seconds until Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters a year from now, on December 18, 2026.
Earlier today, Avengers: Doomsday directors Joe and Anthony Russo posted their own short teaser for their upcoming Marvel blockbuster, exactly 12 months before its theatrical release — featuring the countdown clock now seen in the Steve Rogers reveal trailer.
And as IGN reported this morning, today has seen fans heading into Avatar: Fire and Ash screening around the world expecting to see the Doomsday trailer, though many (but not all) have been left disappointed. Disney appears to have kept the trailer to a very limited release until now, with clips posted to social media still being removed by copyright claim.
For many Marvel fans, Evans’ return will not come as too much of a surprise. Outside of the trailer’s leak online this week, filming reports from this summer appeared to show the same 1950s-style house being secretly constructed, with many fans recognizing its design from the final scene in Avengers: Endgame. Fans also spent a good deal of time analysing recent photos of Evans’ real-life arms, and noted that he appeared to have returned to his Captain America physique.
Now, the spoiler tag has well and truly been snipped off by Marvel, which is clearly keen to tell audiences to expect more from Evans’ character, a year in advance of Doomsday’s release.
So, what’s going on here, story-wise? Of course, the last time we saw Steve Rogers in Avengers: Endgame, he was off to return the Infinity Stones to their original places across reality. Following that, he was expected to return to the present — but instead stayed in the 1950s, apparently to live out a peaceful life with his sweetheart Peggy Carter.
But fans think there’s more story to tell here — story which would then take place before Steve turns up as an old man and hands his shield over to Sam Wilson, something that also happened in Endgame. Could Steve’s multiversal mission have somehow attracted the attention of Doctor Doom, setting up a fresh rivalry between Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans’ characters?
The idea of more story for Steve Rogers is also something Avengers: Endgame and Doomsday directors Joe and Anthony Russo have teased, as early as 2021. Could everything that’s about to happen in Doomsday (and Secret Wars) take place before Steve hands over the shield? And how will the fact that Steve Rogers is now a father play out? Is his baby about to be kid-napped by Doctor Doom, just as Sue and Reed Richards’ toddler Franklin was? It’s going to be a long 12 months until we find out.
Disney’s theatrical release of the first Avengers: Doomsday trailer is reportedly just the first of four separate trailers set to be shown with Avatar over the next four weeks, in a move designed to encourage repeat viewings and keep audiences entertained with a series of big reveals. Confirmation of Steve Rogers’ return is certainly a strong start.
For more on Cap’s return, check out how Chris Evans coming back for Avengers: Doomsday might just be Marvel admitting their biggest failure.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
