Cap is back – and he’s a father!
Marvel Studios has finally released the first teaser trailer for Avengers: Doomsday online, after it aired in theaters alongside the first screening of Avatar: Fire and Ash last Thursday.
The first teaser trailer reveals that Chris Evans’ star-studded Avenger Steve Rogers will be returning in the next Marvel team-up adventure, set for release on December 18, 2026. In a plot twist, Captain America becomes the father of a newborn child.
Marvel is slowly gearing up for Doomsday, which will be released in theaters in less than a year. More teasers focusing on other characters will reportedly be released in the coming weeks. A trailer for Captain America has been leaked online in the lead-up to its theatrical release, and a Thor-focused teaser also appeared in social media leaks this week. Like Cap’s teaser, it is expected to be shown in theaters starting Thursday to coincide with the release of “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”
Joe and Anthony Russo, who previously directed Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and are returning for Doomsday, released a short statement on their Instagram page.
“A character who changed our lives,” they wrote about Captain America. “The story that brought us all here. We were always going to come back to this story…”
Set on a peaceful farm, the teaser begins with Steve riding his motorcycle to his home while the Avengers theme plays on a piano in the background. His blue helmet is reminiscent of Captain America’s costume, and he takes it out and admires it nostalgically. He looks proud as he holds his newborn baby, and the teaser ends with, “Steve Rogers returns in Avengers: Doomsday.” Finally, a countdown timer begins, set to expire once Doomsday is released in theaters.
The last time Marvel fans saw Captain America, the founder of the Avengers, was in the final moments of 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. After saving the world from the purple villain known as Thanos, Cap makes it his personal mission to return the lost Infinity Stones to their rightful place through time. After completing his time travel mission, an older Steve returns to the main MCU timeline and passes the red and white vibranium shield over to his former sidekick Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), upgrading him from the Falcon to the new Captain America. After bestowing the shield on Sam, Steve travels back in time and reunites with his beloved Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell).
After Steve goes missing and is frozen in the original Captain America movie, Peggy grows older but never stops loving him. Now, thanks to time travel technology in the quantum realm, the two were able to marry and spend decades of their lives together.
Does this teaser mean that Steve will somehow return to the main MCU timeline and rejoin the Avengers? Is this the same Cap or a variant of the older hero from the “Endgame” finale? And who is the baby? Does he or she have super soldier powers like Cap?
Marvel also released the first Doomsday poster, which has a green hue, much like the color of Doctor Doom’s famous costume.
Technically, this is the first time Evans has returned to the MCU since Endgame. He returns for a hilarious cameo as the Human Torch in 2024’s billion-dollar blockbuster Deadpool & Wolverine, his first original superhero role since Fox’s 2005 film Fantastic Four.
In an Esquire profile of Mackie published earlier this year, ahead of the former Falcon taking on the role of Cap in Captain America: A Brave New World, Evans denied reports that he would return to Marvel, saying he was “happily retired.”
“That’s not true,” Evans said of the rumored return at the time, explaining that such reports “happen every few years” since he left after Endgame.
“I just stopped reacting to it,” he added. “Yes and no, I’m happily retired!”
Evans isn’t the only original Avengers star returning for Doomsday. Robert Downey Jr. will be back, but not as Tony Stark. Instead, he’s trading in his Iron Man armor to play the ultimate villain, Doctor Doom, in a multiverse-traversing film. Other returning heroes include Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Sebastian Stan, Paul Rudd, Tom Hiddleston, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Simu Liu, Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachluck, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Hannah John-Kamen, and Lewis. Pullman. From the X-Men universe, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Kelsey Grammer, Alan Cumming, James Marsden, Channing Tatum, and Rebecca Romijn will cross over to the MCU.
