Chris Evans Confirms He Turned Down “A Dozen” Captain America Return Pitches Before Avengers: Doomsday
Avengers: Endgame was seemingly the perfect final chapter for Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers. After helping defeat Thanos and returning the Infinity Stones to their rightful places, a considerably older Steve returns to pass the Captain America mantle to Sam Wilson, revealing he stayed in the past to build a life with Peggy Carter. The final shot of Endgame is Steve and Peggy finally sharing their dance, closing the book on Evans’ time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Of course, Evans is back again for this year’s Avengers: Doomsday, but if Marvel had its way, the actor would have returned a long time ago.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Evans recalled Marvel’s previous attempts to get him back and explain why he agreed to return for Doomsday. “When we finished Endgame in 2018, Lou [D’Esposito] and Kevin [Feige] took me to dinner and they were like, ‘We’d love to keep doing movies with Steve Rogers as Nomad,’” he said. “And I said, ‘Okay, well, what do you got?’ They showed me a pitch, and it was a great pitch, but for whatever reason, it just didn’t feel right at the time. I kind of wanted to… I was a little precious. I wanted to preserve it. But I just said, ‘Please keep pitching.’”
He continued, “Over the course of eight years, I probably heard at least a dozen pitches. And they were all wonderful. It just never quite felt right. And you do start thinking maybe that’s the expiration — whatever it is — maybe it’s not right because it’s just not right.” It was until Evans learned about Robert Downey Jr.’s return to the MCU that he changed his mind. “And all of a sudden it felt right,” he said, describing his reaction to the Doomsday pitch.
Why Avengers: Doomsday Was the Right Time for Chris Evans’ MCU Return
Evans coming back for Avengers: Doomsday makes sense from a business perspective, as the film’s marketing campaign can lean on nostalgia to get fans excited. However, this is an inherently risky move, as it threatens to undermine the ideal sendoff Steve Rogers received at the end of the Infinity Saga. Tacking on another chapter to a character’s story when they’ve already rode off into the sunset can backfire, causing viewers to wonder why the character returned in the first place. For this part, Evans seems to be aware of this. It’s interesting to hear that he rejected “at least a dozen pitches” from Marvel, indicating that he didn’t want to come back just for the sake of it.
His reasons for deciding Doomsday was the right move likely go beyond the return of Robert Downey Jr. One of the most prevalent rumors about Doomsday is that Steve Rogers caused the incursions threatening the stability of the multiverse when he chose to stay with Peggy. Assuming that’s true, a heroic figure like Steve would undoubtedly feel a tremendous amount of guilt and do whatever he could to fix the situation. As unearned as the Doomsday narrative arguably feels, the concept of the surviving Avengers from Endgame dealing with the repercussions of the Time Heist has the potential to be a compelling hook. Doomsday is essentially acting as a sequel to Endgame, with the latter’s upcoming theatrical re-release featuring new footage that bridges the gap between the two films.
Besides a potentially strong emotional arc for the Steve Rogers audiences are familiar with, another possibility is that Evans was presented with an opportunity to play a completely different version of the character. There are fan theories suggesting that the Steve Rogers seen at the end of the latest Avengers: Doomsday trailer is actually Captain Hydra, an evil Steve Rogers variant who is aligned with Doctor Doom. After playing the clean-cut Sacred Timeline Steve Rogers for so long, it would be fun for Evans to portray the character in another light. Plus, the twist of Steve presenting himself as a friendly face only to be revealed as a villain could be a bit more interesting than just having him suit up as Captain America again.
It’ll be interesting to see how much more of Steve Rogers over the next handful of months. Due to Evans’ popularity amongst the fan base, he will undoubtedly be a key part of marketing efforts, but Marvel is in a position where they don’t need to showcase too much other than “Chris Evans is back!” to generate buzz. Famous for its intense levels of secrecy, Marvel is undoubtedly holding a lot back in an effort to maximize the surprises on opening weekend, much like Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame before. Regardless of what Marvel has in store, hopefully it’s clear to fans why Evans felt now was the right time to come back.
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