Film opinion: Confirming Steve Rogers’ return in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ shows Marvel is out of ideas

Chris Evans is returning as Steve Rogers/Captain America in Avengers: Doomsday.

A leaked teaser trailer, which then played in front of Avatar: Fire and Ash in theatres and online on Tuesday, has confirmed the fact.

Film News Blitz’s Dan Lawrence believes this is a sign that Marvel Studios is fully out of ideas.

Steve Rogers will return in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

When we last saw Evans’ Captain America, he’d returned to mid-20th-century America to reunite with his great love, Peggy Carter.

That was how Steve Rogers' story ended in Avengers: Endgame.

But now, Rogers is back, and the first teaser trailer for Avengers: Endgame demonstrates this. 

The short trailer sees Evans’ Rogers pull up to a house on his motorcycle, before looking at his old superhero suit, and then cradling a young baby in his arms.

Then, the words: “Steve Rogers will return in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’”. 

But the fact that this is necessary shows that Marvel has failed in Evans’ absence. 

How Marvel lost its way

Since Evans and others bowed out in fantastic style in Avengers: Endgame, since then, Marvel has lost its spark.

The Multiverse Saga, Phases Four, Five and Six, or whatever you want to call the post-Endgame version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has lacked the direction, clarity of story telling and quality of the Infinity Saga that came before it.

With Robert Downey Jr. and Evans absent, the MCU went for quantity over quality, spinning out its web across the big and small screen, and in doing so, gave its fans too many disparate stories to track.

READ MORE: Film news: Steven Spielberg ‘Disclosure Day’ trailer passes 22 million views on YouTube

Initially, Marvel was committed to an Avengers-level event with Jonathan Majors’ Kang, but the actor’s off-screen troubles curtailed those plans. 

Still, with or without Kang, Marvel’s releases lacked the clear connectivity fans had come to expect. 

The quality of storytelling had seemingly deserted the franchise as well, compounded by poor CGI, reshoots and rewrites.

As a result, critics have looked less favourably on MCU entries, and the box office certainty has gone hiding too. 

Marvel is throwing the kitchen sink at ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

Marvel’s solution to its poor run is to simply throw absolutely everything at next December’s Avengers: Doomsday.

That quest began with Downey Jr. being cast as Dr Doom, the mega-villian who will front the Avengers: Doomsday feature event.

The first sign that Marvel has no new tricks left in the bag.

With the Russo Brothers (Anthony and Joe) returning to direct as Marvel’s premiere fixers, everything about Avengers: Doomsday is about looking backwards, trying to recreate the lightning-in-a-bottle success enjoyed during the Infinity Saga.

Nostalgia baiting was next on the menu, with the cast and characters from the 20th Century Fox X-Men films joining the Avengers: Doomsday roster, along with the new Fantastic Four and Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool.

With so many ingredients and characters to juggle, rumours that shooting Avengers: Doomsday was rife with complications, and with an unfinished script to boot. 

That last point would prove that Marvel is forgetting that it's not just well-portrayed characters that made its shared universe a success, but competent storytelling as well.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Film opinion: YouTube deal could future-proof the Oscars

The mistakes made in recent years are why Anthony Mackie’s solo debut as Captain America in Brave New World was such a dud, with a mismatched story comprising forgotten story elements from some of the MCU’s worst entries.

And now, Mackie’s Captain America is undermined even further with the return of Evans.

Evans returning for Avengers: Doomsday completes the nostalgia bait recipe for Marvel, a studio which is banking on familiarity to reignite its spark.

This means that a monster opening weekend next December is all but guaranteed, but if Doomsday can’t pull all its pieces together into something worth watching, this could be the end for Marvel.

It’s a make-or-break moment for the MCU, but even if it succeeds, will the studio be able to learn from the mistakes leading up to Doomsday, or will history repeat itself?

Judging on the strategy heading into this release, one would think not, and simply put, the MCU has run out of steam.

Avengers: Doomsday will be in cinemas on December 18, 2026.

READ NEXT: Box office news: ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ roars to $345 million opening weekend worldwide