The initial trailer of ‘Avengers: Doomsday‘ is misleadingly silent. No multiversal chaos. No explosive team shots. And No villain monologues. Rather, it provides something smaller and more intimate. It shows Steve Rogers, alive, older, and apparently at peace, holding a baby in the life he has led at the end of ‘Avengers: Endgame’.
It is an emotional punch to most fans. The reappearance of Chris Evans as Steve Rogers is MCU comfort food: it is familiar, reassuring, and strong. However, once the initial excitement fades, a more uncomfortable thought creeps in: why does Marvel feel the need to go back here at all? Steve Rogers’ return does not only mean excitement. It signals hesitation. And maybe even fear.
Steve Rogers’ Return Feels Like Marvel Playing It Safe
It is impossible to deny the fact that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has not been as good since ‘Avengers: Endgame’. That film was not only an ending, but a cultural event that concluded a decade-long narrative experiment that had succeeded almost impossibly. Marvel has since been unable to recapture that feeling of unity, momentum, and emotional engagement, and the studio is aware of this. ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ openly mocks the MCU as being at a low point, and the joke works since it is a sentiment shared by many.
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The post-Endgame slate has not been a complete failure, but it has been uneven. Some projects connect, others fade quickly, and few feel essential in the way Phase Three films once did. It is on that background that the reintroduction of Steve Rogers begins to appear less like a creative requirement and more like a safety net.
The very fact that Robert Downey Jr. was brought back, albeit in a different role, indicated this instinct. However, it differs from Steve Rogers’ comeback, whose character arc was also perfectly closed. It feels like Marvel is reaching for a proven emotional anchor because it isn’t fully confident audiences will rally behind what came after him. The irony is that ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ does not require Steve Rogers on paper.
The MCU now has a larger line-up: new Avengers, old heroes, the Fantastic Four, Thunderbolts, and even the long-awaited inclusion of X-Men characters. That ought to be sufficient narrative fuel. But still, Marvel makes the past its marketing leader. That decision reflects how the MCU doesn’t fully believe its future can carry the weight on its own.
Sam Wilson’s Captain America Was Never Given The Chance Steve Rogers Had
The most frustrating part of Steve Rogers’ return is what it implies about Sam Wilson’s journey, or lack thereof. It was a strong passing of the torch when Steve gave Sam the shield in ‘Endgame’. It promised development, leadership, and a new form of Captain America that was influenced by new experiences and challenges. However, that reality was never truly fulfilled. Steve Rogers had three solo films that carefully constructed his character.
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We saw him as a scrawny kid with too much heart, a man out of time, a soldier between duty and morality, and a friend who never gave up on Bucky Barnes. Those movies not only turn Steve into a hero, but they also make him human. By the time he stood at the center of the Avengers, it felt earned. Sam Wilson has not been given the same treatment. ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ had significant thematic work, particularly in the way it addressed the idea of a Black man embodying a nation with a very complex past.
That arc mattered. However, once that show concluded, Sam was basically absent from the main story of the MCU for several years. The movie did not re-emphasize his inner conflict or leadership path when he eventually came back in ‘Captain America: Brave New World’. Rather, it relied heavily on the elements of the legacy of ‘The Incredible Hulk’, a film that most viewers have little to no recollection or emotional attachment to more than ten years later.
Consequently, Sam does not feel like the natural leader of the Avengers. It is not that Anthony Mackie is not charismatic; the MCU just never invested in him like Steve. That imbalance is now even more conspicuous with Steve Rogers returning to the limelight. ‘Doomsday‘ runs the risk of strengthening the notion that Sam was never the future but a placeholder.
