'Avengers: Doomsday' Director Confirms Steve Rogers Triggered Film's Main Events

A fan theory regarding Avengers: Doomsday has been confirmed by one of the film's directors, Anthony Russo. In fact, it was Steve Rogers' (Chris Evans) time travel at the end of Avengers: Endgame that triggered the events of the new film.

One of the new scenes included in Avengers: Endgame Encore, the re-release of the 2019 film, is a new ending that shows what happens right after Steve's reunion with Peggy (Hayley Atwell). We see the arrival of Loki (Tom Hiddleston), now an AVT agent, suggesting that Steve caused a problem in the timeline.

At an event for the launch of Endgame Encore, Russo said the following: "We have one more scene in the story of Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter, and at that moment, that's where the Doctor Doom movie is born". 

Thus, it seems clear that the consequences of Steve's time travel will have somehow affected Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom, who will now be the Avengers ' main adversary in a story that will show the end of the multiverse.

Everything you need to know about Avengers: Doomsday

The villain of the fifth Avengers movie will be Doctor Doom, played by Robert Downey Jr., the actor who portrayed the legendary Iron Man in the MCU's Infinity Saga and now takes on the role of the antagonist. Avengers: Doomsday will be directed by brothers Anthony and Joe Russo (Endgame), with a script by Michael Waldron (Loki) and Stephen McFreely (Endgame).

Marvel has already confirmed the main cast members for the new film, in one of the biggest MCU star reunions ever assembled. Returning from previous Avengers films are: Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Anthony Mackie as Captain America, Sebastian Stan as the Winter Soldier, Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Winston Duke as M'Baku, and Letitia Wright as Shuri/Black Panther.

Among characters introduced after Avengers: Endgame — in phases 4 and 5 of the MCU — we have Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Danny Ramirez as Falcon, the entire new Fantastic Four (Pedro Pascal as Mister Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as the Thing), almost the entire cast of Thunderbolts* (Florence Pugh as Yelena, Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Hanah John-Kamen as Ghost, and Lewis Pullman as Bob, the Sentry), and Tenoch Huerta as Namor.

The film also features the return of the classic X-Men from the old Fox movies, including Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Ian McKellen as Magneto, James Marsden as Cyclops, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, Kelsey Grammer as Beast, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, and, introduced in Deadpool & Wolverine, Channing Tatum as Gambit.

Avengers: Doomsday opens on December 18, 2026.