Chris Evans Teases His Grueling Avengers: Doomsday Storyline, “The Russos Love Beating Up Steve Rogers”

Marvel Studios is treating Avengers: Doomsday as the moment its entire Multiverse Saga has been building toward, the culmination of story threads that stretch back to Loki first cracking open the timeline. Behind the camera, the studio pulled out every resource available, reuniting directors Anthony and Joe Russo, the filmmakers behind Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, and bringing Robert Downey Jr. into the fold as Doctor Doom, the villain now standing in as the saga’s central threat. Just as notable is the returning cast pulled out of retirement for the occasion, chief among them Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), who handed off his shield at the end of Avengers: Endgame and appeared finished with the fight for good.

“The Russos love beating up Steve Rogers,” Evans said during a panel at Fan Expo Boston on August 9. “Their favorite thing to do is to just beat the crap out of him. To them, that’s what makes a hero, and that’s someone who gets punched so many times but still gets up. So they keep finding new ways to kick his butt. And this one was brutal.” Avengers: Doomsday will be the fifth movie in which the Russo Brothers oversee Steve, following Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. In each film, the Russos pushed Steve to his brink, testing his moral mettle at every turn, a pattern that will extend to Avengers: Doomsday.

What We Know About Steve Rogers’ Role in Avengers: Doomsday

Marvel Studios has kept the plot of Avengers: Doomsday under wraps, but its marketing has already offered hints about where Rogers fits into the larger story. His first teaser found him arriving home on a motorcycle and lifting an infant into his arms inside the same house glimpsed at the end of Avengers: Endgame, confirming he built a quiet life as a father after traveling back in time to return the Infinity Stones. Meanwhile, the post-credits scene of The Fantastic Four: First Steps shows Doctor Doom kneeling before Franklin Richards, the young son of Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) and Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby). Thor (Chris Hemsworth) followed a similar thread in his own teaser, praying to Odin for the strength to protect his adopted daughter, Love (India Rose Hemsworth), before what he calls one more battle. Children keep surfacing across Avengers: Doomsday’s story, and the pattern suggests they are central to the plot. If Doctor Doom comes for Rogers’ own child, that would give the character every reason to trade his quiet retirement for the shield one final time.

Rumors also tied Rogers’ current predicament to his own choices in Avengers: Endgame. According to these theories, Steve’s trip through time to return the Infinity Stones triggered the incursions now threatening to collapse the multiverse, giving Doom a personal reason to target him specifically. Complicating matters, the Steve Rogers seen reuniting with Thor in the film’s first full trailer, summoning Mjolnir to prove his identity, has fueled speculation that this version of the character isn’t the same Rogers audiences said goodbye to in Endgame, with some fans floating variant or impersonator theories. Marvel is reportedly preparing new footage for D23, running August 14 through 16, which could offer a clearer read on where Rogers actually stands heading into December.

Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled to be released in theaters on December 18th.