If you’d told me at the beginning of the week I’d be sending a decent chunk of Wednesday keeping an eye on a livestream that showed actor names on chairs being revealed over nearly 5.5 hours, I wouldn’t have believed you. Well, that’s how Marvel Studios decided to announce the cast of Avengers: Doomsday, although Robert Downey Jr. teased there are more names to be announced. While we wait on those, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the second of this year’s two upcoming Marvel movies, is rumored to be lining up its own special appearance. And no, I’m not referring to the chatter that Downey will debut as Doctor Doom here ahead of Doomsday.
Instead, according to scooper MyTimeToShineHello (via ComicBookMovie), First Steps will feature an appearance from none other than former Human Torch and Captain America actor, Chris Evans. No details were provided about how Evans allegedly fits into the Fantastic Four’s new movie, including whether it will just be a cameo or something bigger. As always, let’s take a claim like this with a grain of salt for now… but let’s also assume, for the sake of this article, that the information is accurate.
If that’s the case, then what does The Fantastic Four: First Steps need Chris Evans? Well, we can rule one option out immediately: reprising the version of Johnny Storm he originally played in 2005’s Fantastic Four and 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Last year, Evans returned to that role in Deadpool & Wolverine, and Johnny met a gruesome end at the hands of Cassandra Nova thanks to Wade Wilson’s mouth. Now some of you might argue he could just play another take on Johnny, but since this movie marks Joseph Quinn’s debut as the same character, I doubt the filmmakers want to overshadow him with another Human Torch.
So instead, my money is on him reprising Steve Rogers… well, a version of Steve Rogers. Rather than appear as the Steve he played for nearly a decade who was last seen as an elderly man in Avengers: Endgame, I think this will be a Steve from another corner of the Marvel multiverse, and one who’s not heroic. After it was reported in December that Evans will appear in Avengers: Doomsday (he wasn’t mentioned in the cast announcement), it was rumored that he’ll play multiple characters in the movie.
It’s still unclear if Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom will be the traditional Victor von Doom or a Tony Stark variant, but either way, fans have speculated that Chris Evans might also play someone evil in Doomsday, like the Captain HYDRA version of Steve Rogers. This actually sounds plausible to me, especially since, as indicated earlier, the buzz is that Downey will cameo in The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ end-credits scene. So it’s not a stretch to imagine that this evil Steve could be seen next to Doom in said scene, setting the stage for Doomsday.
We’ll find out if Chris Evans is indeed involved with First Steps when it’s released on July 25. After that, Avengers: Doomsday will kick off the beginning of the end for The Multiverse Saga on May 1, 2026.
