Avengers: Doomsday Has a Steve Rogers Problem, and Fans Can’t Look Away

Marvel fans love a big return, but not everyone is cheering this one. As Avengers: Doomsday heads toward its December 18 release, one question keeps popping up: is the Steve Rogers vs Doctor Doom feud the right fight to build the movie around? Here’s the debate, simply explained.

Avengers: Doomsday – Overview

Why Fans Are Skeptical?

Some viewers feel Rogers never got a truly conclusive ending in Avengers: Endgame. Others worry his return will steal the spotlight from newer faces like Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards and Anthony Mackie’s Captain America.

The worry grew after a Good Morning America interview with Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell and Robert Downey Jr. Downey said he prefers playing Doom to Tony Stark, partly because of the fresh perspective it gives him. He also called the key relationship in the film exciting, unexpected and beautiful. Fans took that as confirmation that Doom and Rogers are central to the story.

The Comic Connection

According to The Direct’s analysis, Doomsday looks like a clear adaptation of “Time Runs Out,” the Avengers storyline that leads into Jonathan Hickman’s Secret Wars. In the comics, that tale is about a broken friendship between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark.

• The conflict: Stark secretly joined the Illuminati to stop “incursions,” where parallel Earths collide.
• The betrayal: Rogers objected to destroying other worlds to save their own and had his memory wiped.
• The fallout: When his memories returned, Rogers built his own Avengers team to arrest Stark.

Tony Stark died in Endgame, so the film can’t recreate that rivalry directly. Putting Doctor Doom in Stark’s role is a bold choice. The concern is that Rogers and Doom share no history in the MCU, so the feud may lack emotional weight. Leaks suggest Rogers may be tied indirectly to the loss of Victor’s family, but nothing is confirmed.

There’s also the Reed Richards factor. In the comics, Secret Wars is mainly about the long rivalry between Doom and Richards. Adding a second major Doom feud risks crowding it out, and the writer argues it could feel like a gimmick built on Downey and Evans sharing the screen. You can read more about the film on Wikipedia.

Conclusion

It’s too early to call this a mistake. Stars like Evans and Downey bring huge emotional weight, and the film may surprise us. Still, balancing old favorites with new heroes is the real test. Want more MCU talk? Browse our Marvel and Hollywood news and upcoming movie guides.

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