In one of the best moments of writer Jonathan Hickman‘s run on New Avengers, Namor visits the court of Doctor Doom. Namor has come to Latveria to get Doom’s help in fighting Incursions, the multiversal events that result in Marvel’s company-wide event Secret Wars. However, Namor first sought to throw in with heroes such as Reed Richards and Tony Stark, and only came to Latveria after rejecting them. That decision drives Doctor Doom to reject Namor. “You should have known,” he declares. “Doom is no man’s second choice.”

True as that statement may be in the pages of Marvel Comics, the MCU may be different. Speaking to Empire Magazine about Avengers: Doomsday, directors Joe and Anthony Russo put Steve Rogers at the center of their story. “We have a special affinity for this character,” they explained. “We can’t see this narrative without his central role in it, basically. The central place he holds among the ensemble, he sort of retains that moving forward.”

What does that mean for Doomsday? It’s still not clear. We, of course, have known that Chris Evans would be back as Rogers ever since the release of the movie’s first teaser trailer, which features Steve holding an infant child. Yet, as the Russos remind us in the Empire interview, those teasers are “narrative information,” which seems to mean that they’re more about the themes of the movie than they are any specific plot points.

Some online have speculated that Rogers’s decision to stay in the past after returning the Infinity Stones in Endgame has motivated Doom’s heel turn. They have interpreted the teaser’s emphasis on Steve’s son and home with Peggy Carter, the woman with whom he stayed instead of going back to the present, as an indication that Doom wants to destroy the Rogers family. That may be why Doom looks like Tony Stark, justifying the decision to cast Robert Downey Jr. in the role.

However, the reason may be more simplistic. As the Russos themselves point out, they have affection for Steve. After all, they made their MCU debut with Captain America: The Winter Soldier and returned for Civil War before jumping to the Avengers movies. Further, Captain America is, as the title of his first MCU tells us, the First Avenger, the moral figurehead that all the other heroes follow.

The more compelling question may be the one right in front of us. As in the aforementioned teaser, the Russos refer to the character as “Steve Rogers,” not as “Captain America.” They may be doing so just because secret identities aren’t really a thing in the MCU; or they may be indicating that Sam Wilson will remain Captain America in the MCU, and the returning Steve has no intention of supplanting him.

Or could it be that the return of Steve Rogers will demoralize the heroes even more than the reveal that Doctor Doom looks like Tony Stark? The comics have featured several evil versions of Steve Rogers, ranging from the zombie Colonel America to an evil Cap that worships Cthulu to, most recently, the fascist Captain Hydra. All of these characters are Steve Rogers, but not all of them are Captain America.

Obviously, Doctor Doom will be a key figure in Avengers: Doomsday. But if the Russos want to turn their love of Captain America into further doom for Marvel’s heroes, then an evil Steve Rogers would be a great choice… perhaps even a better first choice than Doom.

Avengers: Doomsday releases December 18, 2026.

The post Avengers: Doomsday – Russo Brothers Identify Steve Rogers as “Central” Character appeared first on Den of Geek.