Marvel Studios is the leader of the comic book superhero movement right now. It's been that way since Iron Man first burst onto the scene in his 2008 solo flick, as the Marvel Cinematic Universe grew and expanded into a phenomenon unlike anything else in existence at the time. With The Avengers and a long-term threat for them to battle, audiences tuned into every installment throughout the Infinity Saga while the size of those audiences increased each time The Avengers returned to take on whoever stood in their way.
Marvel has a reputation for giving the fans what they want. From the epic, long-term storytelling that the franchise pulled off throughout the Infinity Saga to its ability to bring back beloved faces from Marvel's own past in the Multiverse Saga, few know how to deliver fan-favorite affairs quite like those in charge of the MCU.
However, it turns out that the studio decided it was unable to deliver on a long-rumored MCU movie in recent years. Though that is a fair decision, it has prevented fans from seeing a story they thought would inevitably make it to the screen one day.
Marvel opted against doing a fourth, standalone Captain America movie with Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell
According to Deadline, Marvel Studios was planning to bring Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell back in their respective MCU roles as Steve Rogers and Agent Peggy Carter in a fourth standalone Captain America movie that would have potentially wrapped up their arc, while giving the Marvel couple one more adventure together. But it wasn't to be, as the outlet reveals that the studio wasn't able to nail down the story for it.
The good news is that the opportunity instead arose for Marvel to bring back both characters in Avengers: Doomsday. The Wrap first reported that Evans had joined the upcoming MCU film, with Deadline revealing that Atwell will also be involved just days later. And although it hasn't officially been confirmed as to whether they are playing the MCU's primary versions of Captain America and Agent Carter, the hope is that we will get to catch up with those versions of the characters.
We last caught up with Steve and Peggy in Avengers: Endgame. Having defeated Thanos and saved half of the universe, Steve decided it was time to chase down some of that life that Tony Stark kept telling him to get and live. With that, after returning the Infinity Stones to their rightful places, he used the Pym Particles to travel back in time and reunite with the love of his life. The closing moments of that film showed the two of them, finally having their dance as they prepared to live a long, happy life together. The perfect culmination to their decade-long MCU arc.
There had been reports that Evans would return for a standalone adventure, with rumors suggesting it would be in the form of a Disney Plus show that actually showed us how he returned the Stones and ultimately reunited with Peggy. That could very well be the movie that fell through, which is obviously a shame as it would have been an incredibly ambitious project that would have garnered a lot of interest.
Nevertheless, Peggy and Steve's love story may continue in Avengers: Doomsday instead. Of course, that's subject to whether they are actually playing those versions of the characters. Previous rumors had suggested that Atwell may appear in either Avengers: Doomsday or its sequel Avengers: Secret Wars but in the role of Captain Carter; the character she voices in animated series What If...?. She's already debuted that role in live-action, playing an alternate version of her in 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but these reports suggested that she might play the What If...? version here, bringing her to life for the first time.
Meanwhile, Evans' return has also attracted a ton of conflicting reports. Some believe he may be playing the character of Nomad, others think he might play his Fantastic Four role of Johnny Storm again (after MCU-debuting him in Deadpool and Wolverine), and there are those convinced that he will play an evil iteration of Captain America, perhaps even aligning himself with Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom.
Or he could just be playing Steve Rogers again, and Atwell our Peggy. We'll have to wait and see. But if they are our versions of the characters, let's hope that Marvel has some good content for them after seemingly deciding against letting them have their own movie.