Film

Steve Rogers’ Return In Doomsday Could Explain A Confusing Captain America Detail From 6 Years Ago

11 February 2026

Avengers: Doomsday has an opportunity to finally clarify a confusing Captain America reveal from six years ago. In Black Widow, Red Guardian a.k.a. Alexi Shostakov made numerous references to Captain America, who he supposedly met and he even defeated in the 1980s. Of course, his claims didn’t add up, given that Steve Rogers remained frozen from the 1940s until the events of The Avengers.

The most obvious explanation would be that Red Guardian was simply lying about his connection to Captain America. That’s not hard to believe, but there’s still a chance – albeit a slim one – that there was some truth to Red Guardian’s words.

One possiblity is that he encountered a different Captain America, while another is that time travel was at play. And with Chris Evans back as Steve Rogers in Avengers: Doomsday, the latter could actually turn out to be what really happened.

Red Guardian Can Meet A Version Of Steve Rogers In The 1980s

Alexei Shostakov a.k.a. Red Guardian looks up in the Thunderbolts character poster

With Harbour and Evans both in the Avengers: Doomsday cast as Red Guardian and Steve Rogers respectively, a meeting between the two shield-wielding heroes is certainly on the table. If screen-time is shared, it would make perfect sense for Alexi’s alleged association with Captain America to be acknowledged in some form.

Over the course of the story, Avengers: Doomsday could go a step further by revealing that they did indeed meet in the 1980s, via time travel. Steve Rogers possesses the means to travel between timelines, and theoretically could have met Red Guardian just as he had claimed.

Red Guardian fairly beating Captain America in a fight feels unlikely, but this part could have either been embellished, or it could be that Steve fled the scene due to not having any quarrel with Red Guardian.

For the time being, it’s unclear exactly what Steve’s role in Doomsday will be, as details of the plot are being kept carefully under wraps. If the first Avengers: Doomsday teaser trailer is any indication, his arc will have to involve time travel, as he’ll need to be brought from the past to the present to fight Doctor Doom. What brings him there and whether he makes any stops in the timeline along the way remains to be seen.

Alternatively, it may be that the evil Steve Rogers theory is at the heart of Red Guardian’s claims about Captain America. It’s been theorized that just like Robert Downey, Jr. playing Doctor Doom, Evans is secretly playing a villain too. It could be that his Doomsday character is a twist on the Captain America who serves HYDRA.

Were Avengers: Doomsday to move in either direction, the MCU would have a clear avenue for a fun scene that confirms – despite there being every reason to believe Red Guardian was lying – that he was really telling the truth all along.