Chris Evans’ Comments On Post-MCU Struggles Prove His Avengers: Doomsday Return Was Inevitable

Chris Evans is set to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Avengers: Doomsday, and as surprising as this was when first announced, his comments on his career post-MCU foreshadowed his return. Throughout his acting career, Chris Evans has explored a variety of genres, but his big break and most successful role to date arrived in the superhero genre. Evans first played Johnny Storm in 2005’s Fantastic Four and its sequel, but his true breakout role was Captain America in the MCU.

Evans played Steve Rogers from 2011 to 2019, with his character getting his long-awaited (yet divisive) happy ending in Avengers: Endgame. Since then, Evans has starred in a variety of projects, from mystery movies like Knives Out, animated movies like Lightyear, thrillers like The Gray Man, and rom-coms like Materialists, to different action movies like Red One. However, while some of these succeeded, none have matched the success of his run as Captain America.

While Evans’ post-MCU career hasn’t been bad nor a failure, it was going to be an inevitable challenge after the massive success of his performance as Captain America and that of the MCU as a whole. The return of Evans as Steve Rogers in Avengers: Doomsday was a surprise to fans of the MCU, but it makes sense when looking back at Evans’ comments on his career after the MCU, in which he admitted it had been a struggle.

Chris Evans Isn’t The Only Actor To Struggle After Leaving The MCU

In June 2025, in an interview with LadBible while promoting Materialists with Dakota Johnson and Pedro Pascal, Evans and his co-stars were asked if they would rather relive their most awkward interview once a day or let each other pick their next movie roles for the rest of their lives. Johnson, Pascal, and Evans chose the latter, with Evans adding that he would always cast them in the movies he does, but it would “ruin both of those careers.” Although he said so jokingly, there’s a lot of truth to it.

As mentioned above, while not all of Evans’ post-MCU projects have been disappointments, they haven’t been at the level of his MCU movies. Projects like Red One failed with critics and at the box office, while others like Materialists were well-received by critics and general audiences, but weren’t massive hits. Evans is aware and open about the struggles of his career after the MCU, so it makes sense that he agreed to return for Avengers: Doomsday – and he’s not the only MCU actor who has struggled since leaving this universe.

Evans co-led the Infinity Saga with Robert Downey Jr., who played Tony Stark/Iron Man, the character who kicked off the MCU. Iron Man revived Downey Jr.’s career, but even he has struggled since leaving the MCU after Avengers: Endgame. Downey Jr.’s acting roles post-MCU have been Dr. Dolittle in Dolittle and Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer (for which he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor), and he served as a producer on various movies and TV shows.

Oppenheimer has been Downey Jr.’s only post-MCU hit, and he’s now coming back to this universe as Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday after a cameo appearance in the post-credits scene of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The MCU boosted the careers of Evans and Downey Jr., but also set the bar too high, especially in terms of magnitude, impact, and box office performance for the rest of their careers.

The MCU Hasn’t Exactly Thrived Since Chris Evans & RDJ Left In Avengers: Endgame

Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. aren’t the only ones who have struggled since they left in Avengers: Endgame, as the MCU hasn’t been the same. The MCU peaked with Avengers: Endgame, the culmination of the story it had been building for years, and which saw all the active superheroes and their allies teaming up to go against Thanos and his armies. At the end of Avengers: Endgame, Steve Rogers stayed in the past with Peggy Carter, and his older self passed on the mantle of Captain America to Sam Wilson, while Tony Stark sacrificed himself to save the universe.

Avengers: Endgame was followed by Spider-Man: Far From Home, which closed Phase Three, and the MCU hasn’t really thrived since then. The only actual hit the MCU has had after Endgame and Far From Home is Spider-Man: No Way Home, with other movies, like Eternals and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, being good and different, but not really appealing to MCU fans. With both Evans and Downey Jr. struggling, along with the MCU, of course they were going to be brought back for the next massive crossover event.

It’s to be seen if Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr.’s return to the MCU in Avengers: Doomsday will give their careers yet another boost, if they will continue to appear after Avengers: Secret Wars, or if this will be their final appearances in the MCU.

Source: LadBible.

Release Date

December 18, 2026

• 

• 

  Vanessa Kirby

  Sue Storm / Invisible Woman

• 

  Johnny Storm / Human Torch

• 

  Ebon Moss-Bachrach

  Ben Grimm / The Thing