A new rumor may reveal why Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom is after Chris Evans' Steve Rogers in Avengers: Doomsday. Despite his original absence from the cast reveal last February, Marvel Studios confirmed with its first Doomsday teaser attached to Avatar: Fire & Ash in December that "Steve Rogers will return in Avengers: Doomsday," finally confirming over a year of rumors.
As Marvel Studios aims to keep most of Doomsday's storyline under wraps, recent rumors have indicated that Doctor Doom will have a score to settle with Steve Rogers. Their looming conflict is expected to be one of the MCU's three biggest changes to Doctor Doom. His decision to travel back in time to be with Hayley Atwell's Peggy Carter after Avengers: Endgame reportedly caused a Multiversal Incursion (collision of two universes) that had major ramifications for Doom.
The MCU is reportedly gearing up to retcon Endgame's ending in a major way later this year, confirming that when Rogers travelled back in time to be with Carter, he actually ended up on Earth-828. Fans may recognize that Multiversal designation from The Fantastic Four: First Steps as the home of the MCU's First Family and seemingly RDJ's Doctor Doom.
According to scooper MyTimeToShineHello (MTTSH), Steve Rogers' romantic leap to Earth-828 caused an Incursion that Doctor Doom dedicated his genius mind to fixing, only for one of his experiments to "literally [blow] up in his face." Given that the former Captain America's universe-hopping was the original source of the Incursion, Doom seemingly assigned blame to Rogers:
"By moving to a universe where he doesn’t belong, he triggered an Incursion. Doom then spent years trying to fix it in secret, and one of his experiments literally blew up in his face. So he blames Steve."
MTTSH also retweeted a set photo from Avengers: Doomsday that was shared by the Russo Brothers in September. The scooper claimed that the cryptic BTS shot came from the set of Doom's disastrous Incurision experiment in which his family is killed, and his body is scarred, likely explaining why he wears a mask:
"I can now reveal that the photo they shared is the set where they shot a scene with Doom and his family in a lab during an experiment that kills them and damages his body."
Unfortunately for those in his sights, further reporting revealed that "Steve isn't the only one he's after," perhaps hinting at Doom's goal of tracking down those who have caused Incursions across the Multiverse. That said, his motivations for pursuing others may not be quite as personal as his vendetta against Rogers.
Is Avengers Doomsday Actually Steve Rogers' Fault?
Marvel Studios is taking a bold swing in putting Chris Evans' Steve Rogers at the center of Doctor Doom's motivations in Avengers Doomsday. The endless heated rivalry between Doom and Reed Richards (played by Pedro Pascal) is integral to his history in Marvel Comics, especially Secret Wars, making it a strange decision to throw it aside in favor of pitting two OG Avengers actors at odds.
If Rogers' relocation to Earth-828 is to blame for Doom losing his entire family and being left seriously scarred, it's easy to see why he is holding a major grudge. It seems Steve chose to leap universes not out of necessity, but in search of his own happy ending, something he indirectly took from Victor von Doom.
But that's not to say that the Star Spangled Man is entirely to blame, as it was Doom's own failed experiment that killed his family. However, the Doomsday foe is famous for his god complex and sense of superiority, meaning he would never own up to his failures and would immediately look to shift the blame.
