It’s been confirmed that Chris Evans has been cast in AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY. Six years since his final 2019 bow as Captain America, Evans will be returning to yet another Avengers franchise, though this time, in an unspecific role.
After his cameo in WOLVERINE AND DEADPOOL it seems that Marvel has no qualms with bringing back its original cast throughout all of history such as bringing back Hugh Jackman for Wolverine. Personally, although no one has talked about it, I actually do think all of this is more “intentional” than people realize (plus makes the MCU some good $), especially now that Robert Downey Jr. is returning as Doctor Doom and the Russo Brothers, arguably the best filmmakers to come out of the MCU, is also coming back to finish the series.
Why I stress this is simple. SECRET WARS has always been about Marvel’s contest of champions, meaning that every single character ever featured in a Marvel movie or TV franchise (or hell, even a video game) within the past 25 years, is up for grabs to cameo in this inevitable mash-up of a movie. It’s part of the world building that made Into The Spider-Verse a lot fun though how the MCU can pull this one off is really up to their creative teams.
Since it’s actually built into the story of SECRET WARS structure, it really doesn’t surprise me we’re seeing people like Tobey Maguire, Westley Snipes, and in this case, Chris Evans, return to the MCU. Especially, given the nature of this tournament of champions will involve just about everyone. I stress this because don’t be surprised with the other leaked cameo announcements that happen the closer we get to the date. Though personally, I also do hope this is the final bow for all of these characters, as it’s been almost half my lifetime that we’ve been watching them be these people on screen.
Now, I can report on MCU fatigue or Superhero movie fatigue, but I’d be lying, as data has shown time and again that these movies still make up over a quarter of all movie-going revenue as I talked about in my very long three-part piece at the beginning of the year. DC is of course launching their own cinematic universe with James Gunn and it’s so far absolutely working between hits like The Penguin and Creature Commandos and despite click-bait headlines to the contrary, Marvel is doing just fine – it’s just hitting the growth wall like all giant companies do at some point in time.
And though the costs are high to make these types of movies, again the question that matters still remains: does cost matter if your genre controls the majority of movie revenue? It’s something most reporters sort of neglect to acknowledge.
Because in context to other entertainment industries, gaming consoles like Playstation or the X-Box are sold at a loss every single year but we keep buying them as the industry grows. Streaming services like Netflix grows its user base but is almost always operating under debt. Does a company like Disney care if a movie losses money if the rides in their latest theme park built on the same premise of that said movie, generates a passive revenue stream for the next 15 years?
Entertainment is now vertical integration at its finest. So Chris Evans, you can keep returning forever to everything. Personally, I look forward to your returning role in Not Another-nother Teen Movie Part 2.
English (US) · 