Earlier this week, my friends over at The Wrap broke the news that Chris Evans would be returning to the MCU in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, but he will not be returning as Captain America. It’s looking increasingly likely that the character will be making his debut as Nomad, a mantle taken up by Captain America after he becomes disillusioned with the United States, but more on that in a second. The larger point here seems to be that Marvel doesn’t think they can get back on track without their original big three being involved and so they’re bringing back anyone and everyone who they think is capable of putting butts in seats.
If you’ve never heard of Nomad, don’t worry. He was only around for four issues as Steve Rogers. The storyline took place after Rogers uncovered the plot of the Secret Empire, which had installed President Richard Nixon as the leader. All of this led to Rogers becoming disillusioned with the United States government and deciding he could no longer lead the charge as America’s answer to crime. So, he quit his role on the Avengers and as Captain America. Rogers was serious about quitting, too.
It took Hawkeye dressing up as the Golden Archer to convince Steve that he didn’t need to call himself Captain America to use his gifts to fight crime. Steve eventually agreed and changed his name to Nomad. He even crafted a cape on his uniform since he had always wanted one. He then proceeded to trip over the cape during an attempt to stop criminals and they got away while laughing at Nomad’s ineptitude. On the whole, Nomad was a pretty forgettable character.
There were other characters within the Marvel universe to have taken up the role of Nomad, but none of them were/are as popular as Captain America. One other notable name to have taken up the role of Nomad was fellow Defender Jack Monroe. The difference between Monroe & Rogers is that Monroe got the super soldier serum, but he never got the Vita-Rays. He was instead hit with “stabilizing rays” and the lack of Vita-Rays would cause problems for Monroe down the road. Monroe is later killed leaving a bar by a mysterious assassin who was revealed to be a revived Bucky now under the control of General Lukin under the code name Winter Soldier in Ed Brubaker’s historic run on Captain America in the mid-2000s.
Once Robert Downey Jr. returned to the MCU, it seemed like Chris Evans returning would also be a forgone conclusion, it was just a matter of how big of a role he would play upon his return. It also shows us that Marvel must have had zero faith in the new Avengers team without Chadwick Boseman to lead them as Black Panther because they didn’t even attempt to put out one Avengers film without Evans or Downey Jr. Just how little faith they have in the characters remains to be seen, but there have been several reports of Iger pushing back against Kevin Feige’s wishes and that’s not something we’re used to hearing in the press.
The big example given was Iger shooting down an Eternals sequel after the first film bombed. I just think Marvel doesn’t know how to write for the Eternals and I’m actually in the process of writing a YouTube video on that exact subject. But if Iger is telling Feige he can’t have a sequel of Eternals, then it’s clear that Disney is no longer allowing Marvel to do their own thing. They’re now going to have to answer to them and run their ideas by them until they can get back to making repeated hits.
As for Nomad, I think he’s going to be yet another hero out to save his world and it will put him in direct contact and conflict with our heroes in the MCU. I do feel like there’s a chance that, while he will be against them in the beginning, he could actually end up being their ally before things are said and done. One thing I know about Marvel and multiverses is that characters tend to be who they are regardless of the universe in which they’re born. I’m not saying they’re complete copies, but the core of who they are tends to be the same regardless of their universe.
This means Cap and Tony are likely to be at odds in their universe just like they would be at odds in our universe. They’re different people and will always see saving the world in different ways. So, if Tony is going about it one way, you can be sure Captain America will be going about it in a completely different way. This is why I feel like Cap could end up being an ally against Dr. Doom toward the end of the film; those differences will surface and Doom’s true nature will put him at odds with Captain America and his desire to be a hero.
I didn’t like the return of Robert Downey Jr. when it was announced and I don’t really much care for it with Chris Evans either. I think it sends a poor signal to fans and it also suggests the idea Marvel can’t make good films without them. They’ve proven they can, they just need to stop trying to do too much and just get back to what made them successful in the first place. They need to map out their stories, have an idea of where things are going, and have a strong notion of the best actors available to get them across that finish line. Finally, they need to use established characters as the vehicle for introducing newer ones out the gate, unless said character(s) have an enormous fan base built in.
