Brand-new footage from Avengers: Doomsday was shared during a game in the 2026 World Series on Friday, and with it came a whole new wave of theories, discourse, and debates. Among the topics of conversation was the moment in which Scott Lang refers to Steve Rogers as Captain America in front of Sam Wilson, leading to backlash online regarding the idea that Sam’s status as Captain America may be played as a joke in the movie, thereby undermining his story arc and role in the MCU. Yet another Steve Rogers-related conversation was regarding both Chris Evans’ appearance and one scene in which (seemingly) Steve asks Thor if it bothers him that he can lift Mjölnir, at which point Thor admits that it does.
Both Steve’s physical appearance and this exchange have only intensified theories that the Steve we are seeing in these clips and in the Doomsday trailers isn’t actually Steve at all but rather is Loki. Some suspect that this could be Marvel intentionally tricking audiences, only to eventually reveal in the movie that this was Loki all along, and he had been edited for teasers and trailers. Specifically, many think that something looks ‘off’ about Steve in these clips and have also done comparisons between the way Steve smiles, for example, in these scenes compared to Tom Hiddleston smiling as Loki. Additionally, some fans have raised questions about why Thor would suddenly be bothered by Steve lifting his hammer after he had no issue with it in Avengers: Endgame. On both matters, fans have a point.
Perhaps the most compelling part of this theory following the new footage is the fact that it really does make no sense for Thor to suddenly have an issue with Steve’s ability to life Mjölnir. In Endgame, when he sees Steve wielding the hammer, he says, “I knew it,” and is clearly not bothered by it in the least. He also later tosses Mjölnir to Steve and tells him to take the “little one” while he uses Stormbreaker. It would therefore make very little sense for Thor to suddenly have a problem with it in Doomsday, especially because it’s been years since he’s even seen Steve. If it was Thor’s little brother with whom he was always competitive, though, suddenly that line makes a lot more sense. And while this has led to debates online regarding whether Loki is ‘worthy,’ the fact that he is now the God of Stories seems to speak for itself.
There is also something legitimately a little off about how Steve looks in these scenes, and it’s particularly notable when compared to how he looked in the added scene of Avengers: Endgame Encore, when none other than Loki himself arrives to his house. Granted, there could be myriad explanations for that, from time passing to no doubt countless others, but that doesn’t account for the fact that there is something almost out of place about Steve’s look in these scenes. Given that we also know Loki is back, this isn’t too far-fetched, but that does in turn raise questions about why Marvel would want to conceal that it is Loki in these scenes. For now, audiences will just have to wait and see, but this theory does suddenly seem much less wild.
Do you think this is actually Loki in these scenes? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
