New Avengers: Doomsday Rumor Points To Especially Shocking Death That I Hope Doesn't Actually Happen

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has never been shy about killing off major characters, from Phil Coulson dying at the hands of Loki in The Avengers, to Tony Stark sacrificing his life at the end Avengers: Endgame. So when Avengers: Doomsday hits the 2026 movies schedule, we expect that some bodies will be dropped thanks to the machinations of Doctor Doom, Robert Downey’s new MCU character. However, the latest death rumored for the upcoming Marvel movie is so shocking that I really hope that it’s not actually going to happen.

As revealed in the first Doomsday teaser, not only is Chris Evans back as Steve Rogers, he now has a son with Peggy Carter whom is reportedly named James. Well, if scooper MyTimeToShineHello (via ComicBookMovie) is to be believed, we won’t be spending much time with little James. They’re claiming that Doom will kill the child in an act of revenge against Steve, whom he holds responsible for the death of his own wife and child.

It’s previously been rumored that after Steve reunited with Peggy Carter once he put the Infinity Stones back in their proper places, a pre-Loki Season 2 finale Loki relocated them and their son to Earth-838, the home of the Fantastic Four, because Steve’s presence was causing problems in that alternate timeline. However, the relocation ends up pushing that universe towards an incursion, which somehow leads to Doom’s wife and child dying. So that would explain why Doom hates Steve so much and would want revenge, but it’s also been rumored Doom will recruit Steve to help him gain the trust of Earth-616’s heroes.

So right off the bat, that makes me skeptical about the veracity of Doom killing James. More importantly, though, I think we can all agree that an infant being murdered is extremely dark for any movie, but especially for this franchise. Even if we assume this is done offscreen, I don’t think Marvel Studios would go this far for Avengers: Doomsday, which will likely be rated PG-13. But honestly, even if James were to be aged up to a young kid when he’s killed, I still don’t want to see this happen.

Steve Rogers is already going to be put through the wringer in Avengers: Doomsday given how Doctor Doom’s plans will threaten the entire multiverse. So it’ll be bad enough that he’ll have to leave his wife and son behind to help save all of existence, and there’s a chance that they could be erased from existence if Earth-838, or wherever they’re living, is destroyed. That would also be a dark move, but since next year’s Avengers: Secret Wars will presumably return the multiverse to normal (mostly), it’s one I can stomach more. I can’t say the same about Doom directly killing an infant.

Here’s hoping that when Avengers: Doomsday is released on December 18, James will not be one of its casualties. There are plenty of other characters for Doctor Doom to eliminate, let’s leave the baby off his list. Meanwhile, feel free to visit his daddy’s past adventures by streaming the Captain America and Avengers movies with your Disney+ subscription.