James Rogers in Avengers: Doomsday? I Think Captain America’s Son Could Be More Important Than We Realise
I’ve been reading a few things about Avengers: Doomsday and one name popped up that got me thinking, James Rogers.
Now for anyone who doesn’t know who James is, he’s the son of Steve Rogers (Captain America) and Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow) in the animated Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow movie. And apparently there’s speculation that he could be making an appearance in Doomsday.
Steve went back to Peggy Carter at the end of Endgame and Natasha sacrificed herself on Vormir, so how on earth are we getting a child from those two?
Then I started thinking about the multiverse and realised we’re probably at the point with Marvel where absolutely anything is possible. And knowing the Russo brothers, I wouldn’t put it past them to throw something like this into the mix just to mess with our heads.
I’ve got a theory about James Rogers, and I think he could end up being far more important than just another character appearing in an already ridiculously large cast.
Steve and Natasha, Were They Always More Than Friends?
I’ve always thought there was something between Steve and Nat. Maybe not a full relationship, but you could see the love they had for each other over the years. We’ve watched them fight together, go on the run together and pretty much put their lives in each other’s hands more times than I can remember.
And yes, we did get that kiss on the escalator in The Winter Soldier, although apparently that was just to avoid being spotted. Yeah, alright Steve.
But apart from that Marvel never really took their relationship any further, which I actually liked. They didn’t need to be all over each other for you to see how much they cared. There was an unconditional love between them, even if it was never romantic in the films.
Obviously Steve’s heart was always with Peggy, and after everything he’d been through I was happy he got his ending in Endgame. Although I still have questions about how that whole timeline worked, and I don’t think I’m alone there.
But what if another version of Steve didn’t go back to Peggy? What if he ended up with Natasha instead? That’s where James comes in.
In Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow, James is one of the children of the original Avengers who are being protected by Tony Stark after Ultron defeats their parents. He’s got enhanced strength and agility, uses a shield like his dad and naturally takes on that leadership role. He’s basically a young Captain America, although with Natasha as his mum I’d imagine he’d have picked up a few tricks Steve wouldn’t necessarily approve of.
And that’s the interesting part for me. He’s not just another young superhero Marvel could introduce. He’s the child of two characters we’ve followed since the early days of the MCU.
My Theory About James, Steve and Doom
So here’s what I’ve been thinking, and this is purely my theory before anyone starts telling me I’ve got the entire plot wrong.
We know Steve went back to return the Infinity Stones and decided to stay in the past with Peggy. But with all these alternative timelines, what if there’s another reality where Steve and Natasha had James?
Now imagine Natasha is raising him on her own. Maybe Steve isn’t around, maybe something happened to him or perhaps she never told him about their son. Then Natasha becomes seriously ill, or something happens in her universe that means she can’t protect James anymore.
Who would she turn to? Steve Rogers.
What if she somehow finds the Steve who’s living with Peggy and asks him to take James and look after him?
I know, it’s a bit of a stretch, but we’re talking about a universe where a talking raccoon helped save half of existence, so I don’t think we’re completely out of ideas just yet.
We’ve seen footage of Steve with a child, and everyone’s naturally assuming that’s his son with Peggy. Which it probably is. But Marvel hasn’t told us who the child is, and I just keep coming back to James.
Then there’s Loki. I’ve seen speculation about Loki visiting Steve and Peggy, although that’s not something we can treat as confirmed. But if that does happen, why would he need to visit them?
Loki now has a connection to the timelines that nobody else really understands. He’s sitting there holding everything together, so if something is happening across different realities, surely he’s going to know about it.
Could he be warning Steve about James? Or perhaps telling him that his decision to stay with Peggy has caused something that was never meant to happen?
Which brings me to Doctor Doom and the talk about stolen lives.
I’ve been wondering whether Doom’s anger is connected to the Avengers changing history. Think about it, Steve got his happy ending, the Avengers brought everyone back after Thanos and Loki escaped the death he was originally supposed to have.
They’ve all changed things. What if Doom believes those decisions have consequences, and the people paying for them are the families and children who shouldn’t exist in the original timeline?
Suddenly James Rogers becomes a lot more important, especially if Doom is targeting people who were born because of those changes.
And if somebody threatened Steve’s child, I don’t think it would take much convincing to get Captain America back into action.
Could Doomsday Actually Be About The Avengers’ Children?
The more I’ve thought about James, the more I’ve started wondering whether Doomsday could be setting up the next generation of Avengers.
We’ve already got Cassie Lang, who’s grown up watching her dad become Ant-Man and has now started getting involved herself. But what if Scott and Hope have a child in another timeline? Imagine the possibilities with Ant-Man and the Wasp as parents.
Then you’ve got Clint Barton and his family. He’s spent years trying to get away from being Hawkeye and just enjoy life with his kids, although that never seems to go particularly well for him. We’ve already seen Kate Bishop take on the Hawkeye name, so Marvel clearly isn’t afraid of passing these characters on.
Thor has Love, his adopted daughter, and we’ve already seen what she’s capable of. Then there’s Morgan Stark.
Now I know we’ve had Ironheart, and personally I don’t think that series landed the way Marvel probably hoped. But Morgan is different. We’ve watched Tony Stark go from the arrogant billionaire in the first Iron Man to a father who gave his life to save everyone.
Imagine seeing Morgan grow up and eventually step into her dad’s world. I think that would mean something to fans who’ve been there since 2008.
And we can’t forget Franklin Richards, the son of Reed and Sue Storm. If Marvel follows anything close to his comic book abilities, he’s potentially one of the most powerful characters they could introduce. We’re talking about someone with reality-altering powers, which could be rather useful when the multiverse is falling apart.
I’m not saying all these children are going to turn up in Doomsday wearing little Avengers suits, although now I’ve said that I can almost imagine Marvel selling the merchandise.
But there does seem to be a possible theme developing around family, legacy and what happens to the people left behind.
Maybe Doomsday isn’t just about saving the world again. Maybe it’s about saving the future of the people who live in it.
Could James Be Captain America For The Next 20 Years?
This is another reason I think introducing James could make sense for Marvel.
Steve Rogers was Captain America for years, and I don’t think it’s been easy for anyone to follow him. Not because Anthony Mackie isn’t good as Sam Wilson, because I actually like him, but Steve had so much history behind him by the time Endgame came around.
We’d watched him grow from that skinny kid in Brooklyn to somebody willing to stand alone against Thanos and his entire army. That’s a difficult character to replace.
Personally I don’t think Sam’s Captain America has had the same impact with fans, and John Walker’s short-lived attempt at carrying the shield wasn’t exactly a smooth transition either. Although I quite like Walker as a character, especially when he’s being a bit of an idiot.
But James would be different.
Imagine Marvel introducing him as a child now and then letting us watch him grow over the next ten or twenty years. He’s got Steve’s legacy, Natasha’s history and potentially the abilities of both.
They wouldn’t need to rush him into becoming Captain America. In fact I’d rather they didn’t. Let him develop his own personality, make mistakes and figure out who he wants to be instead of simply handing him a shield and telling us he’s the next big thing.
And I don’t think that means Sam needs to disappear either. You could have a really interesting story with Sam being the current Captain America while Steve’s son grows up knowing what that name means to the world.
It’s the sort of long-term storytelling Marvel used to be so good at.
Whether James actually appears in Doomsday is still speculation, and we don’t know if the child shown with Steve is him. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the Russo brothers have something planned around the next generation, especially with Secret Wars following afterwards.
What started as me reading a post about James Rogers has now got me thinking about Natasha, Steve, Loki, Doom and half the Avengers’ children. So either I’ve stumbled onto something or I’ve spent far too much time thinking about a film that isn’t even out yet.
Probably the second one.
But that’s what I love about Marvel when it’s at its best. One little detail can send you down a rabbit hole and suddenly you’re questioning everything you’ve watched over the past fifteen years.
I’d love to see James introduced properly, especially if Marvel can find a way to bring Natasha’s legacy into the story without undoing the sacrifice she made in Endgame.
And if this really is about the next generation of Avengers, James Rogers could be one of the most important characters Marvel introduces for years.
Or he could just be Steve and Peggy’s son and I’ve written all this for nothing. 😂
What do you think, Fandom? Could James Rogers be the key to Doomsday, or are we looking far too deeply into it?
Be the first CMDB member to comment on this story.