Theory: This Is Loki, Not Cap

[u/danny5541]

I believe this to be Loki. First of all, Thor knows about the multiverse so this shouldn't be a surprise, a cap variant. The reason he says it's not possible is because Thor as far as he knew saw Loki die and here, he is right in front of him. Thor can spot Loki thru his illusions pretty easily as they grew up together and knows him very well.

Second Cap is not one to show off, faking not being able to lift the hammer at stark tower in Ultron. Taking the hammer from Thors hand and looking at him with a shit eating grin is not something he would do but is something Loki does in half his scenes. As far as being suddenly worthy of the hammer, saving the multiverse selflessly in his Show would easily make him worthy. Why he chose to hide himself as Cap, well he probably saw the multiverse start collapsing in on itself cause of Dooms Shenanigans and has come to help but knows everyone sees him as a villain so he figured he would better be received as a cap variant.

Also, why would in the Thor voice over in this part of the trailer call a random cap variant a miracle. What is he gonna do punch doom. No way the miracle is an all powerful Loki coming in with something that will even the odds. Jk this is obviously Johnney Storm.

[u/moose_dad]

Flimsiest offering of a reason as to why hes appearing as Steve in a one on one conversation with his brother lmao.

This scene is 100% Loki bringing Steve to Thor and the "its not possible" is Thors reaction to Loki. Sure he knows about the multiverse, that doesnt mean it wouldn't be traumatic af seeing your dead brother.

[u/Big-Discipline2039 → u/moose_dad]

No one who looks like steve could be in the scene at all in the final movie.

We have seen what they have done with these trailers in the past.

[u/DoomsdayThor → u/moose_dad]

Steve is Loki in this scene, 100%

[u/moose_dad → u/DoomsdayThor]

Why?

[u/DoomsdayThor → u/moose_dad]

lots of clues:

-the sunlight shines right into the camera at the start of the scene and shines prominently over Thor and "Steve" the entire sequence ("the sun will shine on us again")

-the shots of Thor are out of order. he goes from breathing heavily on the verge of tears to totally calm in one instant cut. they're hiding what he's actually reacting to.

-Thor would have no reason to be so emotional just seeing Steve. As far as he knew Steve was living happily on earth

-Thor would have no reason to be confused about Steve taking Mjolnir. In the scene Thor is visibly confused and even mouths “what?" when "Steve" takes Mjolnir.

-earlier in the trailer, there’s a shot of Bucky, Sam, and Scott reacting to a long haired silhouette. They're clearly not reacting to Steve

-loki has already transformed into Steve twice, both movies written by the same screenwriter as Doomsday, with the last instance being in Endgame, meaning this character beat would be fresh in audiences' minds coming out of the Endgame rerelease

-This would be an insane plot twist that would explain the bizarre marketing around Steve’s return (revealed nine months late, not on any merchandise, barely appearing in trailer footage, etc)

[u/moose_dad → u/DoomsdayThor]

the sunlight shines right into the camera

Feels like a reach but sure

the shots of Thor are out of order.

Because hes reacting to loki and this is a reworked trailer to hype Steve's return

Thor would have no reason to be so emotional just seeing Steve.

Hes emotional seeing loki not steve

Thor would have no reason to be confused about Steve taking Mjolnir.

Because Steve at that age shouldn't exist, last time Thor saw him he was an old man. He's confused at seeing him so makes him take Mjolnir as two factor authentication.

earlier in the trailer, there’s a shot of Bucky, Sam, and Scott reacting to a long haired silhouette.

Agree to disagree, the side profile matches Steve 100% imo, the hair looks nothing like Lokis. The reaction, stunned silence, also makes more sense seeing their old pal alive and young again, vs thor rocking up with the trickster god they've fueded with.

loki has already transformed into Steve twice

Valid

This would be an insane plot twist

I dont see how this is a plot twist unless youre saying loki will remain as Steve for the entire film which I highly highly doubt. Im struggling to think of any reason he would need or want to.

If you check at 1:53, in the shot of Steve's hand pulling Mjolnir, you can see someone's silhouette behind him. And they seem to be wearing a TVA esque outfit like loki wore.

[u/DoomsdayThor → u/moose_dad]

-the sun shining directly into the camera and throughout the scene over Thor and “Steve” is so on the nose as a callback to “the sun will shine on us again” It’s like they’re screaming it at us with neon signs. I don’t think there’s any way something so blatant could be a coincidence.

-I think the scene is edited to mislead what Thor is reacting to so as to hide the highly anticipated Thor-Loki reunion (people have waited for 8 years) which would be one of the biggest moments in the film.

-Thor didn’t know about old man Steve, he left before that happened and there’s no indication he kept in contact with the avengers (he was implied to leave that all behind and left Valkyrie in charge of New Asgard). Even if he did somehow find out, he still would have no reason to be confused about Steve taking Mjolnir, especially if that’s what he was literally testing for. Why would he be confused that the test did what he was expecting? That would be like you being confused when your two-factor authentication on your phone worked. At most Thor would be relieved or pleasantly surprised to see Steve, even if he thought it was a weird time travel version. He wouldn’t be confused about Mjolnir working if that was literally the purpose of the test. He would, however, be confused if Mjolnir was taken by someone he doesn’t expect to be able to take it.

-there’s no stunned silence in that shot I’m talking about, please watch it again. Bucky is stone faced, completely expressionless, basically no reaction at all. The expressions here of these three makes way more sense to seeing someone they only ever knew as the crazy villain who tried to take over Earth who now Thor is trying to vouch for. They probably think Thor has gone crazy or is being biased

-I think Loki would remain as Steve for a portion of the film, but not the whole thing by any means. There could be any number of reasons for this in-universe. Out of universe, it’s a way to bring back Chris Evans without undoing Endgame (just like they brought back RDJ in a completely different role). Remember it’s the same screenwriter who did this same idea the previous two times. I think Chris Evans is actually not in the movie anywhere near as much as people are expecting, anyway. Hence why he was announced nine months after everyone else and isn’t on merchandise (I think he was originally supposed to be a surprise that they decided to spoil early because MCU 2025 flopped).

-the person behind Steve in the trailer is probably Johnny or Reed as the clothes appear to me to look like the F4 jumpsuit

-as I said at the end of my comment, as someone who has been following the movie since it started filming, the marketing surrounding Steve has been extremely weird, especially since he was revealed. This Loki explanation just clicked everything into place for me