Captain America Star Wants To Revive His 'Dead' Marvel Hero - And Has An Idea How
In "Captain America: The First Avenger," Neal McDonough portrays Timothy "Dum Dum" Dugan, the smarmy, mustachioed, bowler-hat-wearing second-in-command of the Howling Commandos. While his screen time during "The First Avenger" is limited, Dugan does make other appearances in "Agent Carter" and What If...?," although his ultimate fate in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is unknown. Even so, McDonough wants to return, if the MCU will allow him to do so.
During a 2023 interview with Comicbook.com, McDonough shared his adoration for the role and desire to play Dugan again. "I loved 'Dum Dum.' I loved everything about him," said the actor. "I loved that I had to gain 40 pounds of weight of muscle and fat just to get big like him ... Would I love to play 'Dum Dum' again? Yes. Out of all the characters I could reprise, 'Dum Dum' is right on top of my list. Because he is very close to who I am in real life and I loved it. It was great."
The problem is that, according to the laws of nature, Dugan should be dead. For him to appear in the 2020s or beyond would require the Howling Commando to have lived well over 100 years and still be in fighting form. McDonough believes there's a solution, though — one that draws inspiration from the comics.
The Marvel multiverse can reintroduce anyone
Neal McDonough claimed to Comicbook.com that there was a Marvel Comics storyline in which Sergeant Nick Fury accidentally helps Timothy "Dum Dum" Dugan become a super soldier with a little bit of his blood. McDonough said, "In the comic books, when Nick Fury got shot, some of that Super Serum blood landed on 'Dum Dum,' so he lived for a long time — aged quicker than Nick Fury did, but he's still out there, and he still could be."
McDonough may have been referring to different accounts suggesting that Dugan was given the Infinity Formula by Fury, which also kept the latter from aging. But since the Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) of the MCU wasn't around when the MCU's Dugan was a Howling Commando, McDonough's comic book pull would require a little finessing.
Conversely, Phase 5 of the MCU is all about the multiverse, which means that, narratively, anything is possible. There could be infinite versions of Dugan bouncing around, ready to join the fray whenever Marvel feels the need for that special Howling Commando flair. Although McDonough hinted that there have been "rumblings" about him returning, if he knows anything concrete, then he's keeping it to himself.