Oh Captain, Our Captain!
Captain America: Civil War left fans with a broken Avengers, Tony Stark with broken Iron Man armor and Captain America giving up his shield?
Directors Anthony and Joe Russo confirmed what some fans have speculated just as we count down to the release of Captain America: Civil War on digital/blu-ray.
What does this declaration mean for Chris Evans, Steve Rogers and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes as the Marvel Cinematic Universe characters march to Avengers: Infinity War?
Could movies follow canon and another hero steps up as Captain America?
Before we continue…just in case you didn’t see here’s a SPOILER ALERT before we continue.
OK.
Here it comes.
In the mid-credits scene…
Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier was put on ice and Steve Rogers and his anti-registration Avengers were given refuge in Wakanda by T’Challa/Black Panther.
The directors now say Steve Rogers is no longer Captain America.
“I think him dropping that shield is him letting go of that identity, Joe Russo told Huffington Post. “It’s him admitting that certainly the identity of Captain America was in conflict iwth the very personal choice he was making.”
The Russos and Rogers will be back for Avengers: Infinity War but will Steve have a new identity/code-name while another hero takes his old mantle?
Let’s look at comics canon for what could happen:
Bucky Barnes:
In the comics finale of Civil War, Steve was killed and Iron Man asked Bucky to be the new Captain America. Rogers was actually trapped in time thanks to the Red Skull and Doctor Doom. After Steve’s rescue he was simply known in his comic book Steve Rogers, Super Soldier and led S.H.I.E.L.D. Bucky faked his death so Steve would become Cap again while Bucky assumed the Winter Soldier role again to go on an undercover mission with Black Widow for Nick Fury to find other Winter Soldiers.
Sam Wilson/Falcon:
When Rogers has the Super Soldier Serum literally sucked out him, he lost his super powers and aged to what would be his real appearance. Steve asked his Wilson to become the new Captain America. Wilson is still soaring as a winged Cap while a re-powered Rogers is also Cap with a twist…see below. This passing of the shield could be permanent move in the films if studios decides to have Phase Four take inspiration from the current Marvel Now with Sam as Cap, Jane Foster and other “legacy” heroes.
Nomad:
When Rogers lost faith in the U.S. government he became a masked hero code-name Nomad, for the man without a country. Steve’s turn as Nomad was brief during the 1970’s but another man (Jack Monroe) took on the moniker briefly in the 90’s.
Captain Hydra:
Earlier this year, Rogers was restored to his super-powered, younger self thanks to Kobik, fragments of the Cosmic Cube (called the Tesseract) in the form of a young girl. In a controversial twist that shocked fans, Rogers was revealed to have been a Hydra sleeper agent for all these years – it was implanted in him when he was restored by Kobik. Imagine Chris Evans playing way against type as a ruthless Hydra operative right under the eyes of his fellow Avengers?
Have faith fans. Cap will be back. Heroes fall. Watching them recover and redeemed is part of the drama.
We may even see Evans/Rogers in Black Panther before Infinity War hits.
Captain America: Civil War on digital/blu-ray arrives next month.
By Editor