The final scene of Avengers: Endgame offered one heck of an emotional ending. Coming right after Iron Man’s funeral, Captain America gets his own farewell, with it revealed that Steve Rogers went back in time and lived out a long and happy life married to Peggy Carter. Old Man Steve then passed his shield to his successor, Sam Wilson, and a flashback saw him dancing with Peggy in the past. Basically, if you weren’t crying by the time the screen faded to black, you must be Ultron.
And if fans were left wrecks by this moment, think what it must’ve been like for Chris Evans, for which these scenes represented the end of a major part of his life for the past decade. The star, who’s played Cap at least once a year since 2011, opened up to Men’s Journal that the entire final month of shooting on Endgame left him emotional but on the last day, he ended up “bawling.”
“It felt like graduating high school or college, you know. For the last month of filming I was letting myself go to work every day and be a little overwhelmed and a little nostalgic and grateful. By the last day, I was bawling. I cry pretty easy, but I was definitely bawling.”
Unlike Tony Stark, Cap’s ending leaves the door open for more possible appearances, either for Old Man Steve mentoring Sam as the next Captain America or for Steve and Peggy fighting the good fight in an alternate timeline. However, the Russo brothers have said that it’s likely Evan isn’t returning as he’s “emotionally moved on” from the role. Going by the actor’s comments above, that sounds about right.
At least we had many movies with Chris Evans as the definitive Steve Rogers, and an exciting new era for the character beckons with Anthony Mackie taking over the mantle. As sad as Evans’ exit is, we look forward to seeing how Phase Four continues the legacy of Captain America post-Avengers: Endgame.
