Steve Rogers is the kind of ceaseless do-gooder who doesn’t know what to do with himself when there isn’t some form of injustice that he can fight. With that in mind, while the internet has made it very clear that Captain America is among the more widely predicted fatalities in next year’s Avengers 4, this new theory suggests that there could be a very different but similarly sad fate in store for the First Avenger.
Reddit user MrDietzsch admits themselves that their latest piece of speculation is “more of a fanboy wish” than a theory grounded in evidence, but it raises the interesting question of what a true act of self-sacrifice could be for a man whose passion lies with the fight. Drawing on inspiration from the comic books, the user suggests that perhaps the worst thing that could happen to Cap is not a heroic death, but to be excluded from the action.
“In the comic books we have seen Cap lose his Super Soldier Serum and become a weak and grumpy old man and I think that would be a perfect scenario for the story moving forward.
What if Cap’s sacrifice comes in the way of losing his powers and therefore losing what is arguably the thing he loves the most, which is his ability to fight for those who can’t and protect freedom…
I could see Cap sacrificing himself, and us fans reaching for the box of tissues, but in the end it would be revealed that Steve Rogers gave up what he loved the most and is now a frail old man… That would be a rather depressing end for such an iconic Hero but it leaves the door open for a future return of Steve Rogers as Cap.”
Should Chris Evans never return to the role, MrDietzsch argues that there may still be a Steve Rogers in the MCU, only one that was rapidly aged by the loss of his abilities.
“If Steve Rogers aged 65/70 years in a matter of hours, or days, we could agree that he merely has to resemble the person he was and therefore the character can be recast with a 70+ year old actor (and additional make up to make him look even older).
Captain America 4 could be a story about how Sam Wilson takes up the mantle of Captain America, and old man Steve Rogers becomes the new Director of Shield and mentors Sam from behind the scenes.”
Again, there’s very little evidence to back up this theory, but it could well make for an intriguing and unexpected direction to take the character, in that it offers a valid reason for taking Cap out of the fight without resorting to the widely predicted route of killing him off. Either way, you can bet that Avengers 4 is going to have its share of deaths, and by giving Steve’s arc this non-fatal conclusion, you could argue that the heroic self-sacrifice scene can then be given over to, say, Tony Stark.
Regardless, we’ll see what send-offs the MCU has in mind for its Phase 1 heroes when Avengers 4 comes out on May 3rd, 2019.
