Though Steve Rogers looks to have finished his run in the MCU with Avengers: Endgame, the hero’s legacy still lives on in more ways than one. And in a recent interview with USA TODAY, co-directors Anthony and Joe Russo shared some thoughts on the character’s final decision of the film.
By the time Steve has reached the end of his latest screen outing, it’s clear that his superhero days are over, but in the movie’s closing minutes, he passes on the Captain America mantel to his friend Sam Wilson. It’s a moment that came as a delight to the many fans who’ve been pushing for Falcon to inherit the title, but it must be said that at least as many were hoping that Bucky Barnes would be next to carry the shield.
So, why did Steve end up picking one over the other? Well, according to Joe Russo, Sam had shown himself to be the more reliable and stable of the two:
“So far as matching the level of integrity of Captain America, Sam is pound for pound as morally forthright as anyone in the Marvel universe. And Bucky’s a damaged character.”
Though it may seem a little harsh to hold Bucky’s past as a brainwashed assassin against him, it must be said that Joe has a point. And given Sam’s backstory as a former pararescueman, Anthony argues that Falcon holds the right set of values to inherit the title:
“Sam spends his time trying to repair other people who are broken by war, and it just feels like he has the same values as Captain America.”
Though Avengers: Endgame concluded with Steve giving up the Captain America persona, the film still left Marvel with some potential pathways to continuing the character’s story, thanks to the notion of alternate timelines introduced in the movie. Nonetheless, the next Captain America we see on our screens will likely be the Sam Wilson version, and we’ll find out how he fares in the role when Falcon and Winter Soldier comes to Disney Plus.
