Even before Avengers: Endgame slammed into theaters carrying the weight of the MCU on its burly shoulders, viewers across the world were bracing for some time-travel shenanigans – though few would have predicted that Marvel’s two-billion-dollar titan would openly call out other films like Back to the Future.
Nevertheless, Endgame‘s manipulation of space-time was remarkably well conceived, and one need only consider the numerous Easter eggs and clever callbacks for evidence of that. Be that as it may, this is a movie involving time travel, which means there will inevitably be one or two plot holes – or, at least, contradictions – that emerge along the way.
One of which involves Captain America himself, Steve Rogers, who journeys back through space and time to revisit his old flame, Peggy Carter, and essentially dance the night away. The problem arises when one considers The Winter Soldier, which established that Peggy filled her Cap-shaped void with a husband and two children. But Endgame writing duo Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely believe otherwise; in their eyes, Steve Rogers was Peggy’s husband all along.
It depends on what story Marvel wants to tell going forward. I don’t know if Marvel wants to tell any more Captain America stories or if Chris (Evans) is up for it. Do they want to tell an alternate timeline story? Chris and I are partial to the idea that Steve is part of a strange, unique time-loop where he has always been there. The husband that you very purposefully did not see at Peggy’s bedside in Winter Soldier is Chris’ Steve. We have always thought that he was her husband. The movies you have been watching follow a line where he always goes back. To be fair, not everyone agrees with us. I don’t even know if Marvel agrees with us. But that’s what we think.
Markus and McFeely are right when they say that Marvel Studios doesn’t necessarily agree with their take – for one, directors Joe and Anthony Russo maintain that Steve Rogers visited an alternate timeline during the finale of Avengers: Endgame before returning to the ‘prime timeline’, as it is now known.
Avengers: Endgame (and Spider-Man: Far From Home) effectively brought the curtain down on Marvel’s so-called Infinity Saga. Up next is MCU Phase 4, which begins with the global launch of Black Widow in May. Can it hit the dizzying heights of Captain Marvel? Time will tell.
