Despite Avengers: Endgame putting an end to Steve Rogers’ story with him handing the Captain America mantle to Falcon aka Sam Wilson, Captain America 4 remains an unknown quantity. Things will become a lot clearer when The Falcon and The Winter Soldier airs though, which promises to explore the conflict between the two titular characters and the fallout of Rogers’ decision.
So, while we can be reasonably certain that Captain America 4 will indeed happen and will have Sam Wilson front and centre, the rest is up for grabs. Now, however, we’re hearing that Marvel Studios are at least considering exploring what went down during Steve Rogers’ long retirement. After all, Endgame was received very positively, but one complaint that quickly surfaced after the release was that Rogers simply wouldn’t and couldn’t stand idly by in his suburban home and allow, for example, HYDRA to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D.
If you’re a Sam Wilson fan whose heart is dropping at the news, don’t worry. Our sources – the same ones who told us a Scream reboot was happening, and that the Inhumans are being rebooted, both of which turned out to be right – say that these scenes, if they do make it into the film, as it’s not a sure thing just yet, will be done via flashback. This indicates to me that Sam Wilson will still be front and centre, perhaps discovering what Rogers really did post-Endgame.
However, Endgame writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely both feel quite strongly that Rogers returning would spoil the moving closing scenes of the pic. In a recent interview they said:
“Christopher Markus: I also don’t want to. I love writing for Cap, I love Evans. But I really feel, much like Tony, we got them to a place where they don’t need to do it anymore. I’d hate to gin up something hokey to get them back.
Stephen McFeely: I do worry that if they do stuff like that, it’ll ding Endgame in the rearview mirror. This is such an important and such an interesting moment in movies, because a very successful studio just put their tools down.”
So, let’s hope if they do go down this route, they do it as tastefully as possible. I am curious though to find out exactly what Captain America was doing for all those years, as it seems unlikely he spent decades mowing his lawn and dancing with his wife.