Last month, John Cena prompted confusion and speculation when he posted an uncaptioned image to Instagram of the Captain America shield with a few scratches on it. Some fans interpreted this cryptic upload as the wrestler/actor expressing his interest in taking up the heroic mantle after Chris Evans bails from the series, and sure enough, it sounds like the star of the upcoming Bumblebee wouldn’t say no to the gig.
The topic came up during Cena’s recent appearance on Ellen, and the performer seemed pretty surprised by the ongoing rumors that he might be in the running for the role, asking “For real?” before jokingly adding “Finally it’s happened!” Cena then went on to make a tongue-in-cheek plea to Marvel Studios to consider him for the part.
“If it’s out there, if the Captain America people are listening and you’re watching right now, I’d totally do it,” Cena said. “I totally will, because I think I’d be a good Captain America…and I’ve already ruined everyone’s childhood, so it can’t get any worse!”
Of course, even Cena seems to realize that his chances of inheriting the Captain America title are pretty slim. For one thing, it’s unclear if anyone will be taking the name after Evans leaves, but if Marvel does have a successor in mind, then it would almost certainly be a character that we’re already familiar with. After all, the studio likes to sow its seeds early for such major developments.
As for who, if anyone, could be the next Captain America, Steve’s friends Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson have consistently been among the fanbase’s favorite candidates, but the fact that the two of them are buddying up for their own small-screen adventure arguably casts doubt on these predictions.
To complicate matter further, though much of the internet has long assumed that Avengers 4 will serve as Evans’ MCU swan song, co-director Joe Russo sent fans back to the drawing board a few days ago with the claim that “he’s not done yet.” While Russo refused to clarify his comment, we’ll likely find out what he means when the Avengers: Infinity War sequel hits theaters on May 3rd, 2019.