Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe looks to be largely driven by the idea of legacy, with the heroes of the Infinity Saga either bowing out or lining up their successors. We’ve already seen it in Disney Plus series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, with the shadow of Steve Rogers informing almost every major plot thread, and it seems the narrative is set to continue in that vein on both the big and small screens.
Insider Daniel Richtman now offers that Marvel wants to introduce multiple versions of more heroes into the mythology, using Captain America as a direct reference point. However, if you break it down, then there’s only ever been one Cap at a time, with Sam Wilson not suiting up until after John Walker was disgraced and disavowed as the government’s hand-picked successor to Rogers’ original vintage.
Kevin Feige, meanwhile, has teased alternate takes on familiar faces as opposed to multiple ones, and the MCU’s head honcho is very careful with the words he chooses when giving interviews. Besides, we’ve known for a long time that several marquee characters are set to gracefully bow out and hand the reins over to capable replacements.
Jeremy Renner will oversee Hailee Steinfeld’s training in Hawkeye, Black Widow director Cate Shortland confirmed last year that Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova would assume the mantle, we’re getting another gamma-irradiated member of the Banner family when Bruce’s cousin Jennifer Walters debuts in She-Hulk, Dominique Thorne’s Ironheart will be tied to the legacies of both Tony Stark and Rhodey, and that’s without even mentioning Jane Foster’s arc in Thor: Love and Thunder or whoever takes over as the title hero in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
The multiverse means that there’s no reason why we can’t have ten different spins on the same person existing simultaneously in the MCU, but based on what we know so far, the approach appears to be leaning in favor of replacements as opposed to doppelgängers, at least in terms of the projects actively in development.
