They’re two of the biggest questions that occupy Marvel fans’ thoughts: what happened to Captain America after he went back in time in Avengers: Endgame and how exactly does Stan Lee manage to cameo everywhere in the MCU, regardless of time or space? Well, this wild fan theory wonders if these two mysteries are actually linked. Yes, what if Stan Lee is actually old Captain America?
As shared on the r/FanTheories subreddit, the theory hinges on Lee’s similarity in age to Steve Rogers once he lived a happy life married to Peggy Carter in the past. The Redditor wonders if, presumably before he arrived at that lakeside to give his shield to Sam Wilson in Endgame, Old Lee Cap went on to hop around the timeline in order to check up on his friends and allies. This would explain why he’s always hanging around the heroes of the Marvel universe.
This is a really fun concept, and variations on it have been pitched before now. However, it doesn’t really hold up to much scrutiny. The fact is we know what Old Man Steve looks like and he doesn’t much resemble Lee. The theorist suggests he could’ve donned a mustache and glasses to disguise himself, but he’d have needed a full hologram cloaking device or something to change his whole appearance into Lee.
From what we can gather from Endgame, Steve returned the Infinity Stones to their proper places and then went straight back to the 40s to be with Peggy, and didn’t do any sightseeing in between. As for Lee, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 heavily hinted that he was working for the Watchers in some capacity, perhaps as a human agent meant to keep an eye on the cosmos’ heroes. His cameo in Captain Marvel, however, also suggested that he actually is Stan Lee. Excelsior!
