At the end of Avengers:Endgame , Steve Rogers is set to live an entire life with Peggy (in an alternate reality of course), and then travel back to the very moment after he left.
His reasoning? To hand off his shield. Pass down the mantle. To another good man worthy of carrying that torch, and fighting for the people. As MCU fans and the Avengers: Endgame audience are aware, none other than Sam Wilson was the one chosen for the honor.
Needless to say, it's still a mystery what happens after. That's something that will remain unknown until March 19th when the release of Falcon & The Winter Soldier arrives. Even with the future of Sam Wilson as Captain America, it's hard not to still miss Chris Evans as Steve Rogers.
In a surprise announcement last week, reports hit the trades that Chris Evans is potentially eyeing a return to the MCU in an unspecified movie or television show. This news blew up all over the internet--making it very clear how much the world already misses Steve Rogers.
Chris Evans' potential return to the role certainly creates plenty of questions, especially as it pertains to Sam Wilson's future in the MCU. Thankfully, the fans didn't have to wait too long to see what Anthony Mackie himself thought about the whole situation.
NEWS
On the Happy Sad Confused podcast , Josh Horowitz inquired with Anthony Mackie about what he made of the reports that Chris Evans may be eyeing a return to the MCU.
Josh Horowitz asked:
"Let me ask you this What's up with Evans? The reports are that Evans is coming back as Cap. Can he let you and Sebastian fight over his shield and take over the moniker for like a year or two? What's going on?"
Anthony Mackie responded with:
"Ya know, I've heard that. Like, I've seen that. And Look, Chris is my boy, so if they're getting the band back together, I'll be very happy with that."
WHAT THIS MEANS
While Chris Evans came out denying the reports of his return shortly after the news hit, that's hardly enough to discredit the credibility of the report. Most recently, Tatiana Maslany denied being cast as She-Hulk despite being officially announced in the role just a few months later. In the MCU's earlier times, Paul Rudd denied being Ant-Man, Benedict Cumberbatch denied his role as the Sorcerer Supreme, and the entire existence of a Black Widow movie was outright denied despite being in active pre-production.
Mackie's response is interesting in that he doesn't continue the pattern of outright denying anything, instead opting to voice his excitement for the possibility. One can only assume that Falcon & The Winter Soldier will explore Sam Wilson's embracement of his new mantle - a mantle, once again, that can only be assumed will be kept by Sam for a good stretch of time going forward. So the real question is: how can Steve Rogers exist at the same time as Sam's tenure as Cap?
The obvious choice is old man Steve, who was seen at the end of Endgame . This movie notably introduced the ability to de-age people, which another potential future for Steve Rogers. An option that would likely lead to two Caps active at the same time. This certainly isn't unheard of, and is a fairly common affair in the world of comic books (after all, there is that rumored Nomad show ). The least likely option would be Steve regaining the mantle, and Sam going back to being Falcon. There is a precedence for this in the comics, but in that context Sam held the mantle for quite some time before choosing to embrace his own identity instead of that of another person.
While any of these potential outcomes would work in the MCU, it's important that Sam maintain the mantle for at least some time before changing up the status quo again. Honestly though, how awesome would it be to have both Captain Americas fight side-by-side? It appears that it would finally be time for Bucky to join the shield club.
