It's hard to imagine the Marvel Cinematic Universe without Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) as Captain America. But, following on from the conclusion to Captain America: Civil War, it's looking increasingly doubtful that Steve Rogers will be trusted with the shield in future Marvel efforts. And now Kevin Feige, the head honcho over at the studio, has admitted that the Marvel Cinematic Universe might feature a Captain America film without Steve Rogers in the role.
During his chat with Collider ahead of the release of Doctor Strange at the start of next month, Kevin Feige was asked whether the Marvel Cinematic Universe's version of Captain America always needed to be Steve Rogers. And his answer was far from definitive, as he responded:
If we look back at the comic books as our inspiration and as the well from which this all springs, then the answer is 'no.' ... I'm not saying we'll do it in the movie, but I've read Captain America comics that don't have Steve Rogers in them.
For those of you that haven't read the comics, Steve Rogers isn't the only individual to ever be trusted with Captain America's shield. Sure he's by far the most famous, but the likes of Isaiah Bradley, William Naslund, Jeffrey Mace, William Burnside,Scar" Turpin and Dave Rickford have stepped up and replaced Steve Rogers in the role over the years.
But that's not all, because two characters that are currently in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have also taken up the mantle. Sam Wilson, otherwise known as the Falcon, who is played by Anthony Mackie in the MCU, has taken over for Rogers, while so has Bucky Barnes, aka The Winter Soldier, who is portrayed by Sebastian Stan.
If Kevin Feige and the powers that be over at the Marvel Cinematic Universe decided to bring someone else in as Captain America then the most likely candidate to replace Steve Rogers would be either Bucky Barnes or Sam Wilson. But there's one clear front-runner out of this duo, too, as the last we saw of Bucky Barnes he was being frozen in Wakanda until a cure can be found for his brainwashing. At the same time it's unlikely that Sam Wilson would be willing to replace his good friend Steve Rogers as Captain America, as the conclusion of Civil War showed Roger breaking Wilson and his other allies out of the Raft.
The reason why people are convinced that we'll see a new Captain America at some point in the near future of the MCU is that after his fight with Iron Man at the end of Civil War, Steve Rogers decided to leave behind his shield as he believed that he was no longer deserving of it. Back in August, directors Anthony and Joe Russo, who oversaw Civil War and will do so again with Infinity War, admitted as much, telling the Huffington Post, "I think him dropping that shield is him letting go of that identity. [It's] him admitting that certainly the identity of Captain America was in conflict with the very personal choice that he was making."
We probably have a while until we get an answer, too, because Captain America's next participation in the Marvel Cinematic Universe isn't expected until Avengers: Infinity War on May 4, 2018.
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