In the wake of the events in Avengers: Endgame, Steve Rogers – best known to the world as Captain America – is out of the superhero game. Thanks to some time traveling, he gets the opportunity to live out the 20th century as a relatively normal person with the love of his life, Peggy Carter, and when it comes time to reunite with his former colleagues it is to pass his shield on to Sam Wilson a.k.a. Falcon. This is information known to everyone who saw the 2019 blockbuster, but a big question that hangs in the air is what people who actually live in the Marvel Cinematic Universe think happened to him.
Sadly, as you’ll find watching the video above, my recent interviews with creator Malcolm Spellman and director Kari Skogland resulted in no firm answers. I talked with the filmmakers last weekend during the virtual press day for The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, and one question I asked both of them was about the official story from the Avengers regarding what happened to Captain America after the Blip was reversed and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes battled against Thanos. Unfortunately, my question yielded zero results, as neither was able to give me an official answer.
What makes this situation particularly vexing is the fact that The Falcon And The Winter Soldier does address that Steve Rogers is gone – but only through references to him in the past-tense and a highlighted conspiracy theory spreading around the internet. Apparently some people think that Captain America is secretly living on a moon base, a rumor that Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson directly denies, but what’s not made clear is what the majority of people think happened, or what the Avengers are actually telling people.
It’s probably fair to assume that the world doesn’t know the truth about Steve Rogers’ return to the 20th century (he probably would have been at the Smithsonian unveiling if they did), so is it possible that they think he died a hero’s death along with Tony Stark? That’s the most logical answer, but it’s interesting that nobody is saying it if that’s the situation. Then again, this is the Avengers we’re talking about, so logic doesn’t necessarily have to be on the table. The public may think that he’s stuck in another dimension, or has firmly committed himself to spreading patriotic goodwill for the United States across the cosmos.
In the wake of The Falcon And The Winter Soldier’s first kick-ass episode, what people believe happened to Steve Rogers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe remains a mystery – and we’ll just have to wait and see if it is one that the new Disney+ original series answers. The next chapter, the second of six, will premiere on the streaming service Friday, March 26 at 12am PST/3am EST.
