Warning: Spoilers ahead for Avengers: Endgame! If you haven't seen the film yet—and don't want to know what happens—stop reading now!
For a while, we've known that Avengers: Endgame would most likely be the end of the line for Chris Evans (Captain America/Steve Rogers), and he only added fuel to the fire last October, when he tweeted what looked an awful lot like a farewell to the MCU:
Now that Endgame has come out, it really does look like the end of the line for our original Cap. Steve Rogers is off the board, having traveled back in time and decided to retire, living in the past with his first love, Peggy Carter.
Note the important distinction there, though: While Steve Rogers is certainly retired, Captain America most definitely is not. Rogers, having stayed traveled back in time and lived his life in the past, shows up on a bench near the end of the movie, ready to name his successor. In the world of the comics, both of Rogers' best friends, Bucky Barnes/Winter Solider and Sam Wilson/Falcon get their turn to don the Captain's mask and wield his shield—and in Endgame, Rogers chooses to pass his shield down to Wilson as his heir apparent.
While many expected Bucky to take over from Rogers as the next Captain, this narrative decision makes a lot more sense. Winter Soldier just might be the most complex character in the entire MCU, and he has the history to show it—like Rogers, he was originally a WWII soldier, but instead of becoming a superhero, he was presumed dead, tested on like a lab rat, brainwashed and turned into a killing machine, and eventually brought back to the good side. He's probably in no condition—at least not yet—to step into Rogers' shoes.
Falcon, meanwhile, seems more than ready for the task. Starting as just a human friend of Rogers in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Wilson has become more and more of the gang, and his "on your left" quote to Cap has become a very recognizable catch phrase. One question, however, lies in Falcon's lack of superpowers/super strength. Steve Rogers was injected with a super-soldier serum that made him more than human; at his core, Wilson is still just a strong-willed guy with a very cool backpack.
Much of this will surely be explored in the coming Disney+ series, Falcon and Winter Soldier. which will see both Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan return to their roles in a limited capacity for Disney's new streaming service, set to launch later this year.
Given that the series isn't called Captain America and Winter Soldier, there's a good chance that a large chunk of the show will deal with the transition to a new Cap. With how good both Mackie and Stan have been in their roles—Stan has made seven MCU appearances as Bucky Barnes (all three Captain Americas, Infinity War, Endgame, and cameos in both Ant-Man and Black Panther), while Falcon has made six (Winter Soldier, Civil War, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Infinity War, Endgame, along with his own cameo in Ant-Man)—it's exciting to speculate about how the series will turn out.
Personally, the espionage, spy thriller stylings of Captain America: The Winter Soldier made that one of my favorite Marvel movies of the bunch, so following that roadmap for the limited series sounds like a good idea to me.
How Brie Larson Got in Captain Marvel Shapeby Men's Health US Evan Romano Evan is an associate editor for Men’s Health, with bylines in The New York Times, MTV News, Brooklyn Magazine, and VICE.
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