Last week, the Hollywood Reporter caused a stir with a series of tweets discussing the next Captain America movie. The message was simple: the MCU sequel has found its director in Julius Ohna. It got complicated on the Captain America question. Who exactly plays the titular hero?
In an extremely awkward paraphrase, the industry paper dodged the fact that Anthony Mackie henceforth in the MCU as Captain America you can see. This has basically been known since Avengers 4: Endgame and at least since the finale of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Nevertheless, there is still a need for discussion.
Chris Evans is no longer the Captain America in the MCU
Not only the Hollywood Reporter is struggling with a clear answer to the Captain America question. Many fans wish Chris Evans back in the iconic role he embodied for eight years, before his Cap said goodbye to the franchise in one of the most beautiful MCU scenes ever. Hardly an interview goes by without Evans being asked about his return.
You can watch the trailer for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier here:
The Falcon and The Winter Soldier – S01 Trailer (German) HD
No wonder: the MCU has even figured out a way to bring back dead characters easily, as the Thor 4: Love and Thunder post-credits scene proves. Evans’ Captain America is at the end of his journey not even died
– it can actually only be a matter of time before he picks up the shield again. And let’s face it: it will happen at some point.
Hardly any franchise lets its lighthouses go out completely these days. The digitally rejuvenated Luke Skywalker, which is currently popping up in every second Star Wars project, is the best example of this. As long as Evans is otherwise busy and his Captain America comeback is not yet within reach, should we take the chance and eagerly await what the MCU has in store for Mackie’s version of the character.
Chris Evans’ return would only downsize the MCU
Never before have we seen such an important season handover in the MCU. Iron Man said goodbye without a direct successor and Black Widow could too not determine her successor. Of course, there are characters who could potentially fill their roles in the future (such as Natasha Romanoff’s sister, Yelena, introduced in the Black Widow film), but they weren’t handpicked.
©Disney
Chris Evans’ Captain America in Avengers 3: Infinity War
The Captain America identity, on the other hand, is transmitted before our eyes and we can follow the process down to the smallest detail – including all the doubts that follow within the narrated film and series world. The MCU can finally from the painstakingly linked stories feed. Demanding a Steve Rogers return now only diminishes the narrative dimension of the franchise.
A circle was elegantly closed with Steve Rogers. The creatives managed to give the character a worthy ending that spanned her entire development summarized in one key scene. Black Widow can’t say that about herself. Her death in Avengers 4: Endgame happened far too casually and the later solo film is completely between the chairs as a mixture of prequel and sequel.
The new Captain America is imperative
Captain America’s narrative thread is one of the few in the MCU to have ended — and not just satisfactorily, but with a lot of finesse. Now it goes on. But for once, Marvel isn’t desperately clinging to a popular character and wallowing in nostalgia for a bygone era. The new Captain America, Mackie’s Sam Wilson, marks the beginning of a new era.
©Disney
Anthony Mackie’s Captain America in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
The previous films and series of Phase 4 show how difficult it is to establish something new after years of routine. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was also a relatively bumpy start for Captain America 2.0, but at least one that showed how there is a lot of potential in this figure, whose meaning changes over time. After ten years, Evans’ cap doesn’t make much sense anymore.
In the MCU series, we’ve learned how much blood is on Captain America’s shield and that there are so many different perspectives on the popular and controversial hero identity are. After Steve Rogers, John Walker, with his extremely dubious political motivation, carried the title and served up a bloodbath with the Captain America shield. And then there’s Isaiah Bradley.
America’s first black super soldier was passed over and erased from the history books. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has put a lot of time into this bring forgotten chapters back to consciousness. So that the discovery does not remain pure assertion, Marvel now has to tell us from a different perspective. And Captain America 4 offers the widest possible stage for it.
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Are you looking forward to Captain America 4 with Anthony Mackie?