Steve Rogers has arguably had the greatest journey in the MCU starting as a little guy from Brooklyn and ending as an old man having lived a complete life. But since he is alive as an Old man (even though the world thinks he died), and there is a possibility for him to return, would Captain America ever return to the MCU? There are multiple possibilities for how Cap could return, but an even more important question is, will Chris Evans want to return as this iconic character that he has played for almost a decade?
Chris Evans was very reluctant to join in as Captain America in the first place. He denied several times, and then it took a personal call from Robert Downey Jr. to convince him. He was reluctant because joining Marvel involved a long contract, and the fear was “what if it didn’t work out?” There were obviously so many reasons, as Chris Evans has said multiple times that there were a million things that could have gone wrong. It could have been a career suicide like Ryan Reynolds almost faced with Green Lantern.
Evans and Scarlett Johansson recently spoke about several topics on an episode of “Variety Studio: Actors on Actors”. The two actors addressed Scorsese’s MCU Comments, their past journey with Marvel & Chris Evans was specifically asked about whether he’d return as Captain America. He didn’t directly say a no, but his answer did suggest that it won’t happen anytime soon (if it does at all).
Here’s how the conversation happens in the aforementioned video:
“Scarlett Johansson – Would you come back?.
Chris Evans – To Marvel? You never say never. I love the character. I don’t know.
It’s not a hard no, but it’s not an eager yes either. There are other things that I’m working on right now. I think Cap had such a tricky act to stick the landing, and I think they did a really nice job letting him complete his journey. If you’re going to revisit it, it can’t be a cash grab. It can’t be just because the audience wants to be excited. What are we revealing? What are we adding to the story? A lot of things would have to come together.”
In the past, Chris Evans has been pretty vocal about trying new things out. Knives Out is a clear example of what he wants to do. He is someone who likes to focus upon one project at a time, and he does strive to deliver quality. And he has said that he even wants to direct films after he is done with Marvel. Well he is more or less done. But there are ways in which Evans could make a comeback. Some of those ways could be explored sooner while some could allow him the time he needs to do projects other than Marvel.
Evans is absolutely right about how Captain America should return. It will have to be something that adds more to the story, and not be a typical cash-grab or a fan service. Anyway, Marvel might do a bit of fan service by bringing Old Man Cap back for a cameo in The Falcon And The Winter Soldier.
Other than that, Marvel could actually do the unthinkable and make Old Captain America young again. Hulk did accidentally invent an immortality machine by running time through Scott and bringing him back as his older or younger selves. So, Captain America could be brought back in his prime with that machine, and Marvel could make a Captain America 4. But this would probably not happen.
If Captain America 4 has to happen then it could do the one thing everyone knows about. It could actually show us how Captain America returned the Infinity Stones at the end of Endgame, and even show us the reunion with Red Skull that would happen on Vormir. And we could even see what Captain America did all this time living with Peggy.
Anyway, the ending that Steve & Peggy got was just amazing and the two actors also shed some light on it during their episode at Variety. The said:
“I wasn’t there for the last third of the film or whatever. I actually had no idea what was going to happen. I don’t know how it worked, exactly, if it was scripted. It was such a beautiful cathartic ending, and I loved that for Steve. I think he deserved that. It was all his happiness.
It’d be a shame to sour that. I’m very protective of it. It was such a precious time, and jumping onto the movie was a terrifying prospect to me. I said no a bunch of times, and there’s a million and one ways it could have gone wrong. It almost feels like maybe we should let this one sit.”
Ultimately we’re all happy for what Evans has done for the MCU. He turned Captain America into a total badass. Some people (like me) love Captain America even more than Iron Man even though Tony Stark is obviously the face of Marvel. Both Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans are looking to move on from Marvel. But we know that there is a multiverse crossover coming our way in Phase 6, and we should see them make a return in that crossover. It would be so awesome and people would actually be hyped to see the veteran heroes make a return. Let’s see what happens.
