The ending of Avengers: Endgame is emotionally heavy and simply poetic. Not only does Tony Stark die in a heroic act of sacrifice, the ending also sees Captain America return to the prime timeline as a married old man. Cap then briefly talks about living his life to the fullest with the girl of his dreams, before passing his shield on to Sam Wilson AKA The Falcon. It’s a beautiful sendoff to a character who has been one of the core members of The Avengers since the first phase of the MCU. The thing is, Avengers: Endgame is a comic book movie and in the comics, characters who die or retire more frequently than not, eventually return to the fold down the line.
As part of Variety‘s Actors on Actors awards conversation, Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson sat down for a conversation, during which Johansson asked Evans if he’d ever play Captain America in the MCU again. Evans had this to say:
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.
While Evans’ response appeared to be open-ended at first, leaving the door open for a potential return, he sort of changed his mind when Johansson called Captain America’s sendoff a “beautiful, cathartic ending.” Evans followed up with:
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.
Personally, I think Captain America should stay retired. If Cap makes an emphatic return, it would not only cheapen the sendoff in Avengers: Endgame, but also lessen the stakes in the MCU moving forward.
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