Marvel Fans Weigh In On Chris Evans' Rumored Return To The MCU

Avengers: Endgame was (appropriately) the end of an era for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This collection of films began when Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) wanted to do some good for the world and decided to become Iron Man, and a chapter officially ended when he gave his life to beat Thanos once and for all. However, he wasn't the only hero to make the sacrifice play. 

After all was said and done, it was up to Captain America (Chris Evans) to return the Infinity Stones to their respective time periods and locations, but instead of returning to the present day when he was done, Steve Rogers decided to go back to the 1940s so that he could have a life with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). When we see him again, he's Old Man Cap and passes the Captain America mantle to his friend Sam Wilson a.k.a. Falcon (Anthony Mackie). Not only was Robert Downey Jr.'s time in the MCU done, but it seemed like Evans was done as well. 

That is, until a report came out suggesting the actor was in talks to reprise his role as Cap in a future MCU project. The news took a lot of people by surprise — including Evans himself, who played coy about the casting rumors on Twitter. It may take some more time to figure out whether or not his Captain America will return, but that's not going to stop Marvel fans from weighing in on how he could come back — and if he even should at all. 

Redditor bennychetan98 started a thread in MCU Theories discussing how Captain America could return. They suggested that Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) could use the time travel technology seen in Endgame to effectively de-age Old Man Cap in the same way they did Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) during the experiments. This could allow actor Chris Evans to pick the shield back up, if need be. The idea proved contentious, with user 69noyon25 calling it "demeaning" and insisting "Tony and Cap both needed an ending. They even had a good ending. Let them be like that in this universe. If you want them, make a cameo or throwbacks or alternate timelines, not make him young again."

The idea of exploring what a younger Steve Rogers was up to before he went back in time to be with Peggy is an intriguing one. User Bazza7744 suggested a Disney+ series with Captain America returning the Infinity Stones to their rightful places, "and then we get to see his reaction to Red Skull"; seeing Cap come face to face with his original Hydra nemesis on Vormir would be worth the cost of admission on its own. As some fans have wondered how exactly someone goes about returning the Soul Stone, since it requires a sacrifice, a series exploring Cap's journey would answer a lot of questions — and could it see the return of Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson)?

But those weren't the only ideas getting thrown around.

Still, with alternate dimensions coming into play with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and beyond, there's always a chance Evans could come back as a different version of Cap. This would allow Sam Wilson to continue under the Captain America mantle while permitting Evans to cameo down the road. Reddit user AbjectWeakness even suggests this could lead to one of the most controversial moments in Marvel comics being adapted to the screen, in which we see a version of Cap as a member of Hydra pop up in an alternate reality — that's right, the First Avenger's "Hail Hydra" line in that Endgame elevator scene wasn't just for laughs.

Although all these ideas have their merits, they're nothing but talk at the moment, since we have no idea what kind of game Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige is playing. But, if Evans ever does don the stars and stripes once again, it would give him a chance to finally meet those heroes to whom he was never introduced in the MCU.