Back in July, it was announced that Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War film would no longer be split into two parts, but based on what the Russo Brothers (a.k.a. the directors behind every Captain America movie in Marvel's Cinematic Universe) told The Huffington Post, that won't be the only change for this film, which isn't even set to drop until May of 2018. The thing is, this one is a doozy (although if you saw Captain America: Civil War, this makes sense).
Joe and Anthony Russo have confirmed that Steve Rogers will not be Captain America in the movie. As Joe puts it, "I think him dropping that shield is him letting go of that identity," adding that the act was Rogers "admitting that certainly the identity of Captain America was in conflict with the very personal choice that he was making."
For those who don't remember, Captain America: Civil War's ultimate battle between Iron Man and Captain America involved Stark telling Cap that he didn't deserve the shield he's carried for decades; Cap defiantly threw down the shield, choosing his friend Bucky Barnes over the mantle.
For what it's worth, this feels eerily similar to a few beats straight out of the comics. After Rogers let go of the shield in Captain America: Civil War, he told Tony Stark that he'd still be there if he needed him, and after letting the likes of the Scarlet Witch, Ant-Man, Falcon, and Hawkeye out of prison, he has a crew to do it...similar to the New Avengers, a splinter group that weren't down with the comics' Superhero Registration Act that still wanted to fight the good fight. A Cap-less Steve Rogers is also reminiscent of his more recent (comic book) role of being the Executive Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., finding Rogers still in the field fighting bad guys without his iconic suit on.
No matter what storylines Marvel sews together to create the MCU's shield-less Steve, it'll be interesting to see:
- if this new Steve is a bit more ruthless than Captain America,
- how the world responds to being in a Cap-less era, and
- how Steve regains the shield, if he ever does regain the shield.
We have a lot of time to ponder this; hopefully the next batch of Marvel films fleshes out this important shift before the Infinity War commences.
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