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Chris Evans has spoken!
The actor formerly known as Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, is letting fans know that he’s not coming back to don the star-spangled superhero costume with his new tweet. After news was released that The Cloverfield Paradox and Luce director Julius Onah will direct Captain America 4, fans of the franchise started wondering if Evans would reprise his role. Even outlets like The Hollywood Reporter started wondering if Evans would come back.
Evans himself sounded off on the confusion Saturday, tweeting back to The Hollywood Reporter, “Sam Wilson is Captain America.”
Sam Wilson is Captain America
— Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) July 9, 2022
Well, that should be that on that. Even though outlets and fans still want to make Evans’ reprisal of Captain America a reality, I wrote for Shadow and Act that that seems unlikely if you simply consider how Avengers Endgame ended.
“The film will see Sam[Wilson, played by Mackie] come into his own during his tenure as Captain America, but aside from that, not much else is known, including if Chris Evans will make a cameo as Steve Rogers,” I wrote for the outlet. “However, as fans learned in Avengers: Endgame, Steve lived out his lifetime during his mission to put the Infinity Stones back in their proper place in the timeline after defeating Thanos. After he came back as an old man, he gave his mantle to Sam, effectively writing Rogers out of the MCU. At least, that’s the idea.”
What fans should start getting used to, if they haven’t already from Captain America and the Winter Soldier, is that Anthony Mackie will star as Captain America from here on out within the MCU. As shown in Captain America and the Winter Soldier, Mackie’s take on the character will revolve around Sam Wilson’s complex feelings about being the face of a country that has systematically undermined Black Americans.
Those themes can be expected to come up again in Captain America 4 since Malcolm Spellman, who created and served as head writer for Captain America and the Winter Soldier. Dalan Musson, one of the series’ staff writers, is also co-writing the script.